Apple M3 Ultra vs M3 Max

95 out of 100
Apple M3 Ultra
VS
83 out of 100
Apple M3 Max

We compared two CPUs: the 4.05 GHz Apple M3 Ultra (desktop) with 32-cores against the 4.05 GHz M3 Max (laptop) with 16-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
100
72
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
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Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click “Calculate".
Currency
VS

Key Differences

What are the key differences between Max and Ultra
Advantages of Apple M3 Ultra
  • Supports up to 512 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM
  • Has 16 more physical cores
  • Around 409.7 GB/s (100%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More powerful Apple M3 Ultra GPU (80-core) integrated graphics: 28.3 vs 14.1 TFLOPS
  • Newer - released 1 year and 4 months later

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
vs

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
141
M3 Max +1%
142
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M3 Ultra +76%
2994
1698
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 11987 5133
Cinebench Scores (2nd and 51st place)

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
M3 Ultra +1%
3266
3227
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M3 Ultra +41%
29755
21167
File compression 2690 MB/sec 2190 MB/sec
Clang compilation 319.2 Klines/sec 198.5 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 819.6 pages/sec 557.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 701.5 Mpixels/sec 648.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 327.5 pages/sec 309.1 pages/sec
Background blur 63.2 images/sec 68.9 images/sec
Photo processing 190.9 images/sec 183.5 images/sec
Ray tracing 61.5 Mpixels/sec 30.6 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 678 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M3 Ultra +6%
5064
4780
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M3 Ultra +77%
72850
41211
Integer math 181.6 GOps/sec 91.2 GOps/sec
Floating point math 183.5 GOps/sec 131.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 1063M Primes/sec 573M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 123.1M Strings/sec 61.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 49.4 GBytes/sec 24.7 GBytes/sec
Data compression 1076.9 MBytes/sec 530.4 MBytes/sec
Physics 8863 Frames/sec 4332 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 55.1B Matrices/sec 24.2B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 27 & 409 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M3 Ultra +78%
717.7
403.83

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 21.4 PPW 30.3 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 212.5 PPW 378 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 520.4 PPW 735.9 PPW
Blender / Watt 5.13 PPW 7.21 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 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-08-13 (Losito)Cinebench 202493 / 2422
📘 2025-03-17 (Luigi9212)Cinebench 2024148 / 2818
📘 2025-03-16 (Tyler)Cinebench 2024133 / 2753
Apple M3 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2024-09-27 (JayZeppelin)Cinebench 2024142 / 1698
📘 2024-04-27 (Guest #1)Cinebench 2024141 / 1459

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M3 Ultra and M3 Max

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released March 5, 2025 October 30, 2023
Type Desktop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv8 ARMv8
Codename Apple M3 Apple M3
Integrated GPU Apple M3 Ultra GPU (80-core) Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
Successor - - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 24 12
P-Threads 24 12
Base Frequency (P) 4.05 GHz 4.05 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 8 4
E-Threads 8 4
Base Frequency (E) 2.75 GHz 2.75 GHz
Total
Total Cores 32 16
Total Threads 32 16
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 40x 40x
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 64MB (shared) 32MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 184 billions 92 billions
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
TDP (PL1) 140 W 56 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100°C 100°C
Desktop CPU ranking (#4th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M3 Ultra GPU (80-core) Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
GPU Base Clock - 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1380 MHz 1380 MHz
Shading Units 10240 5120
TMUs 640 320
ROPs 320 160
Execution Units 1280 640
TGP 140 W 60 W
iGPU FLOPS
M3 Ultra +101%
28.3 TFLOPS
14.1 TFLOPS

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5-6400 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 512 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 64 32
Max. Memory Bandwidth 819.3 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

PCI Express Version - 4.0

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
5 (62.5%)
3 (37.5%)
Total votes: 8

Comments

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