Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) vs M1 Max GPU (32-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 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.

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 Max GPU (40-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 67%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
  • 33% higher maximum theoretical performance (14.1 vs 10.6 TFLOPS)
  • Achieves 31% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (94K vs 71K)
  • Has 25% more shading units (5120 vs 4096)

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 49656 22586
Wild Life Extreme 30893 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 157.6 img/sec 120.7 img/sec
Face Detection 100.9 img/sec 78.9 img/sec
Horizon Detection 3.99 Gpixels/sec 3.18 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 6.04 Gpixels/sec 6.15 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 5 Gpixels/sec 3.44 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.84 Gpixels/sec 0.62 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 363.8 Gpixels/sec 229.8 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 12226.9 FPS 8822.9 FPS
API OpenCL OpenCL
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], [10]444 & 666 samples

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) 8685 5466
Image Segmentation (HP) 20739 12415
Image Super Resolution (Q) 22775 15930
Face Detection (HP) 37676 23179
Pose Estimation (Q) 91609 58520
Text Classification (SP) 2909 2299
Machine Translation (HP) 5274 1713
Object Detection (SP) 7480 5388
Depth Estimation (Q) 38212 26458
Style Transfer (SP) 190681 98278
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M3 Max GPU (40-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 High-end High-end
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop - GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M3 Max or above - Apple M1 Max or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M3 Max - Apple M1 Max
Laptop GPU ranking (20th and 53rd place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1380 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 5120 4096
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 320 256
Render Output Units (ROPs) 160 128
Compute Units (Pipelines) 640 512
Ray-tracing Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 221 GPixel/s 166 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 442 GTexel/s 332 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
14.1 TFLOPS
10.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 60 W -
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 56 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 512-bit 512-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

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2 (40%)
3 (60%)
Total votes: 5

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