M1 MacBook Pro vs Intel MacBook Pro

The new 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro is one of the first-generation ARM-based Macs. With Apple still selling high-end Intel-based 13 MacBook Pro, we have the M1 MacBook Pro vs Intel MacBook Pro comparison for consumers to make an informed decision when making an upgrade.

The new M1 Apple Silicon for Mac is claimed to be the fastest and most power-efficient chip in a laptop. Apple has combined CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine in one single chip with unified memory to deliver major performance improvements and longer battery life.

“The Apple M1 chip gives the 13‑inch MacBook Pro speed and power beyond belief. With up to 2.8x CPU performance. Up to 5x the graphics speed. Our most advanced Neural Engine for up to 11x faster machine learning. And up to 20 hours of battery life — the longest of any Mac ever. It’s our most popular pro notebook, taken to a whole new level.”

The 2 years transition phase of new Macs from Intel Core to custom Apple Silicon kicked off with the launch of 13-inch MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models at the November 10 event. With its custom M1 chip, Apple has created a shared architecture across iPhone, iPad, and Mac that allows iOS apps to run on Macs for the first time.

We have a detailed breakup of the tech specifications of both models in our M1 MacBook Pro vs Intel MacBook Pro comparison to showcase hardware differences.

Processor

M1 MacBook Pro
- 8-core M1 chip: 4 high- performance cores and 4 high-efficiency cores
Intel MacBook Pro
- Up to 1.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 and Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz

Graphics

M1 MacBook Pro – 8-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine
Intel MacBook Pro – Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645

Connectivity

M1 MacBook Pro – 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6
Intel MacBook Pro – 802.11ac Wi-Fi

Battery and Power

M1 MacBook Pro
- Up to 17 hours wireless web browsing
- Up to 20 hours Apple TV app movie streaming
Intel MacBook Pro
- Up to 10 hours wireless web browsing
- Up to 10 hours Apple TV app movie playback

Ports

M1 MacBook Pro – Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Intel MacBook Pro – Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports

All other features of the M1 and Intel Core 13-inch MacBook Pro models are the same including the price, size, weight, display, speakers, and more. Starting at $1299, the new M1 MacBook Pro is available on apple.com. It has replaced its predecessor, the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, which sold at the same price, however, Apple still sells high-end Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro models for $1,799 and $1,999.