Intel Lunar Lake vs Apple M3 Chip This comparison has been four years in the making. Ever since Apple ditched Intel for their own Apple silicon chips, Intel has been working on the Lunar Lake, a brand-new redesign. Based on all the reviews, including our own, this chip is absolutely killer. In this article, I’ll compare the Asus Zenbook S14 with the Lunar Lake 258 V chip to Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip.
- The Asus Zenbook S14 costs $1,500 and includes 1 TB SSD (double the MacBook’s storage) and 32 GB RAM (four times more RAM than the base MacBook Pro), making it $100 cheaper.
- Deals for the MacBook Pro can be found, with current offers saving $300.
This comparison is particularly exciting, especially regarding performance, but I’m most eager to test the battery life since Lunar Lake is known to excel in this area.
intel’s lunar lake vs apple’s m3 chip Quick comparison
| Specification | Asus Zenbook S14 (Lunar Lake 258 V) | Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3 Chip) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1702.83 (Retail) / $1321.75 (With Discount) | $2261.47 (Retail) / $2075.57 (With Discount) |
| Processor | Intel Lunar Lake Ultra 7 258 V | Apple M3 Chip |
| CPU Cores | 8 Cores (4 Performance, 4 Efficiency) | 8 Cores (4 Performance, 4 Efficiency) |
| Base Clock Speed | 4.05 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| RAM | 32 GB LPDDR5 | 8 GB Unified Memory |
| Storage | 1 TB SSD | 512 GB SSD |
| Graphics | Integrated Intel Graphics (OpenCL: 23,000) | Integrated Apple GPU (OpenCL: 47,800) |
| Display Type | 14-inch OLED, 500 nits, Touchscreen | 14-inch Mini-LED, 600 nits, Non-Touch |
| Display Resolution | 2880 x 1800 (2.9K) | 3024 x 1964 (3K) |
| Refresh Rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI, 1x USB-A, 1x Headphone Jack | 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI, 1x SD Card Slot, 1x MagSafe 3 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 | macOS Sonoma |
| Battery Life | Same as MacBook Pro in testing (68% after performance tests) | Same as Zenbook (68%) |
| Keyboard | Backlit Keyboard | Magic Keyboard with Backlighting |
| Trackpad | Traditional Trackpad (Diving Board) | Force Touch Trackpad (Pressure-sensitive) |
| Login Features | Windows Hello (Face Recognition) | Touch ID |
| Speakers | Stereo Speakers | 6-Speaker Sound System (High-Fidelity) |
| Webcam | 720p Webcam | 1080p FaceTime HD Camera |
| Weight | 3.06 lbs (1.39 kg) | 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg) |
| Dimensions | Thinner than MacBook Pro, slightly smaller in height | Slightly thicker than Zenbook |
| Special Features | Fingerprint-resistant finish, Windows Hello, x86 compatibility (Windows Gaming Support) | MagSafe 3, macOS Optimized Apps, Thunderbolt 4 |
| Performance (Geekbench Single-Core) | 10% slower than M3 | 10% faster than Lunar Lake |
| Performance (Geekbench Multi-Core) | 17% slower than M3 | 17% faster than Lunar Lake |
| Graphics (Geekbench OpenCL) | 23,000 | 47,800 |
| Battery Efficiency | Matches MacBook Pro | Matches Zenbook |
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Design and Build Comparison
Both the MacBook Pro and Zenbook are 14-inch laptops, but the Zenbook is thinner and slightly less tall. The MacBook Pro’s MagSafe 3 port, Thunderbolt ports, and SD card slot give it the edge in connectivity over the Zenbook, which lacks an SD card slot but includes a useful USB-A port. One feature where the Zenbook stands out is its fingerprint-resistant finish and its impressive Windows Hello login, a feature Apple lacks.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The MacBook Pro’s Magic Keyboard feels more satisfying and tactile than the Zenbook’s, though both have good backlighting. The MacBook’s trackpad is also far superior, with Force Touch technology offering excellent gesture support, while the Zenbook’s trackpad uses a less favorable diving board design.
Speaker and Display Quality
When it comes to speaker quality, the MacBook Pro easily outshines the Zenbook, providing better bass, clarity, and sound range. Display-wise, despite the Zenbook’s OLED with 500 nits of brightness, the MacBook Pro’s Mini-LED screen is brighter at 600 nits and has deeper blacks. The Zenbook’s touchscreen layer results in grayer blacks and a more reflective screen, giving the MacBook the edge in overall display quality.
Performance Testing
On Geekbench 6, Apple’s M3 chip is about 17% faster in single-core performance and 10% faster in multi-core tests. Web browsing performance (measured via Speedometer 3.0) shows the M3 beating Lunar Lake by a huge margin (39.8 vs. 27).
During a Figma web design test, the M3 completed tasks 21 seconds faster than the Zenbook, despite having less RAM. The M3’s GPU performance is also superior, with 47,800 in Geekbench 6‘s OpenCL test compared to 23,000 for Lunar Lake, a difference of over twice the performance.
Real-World Graphics Benchmarks
In 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, the M3 is 58% faster than the Lunar Lake, while in 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, the M3 was 26% faster. Cinebench 2024 tests showed the M3 finishing 13.5% faster. Even in DaVinci Resolve, the M3 beat Lunar Lake by 25 seconds during a 4K export.
Battery Life
After running all these tests, both laptops had the exact same battery life, with both remaining at 68%. This is extremely impressive for Intel, given how x86 chips have traditionally struggled with efficiency compared to Apple’s ARM-based chips.
Conclusion
The MacBook Pro consistently outperformed the Zenbook S14 in nearly every test, but considering the Zenbook’s price, more RAM (32 GB), larger SSD (1 TB), and OLED display, it offers far better value for those who care more about hardware and pricing. Intel’s Lunar Lake chip, especially with its power efficiency and x86 architecture, marks a major comeback for Intel. If value matters most to you, the Zenbook is an excellent choice, but if you prioritize performance and the Apple ecosystem, the MacBook Pro is still the winner.
