Apple M1 GPU (8-core) vs A18 Pro GPU

We compared two integrated laptop graphics cards: the Apple M1 GPU (8-core) with 128 pipelines and 1024 shaders against the 3 years and 10 months newer A18 Pro GPU that utilizes 128 pipelines and 768 shaders. Here you will find complete details about specs, efficiency, performance tests, and more.

Review

General comparison of performance in games, applications, power efficiency, and other metrics
Gaming
Performance in DirectX, OpenCL, and Vulkan games
Workstation
Perf. in 3D modeling, video editing and rendering apps
AI/ML
Capabilities for machine learning and AI-related tasks
Energy Efficiency
Power consumption efficiency in different scenarios
NanoReview Final Score
Overall video card score

Key differences

Key distinctions and advantages of A18 Pro GPU over M1 GPU (8-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 GPU (8-core)
  • Has 33% more shading units (1024 vs 768)
Reasons to consider the Apple A18 Pro GPU
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
  • Achieves 50% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (31K vs 20K)

Benchmarks

Graphics cards’ performance in recent benchmarking apps

3D Mark

Multiplatform graphics benchmark suite that directly correlates with performance in modern games
Steel Nomad Lite Score
1979
Solar Bay 6317 7365
Wild Life Extreme 4966 3949
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 GPU Compute

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
31229
Background Blur 38.3 img/sec 57.1 img/sec
Face Detection 23 img/sec 91.4 img/sec
Horizon Detection 0.76 Gpixels/sec 0.92 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 1.33 Gpixels/sec 1.21 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 0.87 Gpixels/sec 1.5 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.27 Gpixels/sec 0.45 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 69.9 Gpixels/sec 84.2 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 2766.4 FPS 3061 FPS
API OpenCL Metal
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]

Cinebench 2024 GPU

Hardware benchmark using Maxon's Cinema 4D rendering engine
Cinebench 2024 GPU

Blender

Rendering performance test for 3D modeling
Blender GPU
Sources: Blender [9] – 307 samples

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M1 GPU (8-core)
No benchmark results yet
Apple A18 Pro GPU
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-04-24 -> RennsportGeekbench 6 OpenCL19670

Artificial Intelligence Tests

Performance in machine learning and artificial intelligence tasks

GeekBench 6 ML

Tests throughput of AI operations in single, half, and quantized precision
GB6 ML Single Precision
A18 Pro GPU +113%
6982
GB6 ML Half Precision
8282
GB6 ML Quantized
7200
Image Classification (SP) 1400 3264
Image Segmentation (HP) 2280 4550
Image Super Resolution (Q) 3402 6705
Face Detection (HP) 5638 11770
Pose Estimation (Q) 12027 15548
Text Classification (SP) 2324 3678
Machine Translation (HP) 4296 5678
Object Detection (SP) 1530 3360
Depth Estimation (Q) 7675 13468
Style Transfer (SP) 17293 31541
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend CPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M1 GPU (8-core) and A18 Pro GPU

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released November 20, 2020 September 9, 2024
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Generic
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename - Custom
Rival Equivalent - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile -
Successor - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) -
Recommended CPU - Apple M1 or above - Apple A18 Pro (MacBook) or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M1 - Apple A18 Pro (MacBook)
Laptop GPU ranking (104th and 82nd place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 450 MHz -
Boost Clock 1278 MHz 1490 MHz
Shading Units 1024 768
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 64 40
Render Output Units (ROPs) 32 -
Compute Units (Pipelines) 128 128
Ray-tracing Cores No -
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 41 GPixel/s -
Texture Fill Rate 82 GTexel/s 60 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
2.6 TFLOPS
2.3 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 15 W -
Manufacturing Intel TSMC
Fabrication Process 5 nm 3 nm
Transistor Count 11.6 billion -
Max. Temperature 94°C -

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 4266 MHz 7500 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 8532 Mbps -
Bus 128-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth

API

Ray Tracing No Yes
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
5 (41.7%)
7 (58.3%)
Total votes: 12

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