alt Hacker NewsThe 9950X3D has a TDP of 170 watts. M5 has an estimated TDP of around 20 watts.
The comparison point was for single core performance, which certainly makes the TDP comparison unfair if interpreted together. The numbers are ballpark-correct.
No one else is remotely close to Apple. Apple could stop developing chips for four years, and it’s very likely they would still ship the most efficient core architecture, and sit in the top five in performance. If you’re quibbling over the semantics of this particular comparison, you are not mentally ready for what M5 Ultra is going to do to these comparisons in a few months.
Replies
user34283 • 01/16/2026
Is Snapdragon with the X2 Elite so far behind?
I doubt it, particularly not four years.
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> The numbers are ballpark-correct.
The numbers do not exist in isolation. They are "interpreted together" because statistics are more than just advertisement lines. The TDP comparison is mind-bogglingly stupid and you should really feel ashamed for defending it if you care about statistical integrity.
> you are not mentally ready for what M5 Ultra is going to do to these comparisons in a few months
I hope so. The past Ultra chips have been losing to Nvidia laptops in raster and compute efficiency.