- The Apple M4 chipset outperforms the Intel Lunar Lake chipset (Core Ultra 7 258V) in all three categories -- CPU, GPU, and NPU.
- In our Geekbench test, the M4 CPU delivered 43% faster performance than the Lunar Lake CPU in single-core tasks.
- In the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test, the M4 GPU achieved a 31% better score than the Intel Arc 140V GPU.
We recently benchmarked and compared the Apple M4 with the Snapdragon X Elite and found that Apple’s latest M-series chipset outperforms Qualcomm’s PC processor. In this article, we have compared the Apple M4 with Intel’s Lunar Lake processor to check which chipset offers the best performance. For testing, we used the Apple M4 Mac Mini and Asus Zenbook S 14, powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor. On that note, let’s dive in.
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: Specs Comparison
| Apple M4 (Base) | Intel Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 7 258V) | |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | TSMC’s 3nm process (N3E) | TSMC’s 3nm process (N3B) |
| CPU | 10 CPU cores 4x 4.40GHz Performance cores 6x 2.89GHz Efficiency cores | 8 CPU cores 4x 4.80GHz P cores 4x 3.70GHz E cores |
| GPU | Apple’s 10-core GPU HW-accelerated Ray Tracing | Intel Arc 140V GPU 8 Xe2 cores HW-accelerated Ray Tracing |
| Neural Engine/NPU | 16-core Neural Engine 38 TOPS | Intel NPU 4 47 TOPS |
| Unified Memory (RAM) | 16GB LPDDR5X @7500MHz | 32GB LPDDR5X, up to 8533 MT/s |
| Memory Bandwidth | 120 GBps | 136 GBps |
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: Geekbench 6 CPU
In our first Geekbench 6 CPU test, the 10-core Apple M4 CPU delivers remarkable performance. It scores 3,781 in single-core and 14,858 in multi-core. In comparison, Intel’s Lunar Lake processor aka the 8-core Core Ultra 7 258V achieves 2,640 points in single-core and 10,754 in multi-core. Despite running the CPU at higher clock speeds, Intel couldn’t match Apple’s CPU performance.
In single-core tasks, the Apple M4 CPU is around 43% faster than the Lunar Lake CPU. And in multi-core tasks, the M4 CPU leads by 38%. While the x86-based Lunar Lake CPU is not bad, the Arm-based M4 CPU is in a different league altogether, both in terms of performance and efficiency.
Geekbench 6 CPU Apple M4 (Base) Intel Lunar Lake
(Core Ultra 7 258V)Single-core 3,781 2,640 Multi-core 14,858 10,754
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: Cinebench 2024
In the Cinebench 2024 benchmark, the Apple M4 CPU gets 176 points in single-core and 972 in multi-core. Whereas, the Intel Lunar Lake CPU gets 119 points in single-core tasks and 596 in multi-core tasks. Here, the difference in single-core performance is in line with the Geekbench test. The M4 CPU leads by about 48% and in multi-core, the gap is even larger, with a difference of 63%.
Cinebench 2024 Apple M4 (Base) Intel Lunar Lake
(Core Ultra 7 258V)Single-core 176 119 Multi-core 972 596
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: Geekbench 6 GPU
In the Geekbench 6 GPU test, the 10-core Apple M4 GPU scores 38,006 points while using the OpenCL API and the 8-core Intel Arc 140V GPU achieves 27,068 points on the same graphics API. In graphics performance, the M4 GPU delivers 40% faster performance than the Lunar Lake GPU.
On Apple’s own Metal API, the M4 GPU delivers superior performance, achieving a score of 58,082 points. On the Vulkan API, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V GPU also does better and gets 37,096 points, but it’s still significantly behind the M4 GPU.
Geekbench 6 GPU Apple M4 (Base) Intel Lunar Lake
(Core Ultra 7 258V)OpenCL 38,006 27,068 Vulkan NA 37,096 Metal 58,082 NA
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: 3DMark
In the graphics-intensive 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test, the M4 GPU gets 9,807 points whereas the Lunar Lake GPU gets 7,480 points. Basically, the M4 GPU is around 31% faster than the Intel Arc 140V GPU. However, in the Solar Bay test that evaluates the ray-tracing capability, the Lunar Lake processor does 5% better, scoring 15,152 points, and the M4 GPU achieves 14,312 points.
3DMark Apple M4 (Base) Intel Lunar Lake
(Core Ultra 7 258V)Wild Life Extreme 9,807 / 58.7 FPS 7,480 / 44.79 FPS Solar Bay 14,312 15,152
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: Geekbench AI
Next, in the Geekbench AI test which evaluates the NPU/Neural Engine, the 16-core Apple M4 Neural Engine hits it out of the park. Be it Single precision, Half precision, or Quantized data types, the M4 Neural Engine delivers 60% to 80% faster performance than the Intel NPU on AI workloads.
Keep in mind, we ran the test on the OpenVINO framework for the Intel NPU. Put simply, for running on-device AI tasks, the M4 Neural Engine will offer you faster AI performance than the Intel NPU.
Geekbench AI Apple M4 Neural Engine Intel Lunar Lake NPU Single Precision 4,730 2,964 Half Precision 36,664 20,346 Quantized 51,758 28,569
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: Speedometer 3.0
Finally, in the browser benchmark Speedometer 3.0 test, the Apple M4 gets 33.2 points whereas the Intel Lunar Lake processor achieves 25.5 points. In this test, the M4 processor leads by 30%. Basically, for a fluid and responsive web browsing experience, the Apple M4 is better than the Lunar Lake chipset.
Apple M4 vs Intel Lunar Lake: The Verdict
It’s evidently clear that the Apple M4 chipset is miles ahead of Intel Lunar Lake aka the 2nd-gen Core Ultra processor. The M4 CPU offers lightning-fast performance, and the GPU delivers impressive graphics performance. The Neural Engine is again pretty solid. And all of this is done efficiently at lower clock speeds and power consumption.
While the Apple M4 chipset is indeed very powerful, Intel’s unique Lunar Lake processor should not be dismissed. After a long wait, Intel has developed an efficient x86 processor, putting the CPU, GPU, and NPU on a single compute tile. Not to mention, just like Apple’s M-series processors, it comes with on-package memory and is fabricated on TSMC’s 1st-gen 3nm process node.
In our Intel Lunar Lake vs Snapdragon X Elite comparison, we noted that Intel’s latest processor rivals Qualcomm’s PC chipset in battery life. It means that x86 chipsets can be designed for efficiency and Intel should continue the new design.
That said, new reports suggest that Intel might not move forward with the Lunar Lake design. In that case, we will have to see how the company tunes the processor for efficiency. To conclude, the Intel Lunar Lake chipset is quite promising, but it can’t match the Apple M4 in terms of performance or efficiency.
