PC World - USA (2021-02)

FEBRUARY 2021 PCWorld 59

rendering time for both multi-threaded and
single-threaded performance is about 28
percent less going from the translated version
to the native version of Cinebench on Apple’s
MacBook M1. That’s really not bad, and in line
with what others have seen the cost of the
Rosetta 2 to be.
What’s a little strange is there’s another
way to run Cinebench R23 that forces the M 1
to run it translated: Order the universal binary
to install the Intel version of it, rather than the
M1-native version. Macworld again graciously
agreed to run it this way and the result was
significantly worse.
Here’s the default 10-minute run of
Cinebench R23 on the MacBook Pro M 1
using the native-binary and the Intel-binary.
We’re looking at closer to a 50 percent hit
from using the Rosetta 2 translator to make
the x86-code run on the Arm-based M1 chip.
That’s not pretty.
The big takeaway? Software that gets

converted to native code on the M1 should

almost always pick up very large gains in

performance. And for applications that never

get converted to native code, you’ll always be

paying a very hefty performance tax.

That’s bad, but you need to keep it in

context. Overall, Rosetta 2 and the M1 is still

largely a success for those who had

performance concerns. And if you’re

wondering why people had concerns over

performance, you can see that above, where

we take Cinebench R20 (non-native on the

MacBook Pro’s M1) and dial in a score

generated on Microsoft’s Surface Pro X tablet.

The Surface Pro X tablet is unique among

PCs because it’s based on Qualcomm’s

custom SQ1 chip built for Microsoft, running

on Arm architecture rather than traditional x86

Apple MacBook Pro M 1

Cinebench R23

Tr anslat e d vs B in ar y

Cinebench R23

Seconds

Native Cinebench R23

Tramslated Cinebench R23 1T

Native R23 nT

Translated Cinebench R23 nT

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

7, 7 7 8

5,153

990

1, 513

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

Asus Zephyrus G148-core Ryzen 4800HS (Default AC)

Lenovo Slim 78-core Ryzen 4800U (Default AC)

Lenovo Slim 78-core Ryzen 4800U (Performance AC)

Apple MacBook Pro 138-core M1 (Default AC)

Microsoft Surface Pro XSQ1

MSI Prestige 144-core Core i7-1185G7 (Default AC)

MSI Prestige 144-core Core i7-1185G7 (Performance AC)

MSI Prestige 146-core Core i7-10710U (Default AC)

MSI Prestige 146-core Core i7-10710U (Performance AC)

Acer Predator Triton 5006-core Core i7-10750H (Default AC)

3,767

4,266

2,097

3,883

2,463

2,403

2,409

1,6 0 0

2,863

Cinebench R20 nT

Multi-threaded performance

618