i5-1230U vs Apple M3 Pro 12-Core

Aggregate performance score

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core
2023
12 cores / 12 threads, 27 Watt
16.57
+135%
Core i5-1230U
2022
10 cores / 12 threads, 9 Watt
7.04

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core outperforms Core i5-1230U by a whopping 135% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking4051008
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesApple M3Intel Alder Lake-M
Power efficiency57.0072.65
Architecture codenameno dataAlder Lake-U (2022)
Release date30 October 2023 (1 year ago)23 February 2022 (2 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U 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)10 (Deca-Core)
Threads1212
Base clock speed2.748 GHz1 GHz
Boost clock speed4.06 GHz4.4 GHz
L1 cacheno data80K (per core)
L2 cacheno data1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cacheno data12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography3 nmIntel 7 nm
Maximum core temperatureno data100 °C
Number of transistors37000 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibilityno data+

Compatibility

Information on Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U 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
Socketno dataFCBGA1781
Power consumption (TDP)27 Watt9 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U. 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+
Speed Shiftno data+
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
TSX-+
Thermal Monitoring-+
Flex Memory Accessno data-
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U are enumerated here.

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 i5-1230U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesno dataDDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory sizeno data64 GB
Max memory channelsno data2

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardApple M3 Pro 18-Core GPUIntel® Iris® Xe Graphics eligible
Quick Sync Video-+
Graphics max frequencyno data850 MHz
Execution Unitsno data80

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data4

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12.1
OpenGLno data4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U.

PCIe versionno data4.0
PCI Express lanesno data14

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 16.57
+135%
i5-1230U 7.04

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 25836
+135%
i5-1230U 10977

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
+321%
i5-1230U 514

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 15298
+126%
i5-1230U 6755

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 2327
+52.2%
i5-1230U 1529

WebXPRT 3

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core 427
+82.9%
i5-1230U 234

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 16.57 7.04
Recency 30 October 2023 23 February 2022
Physical cores 12 10
Power consumption (TDP) 27 Watt 9 Watt

Apple M3 Pro 12-Core has a 135.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and 20% more physical cores.

i5-1230U, on the other hand, has 200% lower power consumption.

The Apple M3 Pro 12-Core is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-1230U in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Apple M3 Pro 12-Core and Core i5-1230U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Apple M3 Pro 12-Core
M3 Pro 12-Core
Intel Core i5-1230U
Core i5-1230U

Similar processor comparisons

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Community ratings

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


3.7 99 votes

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3.3 35 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Apple M3 Pro 12-Core or Core i5-1230U, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.