10 PCWorld MARCH 2021NEWS INTEL BENCHMARKS SAY APPLE’S M1 ISN’T FASTER
performing a 4K AVC-to-HEVC/H.265 file
conversion. In this benchmark, they had the
MacBook using the M1-native version of
Handbrake.
But the real destruction happens once
you get to Topaz Lab’s Gigapixel AI and
Denoise AI, with the Intel Core chip crushing
the M1 in AI-based noise removal and
enlargement. Or maybe “crushing” is too nice
a term, as it’s more like the Core i7 outpaces
the M1 by so much, the M1 wishes it had never
been designed.
Our take: As far as the video conversion
goes, we think it’s too close to call between
both platforms, and probably not
something we’d gloat about if we were
Intel. However, on the AI features, we think
the results are pretty real, because we have
witnessed it ourselves with our own M1 vs
Core i7 and Ryzen tests (go.pcworld.com/
m1i7). The 11th gen Core i7-1185G7 so
thoroughly thrashes AMD’s Ryzen 4000U
and Apple’s M1, we thought about calling
911 for someone to go out to the house and
do a welfare check.
We should point out that Topaz Lab’s
apps are among the few (but nonetheless
impressive) apps that were designed to
take advantage of the hardware
acceleration inside Intel’s CPUs. When you
have optimization for your hardware, you
get tons of performance gains. This is the
same magic that has made Apple’s phones
shine for so long.CLAIM: M1 DOESN’T
SUPPORT ALL THE FEATURES
Intel also gives itself the lead in Adobe
Premiere Pro, using the beta M1 native version
in Auto Reframe, exporting to H.264 and
H.265. They’re decent wins, but come on,
the code is still in beta for the Mac. That said,
Intel points out that important features like
Content Aware Fill are outright disabled on
the beta version, and that’s a concern. If the
native version of Photoshop comes out, and
there are critical features missing from it, that’s
a huge problem for Apple (and Adobe).GAMING: YOU CAN’T BE
FASTER IF YOU CAN’T RUN IT
For gaming, we see a bit of a back and forth
between the Apple M1 and Core i7 in games
that actually work on the MacBook. Intel
doesn’t let it end there, though, and decides
to embarrass Apple further by showing the
numerous games where the MacBook scores
a 0 because game support just doesn’t exist.
Intel points out that “countless more” games
“don’t run on the M1,” and then for good
measure, it rushes Apple’s bench with a list of
10 more games you can’t play on the M 1
MacBook:- Overwatch
- Crysis Remastered
- Halo MCC
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- PUBG
- Monster Hunter World