i7-8559U vs Apple M3 Pro 12-Core

Aggregate performance score

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core
2023
12 cores / 12 threads, 27 Watt
16.20
+209%
Core i7-8559U
2018
4 cores / 8 threads, 28 Watt
5.25

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core outperforms Core i7-8559U by a whopping 209% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking4071181
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesApple M3Intel Core i7
Power efficiency56.7817.74
Architecture codenameno dataCoffee Lake-U (2018−2019)
Release date30 October 2023 (1 year ago)5 April 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$431

Detailed specifications

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores12 (Dodeca-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads128
Base clock speed2.748 GHz2.7 GHz
Boost clock speed4.06 GHz4.5 GHz
Bus typeno dataOPI
Bus rateno data4 GT/s
Multiplierno data27
L1 cacheno data64K (per core)
L2 cacheno data256K (per core)
L3 cacheno data8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography3 nm14 nm
Die sizeno data123 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
Number of transistors37000 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibilityno data+

Compatibility

Information on Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configurationno data1 (Uniprocessor)
Socketno dataFCBGA1528
Power consumption (TDP)27 Watt28 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI-+
AVX-+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
eDRAMno data128 MB
Speed Shiftno data+
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
Flex Memory Accessno data+

Security technologies

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data-
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
MPX-+
Identity Protection-+
SGXno dataYes with Intel® ME
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesno dataDDR4
Maximum memory sizeno data32 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidthno data38.397 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPUIntel Iris Plus Graphics 655
Max video memoryno data32 GB
Quick Sync Video-+
Clear Videono data+
Clear Video HDno data+
Graphics max frequencyno data1.2 GHz
InTru 3Dno data+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data3
eDPno data+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
DVIno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution supportno data+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2304@30Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data4096 x 2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data4096 x 2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12
OpenGLno data4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U.

PCIe versionno data3.0
PCI Express lanesno data16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 16.20
+209%
i7-8559U 5.25

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 25740
+209%
i7-8559U 8339

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 2163
+171%
i7-8559U 798

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 15298
+318%
i7-8559U 3660

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 2327
+222%
i7-8559U 723

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 16.20 5.25
Recency 30 October 2023 5 April 2018
Physical cores 12 4
Threads 12 8
Chip lithography 3 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 27 Watt 28 Watt

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core has a 208.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, 200% more physical cores and 50% more threads, a 366.7% more advanced lithography process, and 3.7% lower power consumption.

The Apple M3 Pro 12-Core is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-8559U in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i7-8559U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Apple M3 Pro 12-Core
M3 Pro 12-Core
Intel Core i7-8559U
Core i7-8559U

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.7 101 vote

Rate Apple M3 Pro 12-Core on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.9 45 votes

Rate Core i7-8559U on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Apple M3 Pro 12-Core or Core i7-8559U, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.