Multi-core looks good enough but a little extra oomph is needed for single core performance. In truth the Apple performance gap is quickly closed when all competitors switch to 5nm. Apple has the lead for a short period but they're climbing a ladder that doesn't have many rungs left. When Intel switches to 5nm then the performance gap will be gone. It'll be a LOT harder for Apple to get OFF 5nm to another process. It'll be equally hard to out-run Intel as nobody is as focused to crush the competition when they play catch up than Intel.
Hmmm ... I would dispute that Apple's advantage is merely from process node advantage (especially as chucker23n1 pointed out that Qualcomm's 888 is on the Samsung's version of 5nm and even if that were the case, again as chucker23n1 has said, the foundry is TSMC who seem to be moving forward well with its future process nodes). This is similar to the pre-Zen vs Core era except reversed. Yes, Intel had a foundry advantage in those days, but the reality is AMD's architecture also couldn't keep up. People on this forum and others far more knowledgeable about chip design than me (like cmaier above) have said that, for different reasons obviously, Zen 3 and A14 are simply better than Intel's newest Lake processors. And wrt to the A14, Intel and x86 in general will struggle to catch up to its PPW.
Now in those bygone days, sure Intel could simply out muscle its competition even when that competition had an architecture advantage (like in the early 64bit days against AMD pre-Core 2). But now? Their foundry process is floundering and the competition is coming from everywhere with some having deeper pockets than Intel's got and entrenched markets that Intel can't touch. They're still fighting against AMD in x86 (and losing) and a non-exhaustive list of who ARM licenses its tech to includes Apple, Ampere, Qualcomm, Amazon, Google, Samsung, and (reportedly) Microsoft. The last one hurts the most as, like Apple, Microsoft not only represent lost revenue, but a lost partner. If Microsoft decides to fully embrace ARM and push its adoption for both servers and consumers, Intel's x86 platform is in even deeper trouble than by Apple leaving it.
It's not a matter of others outrunning Intel, but of Intel surviving the coming onslaught. Could they do it? Can Intel maintain dominance through x86? Maybe. Weirder things have happened in the history of the world. Having been top dog for so long means there will be some inertia in the market. But it's going to be *very* tough for them to survive in their current form. They've not faced a deficit in both technology and economics quite like this.