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Apple M3 Pro vs M2 Max

73 out of 100
Apple M3 Pro
VS
68 out of 100
Apple M2 Max
Apple M3 Pro
Apple M2 Max

We compared two 12-core laptop CPUs: the 4.05 GHz Apple M3 Pro against the 3.5 GHz M2 Max. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
M3 Pro
87
M2 Max
77
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
M3 Pro
46
M2 Max
47
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
M3 Pro
83
M2 Max
75
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
M3 Pro
99
M2 Max
99
NanoReview Final Score
M3 Pro
73
M2 Max
68
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
๐Ÿ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between Max and Pro
Advantages of Apple M3 Pro
  • More modern manufacturing process โ€“ 3 versus 5 nanometers
  • Newer - released 10 months later
  • 17% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3163 vs 2695 points
Advantages of Apple M2 Max
  • Supports up to 96 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM
  • Around 256 GB/s (167%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More powerful Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core) integrated graphics: 13.6 vs 6.4 TFLOPS

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
M3 Pro
vs
M2 Max

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
M3 Pro +17%
143
M2 Max
122
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M3 Pro +4%
1059
M2 Max
1022
Cinebench Scores (141st and 148th place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
M3 Pro +17%
3163
M2 Max
2695
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M3 Pro +4%
15512
M2 Max
14891
File compression 1560 MB/sec 1690 MB/sec
Clang compilation 132.6 Klines/sec 131.8 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 382.9 pages/sec 368.6 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 393.2 Mpixels/sec 382.1 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 301 pages/sec 272.7 pages/sec
Background blur 61.4 images/sec 54.1 images/sec
Photo processing 144.1 images/sec 149.6 images/sec
Ray tracing 19.7 Mpixels/sec 17 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 991 & 693 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M3 Pro +3%
4247
M2 Max
4136
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M3 Pro
24046
M2 Max +12%
26843
Integer math 55.9 GOps/sec 57.7 GOps/sec
Floating point math 64.8 GOps/sec 73.4 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 240M Primes/sec 359M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 35.2M Strings/sec 41.1M Strings/sec
Data encryption 14.4 GBytes/sec 15.7 GBytes/sec
Data compression 288.5 MBytes/sec 335.2 MBytes/sec
Physics 2060 Frames/sec 3849 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 14.1B Matrices/sec 14.7B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] โ€“ 1204 & 1034 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M3 Pro
228.7
M2 Max +11%
253.11

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 35.3 PPW 20.4 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 517.1 PPW 297.8 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 801.5 PPW 536.9 PPW
Blender / Watt 7.62 PPW 5.06 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M3 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-01-25 (Kirich)Geekbench 6 CPU3198 / 14601
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-01-25 (Kirich)Cinebench 2024150 / 946
Add View all (2)
Apple M2 Max
No benchmark results yet
Add

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M3 Pro and M2 Max

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released October 30, 2023 January 17, 2023
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv8 ARMv8
Codename Apple M3 Apple M2
Integrated GPU Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core)
Successor - Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) - Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 8
P-Threads 6 8
Base Frequency (P) 4.05 GHz 3.5 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 6 4
E-Threads 6 4
Base Frequency (E) 2.75 GHz 2.4 GHz
Total
Total Cores 12 12
Total Threads 12 12
Multiplier 40x 35x
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 16MB (shared) 32MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 37 billions 67 billions
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 30 W 50 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100ยฐC 100ยฐC
Laptop processors ranking (40th and 64th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core)
GPU Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1380 MHz 1398 MHz
Shading Units 2304 4864
TMUs 144 304
ROPs 72 152
Execution Units 288 608
TGP 30 W 70 W
iGPU FLOPS
M3 Pro
6.4 TFLOPS
M2 Max +112%
13.6 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core) compared to M3 Pro GPU (18-core)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5-6400 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 36 GB 96 GB
Memory Channels 12 4
Max. Memory Bandwidth 153.6 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
431 (49.4%)
441 (50.6%)
Total votes: 872

Competitors

1. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M1 Pro (10)
2. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M3
3. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M1 Max
4. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M4 (10-Core)
5. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M2 Pro
6. Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M4 Pro (14-Core)
7. Apple M2 Max vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
8. Apple M2 Max vs Apple M4 Max (16-Core)
9. Apple M2 Max vs Apple M4 (10-Core)
10. Apple M2 Max vs Apple M3 Max
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M2 Max or M3 Pro?
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