Apple M3 Pro 11-Core vs Intel Core i5-13500T vs Intel Core i5-13600K

Apple M3 Pro 11-Core

The Apple M3 Pro 11 Core is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced late 2023. It integrates 11 of the 12 CPU cores with 5 of 6 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 6 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz.

Compared to the M2 Pro the M3 Pro has been slimmed down somewhat and swaps two performance cores for efficiency cores. This is due to the changed core configuration, as 6 cores are now used per cluster (the M2 Pro and M3 still have 4 cores per cluster). Furthermore, the memory bus has been reduced from 256 bits to 192 bits (150 GB/s vs. 200 GB/s). Thanks to the new architecture and higher clock rates, the new M3 Pro is still slightly faster.

The M3 Pro also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the entry-level model, only 14 of the chip's 18 cores are used and support up to 3 displays simultaneously (internal and 2 external).

GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 18 or 36 GB variants and offers 150 GB/s maximum bandwidth (192 bit bus).

The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded.

Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).

The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 37 billion transistors (-7.5% vs. Apple M2 Pro).

Intel Core i5-13500T

The Intel Core i5-13500T is a fast and very economical desktop processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, which was introduced in October 2022. The processor offers a base clock of 1.6 GHz and reaches up to 4.6 GHz in Turbo. The hybrid CPU architecture, which was introduced with Alder Lake, also benefits the Raptor Lake processors. The suffix T stands for a particularly economical CPU model, and with a TDP of just 35 watts (PL1 = 35 watts), these processors are ideally suited for small, compact systems.

Performance

The low power consumption ultimately results in slightly lower performance compared to the Intel Core i5-13500. Depending on how the PL2 (92 watts) is defined, there may be noticeable differences in multi-core performance. Compared to the Intel Core i5-12500T, the Intel Core i5-13500T is superior due to the higher number of physical computing units.

Graphics unit

Like the Intel Core i5-12500T, the Intel Core i5-13500T offers an integrated graphics unit. The Intel Iris Xe architecture continues to serve as the basis. In terms of performance, however, not much has changed with the new Intel UHD Graphics 770. The iGPU of the Intel Core i5-13500T also clocks 100 MHz higher, but this does not make a noticeable difference in everyday use.

Power consumption

The TDP of the Intel Core i5-13500T is 35 watts, with the option to increase this to up to 92 watts in Turbo mode. Compared to the Intel Core i5-12500T (PL2 = 74 watts), the maximum possible energy requirement increases slightly.

Intel Core i5-13600K

The Intel Core i5-13600K is a fast mid-range desktop processor of the Raptor Lake series. It includes a hybrid architecture for the CPU cores with combined 14 cores. Six fast Raptor Cove performance cores (P-cores) with HyperThreading and a clock speed of 3.5 - 5.1 GHz and eight Gracemont efficiency cores without HyperThreading and a clock speed of 2.6 - 3.9 GHz.

Thanks to the faster P-cores and more E-cores, the i5-13600K is significantly faster than the old i5-12600K (especially in multi-threaded workloads. 

The 13600K is rated at 125 Watt TDP base power (PL1) and 181 Watt Turbo Power (PL2) and therefore slightly higher than the old Core i5-12600K.