Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core) vs M2 Max GPU (38-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core) with 512 pipelines and 4096 shaders against the 1 year and 10 months older M2 Max GPU (38-core) that utilizes 608 pipelines and 4864 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 M2 Max GPU (38-core) over M4 Max GPU (32-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs better (up to 32%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology

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 50957 30368
Wild Life Extreme 30044 24948
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 174.8 img/sec 149 img/sec
Face Detection 112 img/sec 98.1 img/sec
Horizon Detection 4.19 Gpixels/sec 3.8 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 6.3 Gpixels/sec 6.88 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 4.69 Gpixels/sec 4.44 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.98 Gpixels/sec 0.73 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 352.1 Gpixels/sec 264.9 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 14254.6 FPS 11144.2 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] – 183 & 299 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 6657
Image Segmentation (HP) 20392 13854
Image Super Resolution (Q) 21752 18642
Face Detection (HP) 34099 27965
Pose Estimation (Q) 77846 83144
Text Classification (SP) 2993 2377
Machine Translation (HP) 5658 2052
Object Detection (SP) 7933 6495
Depth Estimation (Q) 37622 31105
Style Transfer (SP) 173882 135686
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core) and M2 Max GPU (38-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 30, 2024 January 17, 2023
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range High-end
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename Custom -
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop - GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M4 Max (14-Core) or above -
Used in CPUs - Apple M4 Max (14-Core) - Apple M2 Max
Laptop GPU ranking (18th and 40th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1578 MHz 1398 MHz
Shading Units 4096 4864
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 256 304
Render Output Units (ROPs) 128 152
Compute Units (Pipelines) 512 608
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 202 GPixel/s 212 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 404 GTexel/s 425 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
12.9 TFLOPS
13.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 51 W 70 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count - 52 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 8533 MHz 6400 MHz
Effective Memory Speed - 12800 Mbps
Bus 384-bit 512-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
7 (77.8%)
2 (22.2%)
Total votes: 9

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!