Apple Silicon M1 Chip in MacBook Air Outperforms High-End 16-Inch MacBook Pro

Apple introduced the first MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini with M1 Apple Silicon chips yesterday, and as of today, the first benchmark of the new chip appears to be showing up on the Geekbench site.

macbook air m1 first benchmark

The ‌M1‌ chip, which belongs to a ‌MacBook Air‌ with 8GB RAM, features a single-core score of 1687 and a multi-core score of 7433. According to the benchmark, the ‌M1‌ has a 3.2GHz base frequency.

When compared to existing devices, the ‌M1‌ chip in the ‌MacBook Air‌ outperforms all iOS devices. For comparison's sake, the iPhone 12 Pro earned a single-core score of 1584 and a multi-core score of 3898, while the highest ranked iOS device on Geekbench's charts, the A14 iPad Air, earned a single-core score of 1585 and a multi-core score of 4647.

mba single core

Single Core benchmarks

In comparison to Macs, the single-core performance is better than any other available Mac, and the multi-core performance beats out all of the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro models, including the 10th-generation high-end 2.4GHz Intel Core i9 model. That high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 1096 and a multi-core score of 6870.

Though the ‌M1‌ chip is outperforming the 16-inch MacBook Pro models when it comes to raw CPU benchmarks, the 16-inch MacBook Pro likely offers better performance in other areas such as the GPU as those models have high-power discrete GPUs.

mba multicore

Multi Core benchmarks

It's worth noting that there are likely to be some performance differences between the MacBook Pro and the ‌MacBook Air‌ even though they're using the same ‌M1‌ chip because the ‌MacBook Air‌ has a fanless design and the MacBook Pro has an new Apple-designed cooling system. There's also a benchmark for the Mac mini, though, and it has about the same scores.

The ‌Mac mini‌ with ‌M1‌ chip that was benchmarked earned a single-core score of 1682 and a multi-core score of 7067.

Update: There's also a benchmark for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with ‌M1‌ chip and 16GB RAM that has a single-core score of 1714 and a multi-core score of 6802. Like the ‌MacBook Air‌, it has a 3.2GHz base frequency. A few other ‌MacBook Air‌ benchmarks have surfaced too with similar scores, and the full list is available on Geekbench.

Related Roundups: Mac mini, MacBook Air
Related Forums: Mac mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro

Top Rated Comments

mnsportsgeek Avatar
46 months ago
This is the stuff I’ve been waiting for!
Score: 95 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmgregory1 Avatar
46 months ago
Wow, just imagine what the higher end products are going to deliver. As others are saying, Intel and AMD are going to be scrambling to find a way to get just close to this kind of performance per watt - in the next 12-18 months, which by that time Apple will be at the next level again. I wonder if the PC crowd really understands what Apple has been able to deliver, or if they’ll just be in denial?
Score: 81 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mc0 Avatar
46 months ago
Debbie Downers where you at???
Score: 72 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mozumder Avatar
46 months ago
RIP Intel/AMD.

GG WP Apple.

I don't think there are ANY x86 processors that match this single-core speed.
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lobwedgephil Avatar
46 months ago
Wow.
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DHagan4755 Avatar
46 months ago
Well as Johny Srouji said yesterday, "M1 delivers a giant leap in performance-per-Watt and every Mac with M1 will be transformed into a completely different class of product."
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Apple Music Messages and Notes Feature 1

iOS 18 Rumored to Add New Features to These 16 Apps on Your iPhone

Tuesday April 30, 2024 10:44 am PDT by
Apple is expected to announce iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, and new features have already been rumored for many apps, including Apple Music, Apple Maps, Calculator, Messages, Notes, Safari, and others. Below, we recap iOS 18 rumors on a per-app basis, based on reports from MacRumors, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, and others: Apple Maps: At least two new Apple Maps features are...
apple watch ipad demo 1

Check Out This Apple Watch iPad Demo Unit From 2014

Wednesday May 1, 2024 1:46 pm PDT by
With the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch approaching, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at an interesting bit of Apple Watch history. After the Apple Watch was announced in 2014, and before it became available in 2015, Apple sent out custom Apple Watch iPad demo kiosks to retail stores. The Apple Watch and iPad units used for these devices were specially designed, had custom ...
Apple Event Let Loose Pastel Green

Report: Five Things Apple Won't Announce at Its Event Next Week

Friday May 3, 2024 4:30 am PDT by
Apple is holding at least five announcements for later in the year that will not arrive at the company's "Let loose" special event next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report detailing his expectations for Apple's upcoming event, Gurman noted that there are a total of five things that the company is holding for later in the year: AI features: While Apple may tease new...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri 1

Tim Cook on Generative AI: 'We Have Advantages That Will Differentiate Us'

Thursday May 2, 2024 2:11 pm PDT by
During today's earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2024, Apple CEO Tim Cook again spoke about Apple's work on generative AI. He said that Apple has "advantages" that will "differentiate" the company in the era of AI, and some "very exciting things" will be shared with customers in the near future. We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI. We are ...
maxresdefault

Will the New iPad Pro Really Have the M4 Chip?

Wednesday May 1, 2024 8:30 am PDT by
While Apple's upcoming iPad Pro models have been expected to feature the M3 chip for over a year, recent reports have unexpectedly suggested that the new devices will instead feature the as-yet-unannounced M4 chip. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Last week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that he now believes there is a "strong possibility" that the upcoming iPad Pro ...