Apple M1 Benchmark, Test and specs

The Apple M1 has 8 cores with 8 threads and is based on the 1. gen of the Apple M series series. The processor was released in Q4/2020. The Apple M1 scores 1,742 points in the Geekbench 5 single-core benchmark. In the Geekbench 5 multi-core benchmark, the result is 7,650 points.

CPU lineage

The segment in which we have classified the Apple M1. Here you can see if it is a desktop processor or a mobile processor or which processor may be the successor of the Apple M1.

Name:
Apple M1

Family:
Apple M series

CPU group:
Apple M1

Segment:
Mobile

Generation:
1

Predecessor:
—

Successor:
Apple M2

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M1 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M1 is 3.20

GHz

. The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.

CPU Cores / Threads:
8 / 8

Core architecture:
hybrid (big.LITTLE)

A-Core:
4x Firestorm

B-Core:
4x Icestorm

Hyperthreading / SMT:
No

Overclocking:
No

A-Core Frequency:
3.20

GHz

B-Core Frequency:
2.06

GHz

Internal Graphics

Apple M1 (8 Core), which has 1024 texture shaders and 128 execution units. The iGPU uses the system’s main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor’s die.

The Apple M1 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. Specifically, the Apple M1 uses the, which has 1024 texture shaders and 128 execution units. The iGPU uses the system’s main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor’s die.

GPU name:
Apple M1 (8 Core)

GPU frequency:
1.30 GHz

GPU (Turbo):
No turbo

Execution units:
128

Shader:
1024

Max. GPU Memory:
8 GB

Max. displays:
2

Generation:
1

Direct X:
—

Technology:
5 nm

Release date:
Q4/2020

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

h265 / HEVC (8 bit):
Decode / Encode

h265 / HEVC (10 bit):
Decode / Encode

h264:
Decode / Encode

VP8:
Decode

VP9:
Decode / Encode

AV1:
No

AVC:
Decode

VC-1:
Decode

JPEG:
Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The processor can use up to 16

GB

memory in 2

(Dual Channel)

memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 68.2

GB/s

. The memory type as well as the amount of memory can greatly affect the speed of the system.

Memory type:
LPDDR4X-4266

Max. Memory:
16

GB

Memory channels:
2

(Dual Channel)

Bandwidth:
68.2

GB/s

ECC:
No

PCIe:
4.0

AES-NI:
Yes

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the processor is 15

W

. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently. The TDP usually gives a rough idea of the actual power consumption of the CPU.

TDP (

PL1

/

PBP

):
15

W

TDP (

PL2

):
—

TDP up:
20

W

TDP down:
10

W

Tjunction max.:
—

Technical details

The Apple M1 is made in 5

nm

. The smaller the manufacturing process of a CPU, the more modern and energy-efficient it is. Overall, the processor has 16.00

MB

cache. A large cache can greatly speed up the processor’s speed in some cases such as games.

Technology:
5

nm

Chip design:
Chiplet

Socket:
—

L2-Cache:
16.00

MB

L3-Cache:
—

Architecture:
M1

Operating systems:
macOS

Virtualization:
Apple Virtualization Framework

Instruction set (ISA):
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)

ISA extensions:
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation

Release date:
Q4/2020

Release price:
—

Part Number:
APL 1102

Documents:
—

Apple M1

8C 8T @ 3.20

GHz

buy now on Amazon and save!

Benchmarks

News and articles for the Apple M1

The Apple M1 is Apples first ARM chip for Macs. It is based on and is similar to Apples mobile A processors, but has four times more level 2 cache than the Apple A14 Bionic (16 MB to 4 MB in the Apple A14 Bionic). It combines 4 fast and large Firestorm cores with 4 efficient and smaller Icestorm cores. The core structure is built in the big.LITTLE design, which makes the chips very strong but also energy-saving at the same time.

Like the Apple A14 Bionic, the Apple M1 is also manufactured in 5 nm at TSMC, making it the first series chip for mobile and desktop devices to be manufactured in 5 nm. The finer the manufacturing structure, the more energy-efficient the processors can be. The processor is operated at 3.2 GHz and can be used passively (without active ventilation) or actively with a fan. The TDP is 10 to 15 watts.

The Apple M1 comes with a very fast iGPU with 7 or 8 GPU cores. The 8-core variant of the iGPU achieves an FP32 raw performance of 2.6 TFLOPGS (2600 GFLOPS). In addition, the SoC is equipped with 16 AI / ML cores for machine calculations such as video or image processing. There is also an ISP for optimizing images and recordings via the notebooks webcam. The chip supports hardware-accelerated AES and can thus encrypt the data on the SSD built into the system quickly and efficiently.

Up to 16 GB LPDDR4X / LPDDR5 main memory is supported, which in the Apple M1 is integrated in a dense DRAM package directly in the SoC, which greatly increases the bandwidth and the associated data throughput. The iGPU, which also uses the main memory as graphics memory, benefits to a large extent from this. That is enough for the processor to currently secure first place in the Geekbench 5 – single core benchmark. But even in multi-core benchmarks, the 15 watt processor achieves scores that were previously only reserved for 45+ watt processors.

Leaderboards

In our leaderboards, we have clearly compiled the best processors for specific categories for you. The leaderboards are always up to date and are regularly updated by us. The best processors are selected according to popularity and speed in benchmarks as well as the price-performance ratio.

Popular comparisons

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The Apple M1 is Apples first ARM chip for Macs. It is based on and is similar to Apples mobile A processors, but has four times more level 2 cache than the Apple A14 Bionic (16 MB to 4 MB in the Apple A14 Bionic). It combines 4 fast and large Firestorm cores with 4 efficient and smaller Icestorm cores. The core structure is built in the big.LITTLE design, which makes the chips very strong but also energy-saving at the same time.Like the Apple A14 Bionic, the Apple M1 is also manufactured in 5 nm at TSMC, making it the first series chip for mobile and desktop devices to be manufactured in 5 nm. The finer the manufacturing structure, the more energy-efficient the processors can be. The processor is operated at 3.2 GHz and can be used passively (without active ventilation) or actively with a fan. The TDP is 10 to 15 watts.The Apple M1 comes with a very fast iGPU with 7 or 8 GPU cores. The 8-core variant of the iGPU achieves an FP32 raw performance of 2.6 TFLOPGS (2600 GFLOPS). In addition, the SoC is equipped with 16 AI / ML cores for machine calculations such as video or image processing. There is also an ISP for optimizing images and recordings via the notebooks webcam. The chip supports hardware-accelerated AES and can thus encrypt the data on the SSD built into the system quickly and efficiently.Up to 16 GB LPDDR4X / LPDDR5 main memory is supported, which in the Apple M1 is integrated in a dense DRAM package directly in the SoC, which greatly increases the bandwidth and the associated data throughput. The iGPU, which also uses the main memory as graphics memory, benefits to a large extent from this. That is enough for the processor to currently secure first place in the Geekbench 5 – single core benchmark. But even in multi-core benchmarks, the 15 watt processor achieves scores that were previously only reserved for 45+ watt processors.In our leaderboards, we have clearly compiled the best processors for specific categories for you. The leaderboards are always up to date and are regularly updated by us. The best processors are selected according to popularity and speed in benchmarks as well as the price-performance ratio.