Apple Silicon M1 Compiles Code as Fast as 2019 Mac Pro and With Minimal Battery Life Impact

By now, we've seen many benchmark results and reviews showing the breakthrough performance of Apple's new M1 chip for Macs, but the improvements are even more impressive when coupled with battery life metrics.

m1 chip macbook air pro
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino compiled the open source code for Safari's browser engine WebKit on a variety of Macs, and as has come to be expected, M1-based models completed the task quicker than Intel-based models.

For example, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 compiled WebKit in 20 minutes and 43 seconds, more than twice as fast as the latest Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro, which took 46 minutes and 10 seconds. In fact, the M1-based MacBook Pro's performance in the test was almost exactly on par with the 2019 Mac Pro.

The only exception was the MacBook Air, which was bested by the 2019 Mac Pro by about five minutes in the test, as thermal throttling eventually kicks in on the notebook due to its fanless design. It's still impressive that Apple's entry-level $999 notebook performs within the ballpark of its professional desktop workstation, which starts at $5,999, and makes it exciting to see what Apple Silicon will deliver in higher-end Macs.

webkit compile time
As mentioned, things get really impressive when battery life is considered. After the WebKit compiling was finished on the various Macs, the M1-based MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro each had 91% battery life remaining, compared to 61% on a high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro and just 24% on the Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro.

WebKit Compile Battery Remaining
All in all, Apple's promise that its chips would deliver industry-leading performance-per-watt appears to be holding up. Panzarino's review has lots of other useful charts and benchmarks and is worth a read as customers wait for their new Macs to arrive.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...

Top Rated Comments

Darth Tulhu Avatar
48 months ago
What. The. Hell.

Apple, Steve Jobs would be proud of you. Seriously.

2020 is ending with a BANG, man. And I get to stay home and play with these!!
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
48 months ago
If I hear one more thing about M1












j/k

It's freaking mindblowing!
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
topdrawer Avatar
48 months ago
16"
16"
16"
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
midkay Avatar
48 months ago
That’s unbelievable. Quantum leaps like this are so, so rare these days. M1 is really something.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
48 months ago
It is SO HARD to wait for the upcoming iMacs right now.

But I know it's the right thing to do. I've always had an iMac, always found it was the perfect computer for me.
I cannot let my impatience win on me haha
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cibonak Avatar
48 months ago
do i need it if i just want to send emails?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)