Mac – Does the Mac mini (2018) support Intel Hyper-Threading

cpumacmac-mini

I am using a Mac mini (2018) with a 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 processor. My understanding is that this chip has 6 physical cores.

The Activity Monitor shows performance graphs for 6 cores. On other Macs with Hyper-Threading enabled by default, Activity Monitor shows the number of effective/virtual cores, i.e., twice the number of physical cores.

So does the display of 6 cores on this Mac mini mean:

  • Hyper-Threading is not offered by this chip?

  • Hyper-Threading is disabled by default by Apple now (likely because of the Intel CPU flaws)?

  • This chip really has only 3 cores, and 6 virtual?

Best Answer

  • Hyper-Threading is not offered by this chip?

Correct. This chip does not feature Intel Hyper-Threading technology.

Hyper-Threading is disabled by default by Apple now

No.

This chip really has only 3 cores, and 6 virtual?

This chip has 6 physical cores.

Out of all the variants offered by Apple, Hyper-Threading feature is available only in the 3.2GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7 variant.

A note for the technically minded: The Core i3 model that we tested doesn't offer either Turbo Boost of Hyper-Threading technology. If you upgrade to a Core i5 model, you'll get Turbo Boost, which lets the clock speed ramp up for short bursts. If you opt for the Core i7 model, you'll get both Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading for more multithread capability.

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