Apple trounces Intel and AMD in cumulative single-core and IPC gains from 2016 to 2024
Apple hasn’t looked back since ditching Intel CPUs in favor of the in-house M series ARM SoCs starting in 2020. The switch not only allowed Cupertino to massively increase the battery life of MacBooks but also the performance.
This begs the question: How far has Apple actually come with their in-house SoCs? Pretty far, it seems.
According to Geekench 6 data compiled by @SaintjohnD on X, Apple stands head and shoulders above Intel and AMD in both cumulative single-core performance and IPC increase from 2016 to 2024.
Before we move on to discuss the numbers, it is important to remember that these results are based only on the Geekbench 6 scores. As such, different tests will yield different numbers.
Apple, AMD, and Intel’s single-core and IPC gain from 2016 to 2020
Starting with Intel, from 2916 to 2020, Intel has reportedly achieved a total single-core performance gain of around 111% and an IPC increase of 62.8%. This performance uplift was determined on the basis of Geekbench 6 Single-Core scores of 1,635 and 3,450 for the 4.4 GHz Core i7-6700K and the 5.7 GHz Core Ultra 9 285K, respectively.
AMD appears to have done a lot better than Intel with a total single-threaded performance bump of 195% and a total IPC uplift of 99.7%. Once again, these numbers are based on the Geekbench 6 Single-Core results of 1,245 for the 4 GHz Ryzen 7 1800X and the 3,669 score of the 5.9 GHz Ryzen 9 9950X (Available on Amazon).
Finally, Apple has managed to considerably outpace both AMD and Intel when it comes to improvements in single-threading and IPC. The reported overall improvements from the Apple A10 Fusion (2016) to Apple M4 (2024) stand at an amazing 338% for the single-core and 129% for the IPC.
From the numbers, it is quite clear that moving away from the Intel's x86 chips inside the MacBooks has been in Apple’s favor from both an efficiency and a performance standpoint.
That said, it is quite clear from the latest Lunar Lake/Arrow Lake and Zen 5 desktop and mobile CPUs that efficiency is now a serious consideration for Intel and AMD. So, we might soon arrive at a place in the near future where Apple, AMD, and Intel are at parity in terms of performance/watt.
Source(s)
@SaintHjohnD on X (1,2), Teaser image: AMD, Apple, Intel, Sean Sinclair on Unsplash, edited
