Home > CPU Comparison > M4 Max (16-Core) or M1 Max: what's better?

Apple M4 Max (16-Core) vs M1 Max

93 out of 100
Apple M4 Max (16-Core)
VS
61 out of 100
Apple M1 Max
Apple M4 Max (16-Core)
Apple M1 Max

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 4.51 GHz Apple M4 Max (16-Core) with 16-cores against the 3.2 GHz M1 Max with 10-cores. 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
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
NanoReview Final Score
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 (16-Core)
Advantages of Apple M4 Max (16-Core)
  • Newer - released 3 years and 1 month later
  • Supports up to 128 GB LPDDR5X-8533 RAM
  • More modern manufacturing process โ€“ 3 versus 5 nanometers
  • Has 6 more physical cores
  • 64% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3986 vs 2431 points
  • More powerful Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core) integrated graphics: 16.2 vs 10.6 TFLOPS
  • Around 136.4 GB/s (33%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
M4 Max (16-Core)
vs
M1 Max

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
M4 Max (16-Core) +68%
187
M1 Max
111
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M4 Max (16-Core) +159%
2044
M1 Max
789
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 6324 -
Cinebench Scores (#23rd 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)
M4 Max (16-Core) +64%
3986
M1 Max
2431
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M4 Max (16-Core) +107%
26190
M1 Max
12673
File compression 2680 MB/sec 1450 MB/sec
Clang compilation 219.7 Klines/sec 105.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 699.3 pages/sec 329.2 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 771.1 Mpixels/sec 317 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 381.1 pages/sec 249.6 pages/sec
Background blur 92.2 images/sec 42.2 images/sec
Photo processing 236.2 images/sec 122.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 36.1 Mpixels/sec 14.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 447 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M4 Max (16-Core) +20%
4588
M1 Max
3831
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M4 Max (16-Core) +98%
43904
M1 Max
22162
Integer math 98.9 GOps/sec 46.1 GOps/sec
Floating point math 101.4 GOps/sec 64.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 627M Primes/sec 278M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 64.5M Strings/sec 32.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 27 GBytes/sec 12.2 GBytes/sec
Data compression 572.9 MBytes/sec 274.4 MBytes/sec
Physics 6614 Frames/sec 2833 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 30.3B Matrices/sec 12.8B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] โ€“ 566 & 2398 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M4 Max (16-Core) +139%
475.2
M1 Max
199.2

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 29.2 PPW 15.8 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 374.1 PPW 253.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 627.2 PPW 443.2 PPW
Blender / Watt 6.79 PPW 3.98 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 M4 Max (16-Core)
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-07-20 (Rahul)Cinebench 2024177 / 1954
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-07-10 (thomas)Geekbench 6 CPU4094 / 26275
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-04-02 (BigJake)Cinebench 2024178 / 2001
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-02-17 (MM)Cinebench 2024173 / 1928
๐Ÿ“˜ 2024-11-12 (Jason C)Cinebench 2024177 / 2004
Add View all (5)
Apple M1 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-07-04 (Daniel)Geekbench 6 CPU2459 / 13052
Add View all (1)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M4 Max (16-Core) and M1 Max

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released October 30, 2024 October 18, 2021
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv9 ARMv8
Codename Apple M4 Apple M1
Model number T6041 -
Integrated GPU Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core) Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
Successor - Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU) - Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 12 8
P-Threads 12 8
Base Frequency (P) 4.51 GHz 3.2 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 4 2
E-Threads 4 2
Base Frequency (E) 2.59 GHz 2.1 GHz
Total
Total Cores 16 10
Total Threads 16 10
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 45x -
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 32MB (shared) 24MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors - 57 billions
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 70 W 50 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100ยฐC -
Laptop processors ranking (6th and 95th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core) Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
GPU Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1578 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 5120 4096
TMUs 320 256
ROPs 160 128
Execution Units 640 512
TGP 50 W -
iGPU FLOPS
M4 Max (16-Core) +53%
16.2 TFLOPS
M1 Max
10.6 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) compared to M4 Max GPU (40-core)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5X-8533 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 64 GB
Memory Channels 32 4
Max. Memory Bandwidth 546 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
48 (77.4%)
14 (22.6%)
Total votes: 62

Competitors

1. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 (4)
2. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 (10-Core) (13)
3. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
4. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 Max (14-Core)
5. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 Pro
6. Apple M4 Max (16-Core) vs Apple M3 Pro
7. Apple M4 Max (16-Core) vs Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU)
8. Apple M4 Max (16-Core) vs Apple M4 Ultra (5)
9. Apple M4 Max (16-Core) vs Apple M1 Pro
10. Apple M4 Max (16-Core) vs Apple M2 Ultra
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M1 Max or M4 Max (16-Core)?
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