Home > CPU Comparison > M4 (10-Core) or M1 Max: what's better?

Apple M4 (10-Core) vs M1 Max

76 out of 100
Apple M4 (10-Core)
VS
61 out of 100
Apple M1 Max
Apple M4 (10-Core)
Apple M1 Max

We compared two 10-core laptop CPUs: the 4.46 GHz Apple M4 (10-Core) against the 3.2 GHz M1 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 (13)

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.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between Max and (10-Core)
Advantages of Apple M4 (10-Core)
  • Newer - released 2 years and 7 months later
  • More modern manufacturing process – 3 versus 5 nanometers
  • 55% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3777 vs 2431 points
Advantages of Apple M1 Max
  • Around 289.6 GB/s (241%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More powerful Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) integrated graphics: 10.6 vs 3.8 TFLOPS
  • Supports up to 64 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
M4 (10-Core)
vs
M1 Max

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
M4 (10-Core) +55%
172
M1 Max
111
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M4 (10-Core) +24%
982
M1 Max
789
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 3211 -
Cinebench Scores (#158th 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 (10-Core) +55%
3777
M1 Max
2431
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M4 (10-Core) +17%
14818
M1 Max
12673
File compression 1500 MB/sec 1450 MB/sec
Clang compilation 120.2 Klines/sec 105.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 329.3 pages/sec 329.2 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 362.1 Mpixels/sec 317 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 352.1 pages/sec 249.6 pages/sec
Background blur 69.8 images/sec 42.2 images/sec
Photo processing 114.4 images/sec 122.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 18.1 Mpixels/sec 14.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 447 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M4 (10-Core) +17%
4499
M1 Max
3831
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M4 (10-Core) +7%
23603
M1 Max
22162
Integer math 54.2 GOps/sec 46.1 GOps/sec
Floating point math 49.6 GOps/sec 64.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 263M Primes/sec 278M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 34.3M Strings/sec 32.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 15.1 GBytes/sec 12.2 GBytes/sec
Data compression 280.5 MBytes/sec 274.4 MBytes/sec
Physics 2527 Frames/sec 2833 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 13.6B Matrices/sec 12.8B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 2752 & 2398 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M4 (10-Core) +15%
229.85
M1 Max
199.2

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 40.9 PPW 15.8 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 617.4 PPW 253.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 983.5 PPW 443.2 PPW
Blender / Watt 9.58 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 (10-Core)
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-13 (doannguuyenmfs)Geekbench 6 CPU3703 / 15450
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-18 (Avacada)Geekbench 6 CPU3906 / 15577
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-05 (Dovlet)Geekbench 6 CPU3916 / 15202
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-31 (gmamorim)Geekbench 6 CPU3730 / 15258
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-28 (LC)Cinebench 2024174 / 993
Add View all (10)
Apple M1 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-07-04 (Daniel)Geekbench 6 CPU2459 / 13052
Add View all (1)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M4 (10-Core) and M1 Max

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released May 7, 2024 October 18, 2021
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv9 ARMv8
Codename Apple M4 Apple M1
Model number APL1206 -
Integrated GPU Apple M4 GPU (10-core) Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
Rival Equivalent - Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-84-100) -
Successor - Apple M5 (10-Core) - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 4 8
P-Threads 4 8
Base Frequency (P) 4.46 GHz 3.2 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 6 2
E-Threads 6 2
Base Frequency (E) 2.89 GHz 2.1 GHz
Total
Total Cores 10 10
Total Threads 10 10
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 44x -
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 16MB (shared) 24MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 28 billions 57 billions
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 24 W 50 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100Β°C -
Die Size 169.4 mmΒ² -
Laptop processors ranking (28th and 95th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M4 GPU (10-core) Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
GPU Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1470 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 1280 4096
TMUs 80 256
ROPs 40 128
Execution Units 160 512
TGP 18 W -
iGPU FLOPS
M4 (10-Core)
3.8 TFLOPS
M1 Max +179%
10.6 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) compared to M4 GPU (10-Core)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5X-7500 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 32 GB 64 GB
Memory Channels 8 4
Max. Memory Bandwidth 120 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Further details
Notes on M4 (10-Core):
    - SoC is designed using ARMv9.4-A architecture.

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
362 (48.4%)
386 (51.6%)
Total votes: 748

Competitors

1. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 (4)
2. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
3. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 Pro
4. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 Max (14-Core)
5. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M2 Pro
6. Apple M4 (10-Core) vs Apple M5 (10-Core) (4)
7. Apple M4 (10-Core) vs Apple M6 (12-Core)
8. Apple M4 (10-Core) vs Apple M1 Pro (7)
9. Apple M4 (10-Core) vs Apple M1 (11)
10. Apple M4 (10-Core) vs Apple A18 Pro (MacBook) (2)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M1 Max or M4 (10-Core)?
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Avatar
Ross June 12, 2025 at 12:49 PM
The M1 max destroys the M4 on GPU performance while the M4 CPU performs slightly better. With the M1 max you get more ram, better screen, more inputs, a fan and more storage while comparing it to the base M4 model. So I have to ask. Why is there such a big difference in their overall scoring?
+66 Reply
Avatar
Ivan June 8, 2026 at 10:12 PM
M4 Mac minis have fan as well. Most importantly M4 chips have far superior architecture. It is funny to imply how M1 Pro "destroys" M4. Even the base M4 runs circles around M4 Max: around 50% better in single-core benchmarks, and around 15% better in multi-core benchmarks. Facts.
+1 Reply
Avatar
Neil March 8, 2025 at 02:48 AM
Crazy that a $1000 laptop chip (macbook air) is now roughly as powerful as the M1 max that cost like $2500+ in 2021. No it doesn't have a mini-LED screen or 400Gbps memory bandwidth but still
+34 Reply
Avatar
Chris July 28, 2025 at 02:17 PM
You think a mini-LED screen is better than a Tandem OLED???
+1 Reply
Avatar
salem February 13, 2025 at 01:03 AM
apple bad i hope i dont get downvoted to hell
+20 Reply
Avatar
CPUPro November 6, 2024 at 01:45 PM
Impressive performance. The M4 is around 10% faster than the much more expensive M1 Max. Only the GPU performance on the M1 Max is better, but in terms of CPU, the M4 wins, and it has a much newer architecture.
+32 Reply
Avatar
TrashBoom June 6, 2024 at 05:55 AM
I currently have a macbook pro with an M1 max chip. Although the effort of the Apple company to develop an efficient single-core microprocessor is interesting, I am interested in the fact that I can perform all the duties that I perform on a macbook pro with an M1 max chip. Verdict: Unless the processor increases in all areas by at least 80-100% better, I will not buy new hardware. I believe that at this rate it will be around 2030 with the M6 ​​pro max chip or with a higher chip. What would Steve Jobs say to that?
+23 Reply
Avatar
Tanmay June 13, 2024 at 10:34 AM
Sadly Steve Job died on 5 Oct, 2011.
+6 Reply
Avatar
Sahid July 19, 2024 at 01:36 AM
Tanmay, Hence the "would say" and not the "will say"
+9 Reply
Avatar
Charlece May 14, 2024 at 03:54 AM
For my next PC build, I will for sure be putting the M4 in there. While the M1 Max has better multicore scores and bests it in a few areas, the M4 is more future proofed, and requires less power to run. Being more efficient in terms of performance per watt is incredibly important when building a PC tower where all the components will have limited space space, little to no cooling capacity, and a dirth of power at any given time.
+13 Reply
Avatar
kar August 19, 2024 at 02:14 AM
wdym PC? it's SOC you can't put it on a PC mobo
+27 Reply
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guy December 25, 2024 at 09:53 AM
did an AI generate this comment?
+17 Reply
Avatar
Ivan June 8, 2026 at 10:14 PM
M1 Max Pro doesn't have better multicore score than M4. You can't be serious!? Even the base M4 beats the M1 Max.
0 Reply
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