Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core) vs M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 shaders against the 2 years 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.

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 M4 Max GPU (40-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core)
  • Performs better (up to 36%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)
  • 31% higher maximum theoretical performance (21.2 vs 16.2 TFLOPS)
  • Has 50% higher memory bandwidth: 819.2 vs 546 GB/s
  • Has 60% more shading units (8192 vs 5120)

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 61312 36712
Wild Life Extreme 36641 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 195 img/sec 157.3 img/sec
Face Detection 125.9 img/sec 108.7 img/sec
Horizon Detection 4.82 Gpixels/sec 5.07 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 7.47 Gpixels/sec 10.7 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 5.8 Gpixels/sec 6.59 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 1.06 Gpixels/sec 0.73 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 417.4 Gpixels/sec 293.4 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 17079.9 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] – 460 & 70 samples

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-07-10 (thomas)Geekbench 6 OpenCL116478
Apple M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)
No benchmark results yet

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) 10302 4834
Image Segmentation (HP) 23763 14458
Image Super Resolution (Q) 29314 13757
Face Detection (HP) 42016 23618
Pose Estimation (Q) 105972 80481
Text Classification (SP) 2963 2265
Machine Translation (HP) 6594 1798
Object Detection (SP) 8935 4975
Depth Estimation (Q) 43143 25755
Style Transfer (SP) 221563 135609
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core) and M1 Ultra GPU (64-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 30, 2024 March 8, 2022
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range High-end
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename Custom Custom
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) -
Recommended CPU - Apple M4 Max (16-Core) or above - Apple M1 Ultra or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M4 Max (16-Core) - Apple M1 Ultra
Laptop GPU ranking (14th and 32nd place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1578 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 252 GPixel/s 332 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 505 GTexel/s 664 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
16.2 TFLOPS
21.2 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 50 W 120 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count - 92.8 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 512-bit 1024-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
819.2 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
33 (66%)
17 (34%)
Total votes: 50

User opinions

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Avatar
Logos February 20, 2025 at 02:05 AM
2022 -- M1 Ultra 64 Core (64GB) -- $3,999 2025 -- M4 Max 40 Core (64GB) -- $3,899 The M4 Max is heralded as the Apple M Chips GPU apotheosis that can compete with the RTX 4080. They use Cinebench 2024 tailored made M3 and M4 chip GPU Test, The 16,600 is double the old M1 Ultra. But M1 Ultra Outperforms Steel Nomad Lite and 14% in GPU Compute of Video AI Upscaling software. These are real life GPU graphics and gpu compute and t;he Magical Story of the M4 Max gpu is a lie
+19 Reply
Avatar
LGs February 4, 2025 at 06:56 PM
Could you guys please add the m2 Ultra's GPU here?
0 Reply