Intel’s latest Raptor Lake Core i9 CPU just got smoked by Apple’s M3 Max in Geekbench

The laptop version of Intel Core i9-14900HX has just appeared in a new Acer machine. And without wanting to drop a Titanic-sized spoiler, Apple won’t be overly sweating the leaked Geekbench results the latest processor from its competitor is throwing down. 

Debuting in what looks like an updated edition of the Acer Predator Helios 18 (thanks, NotebookCheck), this 14th gen Raptor Lake-HX CPU admittedly beats Apple’s base M3 chip in the Geekbench 6 testing we did for our MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 review. As for Crew Cupertino’s top-of-the-line M3 Max chip seen in the ferociously powerful MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max, that’s a whole different story. 

As you can see, in both single and multi-core testing, the M3 Max comfortably beats the leaked specs of the i9-14900HX. If you’re an Intel fan like this writer, you’re probably a little disappointed by those numbers above. 

It’s not like Intel’s latest offering boasts an Earth-shattering upgrade compared to its predecessor, either. The Core i9-13900HX hits (still respectable) scores of 2,720 / 16,522 in Geekbench, meaning the new processor provides 10% and 8% performance upgrades over its older sibling. That’s an okay boost, but nothing more.

In a world where it now appears Apple is finally ready to take Mac gaming seriously, some of the best gaming laptops (traditionally powered by either AMD or Intel chipsets) could have a lot to fear from the Californian tech colossal. 

While the Acer Predator Helios 18 sounds like an impressive specimen on paper — it apparently packs in 32GB of RAM and an Nvidia RTX 4080 Laptop GPU — the MacBook Pro M3 Max 16-inch absolutely floored us during our review testing. 

In games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Lies of P, my colleague Tony Polanco was able to hit over 100 frames per second in each of these titles. That’s unheard of gaming performance from any MacBook we’ve ever gone hands-on with.

As much as I’d gladly have a sauna on the surface of the Sun to test some of my favorite titles out on the 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Max, I sadly don’t have a spare $3,999 lying around my apartment.

At any rate, with the numbers the M3 Max is capable of churning out — Apple’s mighty silicon also achieved impressive scores in our 3DMark Wildlife Unlimited tests of 31,271 / 187 fps — it looks like it has the grunt to be a gaming beast.

The Helios 18 and every other upcoming gaming laptop that’s set to feature Intel’s Core i9 13900HX should be nervous right about now.

From my Tom’s Guide

• Acer Predator Helios 18 is company’s first-ever 18-inch gaming laptop
• The best MacBooks you can buy today
• MacBook Air vs Pro: Which should you buy?

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Dave is a computing editor at Tom’s Guide and covers everything from cutting edge laptops to ultrawide monitors. When he’s not worrying about dead pixels, Dave enjoys regularly rebuilding his PC for absolutely no reason at all. In a previous life, he worked as a video game journalist for 15 years, with bylines across GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and TechRadar. Despite owning a graphics card that costs roughly the same as your average used car, he still enjoys gaming on the go and is regularly glued to his Switch. Away from tech, most of Dave’s time is taken up by walking his husky, buying new TVs at an embarrassing rate and obsessing over his beloved Arsenal.