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Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) vs M1 GPU (8-core)

Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
VS
Apple M1 GPU (8-core)
Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
Custom
Apple M1 GPU (8-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) with 288 pipelines and 2304 shaders against the 3 years older M1 GPU (8-core) that utilizes 128 pipelines and 1024 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 GPU (8-core) over M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 3.1x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 2.5x higher maximum theoretical performance (6.4 vs 2.6 TFLOPS)
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
  • Has 2.3x higher memory bandwidth: 153.6 vs 68.2 GB/s
  • Achieves 2.1x more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (43K vs 20K)
  • Has 2.3x more shading units (2304 vs 1024)
GPU
M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
vs
M1 GPU (8-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 22637 6317
Wild Life Extreme 14021 4966
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 82.1 img/sec 38.3 img/sec
Face Detection 53.6 img/sec 23 img/sec
Horizon Detection 1.82 Gpixels/sec 0.76 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 2.59 Gpixels/sec 1.33 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 1.84 Gpixels/sec 0.87 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.48 Gpixels/sec 0.27 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 148.6 Gpixels/sec 69.9 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 4893.9 FPS 2766.4 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
M3 Pro GPU (18-core) +548%
1689.11
M1 GPU (8-core)
260.64
Sources: Blender [9], [10] – 237 & 307 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) 5578 1400
Image Segmentation (HP) 9924 2280
Image Super Resolution (Q) 13323 3402
Face Detection (HP) 19900 5638
Pose Estimation (Q) 35730 12027
Text Classification (SP) 2904 2324
Machine Translation (HP) 4985 4296
Object Detection (SP) 5496 1530
Depth Estimation (Q) 23344 7675
Style Transfer (SP) 78342 17293
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU CPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core) and M1 GPU (8-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 31, 2023 November 20, 2020
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename Custom -
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
Successor - Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M3 Pro or above - Apple M1 or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M3 Pro - Apple M1
Laptop GPU ranking (61st and 104th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1380 MHz 1278 MHz
Shading Units 2304 1024
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 144 64
Render Output Units (ROPs) 72 32
Compute Units (Pipelines) 288 128
Ray-tracing Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 99 GPixel/s 41 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 199 GTexel/s 82 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
M3 Pro GPU (18-core) +146%
6.4 TFLOPS
M1 GPU (8-core)
2.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 30 W 15 W
Manufacturing TSMC Intel
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 25.2 billion 11.6 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 6400 MHz 4266 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 12800 Mbps 8532 Mbps
Bus 192-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
M3 Pro GPU (18-core) +125%
153.6 GB/s
M1 GPU (8-core)
68.2 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

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5. Apple M1 GPU (8-core) vs Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (96EU)
6. Apple M1 GPU (8-core) vs Apple M4 GPU (10-Core)
7. Apple M1 GPU (8-core) vs Apple M4 GPU (8-core)
8. Apple M1 GPU (8-core) vs GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop
9. Apple M1 GPU (8-core) vs Apple M3 GPU (10-core)

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