Home > CPU Comparison > Core i9 14900HX or M3 Max: what's better?

Intel Core i9 14900HX vs Apple M3 Max

72 out of 100
Intel Core i9 14900HX
VS
83 out of 100
Apple M3 Max
Intel Core i9 14900HX
Apple M3 Max

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 2.2 GHz Intel Core i9 14900HX with 24-cores against the 4.05 GHz Apple M3 Max with 16-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 (5)

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 14900HX
Advantages of Intel Core i9 14900HX
  • Unlocked multiplier
  • Has 8 more physical cores
  • Supports up to 192 GB DDR5-5600 RAM
  • Newer PCI Express version โ€“ 5.0
Advantages of Apple M3 Max
  • More powerful Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) integrated graphics: 14.1 vs 0.8 TFLOPS
  • Around 320 GB/s (357%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More modern manufacturing process โ€“ 3 versus 10 nanometers

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i9 14900HX
vs
M3 Max

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Core i9 14900HX
130
M3 Max +9%
142
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Core i9 14900HX +5%
1780
M3 Max
1698
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) - 5133
Cinebench Scores (44th and 50th 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)
Core i9 14900HX
3029
M3 Max +7%
3227
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i9 14900HX
18430
M3 Max +15%
21167
File compression 1420 MB/sec 2190 MB/sec
Clang compilation 173.5 Klines/sec 198.5 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 463.6 pages/sec 557.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 508.4 Mpixels/sec 648.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 287.7 pages/sec 309.1 pages/sec
Background blur 54.6 images/sec 68.9 images/sec
Photo processing 154.7 images/sec 183.5 images/sec
Ray tracing 39.9 Mpixels/sec 30.6 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 545 & 678 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i9 14900HX
4170
M3 Max +15%
4780
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i9 14900HX +6%
43705
M3 Max
41211
Integer math 157.2 GOps/sec 91.2 GOps/sec
Floating point math 112.1 GOps/sec 131.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 193M Primes/sec 573M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 60.8M Strings/sec 61.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 32.6 GBytes/sec 24.7 GBytes/sec
Data compression 539.1 MBytes/sec 530.4 MBytes/sec
Physics 2631 Frames/sec 4332 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 31.2B Matrices/sec 24.2B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] โ€“ 6694 & 409 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i9 14900HX
354.31
M3 Max +14%
403.83

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 32.4 PPW 30.3 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 335.1 PPW 378 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 794.6 PPW 735.9 PPW
Blender / Watt 6.44 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
Intel Core i9 14900HX
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-09-22 (GEORGE FORMBY)Cinebench 2024124 / 1417
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-08-15 (jmtisi)Cinebench 2024111 / 629
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-06-26 (Ivan)Cinebench 2024125 / 1571
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-06-14 (JoeG)Cinebench 2024121 / 1334
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-04-05 (Justin0220)Cinebench 2024125 / 1064
Add View all (13)
Apple M3 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2024-09-27 (JayZeppelin)Cinebench 2024142 / 1698
๐Ÿ“˜ 2024-04-27 (Guest #1)Cinebench 2024141 / 1459
Add View all (2)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 14900HX and Apple M3 Max

General

Vendor Intel Apple
Released January 9, 2024 October 30, 2023
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set x86-64 ARMv8
Codename Raptor Lake Refresh Apple M3
Model number i9-14900HX -
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics (32EU) Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS -
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX - Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU)
Intel CPU rating (#36th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 12
P-Threads 16 12
Base Frequency (P) 2.2 GHz 4.05 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 5.8 GHz -
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 16 4
E-Threads 16 4
Base Frequency (E) 1.6 GHz 2.75 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 4.1 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 24 16
Total Threads 32 16
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 22x 40x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 2MB (per core) 32MB (shared)
L3 Cache 36MB (shared) -
Unlocked Multiplier Yes No

Package

Transistors - 92 billions
Fabrication Process 10 nm 3 nm
TDP (PL1) 45-55 W (configurable) 56 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 157 W -
Socket BGA-1964 Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100ยฐC 100ยฐC
Laptop processors ranking (43rd and 14th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics (32EU) Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1650 MHz 1380 MHz
Shading Units 256 5120
TMUs 16 320
ROPs 8 160
Execution Units 32 640
TGP 15 W 60 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core i9 14900HX
0.8 TFLOPS
M3 Max +1662%
14.1 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) compared to UHD Graphics Xe (32 EU)

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-5600
- DDR4-3200		 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 192 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 32
Max. Memory Bandwidth 89.6 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support Yes No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i9 14900HX official page -
PCI Express Version 5.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 -

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
321 (67.6%)
154 (32.4%)
Total votes: 475

Competitors

1. Intel Core i9 14900HX vs Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (7)
2. Intel Core i9 14900HX vs Intel Core i9 13980HX (3)
3. Intel Core i9 14900HX vs AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX (5)
4. Intel Core i9 14900HX vs Intel Core i9 13900HX (2)
5. Apple M3 Max vs Apple M4 Max (16-Core) (1)
6. Apple M3 Max vs Apple M4 Ultra
7. Apple M3 Max vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
8. Apple M3 Max vs Apple M4 (10-Core) (2)
9. Apple M3 Max vs Intel Core i9 14900K (10)
10. Apple M3 Max vs Apple M2 Ultra
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M3 Max or Intel Core i9 14900HX?
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Avatar
DaineSnapdragonFan May 13, 2024 at 11:03 AM
Apple is excellent in Geekbench, yet underperforms in Cinebench.
+7 Reply
Avatar
Nerd January 11, 2024 at 03:28 PM
It appears that Apple has dominated Geekbench. All of their products, even their lower-end ones, have the highest ratings on Geekbench, surpassing even the best offerings from their competitors.
+28 Reply
Avatar
ary May 4, 2024 at 07:09 AM
I don't know why, but I think Apple has something to do with Geekbench or what. You know, if you see Cinebench, Apple gets flushed by other CPUs. But in Geekbench, I don't know how they get such a high score.
+9 Reply
Avatar
Krrish May 11, 2024 at 02:51 PM
ary, Maybe Apple processors can easily handle Geekbench tests (simpler operations) as compared to competitors. While in heavy benchmark tests like Cinebench (mostly in multi-core performance), they are a bit slower. I don't think Apple has to do anything with the โ€œGeekbenchโ€ thing because it is actually faster in single-core operations and also more efficient. But in multi-core operations, it is seen that Intel tends to perform better (generally), not all times.
+3 Reply
Avatar
(rather not say) June 12, 2024 at 01:21 AM
Geekbench is an even worse benchmark than Cinebench.
+3 Reply
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