Home > CPU Comparison > Core i5 1235U or Apple M1: what's better?

Intel Core i5 1235U vs Apple M1

43 out of 100
Intel Core i5 1235U
VS
53 out of 100
Apple M1
Intel Core i5 1235U
Apple M1

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5 1235U with 10-cores against the 3.2 GHz Apple M1 with 8-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (2)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
DeviceFacts Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between M1 and 1235U
Advantages of Intel Core i5 1235U
  • Supports up to 64 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
  • Newer - released 1 year and 3 months later
  • Has 2 more physical cores
Advantages of Apple M1
  • More modern manufacturing process – 5 versus 10 nanometers
  • More powerful Apple M1 GPU integrated graphics: 2.6 vs 1.5 TFLOPS
  • 15% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2410 vs 2089 points

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i5 1235U
vs
Apple M1

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Core i5 1235U
98
Apple M1 +12%
110
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Core i5 1235U
368
Apple M1 +43%
525
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 400 -
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 1046 -
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Core i5 1235U
2089
Apple M1 +15%
2410
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i5 1235U
6362
Apple M1 +34%
8547
File compression 448.4 MB/sec 941 MB/sec
Clang compilation 24.1 Klines/sec 68.2 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 156 pages/sec 192.4 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 128.9 Mpixels/sec 211.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 206.3 pages/sec 250.8 pages/sec
Background blur 34.7 images/sec 34.1 images/sec
Photo processing 54.1 images/sec 60.9 images/sec
Ray tracing 10.5 Mpixels/sec 9.74 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 545 & 760 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i5 1235U
3043
Apple M1 +21%
3673
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i5 1235U
12404
Apple M1 +14%
14123
Integer math 47.4 GOps/sec 33.2 GOps/sec
Floating point math 37.4 GOps/sec 35.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 534M Primes/sec 141M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 16.6M Strings/sec 21M Strings/sec
Data encryption 9 GBytes/sec 8.5 GBytes/sec
Data compression 143.4 MBytes/sec 168 MBytes/sec
Physics 649 Frames/sec 1359 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 7.9B Matrices/sec 7B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 8840 & 10702 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i5 1235U
80.33
Apple M1 +19%
95.27

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 24.5 PPW 37.5 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 424.1 PPW 610.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 826.9 PPW 1008.8 PPW
Blender / Watt 5.36 PPW 6.81 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i5 1235U
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-15 (zoetje)Cinebench 2026400 / 1046
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-09 (Jubayer)Cinebench 202486 / 393
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-06 (TASIN AMIR)Geekbench 6 CPU2191 / 7204
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-08 -> samueltailsGeekbench 6 CPU2147 / 6050
πŸ“˜ 2025-01-13 (sauron269)Cinebench 202498 / 368
Add View all (5)
Apple M1
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-25 -> op1Geekbench 6 CPU2273 / 7967
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-24 -> op1Geekbench 6 CPU2420 / 8793
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-06 (gaR)Geekbench 6 CPU2396 / 8763
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-11 (Ario)Geekbench 6 CPU2395 / 8820
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-11 (Ario)Cinebench 2024110 / 465
Add View all (8)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 1235U and Apple M1

General

Vendor Intel Apple
Released February 23, 2022 November 20, 2020
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set x86-64 ARMv8
Codename Alder Lake Apple M1
Model number i5-1235U -
Integrated GPU Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) Apple M1 GPU
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 5 225U - Apple M5 (10-Core)
Intel CPU rating (#199th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 2 4
P-Threads 4 4
Base Frequency (P) 1.3 GHz 3.2 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.4 GHz -
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 8 4
E-Threads 8 4
Base Frequency (E) 0.9 GHz 2.1 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.3 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 10 8
Total Threads 12 8
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 13x -
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 1280K (per core) 12MB (shared)
L3 Cache 12MB (shared) -
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors - 16 billions
Fabrication Process 10 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 12-15 W (configurable) 14 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 55 W -
Socket BGA-1744 Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100Β°C -

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) Apple M1 GPU
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 450 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1200 MHz 1278 MHz
Shading Units 640 1024
TMUs 40 64
ROPs 20 32
Execution Units 80 128
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core i5 1235U
1.5 TFLOPS
Apple M1 +73%
2.6 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M1 GPU (8-core) compared to Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
- LPDDR5-5200
- LPDDR4x-4267		 - LPDDR4X-4266
Max. Memory Size 64 GB 16 GB
Memory Channels 2 8
Max. Memory Bandwidth - 68.25 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i5 1235U official page -
PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 -

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
224 (44.6%)
278 (55.4%)
Total votes: 502

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Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M1 or Intel Core i5 1235U?
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Avatar
David April 19, 2023 at 06:49 AM
I own an M1 macbook air, but I will change jobs next month and need a Windows machine. I assumed that apple silicon was streets ahead, but it's not as extreme as I had feared so I'm relieved.
+49 Reply
Avatar
Alex November 22, 2022 at 11:27 AM
For the price, average power usage, low clocks, and core count I think the i5 is genuinely just better. You can find this chip in High midrange laptops or high-end laptops for cheaper than the MacBook Air M1, which offers similar performance at similar wattage and even runs at lower base clocks. I call this a win for the 1235u honestly.
+79 Reply
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