Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) vs Intel Core i5 6500
[ VERDICT ]
Winner: Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) (97/100)
Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) leads overall with a score of 97/100 compared to Intel Core i5 6500 (26/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Why choose Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU):
- + Higher Efficiency score (93 vs 42)
- + Higher Performance score (100 vs 37)
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | 93.0 Excellent WINNER | 42.0 Poor |
| Performance | 100.0 Excellent WINNER | 37.0 Poor |
Detailed Technical Specifications
CPU
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Frequency (E) | 4.38 GHz | — |
| Base Frequency (P) | 4.61 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| E-Cores | 12 | — |
| E-Threads | 12 | — |
| L1 Cache | 192K (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| Multiplier | 46x | 32x |
| P-Cores | 6 | 4 |
| P-Threads | 6 | 4 |
| Total Cores | 18 | 4 |
| Total Threads | 18 | 4 |
| Unlocked Multiplier | No | No |
| Bus Bandwidth | — | 8 GT/s |
| L2 Cache | — | 256K (per core) |
| L3 Cache | — | 6MB (shared) |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | — | 3.6 GHz |
GeekBench v6
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Background blur | 99.8 images/sec | 23.4 images/sec |
| Clang compilation | 264.8 Klines/sec | 23 Klines/sec |
| File compression | 2730 MB/sec | 314.4 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 769.2 pages/sec | 74.2 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 762.6 Mpixels/sec | 106.8 Mpixels/sec |
| Photo processing | 260.4 images/sec | 38.5 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 48.4 Mpixels/sec | 3.58 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 438.2 pages/sec | 124.9 pages/sec |
General
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Codename | Apple M5 | Skylake |
| Instruction Set | ARMv9 | x86-64 |
| Integrated GPU | Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) | HD Graphics 530 |
| Released | March 3, 2026 | September 1, 2015 |
| Type | Laptop | Desktop |
| Vendor | Apple | Intel |
| Model number | — | i5-6500 |
| Successor | — | -Intel Core Ultra 5 235H |
Memory Support
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| ECC Support | No | No |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 460.8 GB/s | 34.1 GB/s |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory Channels | 24 | 2 |
| Memory Types | - LPDDR5X-9600 | - DDR4-2133- DDR3L-1600 |
Package
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 14 nm |
| Peak Temperature | 100°C | — |
| Socket | Apple M-Socket | LGA-1151 |
| TDP (PL1) | 64 W | 65 W |
| Transistors | 28 billions | — |
PassMark
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Data compression | 689.6 MBytes/sec | 76.2 MBytes/sec |
| Data encryption | 40.8 GBytes/sec | 1.7 GBytes/sec |
| Extended instructions | 33.4B Matrices/sec | 6.6B Matrices/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 553M Primes/sec | 27M Primes/sec |
| Floating point math | 186.1 GOps/sec | 12.4 GOps/sec |
| Integer math | 132.6 GOps/sec | 14.6 GOps/sec |
| Physics | 6847 Frames/sec | 439 Frames/sec |
| Random string sorting | 84.9M Strings/sec | 9.3M Strings/sec |
Performance Per Watt
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 32.3 PPW | 2.8 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 454.2 PPW | 54.2 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 897.9 PPW | 86.2 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | — | 0.67 PPW |
iGPU
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Execution Units | 512 | — |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1620 MHz | 1050 MHz |
| Integrated Graphics | Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) | Intel HD Graphics 530 |
| ROPs | 128 | — |
| Shading Units | 4096 | — |
| TMUs | 256 | — |
Misc
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 6500 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Site | — | Intel Core i5 6500 official page |
| PCI Express Lanes | — | 16 |
| PCI Express Version | — | 3.0 |
| Technologies | — | - Compute: BMI1, BMI2, CLMUL, F16C- Performance: Boost 2.0, EIST, TSX- Virtualization: VT-d, VT-x- Security: TXT, XD bit, vPro |
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