M1 Chip Beats GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and Radeon RX 560 for Graphics Performance

[the8thark]

What most people here do not understand.

The M1 is best in it's class - low power integrated GPUs. It's so good that people ran out of other integrated GPUs to compare it against so they decided to compare it to dGPUs. The analogy (as said by others above) is if a light weight boxer destroyed everyone in his weight class so much that they moved to comparing him to see which heavyweights he could beat.

The two key features of these computers are battery life and cost. Not GPU grunt. Yes a 1080TI is old tech now, but that level of power AND the amazing battery life of these machines all in the same package? That's amazing.
The point here is not worlds best graphics. It's all about the M1 having the least over all GPU sacrifices of any integrated low power CPU. You don't have to buy garbage just to hit that huge battery life anymore.

Mass rollouts of these things, like in Education or other scenarios where each user doesn't need a beast of a machine, they just need a machine, the overall experience will be so much better.

What this does is blur the lines between desktop and mobile SoC performance. Sure it's 3-4 year old desktop performance as the comparison, but when you think about it, the whole discussion being about desktop performance is the amazing part. Mobile tech beating 4 year old desktop hardware is amazing, no matter how you slice it. It proves that Apple's mobile chip sets are not decades behind the desktop tech. They are catching up.

 

[vionc]

For an integrated GPU thats quite impressive. Additionally, its the first desktop class processor for apple and is probably not pushing the limits of this design. So there is still room for even better performance

 

[boss.king]

What "effort"? You do know that Intel made the chips for those Macs, and that M1 is Apple's first Mac chip right?

Yes, I've already addressed this elsewhere in this thread. There's more to a laptop than the CPU. You can't honestly tell me you believe that the 2016 to early 2020 laptops were Apple putting their best foot forward.

 

[creediddy]

What most people here do not understand.

The M1 is best in it's class - low power integrated GPUs. It's so good that people ran out of other integrated GPUs to compare it against so they decided to compare it to dGPUs. The analogy (as said by others above) is if a light weight boxer destroyed everyone in his weight class so much that they noved to comparing him to see which heavyweights he could beat.

The two key features of these computers are battery life and cost. Not GPU grunt. Yes a 1080TI is old tech now, but that level of power AND the amazing battery life of these machines all in the same package? That's amazing.
The point here is not worlds best graphics. It's all about the M1 having the least over all GPU sacrifices of any integrated low power CPU. You don't have to buy garbage just to hit that huge battery life anymore.

Mass rollouts of these things, like in Education or other scenarios where each user doesn't need a beast of a machine, they just need a machine, the overall experience will be so much better.

What this does is blur the lines between desktop and mobile SoC performance. Sure it's 3-4 year old desktop performance as the comparison, but when you think about it, the whole discussion being about desktop performance is the amazing part. Mobile tech beating 4 year old desktop hardware is amazing, no matter how you slice it. It proves that Apple's mobile chip sets are not decades behind the desktop tech. They are catching up.

Very good analogy!

 

[deputy_doofy]

Seems like an awful lot of people missing the point, perhaps intentionally. I've got a really good Mac mini, and I'll be the first to tell you that the only part of it that feels like a limitation is the Iris iGPU. If the M1 iGPU is in the class of a reasonably good mid-range discrete graphics card -- not a face-melter, but a good solid result -- then that's great news in the world of iGPUs.

Seeing some of the replies arguing the merit of the M1, it's intentional. Or pure stupidity. Or pure ego getting hurt. Something. It's insane to watch.

 

[mattopotamus]

What most people here do not understand.

The M1 is best in it's class - low power integrated GPUs. It's so good that people ran out of other integrated GPUs to compare it against so they decided to compare it to dGPUs. The analogy (as said by others above) is if a light weight boxer destroyed everyone in his weight class so much that they noved to comparing him to see which heavyweights he could beat.

The two key features of these computers are battery life and cost. Not GPU grunt. Yes a 1080TI is old tech now, but that level of power AND the amazing battery life of these machines all in the same package? That's amazing.
The point here is not worlds best graphics. It's all about the M1 having the least over all GPU sacrifices of any integrated low power CPU. You don't have to buy garbage just to hit that huge battery life anymore.

Mass rollouts of these things, like in Education or other scenarios where each user doesn't need a beast of a machine, they just need a machine, the overall experience will be so much better.

What this does is blur the lines between desktop and mobile SoC performance. Sure it's 3-4 year old desktop performance as the comparison, but when you think about it, the whole discussion being about desktop performance is the amazing part. Mobile tech beating 4 year old desktop hardware is amazing, no matter how you slice it. It proves that Apple's mobile chip sets are not decades behind the desktop tech. They are catching up.

Perfectly said. People are glossing over the fact it is integrated GPU vs dGPU and fixating on older tech.

 

[weaztek]

Seems like an awful lot of people missing the point, perhaps intentionally. I've got a really good Mac mini, and I'll be the first to tell you that the only part of it that feels like a limitation is the Iris iGPU. If the M1 iGPU is in the class of a reasonably good mid-range discrete graphics card -- not a face-melter, but a good solid result -- then that's great news in the world of iGPUs.

I got a barely used external GPU (RX 570) on facebook marketplace for $200. Hardcore gamers seem to get new cards every year or so there are plenty of great cards on the used market. If you ever decide to up the performance on your Mini don't be afraid to check out that market. My Metal score on geekbench 5 was around 4,500 and is now around 33,000.

 

[ruka.snow]

Then the article and plenty of others should stop comparing the performance with gaming cards then [albeit, old budget ones]

The article shows its GPU can run GPU things faster, to me that means a Mac mini without a BlackMagic eGPU 580. It is doing all of my tasks almost as fast or faster with significantly less power consumption. And I can fire up games on it with acceptable performance... and that can even be on a MacBook Air... what isn't to like here?

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Will the new M1 machines play World of Warcraft? Or will it have to be ported to work on arm or emulated So we would have to wait?

 

[MallardDuck]

makes you wonder what the M2 big chips will be like, and if it's the end of the discrete graphics chip option.

And that makes me wonder about the future of eGPU support, especially since it was removed from the first models released.

 

[deputy_doofy]

What most people here do not understand.

The M1 is best in it's class - low power integrated GPUs. It's so good that people ran out of other integrated GPUs to compare it against so they decided to compare it to dGPUs. The analogy (as said by others above) is if a light weight boxer destroyed everyone in his weight class so much that they noved to comparing him to see which heavyweights he could beat.

The two key features of these computers are battery life and cost. Not GPU grunt. Yes a 1080TI is old tech now, but that level of power AND the amazing battery life of these machines all in the same package? That's amazing.
The point here is not worlds best graphics. It's all about the M1 having the least over all GPU sacrifices of any integrated low power CPU. You don't have to buy garbage just to hit that huge battery life anymore.

Mass rollouts of these things, like in Education or other scenarios where each user doesn't need a beast of a machine, they just need a machine, the overall experience will be so much better.

What this does is blur the lines between desktop and mobile SoC performance. Sure it's 3-4 year old desktop performance as the comparison, but when you think about it, the whole discussion being about desktop performance is the amazing part. Mobile tech beating 4 year old desktop hardware is amazing, no matter how you slice it. It proves that Apple's mobile chip sets are not decades behind the desktop tech. They are catching up.

Your analogy is right on the money.

The truth is, my 2020 MBA with i7 and Iris Something can't even pretend to compete in the way the M1 does. You know what my i7 competes with? My i7-4960HQ from 2013. Wow. Intel made a low power i7 that finally compares to an i7 from a near-decade ago.

But, for inexplicable reasons, this hurts people's brains and they MUST compare the M1 to today's top-selling GPU or else.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

I acknowledge that this is TRULY mind-blowing performance for Apple's entry-level chip.

But I have to wonder if we're setting unrealistic expectations with regards to the rest of the Mac lineup and subsequent AS chips.

This is great and all, but it just seems too good to be true that Apple's chips will get exponentially better on an iMac or Mac Pro.

All that said, this amount of M1 power (on an MBA!!!) will meet my needs for the next 5 years or more. Holy crap.

 

[kcslc]

Yes with a massive fan and power draw. You don’t seem to understand the thermals and power difference.

I do understand. The original poster asked a question and I gave an accurate answer. Then you had to come along and be a jerk about it.

I really. Really. Really. Hate apple fanboys.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Do we get more Pentium snail ads?

 

[Ex2bot]

These are really good benchmarks for the igpu in the M1, but until Apple works with all the major game studios to bring the best games natively to Mac then it’s kind of wasted. We should be getting titles like Witcher 3, Call of Duty, Ubisoft franchises etc on the Mac to play on the M chips but alas at this moment they are all on consoles and Windows.

I can't believe so many people are making this argument. I suspect there are tons of computer users who don't play games at all and still use a GPU. I mean, it's not even optional anymore. Aren't there ANY non-game applications that depend on the GPU? I'm sure if I thought for a few days, I could think of at least one.

 

[psingh01]

I'm reminded of this classic quote, when Apple was building the iPhone “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” -- Palm CEO Ed Colligan

I get the feeling Nvidia aren't expecting Apple to 'just walk in' and make competitive graphics processors, and I get the feeling they might be surprised.

It doesn’t really matter. Nvidia haven’t been shipped in macs in years and Apple isn’t going to sell their stuff to the pc crowd. They aren’t really competing for the same crowd.

Maybe in the future Apple can make a custom chip for a console. That would be a big deal.

 

[creediddy]

makes you wonder what the M2 big chips will be like, and if it's the end of the discrete graphics chip option.

And that makes me wonder about the future of eGPU support, especially since it was removed from the first models released.

I believe Apple has many versions in the works...From what I hear...

M1 = Entry level laptop/mac mini
?? = High-end Macbook Pros and Desktop Mac Pros
X = iPad Pros

 

[FelixDerKater]

 

[dguisinger]

Yes, I've already addressed this elsewhere in this thread. There's more to a laptop than the CPU. You can't honestly tell me you believe that the 2016 to early 2020 laptops were Apple putting their best foot forward.

Huh?
The GPU in the Macs that the M1 Macs are replacing **WAS** the Intel CPU.
Its Apples to Apples.
Intel CPU with integrated GPU was slower than M1 Macs with integrated GPU.

What ultra-light notebook has a high end discrete graphics chip?

 

[Codeseven]

Perfectly said. People are glossing over the fact it is integrated GPU vs dGPU and fixating on older tech.

And, an integrated GPU, in an Entry Level machine.

 

[kcslc]

It is mind boggling how many people are trying to downplay the performance by comparing to a 3080 or other dedicated cards. This is an integrated GPU. I don't know of another integrated GPU that is that good.

PlayStation 4 Pro APU. Xbox One X APU. Both more powerful and deliver more teraflops than the M1.

 

[tubular]

I got a barely used external GPU (RX 570) on facebook marketplace for $200. Hardcore gamers seem to get new cards every year or so there are plenty of great cards on the used market. If you ever decide to up the performance on your Mini don't be afraid to check out that market. My Metal score on geekbench 5 was around 4,500 and is now around 33,000.

I've thought pretty hard about an eGPU, but I've also got a 2016 PC with a GTX 1060 -- a mid-range gaming rig at the time, because I'm not a hardcore gamer, and still fine for my purposes. So if I need to do some serious pixel-wrangling, I'll switch over to that.

I think the more serious barrier to high-performance gaming on the Mac, in the medium term, will be the deprecation of OpenGL and the lack of support for any industry-standard graphics interface. But that's a different topic.

 

[izyreal]

I'd be a lot more excited if the chip was better than the 1060, lol.

 

[Klae17]

How does the new MacBooks compare with the available choices for the Macbook Pros in terms of GPU?

 

[boss.king]

Huh?
The GPU in the Macs that the M1 Macs are replacing **WAS** the Intel CPU.
Its Apples to Apples.
Intel CPU with integrated GPU was slower than M1 Macs with integrated GPU.

Yes, but Intel integrated GPU isn't the only option that was available to them. They chose to stick with that rather than exploring other options, and the same goes for the CPU. Again, I've covered my opinion on this elsewhere in the thread.

What ultra-light notebook has a high end discrete graphics chip?

If you just put "ultrabook discrete GPU 2020" into google, you'll save me a lot of copy and pasting.