Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

[Darmok N Jalad]

Like many others, the basic M1 has been more than sufficient for me. I have the 16/512 config, which handles the RAW photo editing like a champ. An upgrade will come probably when this thing stops working. Considering how long my other Macs have lasted, that is probably still years away.

 

[Marty80]

My m1 pro max is still going strong, i might hang to it as i throw around computer, when i get the newer m6 pro max model.

 

[Woodcrest64]

What about power consumption and battery life?

Please, tell us more Mr. Computer Man. Look at my avatar, that's how eager I am to read.

The only company I can think of is Nvidia in that time frame for a performance jump similar to Apple in relation to GPU, BUT certainly not efficiency .

Intel, AMD and Qaulcomm haven’t come close to what Apple has done in that same time frame. Both of you are right .

I think the poster for that claim about Intel, AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm is joking, or they are from another dimension 🤣🤪

 

[Virinprew]

My M1 Pro MBP is doing fine. The bottleneck really is the 512 GB SSD.

 

[jlstephan]

I have a MBP M1Max and it is great. I can't see a reason to upgrade.

 

[Enlightened Doggo]

6x faster CPU/GPU performance

‌M1‌ multi-core - 8,175
M5 multi-core - 17,862

There are five lights

 

[Daniel L]

Bring on m6 pro in a thinner oled mbp. Will finally replace the M1 Pro mbp

 

[jlstephan]

I have a MBP M1 Max and it is great. I can see a reason to upgrade soon.

 

[loby]

M1 Max is still over kill

Don’t give Apple any ideas…

 

[MedRed]

Does anybody need faster than an Intel Mac?

I needed better battery life and less heat. I think I was more impressed picking up an M1 MBP over the highest spec Intel MBP than I was going from the highest level PowerBook to a then highest level Intel MBP

 

[rp2011]

Hard to think about Appel without Appel Silicon. It's become their crown jewel. It's Apple's gift to computing. There is No way I would have ever thud thought of even buying a Mac without it. I felt like I had a superpower when I realized my iPad Pro with those AX chips blew away my desktop windows machine and a cr@py Windows laptop.

I even wonder if Apple would even be relevant today without Apple Silicon. I kinda doubt it.

 

[ikramerica]

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only improved since then. We've had five total generations of Apple silicon chips, with the M5 unveiled in the 14-inch MacBook Pro just last month.

Here's how the M5 measures up to the M1, per Apple's M5 specs:

• 6x faster CPU/GPU performance
  
• 6x faster AI performance
  
• 7.7x faster AI video processing
  
• 6.8x faster 3D rendering
  
• 2.6x faster gaming performance
  
• 2.1x faster code compiling

Geekbench comparison scores:

• M1 single-core - 2,320
  
• M5 single-core - 4,263
  
• M1 multi-core - 8,175
  
• M5 multi-core - 17,862
  
• M1 Metal - 33,041
  
• M5 Metal - 75,637

Both CPU and GPU performance have increased significantly over the past five years, and Apple has boosted AI and gaming performance too with add-ons like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and an ever-improving Neural Engine.

M1 Chip	M5 Chip
Made with TSMC's 5nm process (N5)	Made TSMC's third-generation 3nm process (N3P)
Based on A14 Bionic Pro chip from iPhone 12	Based on A19 Pro chip from iPhone 17 Pro
8-core CPU, 8-core GPU	10-core CPU, 10-core GPU
3.2 GHz CPU clock speed	4.61 GHz CPU clock speed
No integrated Neural Accelerators	Integrated Neural Accelerator in every GPU core
No ray tracing engine	Third-generation ray tracing engine
No dynamic caching	Second-generation dynamic caching
Support for up to 16GB unified memory	Support for up to 32GB unified memory
68.25 GB/s unified memory bandwidth	153 GB/s unified memory bandwidth

Apple sold Apple silicon Macs alongside Intel Macs for three years, but phased out the final Intel Mac in June 2023 when the 2019 Mac Pro was discontinued. Now all of Apple's devices have Apple chips, and we're even hitting the end of the road for Intel Mac software support. Intel Macs won't get software updates after macOS Tahoe.

Over the next five years, Apple silicon chip technology will continue to evolve. Apple supplier TSMC is already working on 2nm chips that could make an appearance as soon as 2026, offering a 10 to 15 percent speed improvement and a 25 to 30 percent power reduction. 1.4nm chips could follow as soon as 2028 for even more power and efficiency.

Article Link: Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Pretty sure you mean 2x CPU/GPU not 6x. 6x would be massive news.

 

[ifxf]

I loved the Intel Macs because of the ability to run native intel Windows and Linux which allows me run third party programs not available on the Mac. Apple ditching Intel along with locking down the OS with each release plus the 26 version making lots of text illegible is making me think my next machine will be from a Windows hardware provider.

 

[ikramerica]

The performance of Apple Silicon is very impressive, but it is not the reason I will be upgrading to new systems as a main driver, as the performance of the M1 Max is still very strong. I am looking for the following:

- Double the storage/ram for the same price (I know good luck...lol...)...and fast storage
- OLED in Macbook Pro
- Cellular in the MacBook lineup
- FaceID (what is taking so long!!!!)
- > 32" Studio Display or iMac with 120hz and at least mini-led
- Touchscreen (although not a need but it will be cool)
- Thinner 14" MBP (I actually wouldn't mind no HDMI for another Thunderbolt port but I know others would)
- If the new monitors require Thunderbolt 5 which they likely will, I will probably upgrade for that
- Wifi 7 and Bluetooth 6
- Would also love a new take on an ultraportable with an OLED screen ala the old 12" Macbook

* RAM and storage limits (some of which were my fault since I bought enough, but not enough of course) will get me to upgrade way before the performance of the M1/M2 lineup feels not performant enough.

That said, Apple Silicon has been AMAZING and the overall best thing for the Mac in a very long time.

The only thing on your list that really matters to me is the 1st thing!

 

[loby]

This post feels like an Apple marketing stunt to prompt M1 owners to upgrade in the wake of Liquid Glass as a tactic to slow down older Apple Silicon with unnecessary ******** 3D effects.

Yes…I thought the same.

M1 16” MacBook Pro = BEST Laptop I have ever had (Period).

I will upgrade Apple, so don’t make the OS make me….WE know how it all works….

YOU will get my money, just not now. Some have waited a long long time for the M1….patiently.

Be patient with us and allow us to enjoy it a little while longer. 😉

 

[ikramerica]

The only company I can think of is Nvidia in that time frame for a performance jump similar to Apple in relation to GPU, BUT certainly not efficiency .

Intel, AMD and Qaulcomm haven’t come close to what Apple has done in that same time frame. Both of you are right .

I think the poster for that claim about Intel, AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm is joking, or they are from another dimension 🤣🤪

When my wife’s Dell fan kicks on under light use, I laugh. It’s not loud, it’s just on my M1Pro 16”, the fan has turned one audibly once in 4 years, and that was under a very heavy load and I had accidentally left a sheet of paper covering the entire keyboard.

 

[svish]

Shift to Apple Silicon has been huge. Apple is able to launch products at regular intervals due to the shift. Improvements from the 1st generation to the latest have been very good. Have M1,M2 and M4 chips in my Macs and iPad Pro. Will be very interesting to see how it improves in the future.

 

[ikramerica]

I loved the Intel Macs because of the ability to run native intel Windows and Linux which allows me run third party programs not available on the Mac. Apple ditching Intel along with locking down the OS with each release plus the 26 version making lots of text illegible is making me think my next machine will be from a Windows hardware provider.

OS26 is SOOOO bad as an interface it is frightening. The fact they are now helping you turn some of it off is a black eye for them.

Whether it is on AppleTV or an iPad or a Mac, the GUI is just so BAD it’s ridiculous. Even on the TV, which barely has an interface, they made the control center CLEAR which made it impossible to use.

On the phone the email app has a ton of bugs that make it impossible to type anything in some situations, and in websites the dialogue boxes for form inputs and passwords often hide their buttons and entirely hide the text entry field they apply to! This is on a Max. Can’t imagine how bad a smaller screen is.

 

[Flight Plan]

Music Producers still swear by the M1 vs any other chip since. Boggles the mind that his is the case. It is the way digital audio workstations utilize the cores, I believe. Why Apple?

I kind of doubt that. It's all about the memory and/or the SSD capacity, especially when you consider VST usage.

My 2012 MBP is doing fine as well Of course gets hot sometimes and battery is dead but for my needs...

If that battery is getting hot, you might want to consider having it replaced. Hot battery that's 13 years old is asking for a house fire.

5 years already and it’s felt like a white knuckle racing rollercoaster the entire time. The sheer performance of the M1 and then the continuous stacking boost each year since has been insane. Biggest shakeup to CPUs since the x86-64 hit the scene.

I agree, especially with the use of performance and efficiency cores under varying workloads. Intel missed the boat on that one.

It's unfortunate that Apple went with the name "Apple silicon" since moving away from silicon as a material may be the next big leap. Silicon Valley would also need to be renamed. 🤣

If we can rename the Gulf of America, we can rename anything. Of course, "Washington Commanders" is proof that we won't always exercise the best taste.

I needed better battery life and less heat. I think I was more impressed picking up an M1 MBP over the highest spec Intel MBP than I was going from the highest level PowerBook to a then highest level Intel MBP

Heat and noise bothers me. Not looking forward to finally upgrading my 9th gen i9 windows laptop.

I even wonder if Apple would even be relevant today without Apple Silicon. I kinda doubt it.

It's possible that you're right about that!

 

[yoheywut]

Most important and consequential release Apple has done in that time frame.

 

[coolfactor]

I'm a M1 mini (16, 512) user and have been wondering if should update the OS to Tahoe. Is everything smooth? Just wanted to make sure.

There's one issue that's been reported online and something that I've experienced myself several times. The system runs out of memory when left in Sleep mode. All apps get paused. Some people have even reported this issue during their workday, but I haven't had that happen; only during overnight Sleep. Need to quit all apps and/or reboot the machine to return to a normal state. Apple has not acknowledged this issue yet, and I don't know if it was resolved in the most recent update, as I've been very careful about how I leave the machine at night.

 

[coolfactor]

Hard to think about Appel without Appel Silicon. It's become their crown jewel. It's Apple's gift to computing. There is No way I would have ever thud thought of even buying a Mac without it. I felt like I had a superpower when I realized my iPad Pro with those AX chips blew away my desktop windows machine and a cr@py Windows laptop.

I even wonder if Apple would even be relevant today without Apple Silicon. I kinda doubt it.

Apple has proven to overcome challenges several times, so I'd have no doubt that they would have found a way to exist if Apple silicon didn't exist. Lots of advances in competing platforms, or were those advances in response to Apple's own efforts with silicon? One must wonder...

 

[roncron]

At this rate, TSMC will be making 0.5nm chips in 2030, 0.0nm chips in 2031, and -.4nm chips in 2033. Performance gains will be off the charts!

 

[bigglow]

At this rate, TSMC will be making 0.5nm chips in 2030, 0.0nm chips in 2031, and -.4nm chips in 2033. Performance gains will be off the charts!

This is why I replace my devices after the final macOS, iPadOS and watchOS Security Update.

 

[karatekidk]

There's one issue that's been reported online and something that I've experienced myself several times. The system runs out of memory when left in Sleep mode. All apps get paused. Some people have even reported this issue during their workday, but I haven't had that happen; only during overnight Sleep. Need to quit all apps and/or reboot the machine to return to a normal state. Apple has not acknowledged this issue yet, and I don't know if it was resolved in the most recent update, as I've been very careful about how I leave the machine at night.

Thank you - that's interesting and good to know. I think I will wait to update for the time being.