Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) vs M1 Max GPU (32-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) with 256 pipelines and 2048 shaders against the 3 years and 1 month older M1 Max GPU (32-core) that utilizes 512 pipelines and 4096 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 Max GPU (32-core) over M4 Pro GPU (16-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core)
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
  • 63% higher maximum theoretical performance (10.6 vs 6.5 TFLOPS)
  • Has 50% higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 273 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
Solar Bay 28734 22586
Wild Life Extreme 16471 19880
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 106 img/sec 120.7 img/sec
Face Detection 73.1 img/sec 78.9 img/sec
Horizon Detection 2.59 Gpixels/sec 3.18 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 3.8 Gpixels/sec 6.15 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 2.4 Gpixels/sec 3.44 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.73 Gpixels/sec 0.62 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 198.6 Gpixels/sec 229.8 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 8166.3 FPS 8822.9 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]285 & 666 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) 7548 5466
Image Segmentation (HP) 15108 12415
Image Super Resolution (Q) 20789 15930
Face Detection (HP) 28665 23179
Pose Estimation (Q) 57124 58520
Text Classification (SP) 2888 2299
Machine Translation (HP) 6086 1713
Object Detection (SP) 6804 5388
Depth Estimation (Q) 32732 26458
Style Transfer (SP) 123465 98278
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) and M1 Max GPU (32-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 29, 2024 October 18, 2021
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 4060 Laptop - GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 Pro GPU (16-core) - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core) or above - Apple M1 Max or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core) - Apple M1 Max
Laptop GPU ranking (44th and 53rd place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1578 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 2048 4096
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 128 256
Render Output Units (ROPs) 64 128
Compute Units (Pipelines) 256 512
Ray-tracing Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 101 GPixel/s 166 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 202 GTexel/s 332 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
10.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 26 W -
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count - 46.4 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 8533 MHz 6400 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 15000 Mbps 12800 Mbps
Bus 192-bit 512-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
409.6 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
2 (11.8%)
15 (88.2%)
Total votes: 17

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