In the top row in the image below, our Turning Torso tower model (a quite complex but repeating geometry) runs through four scenes and turns. In our SketchUp 2021 tests, the M1 ran reasonably well under Rosetta, but it was outperformed by the native SketchUp for Intel on the iMac Pro 2017. Importantly, both of these tools were running under Rosetta 2 because they have not been re-coded for Apple Silicon Macs yet. As a result, we have built up some test files. Our test files are a series of SketchUp and Vectorworks Architect files, two programs we have most been asked (and performed) product reviews for. The apps are loaded into the system in the exact same order: (1) test app, (2) QuickTime, (3) Timer, and finally (4) Quartz Debug. After clean restarts, only these tiny apps plus the “test app” are running. And we record the whole thing in QuickTime. We test using the Timer app (a digital stopwatch with 1/10 a second indicator) and the Apple Developers tool, Quartz Debug, which includes a Frames Per Second (FPS) meter. These files are used during our product reviews to look at performance from version to version. Typically Architosh does real-world performance tests with a series of files we have accumulated or built over a decade and a half. As a further point of reference, my Touch-bar, 2016 MacBook Pro with 2.6GHz Intel i7 received a score of 85.8, about 22 percent slower than the iMac Pro.

Apple has highly prioritized web browser performance, as can be seen in even the iPhone 12 Pro (A14 chip), obtaining a 202.2 score (based on score). The M1 is also 55 percent faster than the AMD Ryzen 9-5950X (based on an score).

(see emTech section below and comments by Tech Soft 3D)Īs we can see, the M1 Mac mini has blistering web performance, more than 2x the 2017 iMac Pro performance.

This is important because more professional applications happen via browser-based SaaS tools.

Now having that ARM-based architecture on the Mac platform brings superior web application performance to Apple Silicon-based Macs. (Image: Architosh / All rights reserved.)Īs noted here at, Apple’s CPUs in mobile have dominated in browser-benchmarks. Speedometer 2.0 Test Winner: M1 Mac mini defeats everybody.

Apple 2017 mac mini