AMD’s Zen 4 processor is known to be one of the best CPUs out there. phonics For those wondering whether mobile Zen 4 can compete with competing mobile chips such as Apple’s M2 silicon. The Linux publication compared two mobile Zen 4 processors to the Apple M2 in some Linux benchmarks.
Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a high-performance Zen 4 processor powering handheld gaming devices such as ROG Ally. The octa-core, 16-thread chip features a boost clock of 5.1 GHz and a cTDP of 9W to 30W. The Ryzen 7 7840U that powers Acer’s Swift Edge 16 is another processor in AMD’s Zen 4 camp, featuring a similar octa-core, 16-thread design with a boost clock of 5.1 GHz. Unlike the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, the Ryzen 7 7840U is 28W while the chip has a cTDP of 15W-30W.
Instead, the M2 found in the MacBook Air 2022 features an octa-core Arm-based design with four performance ‘Avalanche’ cores and four efficiency ‘Blizzard’ cores. Avalanche cores have a maximum speed of 3.5 GHz, while Blizzard cores have a maximum speed of 2.4 GHz. It’s worth remembering that unlike the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air has a passive cooling solution. ROG Ally and Swift Edge 16 come with an active cooling solution. More importantly, Phoronix tested his 8GB version of his MacBook Air 2022. The press used Asahi Linux to test his MacBook Air 2022. The support is commendable, but the project is mostly a work in progress. Therefore, M2 may have untapped potential due to lack of proper Linux support.
According to the geometric results of the test results, AMD’s Zen 4 processor performed on par with the Apple M2. In ROG Ally’s balanced mode, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme delivered 28.7% higher performance than the Apple M2. When Phoronix put ROG Ally into performance mode, the performance delta increased to 95.7%. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 7840U outperformed the Apple M2 by 75.8%.
The Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Ryzen 7 7840U showed excellent performance per watt in our benchmarks. Unfortunately, his PowerCap/RAPL or HWMON drivers for Apple M2 are not present, so Phoronix was not able to record real-time power consumption metrics for silicon using Linux. Many would agree that it would be interesting to see how the Apple M2’s power efficiency compares to the Zen 4. Sure, Phoronix can assess AC power from the wall, but it doesn’t give an accurate reading.
Phoronix’s test satisfies the curiosity of those who want to see a Zen 4 vs. Apple M2 battle. Some might argue that this is not an identical comparison, as there are too many variables, including cooling differences and the fact that the Apple M2 ran on Asahi Linux instead of native macOS. Asahi Linux is optimized for M2 silicon.
