Intel’s new Core i9 knocks M1 Max in benchmarks — while your battery lasts
Intel’s Alder Lake mobile processors are running circles around Apple’s powerful M1 Max chip, benchmarks from multiple reputed tech publications have revealed.
Tom’s Hardware and Macworld recently pitted the top-of-the-line Core i9-12900HK in an MSI GE76 Raider gaming laptop against the M1 Max in 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
Using multiple benchmark tools, the Core i9 consistently outperformed the M1 Max.
In Tom’s Hardware’s tests, for example, it achieved a marginal 3% victory for single-core performance with a score of 1,833 compared to the M1 Max’s 1,781.
In multi-core testing, its lead was a more significant 6%, with a score of 13,456 compared to 12,683. That is likely due to having four more cores than the M1 Max.
The graph below illustrates these findings.
Macworld recorded similar results in its Geekbench 5 test.
In single-core performance, the Core i9 hit 1,838 compared to the M1 Max’s 1,774, while the multi-core test saw it lead 13,235 to 12,590.
Tom’s Hardware also performed video transcoding tests in Handbrake, which again saw the Core i9 come out on top, with a rendering time of 4:44 compared to 4:48 for the M1 Max.
In its Cinebench R23 tests, Intel’s chip consistently outscored the M1 Max over 20 runs, as shown in the graph below.
Is it a sprint or a marathon?
While the Core i9-12900HK outpaced the M1 Max in raw performance, there is one crucial area where it lags — power efficiency.
The Core i9 has a thermal design power (TDP) that can range between 45W and 115W, depending on the intensity of its workload.
Tom’s Hardware recorded a maximum power draw of 94W on the chip in the multi-core tests, whereas its sister publication Anandtech found the M1 Max only drew up to 34W.
The overall impact of these differences — the MacBook Pro lasted 15 and a half hours in Tom’s Hardware’s battery tests, whereas the GE76 Raider held out for just over 4 hours.
That means Apple had roughly three to four times better power efficiency, a factor that will certainly count for those looking for machines that can last without being plugged in.
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