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A Geekbench benchmark shows Apple's M6 has some unexpected competition

notebookcheck.net • September 15, 2026 • general

Key Points:

The Apple M6 chip shows approximately a 10% improvement in single-core performance and a 20% gain in multi-core performance compared to the outgoing 10-core M5, aligning with Apple's claim of up to 1.2 times faster multi-threaded performance.
The M6's single-core score of 4,610 and peak clock speed trail the A20 Pro chip in the iPhone 18 Pro, which scores 4,725 at 4.93 GHz, despite the Mac mini's better thermal environment.
A possible reason for the M6's lower clock speed is that it retains the M5's 10-wide decode Super core design, while the A20 Pro uses a redesigned 9-wide decode core optimized for higher clock speeds, influenced by thermal and timing constraints in passively cooled devices.
The A20 Pro's multi-core performance remains significantly lower than the M6's due to its reduced core count and thermal limits.
These benchmark results are based on engineering samples and pre-release data, so final retail unit performance may vary upon broader testing.

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