Apple - M3 vs Intel - Core Ultra 9 285H

The Core Ultra 9 285H edges ahead on the Mars Score (43.6 vs 51.2), but the 7.6-point gap is small enough that the right pick comes down to which spec advantages matter to you.

Pick the M3 if you care most about tdp. The biggest gaps in its favor are tdp.

Pick the Core Ultra 9 285H if you push the hardware — gaming, on-device AI, heavy multitasking — and the extra compute headroom is worth the trade-offs. Its strongest claims are cores, l3 cache, cinebench r23 (multi), among others.

There are no meaningful ties on the headline specs — every popular-comparison metric has a winner.

Bottom line: the Core Ultra 9 285H is the safer default. The other model is the right choice only when its specific advantages line up with your priorities.