[StillBored]

Assuming that geekbench is reflective of actual perf (I'm not yet convinced) there is also the GPU, and the fact that AMD is sitting on a 20% IPC uplift and is still on 7nm.

So if they release a newer U part in the next few months it will likely best this device even on 7nm. An AMD part with a edram probably wouldn't hurt either.

It seems to me that apple hasn't proven anything yet, only that they are in the game. Lets revisit this conversation in a few years to see if they made the right decision from a technical rather than business perspective.

The business perspective seems clear, they have likely saved considerably on the processor vs paying a ransom to intel.

edit: for the downvoters, google Cezanne, because its likely due in very early 2021 and some of the parts are zen3. So apple has maybe 3 months before another set of 10-15W amd parts drop.

[Veedrac]

That'll mean an 8c/16t will catch up to a 4+4 core

Apple will have a 8+4 core out soon, and likely much larger after that. Since they're so much more power efficient, they can utilize cores better at any TDP.

[refulgentis]

Sad to see downvotes on this: it's like there's a set of people hellbent on echoing marketing claims, in ignorance of (what I formerly perceived as basic) chip physics - first one to the next process gets to declare a 20-30% bump, and in the age of TSMC and contract fabs, that's no longer an _actual_ differentiation, the way it was in the 90s.

[klelatti]

I'm as sceptical of Apple's marketing claims as anyone but if you're comparing actual performance of laptops that you will be able to buy next week against hypothetical performance of a cpu that may or may not be available next year (or the year after) then the first has a lot more credibility.

PS last I checked AMD was not moving Zen to 5nm until 2022 - so maybe a year plus wait is a differentiation.

[girvo]

Regardless, this competition is great for us consumers! I’m excited to see ARM finally hit its stride and take on the x64 monopoly in general purpose computing.

[delfinom]

Apple hardware is far removed from general purpose and is about as propertiarty computing as it comes.

[rafram]

General purpose != free. Totally separate categories.