Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) vs Intel Core i3 12100
[ VERDICT ]
Winner: Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) (97/100)
Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) leads overall with a score of 97/100 compared to Intel Core i3 12100 (45/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | 98.0 Excellent WINNER | 50.0 Below Average |
| Performance | 100.0 Excellent WINNER | 62.0 Average |
Detailed Technical Specifications
CPU
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Frequency (E) | 4.38 GHz | — |
| Base Frequency (P) | 4.61 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| E-Cores | 12 | — |
| E-Threads | 12 | — |
| L1 Cache | 192K (per core) | 80K (per core) |
| Multiplier | 46x | 33x |
| P-Cores | 6 | 4 |
| P-Threads | 6 | 8 |
| Total Cores | 18 | 4 |
| Total Threads | 18 | 8 |
| Unlocked Multiplier | No | No |
| Bus Frequency | — | 100 MHz |
| L2 Cache | — | 1280K (per core) |
| L3 Cache | — | 12MB (shared) |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | — | 4.3 GHz |
GeekBench v6
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Background blur | 100.3 images/sec | 39.3 images/sec |
| Clang compilation | 262.5 Klines/sec | 46.7 Klines/sec |
| File compression | 2530 MB/sec | 631.3 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 738.1 pages/sec | 170.3 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 744.9 Mpixels/sec | 201.3 Mpixels/sec |
| Photo processing | 250.8 images/sec | 68.8 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 46.5 Mpixels/sec | 10.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 450.7 pages/sec | 222.5 pages/sec |
General
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Codename | Apple M5 | Alder Lake |
| Instruction Set | ARMv9 | x86-64 |
| Integrated GPU | Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) | UHD Graphics 730 |
| Released | March 3, 2026 | January 4, 2022 |
| Type | Laptop | Desktop |
| Vendor | Apple | Intel |
| Model number | — | i3-12100 |
| Successor | — | -Intel Core i3 14100 |
Memory Support
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| ECC Support | No | No |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 307 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| Max. Memory Size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Memory Channels | 16 | 2 |
| Memory Types | - LPDDR5X-9600 | - DDR5-4800- DDR4-3200 |
Package
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 10 nm |
| Peak Temperature | 100°C | 100°C |
| Socket | Apple M-Socket | LGA-1700 |
| Transistors | 28 billions | — |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | — | 89 W |
| TDP (PL1) | — | 60 W |
PassMark
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Data compression | 697.9 MBytes/sec | 146.2 MBytes/sec |
| Data encryption | 40.8 GBytes/sec | 7.4 GBytes/sec |
| Extended instructions | 33.3B Matrices/sec | 10B Matrices/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 486M Primes/sec | 49M Primes/sec |
| Floating point math | 186.8 GOps/sec | 29 GOps/sec |
| Integer math | 132.7 GOps/sec | 37 GOps/sec |
| Physics | 5687 Frames/sec | 778 Frames/sec |
| Random string sorting | 85.6M Strings/sec | 14.7M Strings/sec |
iGPU
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Execution Units | 320 | 24 |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1620 MHz | 1400 MHz |
| Integrated Graphics | Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) | Intel UHD Graphics 730 |
| ROPs | 80 | 24 |
| Shading Units | 2560 | 192 |
| TGP | 28 W | 15 W |
| TMUs | 160 | 48 |
| GPU Base Clock | — | 300 MHz |
Misc
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Site | — | Intel Core i3 12100 official page |
| PCI Express Lanes | — | 20 |
| PCI Express Version | — | 5.0 |
| Technologies | — | - Compute: ABM, ADX, BMI1, BMI2, CLMUL, F16C, SHA- Performance: EIST, TBT 2.0, TSX- Virtualization: VT-d, VT-x- Security: RDRAND, TXT, XD bit |
Performance Per Watt
| Specification | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) | Intel Core i3 12100 |
|---|---|---|
| Blender / Watt | — | 1.86 PPW |
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | — | 7.2 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | — | 123.8 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | — | 208.4 PPW |
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