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Apple M3 GPU (10-core) vs M1 Max GPU (32-core)

Apple M3 GPU (10-core)
VS
Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
Apple M3 GPU (10-core)
Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M3 GPU (10-core) with 160 pipelines and 1280 shaders against the 2 years and 1 month older M1 Max GPU (32-core) that utilizes 512 pipelines and 4096 shaders. Here you will find complete details about specs, efficiency, performance tests, and more.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Benchmarks
  4. AI
  5. Specs
  6. Comments

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 M1 Max GPU (32-core) over M3 GPU (10-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M3 GPU (10-core)
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 2.1x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 3x higher maximum theoretical performance (10.6 vs 3.5 TFLOPS)
  • Has 4x higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 102.4 GB/s
  • Achieves 2.4x more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (71K vs 30K)
  • Has 3.2x more shading units (4096 vs 1280)
GPU
M3 GPU (10-core)
vs
M1 Max GPU (32-core)

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
Solar Bay 13531 22586
Wild Life Extreme 8237 19880
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 60.3 img/sec 120.7 img/sec
Face Detection 40.8 img/sec 78.9 img/sec
Horizon Detection 1.21 Gpixels/sec 3.18 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 1.64 Gpixels/sec 6.15 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 1.2 Gpixels/sec 3.44 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.37 Gpixels/sec 0.62 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 102.6 Gpixels/sec 229.8 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 3293.3 FPS 8822.9 FPS
API OpenCL OpenCL
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]

Blender

Rendering performance test for 3D modeling
Blender GPU
Sources: Blender [9], [10] – 302 & 666 samples
Add your GPU benchmark result

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M3 GPU (10-core)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-04-24 (Alex)Geekbench 6 OpenCL31004
Add View all (1)
Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
No benchmark results yet
Add

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
GB6 ML Half Precision
GB6 ML Quantized
Image Classification (SP) 1579 5466
Image Segmentation (HP) 2944 12415
Image Super Resolution (Q) 4425 15930
Face Detection (HP) 6661 23179
Pose Estimation (Q) 15020 58520
Text Classification (SP) 2984 2299
Machine Translation (HP) 5876 1713
Object Detection (SP) 1826 5388
Depth Estimation (Q) 9339 26458
Style Transfer (SP) 22291 98278
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend CPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M3 GPU (10-core) and M1 Max GPU (32-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 31, 2023 October 18, 2021
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range High-end
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop - GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M3 or above - Apple M1 Max or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M3 - Apple M1 Max
Laptop GPU ranking (80th and 54th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1380 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 1280 4096
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 80 256
Render Output Units (ROPs) 40 128
Compute Units (Pipelines) 160 512
Ray-tracing Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 55 GPixel/s 166 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 110 GTexel/s 332 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
M3 GPU (10-core)
3.5 TFLOPS
M1 Max GPU (32-core) +203%
10.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 15 W -
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 13.8 billion 46.4 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 6400 MHz 6400 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 12800 Mbps 12800 Mbps
Bus 128-bit 512-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
M3 GPU (10-core)
102.4 GB/s
M1 Max GPU (32-core) +300%
409.6 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

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