Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) vs Intel Core i5 8250U
[ 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 8250U (26/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Why choose Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU):
- + Higher Efficiency score (93 vs 47)
- + Higher Performance score (100 vs 33)
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | 93.0 Excellent WINNER | 47.0 Poor |
| Performance | 100.0 Excellent WINNER | 33.0 Poor |
Detailed Technical Specifications
CPU
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Base Frequency (E) | 4.38 GHz | — |
| Base Frequency (P) | 4.61 GHz | 1.6 GHz |
| E-Cores | 12 | — |
| E-Threads | 12 | — |
| L1 Cache | 192K (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| Multiplier | 46x | 16x |
| P-Cores | 6 | 4 |
| P-Threads | 6 | 8 |
| Total Cores | 18 | 4 |
| Total Threads | 18 | 8 |
| Unlocked Multiplier | No | No |
| Bus Bandwidth | — | 4 GT/s |
| Bus Frequency | — | 100 MHz |
| L2 Cache | — | 256K (per core) |
| L3 Cache | — | 6MB (shared) |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | — | 3.4 GHz |
GeekBench v6
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Background blur | 99.8 images/sec | 20.5 images/sec |
| Clang compilation | 264.8 Klines/sec | 18.9 Klines/sec |
| File compression | 2730 MB/sec | 210.2 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 769.2 pages/sec | 78.4 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 762.6 Mpixels/sec | 108.7 Mpixels/sec |
| Photo processing | 260.4 images/sec | 32.4 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 48.4 Mpixels/sec | 5.57 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 438.2 pages/sec | 112.5 pages/sec |
General
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Codename | Apple M5 | — |
| Instruction Set | ARMv9 | x86-64 |
| Integrated GPU | Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) | UHD Graphics 620 |
| Released | March 3, 2026 | August 21, 2017 |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
| Vendor | Apple | Intel |
| Model number | — | i5-8250U |
Memory Support
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| ECC Support | No | No |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 460.8 GB/s | 37.5 GB/s |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 32 GB |
| Memory Channels | 24 | 2 |
| Memory Types | - LPDDR5X-9600 | - DDR4-2400- LPDDR3-2133 |
Package
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 14 nm |
| Peak Temperature | 100°C | 100°C |
| Socket | Apple M-Socket | BGA-1356 |
| TDP (PL1) | 64 W | 15 W |
| Transistors | 28 billions | — |
PassMark
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Data compression | 689.6 MBytes/sec | 76.2 MBytes/sec |
| Data encryption | 40.8 GBytes/sec | 2 GBytes/sec |
| Extended instructions | 33.4B Matrices/sec | 4.9B Matrices/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 553M Primes/sec | 18M Primes/sec |
| Floating point math | 186.1 GOps/sec | 12.7 GOps/sec |
| Integer math | 132.6 GOps/sec | 20.8 GOps/sec |
| Physics | 6847 Frames/sec | 404 Frames/sec |
| Random string sorting | 84.9M Strings/sec | 10.2M Strings/sec |
Performance Per Watt
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 32.3 PPW | 11.3 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 454.2 PPW | 218.1 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 897.9 PPW | 386.2 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | — | 2.56 PPW |
iGPU
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Execution Units | 512 | 24 |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1620 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| Integrated Graphics | Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| ROPs | 128 | 3 |
| Shading Units | 4096 | 192 |
| TMUs | 256 | 24 |
| GPU Base Clock | — | 300 MHz |
| TGP | — | 15 W |
Misc
| Specification | Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) | Intel Core i5 8250U |
|---|---|---|
| Official Site | — | Intel Core i5 8250U official page |
| PCI Express Lanes | — | 12 |
| PCI Express Version | — | 3.0 |
| Technologies | — | - Compute: BMI1, BMI2, CLMUL, F16C- Performance: Boost 2.0, EIST, HTT, TSX- Virtualization: VT-d, VT-x- Security: TXT, XD bit |
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