The most powerful chip in the Apple M1 family is the M1 Ultra. It was designed for the Mac Studio desktop system and is essentially two M1 Max chips connected via UltraFusion interconnect technology, featuring 114 billion transistors, a 20-core CPU, and up to a 64-core GPU.
Graphics Tests. The biggest difference in performance between the M1 Max and the M1 Ultra stemmed from the jump from 32 GPU cores to 64 GPU cores. With twice the horsepower rendering visuals, the Mac Studio with M1 Ultra dominated almost every graphics test we ran.
Apple claims the M1 has 3.5x faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, all while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than the previous-generation Intel MacBook Air.
Intel's i7 is faster than Apple's M1 when it comes to raw processing power. So, if you need a processor that can handle demanding tasks quickly, the i7 is the better option. Apple's M1 is more energy-efficient than Intel's i7, so it will run cooler and last longer on a single charge.
These Mac models support 8K resolution, 4K resolution with refresh rates of up to 240Hz, and VRR on a compatible external display: MacBook Pro with M2 Pro, M3 Pro, M2 Max or M3 Max introduced in 2023 or later.
The WSE-3 is the largest AI chip ever built, measuring 46,255 mm² and containing 4 trillion transistors. It delivers 125 petaflops of AI compute through 900,000 AI-optimized cores — 19× more transistors and 28× more compute than the NVIDIA B200.
According to MacTracker, Apple discontinued the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros in January 2023. (That was when the M2 Pro and M2 Max models came out.) Five years from January 2023 would be January 2028. However, Apple doesn't release compatibility lists for future versions of macOS five years in advance.
The M4, with the same 8 GPU cores, delivers only 6% more power than the M3, but it's 21% more than the M2 and a huge 57% boost over the M1. That's a big jump, especially for graphics-heavy tasks over older models!
It's interesting that the M1 Max is similar in GPU performance to RTX 3080. A sub $1000 Mac Mini would end up being the best gaming PC you could buy, at less than half the price of an equivalent windows machine. Similar to an RTX 3080 Mobile, which is IIRC equivalent to somewhere around a RTX 3060 Desktop.
For CPU performance the m4 will likely win hands down in about all scenarios. For GPU performance it might be a different story. Of course the newer cores will be faster but the shear amount of cores (32 GPU cores on the M1 Max vs 20 on the M4 Pro if I'm not mistaken) will be hard to beat.
M1 Ultra has a 64-core GPU, delivering faster performance than the highest-end PC GPU available, while using 200 fewer watts of power. Apple's unified memory architecture has also scaled up with M1 Ultra.
In April 2025, a team at Fudan University led by professors Wenzhong Bao and Peng Zhou announced that they had successfully created a 1nm RISC-V chip using two-dimensional semiconductors.
The #1 gaming phone is widely considered the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, praised for its ultimate performance, dedicated gaming features like shoulder triggers, advanced cooling, and top-tier display, though the RedMagic 11 Pro offers strong value, while the Apple iPhone 17 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are excellent all-around choices for iOS and Android users respectively, balancing power with everyday functionality.
The original M1 chip was introduced in November 2020, and was followed by the professional-focused M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in October 2021. The M1 Max is a higher-powered version of the M1 Pro, with more GPU cores and memory bandwidth, a larger die size, and a large used interconnect.
The Apple M1 chip offers significantly better performance than the Intel i5 chip. The M1 is faster, more energy efficient, and provides smoother graphics than the i5. The chip outperforms the i5 in terms of battery life.
The M1 chip is still faster than many Intel-based solutions, and macOS will continue to be updated for this model for several more years, ensuring relevance and security. As a result, the MacBook Air M1 remains a sensible choice in 2025 for those who need a lightweight, autonomous, and reliable laptop.
Yes, 1000Hz monitors exist, but with a significant trade-off: they achieve this extreme refresh rate by dropping the resolution to 720p (HD) using a "dual-mode" feature, while offering high refresh rates (like 500Hz) at their native QHD (1440p) resolution, with models from brands like Acer, Philips, and AOC announced for 2026. These monitors target hardcore esports players who prioritize the ultimate motion clarity and speed over visual fidelity in fast-paced competitive games.
