M2 Ultra bites at Intel, AMD in first GeekBench scores

The first M2 Ultra benchmarks appear to have slipped out through GeekBench and they confirm that at this point in the evolution of Apple Silicon, Macs are running neck and neck with the best available chips from Intel and AMD. That’s just how it is.

The Great Leap Forward

While initial data on GeekBench isn’t quite fixed – we’ll need a lot more test data before the numbers become more consistent – but the direction of travel is clear to see. Apple’s M-series chips already took the company higher in the consumer markets, but as it iterates on those chips it is building a unique advantage at the high end.

Not to mention that the integration between Apple’s operating systems and its hardware means that the efficiency of its new Macs is far more impressive than speeds and feeds reflect.

Apple Silicon is fast, and while competitors appear to be reeling slightly, Apple seems on the cusp of delivering the world’s fastest available PC chips when it shifts to the M3 architecture we expect will be 3nm.

Take a look at the data

The numbers are telling:

Intel Core i9-13900KS

Single-core: 3,500.

Multi-core: 23,600.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D

Single-core: 3,000.

Multi-core: 20,000.

M1 Ultra

Single-core: 2,430.

Multi-core: 18,700.

M2 Ultra

Single-core: 2,387.

Multi-core: 21,730.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that running Windows on a Mac continues to be a better experience than running the same OS on some PCs.

Nor is it a total shock to find the data suggests the new Mac Pro to be 100% faster than the previously available high end model.

(That latter model costs around £13,000 on Apple’s UK refurb store, by the way. The current high end equivalent with Apple Silicon is £4,000 cheaper purchased new).

The implication is and remains clear. Apple Silicon is the star of Apple’s show, and the company has more road ahead than it ever has done before.

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