Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core) vs Adreno X2-85

We compared two integrated laptop graphics cards: the Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core) with 512 pipelines and 4096 shaders against the 11 months newer Adreno X2-85 that utilizes 12 pipelines and 2048 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
Energy Efficiency
Power consumption efficiency in different scenarios
NanoReview Final Score
Overall video card score

Key differences

Key distinctions and advantages of Adreno X2-85 over M4 Max GPU (32-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 3.7x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 84% higher maximum theoretical performance (12.9 vs 7 TFLOPS)
  • Has 2.7x higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 152 GB/s
  • Has 2x more shading units (4096 vs 2048)

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
Time Spy - 1403
Solar Bay 50957 14961
Port Royal - 735
Fire Strike - 7510
Wild Life Extreme 30044 6989
Night Raid - 24606
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 GPU Compute

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 174.8 img/sec -
Face Detection 112 img/sec -
Horizon Detection 4.19 Gpixels/sec -
Edge Detection 6.3 Gpixels/sec -
Gaussian Blur 4.69 Gpixels/sec -
Feature Matching 0.98 Gpixels/sec -
Stereo Matching 352.1 Gpixels/sec -
Particle Physics 14254.6 FPS -
API OpenCL -
Sources: Geekbench [3]

Passmark Graphics

Videocard test that focuses on compute shaders, multi-texturing, tessellation, and other features
G3D Mark Score
G2D Mark - 655
DirectX 11 - 45 FPS
DirectX 12 - 23 FPS
GPU Compute - 2523 Ops/s
Sources: PassMark [5]20 samples

Blender

Rendering performance test for 3D modeling
Blender GPU
Sources: Blender [9]183 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) 8624 -
Image Segmentation (HP) 20392 -
Image Super Resolution (Q) 21752 -
Face Detection (HP) 34099 -
Pose Estimation (Q) 77846 -
Text Classification (SP) 2993 -
Machine Translation (HP) 5658 -
Object Detection (SP) 7933 -
Depth Estimation (Q) 37622 -
Style Transfer (SP) 173882 -
Framework Core ML -
Backend GPU -
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core) and Adreno X2-85

General

Vendor Apple Qualcomm
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 30, 2024 September 25, 2025
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Generic
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Adreno X2
GPU Codename Custom Adreno X2
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop - Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core)
Successor - Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) -
Recommended CPU - Apple M4 Max (14-Core) or above - Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-90-100) or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M4 Max (14-Core) - Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-84-100)
Laptop GPU ranking (18th and 50th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1578 MHz 1350-1700 MHz (configurable)
Shading Units 4096 2048
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 256 128
Render Output Units (ROPs) 128 64
Compute Units (Pipelines) 512 12
Tensor Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 202 GPixel/s 86-109 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 404 GTexel/s 173-218 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
12.9 TFLOPS
5.5-7 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom IGP
TGP 51 W -
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Die Size - 220 mm²
Max. Temperature 100°C -

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 8533 MHz -
Bus 384-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
409.6 GB/s
152 GB/s

API

DirectX - 12.2
Vulkan - 1.4
OpenCL - 3.0
CUDA - No
Ray Tracing Yes Yes
DLSS No No
DisplayPort - 1.4

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