When Apple’s M1 chip debuted in November 2020, it didn’t just rock the Mac, it rocked the entire computing industry, surpassing chips from giants such as Intel (which Apple abandoned) and AMD. These companies have done their best to catch up and lo and behold, AMD is now claiming that its latest laptop chip, the 7840U, is faster than Apple’s M2.
According to AMD, its new Ryzen 7 7840U shows an improvement over the M2 ranging from 5% in web browsing to 75% in the Passmark 10 benchmark tool. (We wonder why it doesn’t provide specific numbers or use not a more common tool such as Geekbench or Cinebench.) igamesnews’s sister site PCWorld states that the 7840U is intended for use in low-power laptops, which is likely why AMD compares its chip to the M2 found in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are significantly faster than the M2 – and almost certainly faster than the 7840U – but these laptops and chips require significantly more power.
AMD
Speaking of power, how much does the 7840U use compared to the M2, which is the king of laptop power efficiency? AMD doesn’t say this specifically and only offers a vague “leadership efficiency for exceptional battery life” claim. An AMD representative told The Verge that battery life information would be “coming soon”, which, to the more cynical among us, sounds like AMD didn’t want to obscure its announcement with its results on battery life. Apple’s MacBook Air M2 offers 18 hours of fanless battery life, and we’re pretty sure AMD would be touting the 7840U if it offered anything close.
Also, while AMD may enjoy its lead for now, Apple’s M3 chip is already in development and could hit the market later this year or in early 2024. It would be manufactured using of a 3nm process, which could lead to a higher performance boost. than the 20% increase the M2 shipped over the M1, both of which are 5nm chips. The M3 will also extend Apple’s lead in energy efficiency, so AMD and Intel have their work cut out for them.
