The era of caring about CPU clock speeds and core counts is over. In 2026”, “the performance metric for PCs is TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second) .
How fast can your PC run AI locally?
Specs comparison of the big three AI processors
| Item Snapdragon X2 Elite | Apple M5 (Pro) | Intel Core Ultra (Lunar Lake) |
|---|---|---|
| NPU performance, 80 TOPS, 60 TOPS (est.), 48 TOPS | ||
| Architecture, Arm v9, Arm v9, x86 (Lion Cove / Skymont) | ||
| Memory, LPDDR5X (up to 128GB), Unified (up to 36GB+), LPDDR5X (on-package up to 32GB) | ||
| Strengths, Outstanding battery life, OS integration and GPU performance, Legacy app compatibility | ||
| Weaknesses, Some game compatibility, Price and expandability, Power efficiency (vs Arm) |
Benchmark showdown (Geekbench 6 Pro AI)
These are the major benchmark scores for 2026 (estimated).
AI inference score (Integer 8)
TOPS is only the “theoretical maximum burst.” In real apps (Adobe Photoshop AI removal and local LLM token generation speed), Apple M5 can often have an advantage thanks to wider memory bandwidth.
1. Snapdragon X2 Elite: Windows game changer
With the second generation, the weak emulation performance has improved dramatically. “Regular Windows apps” run smoothly, and the battery lasts longer than a MacBook.
2. Apple M5: The chip for professionals
The M5 chip increased the number of “Neural Engine” cores dedicated to AI processing. Especially the Pro/Max chips have wide memory bandwidth, so if you want to run large local LLMs (70B class), it is the only choice.
3. Intel Lunar Lake: x86 pride
Intel redesigned its architecture with “Lunar Lake.” By integrating memory on the chip (like Apple), it greatly improves power efficiency. It is the safe choice for users who want to keep using existing Windows assets.
Conclusion
- Creators & AI engineers : MacBook Pro with Apple M5
- General users & gamers : XPS / ZenBook with Intel Lunar Lake
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