Apple MacBook Pro 16 – 2019
16", Intel Core i9-9880H, 16 GB, 1000 GB, DE
Apple Silicon in the benchmark: Will the Macbook Pro with the M1 kill the 16-inch Macbook?
19.11.2020
Translation: machine translated
Much has been said, much has been hoped for. Let's get down to business. After unpacking the new Macbook with M1 Apple Silicon CPU, it's time for benchmarks.
Before we get started: This is not a full review. The full review is yet to come. Because I've only just unpacked the new Macbook Pro with 8 GB RAM and Apple Silicon, i.e. the new M1 system-on-a-chip, switched it on and updated it to Big Sur. A full review of the device would therefore be nothing more than a cobbled-together piece of writing based more or less loosely on reality and experience.
But I can answer the most important questions. Including how well the Macbook Pro, known as the Saber Athena, performs in benchmarks. Geekbench 5, by name.
What's in the box?
Apple has made a lot of fuss about its environmental credentials in the recent past. As a customer, you are most likely to notice this because your new iPhone no longer comes with a charger. Apple's logic behind this: You have at least one charger lying around anyway, why don't you just use that? Does this also apply to the new Macbook?
The charger is included, is still large and blocks at least two sockets on your power strip, unless the charger is attached to the outside.
Other than that, there's a cable, an instruction manual and a Macbook that weighs 1374 grams.
I can't yet say how long the battery will last. The Macbook coped well with the updates. There was still 73% left afterwards.
The competitors in detail
In this short benchmark, two Macbook Pros compete against each other. Both are brand new, one of them runs on Intel, the other on Apple's own development, the M1. They are tested with the free version of the benchmark programme Geekbench 5. Following Geekbench's recommendation, I closed all other programmes and background processes. Both laptops were connected to the power supply
But to make it clear what is competing against what: a few specs.
Desolation Rogue: Macbook Pro 16-inch, Late 2019
- Software: macOS 11.1 (Build 20C5048k)
- Processor: Intel Core i9-9880H @ 2.30 GHz
- Memory: 16 GB DDR4
Desolation Rogue, the 16-inch model, was highly anticipated at the time. The machine is my faithful everyday companion, fits perfectly in my rucksack and never really slows down, even when I'm rendering video and editing images for texts at the same time.
Saber Athena: Macbook Pro, 13-inch, Late 2020
- Software: macOS 11.0.1 (Build 20B29)
- Processor: Apple M1 @ 3.18 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB
Saber Athena is new. So brand new, in fact, that I've only just chosen the name for the device. The 13-inch device feels very familiar in the first few minutes. The only thing I'm wondering is what kind of RAM it has. DDR4 as well? Geekbench doesn't give me the answer.
CPU Single Core: Point Saber Athena
The most important score of the benchmarks is probably the CPU test. How does the Apple Silicon M1 perform when it counts? Geekbench starts.
After two and a half minutes, it's all over. Desolation Rogue has fired up the coolers in the meantime, Saber Athena remains silent. And wins.
On the single-core side, the new M1 Macbooks achieves a score of 1733 points in the CPU benchmark. The one-year-old Macbook on Intel architecture only achieves 1213 points.
CPU Multi Core: Point Saber Athena
The result is repeated in the multi-core test. Saber Athena, the M1 Macbook, makes the Intel processor eat dust.
Apple Silicon achieves a score of 7556 points and Intel is only just behind with 6616 points. Remarkable: The gap between the two Macbooks is greater. Where Saber Athena was 520 points ahead of Desolation Rogue in the single-core test, the new Macbook Pro is superior by 940 points in the multi-core test.
Compute: Point Desolation Rogue
The superiority in the benchmarks ends with the computing test. The CPU test above tests the Macbooks on "everyday tasks" by simulating "real-world applications". The compute test, on the other hand, tests the graphics cards on "frequently used computing tasks" such as image processing.
This is where the tables turn, because where Saber Athena is a Macbook Pro designed for everyday employees in a professional environment - let's say more complex Excel, Word and coding - Desolation Rogue is designed with graphics applications as its main task.
Not surprisingly, Desolation Rogue puts Saber Athena away.
Saber Athena only scores 18743 points, Desolation Rogue 30661, which is clear.
Nevertheless: I approach benchmarks with a little scepticism. Any benchmark can easily be manipulated. With smartphones, it's enough to quickly put a phone in the fridge between benchmarks to achieve significantly higher results. This is possible with any passively cooled device, including laptops. So if you want higher numbers, quickly put the device next to your after-work beer.
Thus: The review begins. Over the coming weeks, I will be putting Saber Athena through its paces, comparing it with the 16 GB model and running it through benchmarks once again and hopefully being able to tell you at the end what the M1 platform is capable of beyond advertising promises and benchmarks.
If you have any questions by then, please leave them in the comments column. I'll try to find as many answers as possible.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.