Xeon Gold 6542Y vs Apple M1 Pro
Aggregate performance score
Xeon Gold 6542Y outperforms Apple M1 Pro by a whopping 243% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 758 | 93 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 35.18 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Apple M-Series | no data |
| Power efficiency | no data | 14.01 |
| Architecture codename | no data | Emerald Rapids (2023) |
| Release date | 18 October 2021 (3 years ago) | 14 December 2023 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $2,878 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 | 10 (Deca-Core) | 24 (Tetracosa-Core) |
| Threads | 10 | 48 |
| Base clock speed | 2.064 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.22 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| L1 cache | 2.9 MB | 80 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 28 MB | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 24 MB | 60 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 5 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | no data | 2x 763 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 83 °C |
| Number of transistors | 33700 Million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 configuration | no data | 2 |
| Socket | no data | FCLGA4677 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 250 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| TSX | - | + |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® SPS |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR5-5200 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 8 |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by M1 Pro and Xeon Gold 6542Y.
| PCIe version | no data | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 80 |
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 10.74 | 36.86 |
| Recency | 18 October 2021 | 14 December 2023 |
| Physical cores | 10 | 24 |
| Threads | 10 | 48 |
Xeon Gold 6542Y has a 243.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and 140% more physical cores and 380% more threads.
The Xeon Gold 6542Y is our recommended choice as it beats the M1 Pro in performance tests.
Be aware that Apple M1 Pro is a notebook processor while Xeon Gold 6542Y is a server/workstation one.
Other comparisons
We've compiled a selection of CPU comparisons, ranging from closely matched processors to other comparisons that may be of interest.
