Apple M4 (10-Core) vs M3 Max

76 out of 100
Apple M4 (10-Core)
VS
83 out of 100
Apple M3 Max

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 4.46 GHz Apple M4 (10-Core) with 10-cores against the 4.05 GHz M3 Max 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
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 6 months later
  • 17% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3777 vs 3227 points
Advantages of Apple M3 Max
  • Supports up to 128 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM
  • More powerful Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) integrated graphics: 14.1 vs 3.8 TFLOPS
  • Around 289.6 GB/s (241%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Has 6 more physical cores

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
172
142
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M3 Max +73%
1698
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 3211 5133
Cinebench Scores (158th and 51st place)

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
3777
3227
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
14818
M3 Max +43%
21167
File compression 1500 MB/sec 2190 MB/sec
Clang compilation 120.2 Klines/sec 198.5 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 329.3 pages/sec 557.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 362.1 Mpixels/sec 648.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 352.1 pages/sec 309.1 pages/sec
Background blur 69.8 images/sec 68.9 images/sec
Photo processing 114.4 images/sec 183.5 images/sec
Ray tracing 18.1 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 Max +6%
4780
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
23603
M3 Max +75%
41211
Integer math 54.2 GOps/sec 91.2 GOps/sec
Floating point math 49.6 GOps/sec 131.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 263M Primes/sec 573M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 34.3M Strings/sec 61.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 15.1 GBytes/sec 24.7 GBytes/sec
Data compression 280.5 MBytes/sec 530.4 MBytes/sec
Physics 2527 Frames/sec 4332 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 13.6B Matrices/sec 24.2B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 2752 & 409 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
229.85
M3 Max +76%
403.83

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 40.9 PPW 30.3 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 617.4 PPW 378 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 983.5 PPW 735.9 PPW
Blender / Watt 9.58 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 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
Apple M3 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2024-09-27 (JayZeppelin)Cinebench 2024142 / 1698
πŸ“˜ 2024-04-27 (Guest #1)Cinebench 2024141 / 1459

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M4 (10-Core) and M3 Max

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released May 7, 2024 October 30, 2023
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv9 ARMv8
Codename Apple M4 Apple M3
Model number APL1206 -
Integrated GPU Apple M4 GPU (10-core) Apple M3 Max GPU (40-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 12
P-Threads 4 12
Base Frequency (P) 4.46 GHz 4.05 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 6 4
E-Threads 6 4
Base Frequency (E) 2.89 GHz 2.75 GHz
Total
Total Cores 10 16
Total Threads 10 16
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 44x 40x
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 16MB (shared) 32MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 28 billions 92 billions
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
TDP (PL1) 24 W 56 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100Β°C 100Β°C
Die Size 169.4 mmΒ² -
Laptop processors ranking (28th and 15th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M4 GPU (10-core) Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
GPU Base Clock 500 MHz 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1470 MHz 1380 MHz
Shading Units 1280 5120
TMUs 80 320
ROPs 40 160
Execution Units 160 640
TGP 18 W 60 W
iGPU FLOPS
3.8 TFLOPS
M3 Max +271%
14.1 TFLOPS

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5X-7500 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 32 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 8 32
Max. Memory Bandwidth 120 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

PCI Express Version - 4.0
Further details
Notes on M4 (10-Core):
    - SoC is designed using ARMv9.4-A architecture.

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
73 (26.4%)
204 (73.6%)
Total votes: 277

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M3 Max or M4 (10-Core)?
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Avatar
Mamadou FAYE February 17, 2025 at 02:42 PM
I chose Macbook pro M3 max
+1 Reply
Avatar
specs are different from another site October 29, 2024 at 08:57 PM
please see: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/m3-vs-m4/
+6 Reply