MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13 "and Mac mini - Apple is now installing its own system-on-chip (SoC) called M1 with ARM processing cores in these computers. It is closely related to the A14 chip in the current iPhones, but has more CPU cores and can burn more power under load, i.e. clock higher. The M1 consists of 16 billion transistors. Its CPU part follows the big.LITTLE design: It comprises four so-called performance cores (Firestorm, a total of 12 MByte L2 cache) and four efficiency cores (Icestorm, 4 MByte L2 cache). In addition, the system can also access a common system level cache (SLC), presumably 16 MB. The SoC also includes a graphics unit with eight cores of 128 execution units each, the machine learning block called Neural Engine with 16 cores and a memory controller for LPDDR4X-4266-RAM. The main memory is also on the chip carrier and cannot be upgraded later. When ordering, you decide on 8 or 16 GByte - there is nothing more for an extra charge. Also on board: the T2 controller, which serves, among other things, as a security processor, SSD controller, audio codec and signal processor for image processing. There are small, subtle differences between the three new M1 Macs: Because Apple wanted to do without a fan in the MacBook Air, the processor there is not allowed to produce as much waste heat and runs at slightly lower clock rates. In addition, only seven of the eight GPU cores are activated in its basic version; the eighth is available at an additional cost. MacBook Pro and Mac mini, on the other hand, use the M1 in full configuration and cool it with a fan. The basic model of the MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro and a Mac mini were available for the test. While the mobile Macs were each equipped with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, the mini has 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. Since the results of the trio hardly differ, we usually only mention those of the MacBook Pro. For comparison, we used a MacBook Pro 13 "with Intel's Core i5-1038NG7 (four cores plus Hyper-Threading, 2.0 to 3.8 GHz) and 16 GB of RAM from the beginning of the year [1]. Benchmarks The first point of contact for our performance measurements is the Cinebench. It simulates working with the 3D renderer Cinema4D under Windows and macOS, which enables cross-platform comparisons. The recently released Cinebench R23 also uses both ARM and Intel (x86) CPUs natively as a universal app. The predecessor R20 also runs on the new M1 Macs, but only as an x86 app using the Rosetta 2 emulator. Despite emulation, the new MacBook Pro achieves a 16 percent higher multithreading performance in Cinebench R20 than the Intel MacBook. The lead grows in the new R23 version: With a performance core, the Mini scores 1572 points, with all eight cores 7786 points. Meanwhile, the passively cooled MacBook Air throttled during the first run and got 7425 points. In the following Cinebench runs, his performance gradually sank to below 6300 points. It still beats the Intel MacBook, which only scored 1092 and 4955 points. In the single-core performance, the actively cooled M1 not only outperforms all previous mobile processors in the 15 to 45 watt class, it is even just behind AMD's current desktop CPU Ryzen 9 5900X (1585 points). In the multi-core rating, it ranks between the 45-watt core i7-10750H (6300 points) and Ryzen 5 4600H (8370 points) mobile CPUs, but doesn’t beat the desktop Ryzen (21,153 points) more. Great advantages for the Apple chips can be seen in applications that are already available natively, such as Apple's own creative software. Exporting a film in Full HD with Final Cut Pro took only a third as long on the M1 Mac as on the Intel MacBook (see table). With 4K resolution, the distance was reduced to a little less than half. The 8 GB of RAM ran full with 8K material, because then the Intel MacBook took a clear lead with its 16 GB. The 16 GByte Mac mini undercut that time by half. In the still current version 1.3.3 of the video transcoder Handbrake, the M1 MacBook achieved an average speed of 35.8 fps and was a tip ahead of the Intel MacBook (34.1 fps). However, there is already beta version 1.4 with ARM Mac support, which managed 55.9 fps. With adapted software, the integrated graphics unit of the M1 SoC also pulls away from the iGPU of the Core i5. In the metal benchmark of Geekbench 5, which is already available as a universal app, the lead is 82 percent. And while the Intel Mac struggled through the worgen area in Gilneas at around 20 fps in World of Warcraft with Full HD, the highest level of detail 10 and FXAA anti-aliasing on high in window mode, the M1 MacBook Pro managed around 60 fps. For Apple, however, this is the best case, because Blizzard uses Apple's Metal API for its MMORPG and recently released a universal app version. Although it ran Rosetta-emulated, the M1 MacBook also brought Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Full HD, Preset High, SMAA anti-aliasing) to the screen with a slightly higher frame rate. The difference was only 14 percent: 24 to 21 fps. After all: The older Rise of the Tomb Raider on the MacBook Pro increased from 16 on the Intel Mac to 41 fps on the ARM version. It will be interesting to see what future adjustments will bring to drivers and especially to the games and whether and when they will come. Taktraten und TDP Über Taktraten und TDP des M1 schweigt sich Apple aus. Um die Werte am Mac mini auszulesen, griffen wir zum Terminal-Befehl sudo powermetrics -i 2000 -s cpu_power, um beide Werte alle 2 Sekunden auszulesen. Demnach erreicht ein einzelner Performance-Core im Singlethreading-Lauf des neuen Cinebench R23 3,2 GHz und nimmt etwa 3,3 Watt auf; im Multithread-­Test laufen die vier Performance-Cores mit knapp 3 GHz (zusammen 13,5 Watt), die Efficiency-Cores rechnen mit 2,1 GHz mit (1,2 Watt). Das spricht für eine SoC-TDP von etwa 15 bis 20 Watt, was der Blick auf das Leistungsmessgerät bestätigt: Primärseitig, also inklusive aller Verluste, waren es 22 bis 26 Watt. Die Taktrate der GPU verriet uns sudo powermetrics -i 2000 -s gpu_power. Per ­Shadow of the Tomb Raider gefordert, taktete sie mit 1,28 GHz und benötigte dabei etwa 6 Watt. Der Mac mini blieb übrigens während des gesamten Tests praktisch unhörbar, das lüfterlose MacBook Air sowieso. Nur das Kühlsystem des MacBook Pro sprang im Cinebench an, blieb aber selbst dann mit 0,9 Sone noch leise. Fazit Schon immer galt es als Apples großer Vorteil, Betriebssystem, Hardware und zentrale Software selbst in der Hand zu haben und optimal aufeinander abzustimmen. Mit dem selbst entwickelten M1-SoC hebt die Firma diese enge Verzahnung noch einmal auf eine neue Stufe und das Ergebnis beeindruckt. Das Gesamtpaket aus macOS, Apple-Hardware und optimierten Anwendungen ist schnell, leise und arbeitet energiesparend.