PC vs. Mac
In the real-world, a PC with an 11th Gen Intel® Core™ mobile processor offers users more and we’ve got real research and test results that prove it. Many Apple M1 claims don’t translate to real-world usage and appear questionable. When compared to a PC with the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ mobile processor, the M1 MacBook features just don’t stack up.
See the Difference
There’s no comparison between the Mac and the PC with the Intel Core processor when it comes to design innovation. PCs can be personalized to fit a user’s specific hardware and software needs so they work how the user likes to work. The bottom line is a PC offers users choice, something users don’t get with a Mac.
A PC Lets Creators Game and Gamers Create on One Device
A PC allows you to have the freedom to create extensive worlds, complex characters, and stunning effects on Maya, then seamlessly play epic battles in Crysis Remastered without having to switch devices.
A PC Gives Users a Complete Touch Screen vs. the Constrained Mac Touch Bar
A PC offers more intuitive interactions with a full touchscreen—in brilliant 4K and OLED options. The keyboard is the only area that provides versatile functionality on an M1 Mac and the screen has a 2K option only.
A PC Offers Users 2 for 1 Form Factor Options vs. Paying Apple for Multiple Devices and Gear
Many PCs offer 2-in-1 PC tablet and laptop capabilities in a single device and include a bundled stylus. If a user wants a tablet with their Mac laptop they have to purchase yet another device from Apple.
Dig into Data
At Intel, we push the boundaries by testing performance with a real-world approach based in research. Data transparency is important when choosing hardware that meets the demands of day in and day out usage. We believe it is a best practice to disclose testing information sufficient to enable intended audiences to understand the bases of our performance and power claims. We challenge Apple to do the same.
Content Creation Performance vs. an M1 Mac
Create the best format for your videos with the Auto Reframe feature in Adobe Premiere Pro, which is up to 2.0x faster1 on the new 11th Gen Intel Core mobile processors than the M1 Mac. And export your videos in a flash with hardware-accelerated Premiere Pro project export, which is up to 1.55x faster2. Get creative in Adobe Photoshop with style filters such as Colored Pencil, which performs up to 1.40x faster3 than M1, and transcode your existing videos with Handbrake export, which can convert a 4K AVC video file to a 1080p HEVC file up to 1.61x faster4.
Productivity Performance vs. an M1 Mac
Convert large and complicated Microsoft PowerPoint presentations to PDF for easy distribution up to 2.05x faster5 and use web-based photo enhancement tools up to 1.32x faster6 than the M1 Mac. The 11th Gen Intel Core mobile processors also powers through advanced operations in Microsoft Excel, calculating and sorting massive spreadsheets up to 1.25x faster7 and determining particle divergence formulas up to 1.91x faster7 than the M1.
Battery Life Reality
Apple boasts their new M1 laptop has an 18hr battery life. But the truth behind the claim reveals that the screen brightness does not represent what a user would do in the real world (Apple had the brightness set low at 150 nits). We ran a parity test with an M1 Mac against an Acer Swift 5 with an Intel Core i7 processor. We didn’t change the test to win, we changed it to make it real. The truth is that both systems delivered roughly the same 10hr battery life.8
Everything Just Works
A PC is built for the user. They can run whatever software and games users want to run and accommodate all plug-ins you love. The possibilities are endless with a PC versus Apple’s rigidly controlled walled garden.
A PC Supports as Many as Three 4K Screens vs. Only One with an M1 Mac
A PC enables connection to as many as three 4K monitors when you have Intel® Iris® Xe graphics. The M1 Mac is limited to a singular external display even when using a Thunderbolt™ dock.
Breadth of Games Supported on PC
APEX Legends, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Cyberpunk 2077, Grand Theft Auto V, Dead by Daylight, Hitman 3, Monster Hunter World and so much more. In fact, the M1 Mac supports an extremely limited number of game titles.
Built for What IT Needs and What Users Want
Laptops on Intel vPro® with Evo™ designs are validated for today’s top mobile professionals. To receive an Evo certification, each design is rigorously tested for category-leading performance, which makes for easy multitasking on demanding business workloads.
With up to 228% better performance over an M1 Mac when sorting randomized data on Excel9, and 10% better productivity10, 11th Gen Intel vPro® processors allow professionals to get more done. And with comprehensive, hardware-based security for business and seamless support through remote manageability, users can be more productive in more places without the micro frustrations that interrupt focus.
Why People Go PC
From gaming and creation to productivity, see how to do it all on one device.
Meet Character Artist Kris Kelly
See how Kris intersects gaming, 3D design, and next-gen creativity.
A Galaxy of Choice
Maximize functionality with Samsung Galaxy Book Pro/360 vs. Apple M1 MacBook.
Shop Top Creating and Gaming PC Designs
Find your next Intel-based PC perfect for creating and gaming at the following retailers
Asus Zephrus M16: Pro-Level Content Creation and Gaming
Fast and ultraslim, this notebook has a near-rimless 94% screen-to-body ratio and QHD display letting you disappear into the action or into your next creative project.
The Razer Blade 15: Powerful Gaming Laptop
Score more wins with this fast gaming laptop. Coupled with displays and refresh rates, enjoy unrivalled performance to take on the most demanding gaming and creative tasks in one device.
MSI Creator Z16: The Next Chapter in Design
Create wherever you go with this laptop featuring a touch screen with color accuracy giving you the ability to achieve better color reproduction for detailed photos and videos.
ConceptD 7 Ezel: A New Twist on Creation
With its 4K UHD display, integrated stylus and flexible Ezel Hinge design, this laptop is ideal for professional graphics artists who need the speed and responsiveness of a desktop in a highly portable format.
The Dell XPS 15 (15”): Create More of What You Love
Stay in the creative flow and enjoy desktop level performance built to power intense creative programs all in the convenience of a laptop.
Lenovo – Legion 5Pi Pro Gen 6: Ultimate Laptop for Gamers
Play and stream the latest AAA titles at their absolute best with lightning-fast speeds and realistic ray-traced graphics, all on a visually superior, supercharged, thin and light laptop.
HP – Victus 16: Elevate Your Gaming Experience
Increase your gaming flexibility with an all-purpose gaming keyboard and a tear-free fast refresh rate display. This laptop has an excellent cooling system and the option to customize your experience on the OMEN gaming hub.
Shop Top PC Designs
Find your next Intel-based PC at the following retailers—including new Intel® Evo™ laptops verified for an exceptional experience.
The New ASUS ZenBook Duo (14”): Dual Touchscreen Display
Unplug while staying connected and productive with this Touchscreen Notebook. The ASUS ZenBook is effortlessly portable and has a battery designed to last.
The New Razer Book (13”): A Force of Productivity
Get to work with the new Razer Book. Its ultra-compact design is built for mobility and multitasking with focus, making this a light weight, connectivity packed, productivity powerhouse.
The New Dell XPS 2-in-1 (13”): Unfold Brilliance
Enjoy a new modern design with an edge-to-edge keyboard and a large display, all in a small laptop.
The New Lenovo Yoga 9i (13”): Stylish Sound
Featuring a rotating sound bar with a Dolby Atmos® speaker system, this stunning 2 in 1 lets you bring 360-degree sound with you anywhere.
The New Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 (13”/15”): Full HD Touch Screen
Experience the visual magic of an AMOLED display in a thin and light 2-in-1 design with split-second responsiveness, a full keyboard, and the new S pen stylus.
The New ASUS ZenBook Flip S (13”): Exquisitely Thin
Just 10.9mm thin, weighing at 1.1 kg, this ultra-sleek beauty brings elevated sophistication to a precision-engineered ErgoLift hinge.
The New Dell XPS (13”): A Cut Above
Crafted with premium materials—from its InfinityEdge display to the comfortable palm rest—every detail makes it ideal for a creator.
The New Acer Swift 5 (14”): A Clean, Clear Standout
Stay ahead of today’s environment with an antimicrobial surface coating and display that delivers color-rich visuals.
The New MSI Stealth 15M: Slim, Sharp, Stylish
Inspired by urban style, the new Stealth 15M is the thinnest and lightest 15” gaming Laptop letting users easily speed through games and daily tasks.
The New MSI Prestige 14: Elegant Design
Crafted with a diamond-cut edge and sand blasted texture the new Prestige 14 laptop is designed to be unique, modern and supremely powerful.
The New Acer Swift 3 (14”): Tough, Light and Thin
Slim, lightweight, stylish and affordable, the Swift 3 is the ideal laptop for working on the move.
The New VAIO Z (14”): Extreme Innovation
The world’s first three-dimensional molded full carbon body design makes the VAIO Z hyperlight while also maximizing the laptop’s rigidity and functional beauty.
To learn more about Intel’s performance testing, visit www.intel.com/performanceindex.
Performance results are based on testing as of dates shown in configurations and may not reflect all publicly available updates. See footnotes for configuration details.
Intel contributes to the development of benchmarks by participating in, sponsoring, and/or contributing technical support to various benchmarking groups, including the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community administered by Principled Technologies.
Intel does not control or audit third-party data. You should consult other sources to evaluate accuracy.
Product and Performance Information
Based on Adobe Premiere Pro – Auto Reframe feature on 75.8Mbps 4K 60fps 10-bit H.265 source video (on Adobe Premiere Pro version 15.4). Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on Adobe Premiere Pro – Export 4K H.265 HW workload, which measures the time it takes to export a Premiere project timeline to 4K HEVC video using ‘Hardware Encoding’ (on Adobe Premiere Pro version 15.4). Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on Adobe Photoshop Colored Pencil Filter workload, which measures the time to apply the “Colored Pencil” artistic filter and 2 adjustments on a 36.3 Megapixel file (~20MB) (on Adobe Photoshop version 22.4.3). Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on Handbrake Nightly workload – Export 4K H.265 HW workload, which measures the time it takes to convert a 4K 657MB AVC video source to a 1080p HEVC MKV output (on version 20210809202424). Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on the PowerPoint PDF Export workload, which measures the time it takes Microsoft Office 365 PowerPoint to convert a 3.75 MB, 200 slide, PowerPoint presentation. The export is created with the Office built-in capability to create PDF files. It does not use any add-ins to create the PDF. Add-ins including Adobe PDF Maker will not work with this workload. Uses Microsoft Office 365 PowerPoint version 2107 (14228.20250) for Intel and version 16.52 (21080801) for Apple. Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on WebXPRT 3, a benchmark from Principled Technologies that measures JavaScript/HTML5 performance using Google Chrome based on six real world usages. It produces results for each of the test scenarios plus an overall score. Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14 and Microsoft Edge 92.0.902.67 (64-bit). With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system and Safari 14.1.2. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on a Microsoft Excel workload, which measures the time to sort a spreadsheet where cells contain both formulas and data values. Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1195G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.9GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz, OS: Windows 10 Pro 21H1 build 19043.1151, Measured on MSI Prestige 14. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266, OS: MacOS Big Sur Build 11.5.1, Measured on Apple M1 13-inch MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 8/11/2021.
Based on workload of Netflix playback under typical-use environment: through Chrome browser (PC) or Safari browser (Mac) with multiple additional webpages open in browser tabs, with panel brightness set to 250 nits (and auto display brightness turned off on Mac). Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7, 28W TDP, 4C/8T, 2.8GHz frequency, Memory: 2x8GB LPDDR4-4267, OS: Windows 10 Home 20H2 build 19042.662, Measured on 14” Acer Swift 5 system. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2GHz frequency, Memory: 8GB LPDDR4-4266, OS: Apple MacOS Big Sur Build 11.0.1, Measured on 13.3” Apple M1 MacBook Air system. Time taken to drain from 100% to critical battery: approximately 10.2 hours on Apple M1 MacBook Air and approximately 10.1 hours on 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7-based Acer Swift 5 (SF514-55TA). Testing as of January 8, 2021.
Based on a Microsoft Excel workload, which measures the time to sort a spreadsheet where cells contain both formulas and data values. Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: Intel Core i7 1185G7, 4C/8T, 3.0 GHz frequency, Memory: LPDDR4 4267 MHz 16GB; Storage: 1 TB SSD; OS: Windows 10 Pro V2004 build 19041.1110. Measured on Intel white-box system. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2 GHz frequency, Memory: 16 GB LPDDR4x-4266; Storage: 256 GB SSD OS: MacOS Big Sur 11.5.1. Measured on Apple M1 MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 07/27/2021.
Based on productivity subscore of CrossMark, “an easy to run and cross-platform benchmark that measures the overall system performance and system responsiveness using models of real-world applications” and that “supports devices running Windows, iOS and macOS platforms.” Comparing Intel-based system: Processor: Intel Core i7 1185G7, 4C/8T, 3.0 GHz frequency, Memory: LPDDR4 4267 MHz 16GB; Storage: 1 TB SSD; OS: Windows 10 Pro V2004 build 19041.1110. Measured on Intel white-box system. With Apple M1-based system: Processor: Apple M1, 8C/8T, 3.2 GHz frequency, Memory: 16 GB LPDDR4x-4266; Storage: 256GB SSD OS: MacOS Big Sur 11.5.1. Measured on Apple M1 MacBook Pro system. Testing as of 07/27/2021.