Apple M1 vs Apple M4 Pro (12 cores)
Aggregate performance score
Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) outperforms Apple M1 by a whopping 441% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) and Apple M1 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 167 | 1202 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | Apple M4 | Apple Apple M-Series |
| Power efficiency | 82.29 | no data |
| Release date | 30 October 2024 (less than a year ago) | 10 November 2020 (4 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) and Apple M1 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 cores | 12 (Dodeca-Core) | 8 (Octa-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 2.592 GHz | 2.064 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.51 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| L1 cache | no data | 2 MB |
| L2 cache | 4 MB | 16 MB |
| L3 cache | no data | 16 MB |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 5 nm |
| Number of transistors | no data | 16000 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | no data | - |
Compatibility
Information on Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) and Apple M1 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.
| Power consumption (TDP) | 32 Watt | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) and Apple M1. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR5 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card Compare | Apple M4 16-core GPU | Apple M1 8-Core GPU |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 27.97 | 5.17 |
| Recency | 30 October 2024 | 10 November 2020 |
| Physical cores | 12 | 8 |
| Threads | 12 | 8 |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 5 nm |
Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) has a 441% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and a 66.7% more advanced lithography process.
The Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) is our recommended choice as it beats the Apple M1 in performance tests.
Note that Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) is a desktop processor while Apple M1 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) and Apple M1, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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.
