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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.