Which processor is better: MacBook Air's Core i5 vs MacBook 's Core M3 Kaby Lake version?

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Marishe

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Hi.

I was reading about processors, but I’m a bit confused. I read that Core M processors are less powerful than full Core i processors because they are designed for mobile devices while the full Core i’s were designed for laptops and desktops, so I initially took that as the Air's Core i5 being more powerful than the MacBook's Core M.

However, the 2017 MacBook Air’s Core i5 is from the Broadwell generation while the 2017 MacBook’s Core M3 is from Kabby Lake.

From what I understand, Kabby Lake chips are supposed to be faster and more efficient than those from older microarchitectures, so I guess that should make the MacBook better than the Air? Then again, Core M processors are designed for mobile or ultra-thin devices which typically have less processing power, I think?

I wonder which one is actually better, especially when multitasking or using more resource-demanding programs? Will there be a significant difference between the two?
 
Solution
Atomicdonut17
Kaby Lake is the (as of the moment until the soon-to-be released Coffee Lake) most modern micro architecture for Intel LGA1151 processors, followed in suit by Skylake, and so on, so on. Broadwell is an older architecture, and thus it can be said, compare to Kaby Lake/Skylake i5s in that same scale of reference, they’d be weaker. However, M processors (in which the M stands for mobile, and I take it when you say M3, you mean some denomination of an i3 7xxxm) are, as you said, meant for mobile devices, more commonly OEM laptops and business computers, the like. The Broadwell architecture is two generations older than Kaby Lake (for reference, Broadwell>Skylake>Kaby Lake>Coffee Lake). A lower end i5 from the Broadwell sprectrum can be...
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Atomicdonut17

Atomicdonut17

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Kaby Lake is the (as of the moment until the soon-to-be released Coffee Lake) most modern micro architecture for Intel LGA1151 processors, followed in suit by Skylake, and so on, so on. Broadwell is an older architecture, and thus it can be said, compare to Kaby Lake/Skylake i5s in that same scale of reference, they’d be weaker. However, M processors (in which the M stands for mobile, and I take it when you say M3, you mean some denomination of an i3 7xxxm) are, as you said, meant for mobile devices, more commonly OEM laptops and business computers, the like. The Broadwell architecture is two generations older than Kaby Lake (for reference, Broadwell>Skylake>Kaby Lake>Coffee Lake). A lower end i5 from the Broadwell sprectrum can be weaker than a higher end i3 7xxx processor, mobile or not. Traditionally, mobile processors in laptops aren’t watered down- it just means they’re typically intergrated into the main board, making for no hassle with jossle and avoiding damaging pins, etc.

Hope this helped.
 
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Solution
Atomicdonut17

Atomicdonut17

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UPDATE:

I was actually a little curious and decided to look at the Broadwell processors and found that there is a generation of Broadwell based processors called Core M. I feel stupid now, but that’s part of learning. These processors are meant for (as I understand) low voltage devices and aren’t made for high output processing. So, defaultly, id have to hand it to the i5, whatever it might be.
 
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