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Apple’s first Mac M1s have defied expectations and are more powerful than expected, easily beating many other Intel Macs that Apple continues to sell. We’ve seen endless speed tests, but we thought we would pit the 13in MacBook Pro M1 against the model it replaces, the 2020 13in MacBook Pro with 1.4GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645. and 8 GB of RAM.
The previous generation MacBook Pro was just released in May 2020, but it’s already outdated and far inferior to Apple’s new M1 model, as our extensive speed tests will show.
Geekbench scores
The MacBook Pro M1, which is the base model with 8 GB of storage, an M1 chip with 8-core processor and GPU, and a 256 GB SSD, achieved a single-core Geekbench score of 1722 and a multi-core score of 7535.
In comparison, our Intel MacBook Pro got a single-core score of 871 and a multi-core score of 3786, so performance is close to double here. The OpenCL scores also demonstrated a marked difference with the M1 earning a score of 19,305 and the Intel chip with a score of 6,962.
SSD speeds
There is a faster SSD in the MacBook Pro M1 and in our testing we saw read speeds of 2,800MB / s and write speeds of 2,300MB / s. With the SSD of the Intel MacBook Pro, we saw read speeds of 1600MB / s and write speeds of 1100MB / s. Apple claims that the SSD can achieve sequential read speeds of up to 3.3 GB / s thanks to the new SSD controller built into the M1 chip.
File transfers
When transferring a file larger than 40 GB, the M1 completed the task in 27 seconds while it took the Mac Intel 90 seconds. Transfer speeds started out similarly, but the Intel Mac was quick to fall behind.
4K video export
Exporting a 10 minute 4K video from Final Cut Pro took 4 minutes and 53 seconds for the MacBook Pro M1 and 6 minutes and 47 seconds for the Intel MacBook Pro. In addition to the faster transfer speeds on the Mac M1, the fans never turned on at all, while fans of the Mac Intel roared.
Start and stop
MacBook Pro M1 boots up significantly faster with the new Instant Wake-Up feature that turns it on as soon as you open the lid. The stop was also faster.
Tab test
We opened a dozen YouTube tabs in Safari on both Macs and the CPU load was much lower on the Mac M1. The Mac M1 was able to play all the videos without a hitch and the fans never even booted up, but the Intel Mac struggled and the fans were at top speed.
Application test
We opened each app in the Applications folder on both Macs, which is roughly 50 apps. The M1 excelled, while the Intel Mac lagged behind and struggled to open everything. It took a lot longer to open all the apps from the Intel version, especially Final Cut Pro.
Opening Mission Control with every open app was seamless on the Mac M1, but the Mac Intel couldn’t quite handle it and there was a lot of lag.
Tests with single applications were much closer. The M1 won when opening apps like Safari, Maps, Apple Music, and Final Cut Pro, but the Intel Mac wasn’t too far behind.
Conclusion
In our benchmarks and speed tests, the MacBook Pro M1’s fans never turned on once, so expect near-silent operation for almost any task if you choose one of the new MacBook Pro models. The MacBook Air has no fan, and the Mac mini works the same as the MacBook Pro.
Along with the speed, we were also impressed with the battery life. The MacBook Pro was in use for an hour or two when we first received it, then most of the next day, and we never had to plug it in to charge, even during all testing.
The MacBook Pro M1 outperforms the 2020 Intel model, but it is also faster than the 2019 high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro models in terms of processor performance. If you’re planning on buying a new Mac, at this point it’s probably worth looking for a Mac with an M1 chip if you can. Apple plans to update the entire lineup with Apple Silicon, a process that will take around two years.
Rumors suggest that some of the next Macs to get M1 chips will include the iMac (a 24in model is in the works) and the 16in MacBook Pro.
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