Modern professionals need portable workstations that can keep up with demanding workloads. Whether you’re rendering graphics, training AI models, or producing creative content, chip performance directly impacts productivity. Better-performing systems can shorten project timelines, enable smoother multitasking, and help teams deliver results from anywhere. Mobile workstations such as the HP ZBook Ultra G1a combine workstation-class power with the flexibility of a lightweight laptop, making them potentially well-suited for CPU-, GPU-, and NPU-intensive workflows.

To evaluate performance, we used industry-standard benchmarks across a range of processor- and graphics-intensive scenarios. Our comparisons included two configurations of the 14-inch HP ZBook Ultra G1a Mobile Workstation PC, powered by AMD Ryzen^™ AI Max PRO processors, and a 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro powered by the Apple M4 Pro processor.

The HP ZBook Ultra G1a with AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO processor demonstrated clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro in our testing, offering stronger performance across productivity, graphics, AI, and creative workloads.

To assess general productivity, graphics, on-device AI, and creative workload performance, we ran these benchmarks:

• PassMark PerformanceTest 11.1
• Cinebench R23
• 3DMark
• Procyon AI Computer Vision
• Geekbench AI GPU
• Chaos V-Ray CPU

HP provided the systems. The results we report reflect the specific configurations we tested. Any difference in the configurations you test, as well as screen brightness, network traffic, or software additions, can affect these results. For a deeper dive into our testing parameters and procedures, see the science behind the report.

What we learned: Performance & productivity

From running design software and editing large files to juggling multiple apps at once, modern workloads can quickly push a mobile device’s limits. Faster and more powerful computing capabilities can boost responsiveness, reduce wait times, and create a smoother overall experience. These improvements can make daily tasks feel easier and help improve productivity when deadlines are tight or when projects are complex. To gauge overall hardware performance of the mobile workstations, we ran two key tests: PassMark PerformanceTest 11.1 and Cinebench R23.

PassMark PerformanceTest 11.1 benchmark suite stresses CPU, 2D and 3D graphics, storage, and memory through different tests. The CPU test executes complex mathematical calculations involving compression, encryption, and physics simulations.⁸ This score helps with systems comparisons because it reflects raw processing power.

Cinebench R23 tests how fast a CPU can render a 3D scene.⁹ The faster it finishes, the higher the score. Because it uses many cores at once, the Cinebench multi-core score indicates how a processor might handle demanding, multi-threaded tasks in everyday use in addition to rendering capability.

What we learned: Graphics tests

While these mobile workstations are more geared for work than play, strong gaming performance can signal faster response times in graphics-heavy professional workloads such as financial analysis, scientific simulations, and product design. The 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, Solar Bay, and Wildlife Extreme Unlimited tests evaluate a system’s hardware and estimate the frame rates (in frames per second, or FPS) it can deliver during GPU-intensive tasks. In addition to FPS results, the benchmark provides overall scores that make comparing systems straightforward.¹⁰ The 3DMark tests we ran do not have CPU components, but if the CPU cannot submit work to the GPU fast enough, it could invalidate the result of the test. ^{11, 12, 13}

• Steel Nomad Light: Multi-threaded benchmark that measures GPU performance with a non-ray traced, game-like workload across DirectX 12, Vulkan 1.1, and Metal
• Wild Life Extreme Unlimited: Uses varied geometry, lighting, and effects to deliver consistent chip-to-chip comparisons
• Solar Bay Unlimited: Ray-tracing benchmark with reflections, lighting, and effects that runs three progressively demanding scenes using Vulkan 1.1 at 2560×1440 resolution

What we learned: AI tests

As AI models and processes become faster, more capable, and cheaper to run, organizations are integrating them into a growing range of workflows to accelerate decision-making and innovation. Businesses are using AI to automate routine tasks, derive deeper insights from data, and augment human decision-making in complex scenarios. This shift is yielding tangible performance improvements. For example, one field study found that equipping customer service agents with an AI assistant boosted their productivity by about 14 percent, with the largest gains among less-experienced workers.¹⁴ The finding underscores how AI-driven transformation can help boost productivity and overall business performance.

Procyon AI Computer Vision Benchmark – float32

AI and ML technologies are transforming how professionals approach complex tasks, but that innovation requires serious computing power. These workloads are both data- and processor-intensive, making a strong CPU essential for staying productive. Whether it’s running computer vision at the edge, analyzing 3D images, or classifying objects, faster performance can mean finishing tasks sooner and focusing on what comes next. To measure this capability, Procyon AI Computer Vision Benchmark evaluates inference performance across multiple AI engines, delivering an overall score as well as total inference counts per model. In our testing, we used Windows Machine Learning (ML) as the inference engine with the DirectML GPU backend on the two configurations of the HP ZBook Ultra G1a and the Apple Core ML engine for the MacBook, and we ran the following models using the single-precision (FP32) format:¹⁵

• MobileNetV3 and ResNet-50: ^16,17,18 Commonly applied in image recognition, object detection, and classification tasks across research, technology, and commercial settings; MobileNetV3 targets mobile devices (e.g., the mobile workstations we tested)
• Real-ESRGAN:¹⁹ Used in industries such as digital media, healthcare, and real estate to improve image clarity and resolution with Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)-based enhancement

Geekbench AI GPU

Geekbench AI evaluates CPU, GPU, and NPU performance using real-world ML tasks.²⁰ For our testing, we used the Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) framework with the DirectML GPU backend on the two HP ZBook Ultra G1a configurations, and the Apple Core ML engine with the GPU backend on the 14-inch MacBook Pro. We ran tests in both single-precision (FP32) and half-precision (FP16) formats. FP32 results are more relevant for workloads that demand accuracy—such as medical imaging or advanced deep learning—while FP16 results are useful for scenarios where speed and efficiency take priority, such as training smaller datasets or models.

What we learned: Creative tests

Creative professionals rely on powerful workstations to handle demanding workflows such as video editing, image processing, and digital content creation. These workloads can combine heavy CPU, GPU, and memory usage, so performance directly affects how quickly projects move from concept to completion. Benchmarking creative applications provides insight into how well a workstation can support these real-world tasks, helping deliver potential gains in productivity and responsiveness.

Conclusion

Our testing shows that the HP ZBook Ultra G1a Mobile Workstation PC, powered by an AMD Ryzen^™ AI Max PRO processor, outperformed its 14-inch counterpart Apple MacBook Pro in several key workloads. The ZBook Ultra G1a delivered up to 67 percent higher general productivity performance, up to 60 percent better graphics performance, up to 26 times stronger AI inference performance, and up to 43 percent faster rendering performance. In these tests, the ZBook Ultra G1a configuration with the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 processor performed the best, but both AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO processor configurations performed well and better than the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M4 Pro chip. For professionals who rely on mobile systems for these and other CPU-, GPU-, and NPU-intensive workflows, these performance advantages could translate into shorter project timelines, smoother multitasking, and greater flexibility for working on the go. The HP ZBook Ultra G1a combines workstation-class power with mobility, which can help your teams save time and stay productive wherever work happens.