Home > GPU Comparison > M3 Max GPU (40-core) vs M1 Ultra GPU (64-core) – what's better?

Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) vs M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)

Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
VS
Apple M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)
Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
Apple M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)
Custom

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 shaders against the 1 year and 8 months older M1 Ultra GPU (64-core) that utilizes 1024 pipelines and 8192 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 Ultra GPU (64-core) over M3 Max GPU (40-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
  • Performs slightly better (up to 16%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)
  • 50% higher maximum theoretical performance (21.2 vs 14.1 TFLOPS)
  • Has 2x higher memory bandwidth: 819.2 vs 409.6 GB/s
  • Has 60% more shading units (8192 vs 5120)
GPU
M3 Max GPU (40-core)
vs
M1 Ultra GPU (64-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 49656 36712
Wild Life Extreme 30893 29343
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 157.3 img/sec
Face Detection 100.9 img/sec 108.7 img/sec
Horizon Detection 3.99 Gpixels/sec 5.07 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 6.04 Gpixels/sec 10.7 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 5 Gpixels/sec 6.59 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.84 Gpixels/sec 0.73 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 363.8 Gpixels/sec 293.4 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 12226.9 FPS 14154.4 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] – 446 & 70 samples
Add your GPU benchmark result

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 4834
Image Segmentation (HP) 20739 14458
Image Super Resolution (Q) 22775 13757
Face Detection (HP) 37676 23618
Pose Estimation (Q) 91609 80481
Text Classification (SP) 2909 2265
Machine Translation (HP) 5274 1798
Object Detection (SP) 7480 4975
Depth Estimation (Q) 38212 25755
Style Transfer (SP) 190681 135609
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) and M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 31, 2023 March 8, 2022
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment High-end High-end
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename - Custom
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) -
Recommended CPU - Apple M3 Max or above - Apple M1 Ultra or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M3 Max - Apple M1 Ultra
Laptop GPU ranking (21st and 32nd place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1380 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 5120 8192
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 320 512
Render Output Units (ROPs) 160 256
Compute Units (Pipelines) 640 1024
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 221 GPixel/s 332 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 442 GTexel/s 664 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
M3 Max GPU (40-core)
14.1 TFLOPS
M1 Ultra GPU (64-core) +50%
21.2 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 60 W 120 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 56 billion 92.8 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 1024-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
M3 Max GPU (40-core)
409.6 GB/s
M1 Ultra GPU (64-core) +100%
819.2 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
14 (50%)
14 (50%)
Total votes: 28

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