Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) vs M2 Max GPU (38-core)
We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) with 256 pipelines and 2048 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
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
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core)
- Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
Reasons to consider the Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core)
- Performs better (up to 35%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
- 2.1x higher maximum theoretical performance (13.6 vs 6.5 TFLOPS)
- Has 50% higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 273 GB/s
- Achieves 42% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (86K vs 61K)
- Has 2.4x more shading units (4864 vs 2048)
Benchmarks
Graphics cards’ performance in recent benchmarking apps3D Mark
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Solar Bay | 28734 | 30368 |
| Wild Life Extreme | 16471 | 24948 |
GeekBench 6 OpenCL
GB6 Compute Score
| Background Blur | 106 img/sec | 149 img/sec |
| Face Detection | 73.1 img/sec | 98.1 img/sec |
| Horizon Detection | 2.59 Gpixels/sec | 3.8 Gpixels/sec |
| Edge Detection | 3.8 Gpixels/sec | 6.88 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian Blur | 2.4 Gpixels/sec | 4.44 Gpixels/sec |
| Feature Matching | 0.73 Gpixels/sec | 0.73 Gpixels/sec |
| Stereo Matching | 198.6 Gpixels/sec | 264.9 Gpixels/sec |
| Particle Physics | 8166.3 FPS | 11144.2 FPS |
| API | OpenCL | OpenCL |
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Blender
Blender GPU
Artificial Intelligence Tests
Performance in machine learning and artificial intelligence tasksGeekBench 6 ML
GB6 ML Single Precision
GB6 ML Half Precision
GB6 ML Quantized
| Image Classification (SP) | 7548 | 6657 |
| Image Segmentation (HP) | 15108 | 13854 |
| Image Super Resolution (Q) | 20789 | 18642 |
| Face Detection (HP) | 28665 | 27965 |
| Pose Estimation (Q) | 57124 | 83144 |
| Text Classification (SP) | 2888 | 2377 |
| Machine Translation (HP) | 6086 | 2052 |
| Object Detection (SP) | 6804 | 6495 |
| Depth Estimation (Q) | 32732 | 31105 |
| Style Transfer (SP) | 123465 | 135686 |
| Framework | Core ML | Core ML |
| Backend | GPU | GPU |
Specifications
Technical specifications of Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) and M2 Max GPU (38-core)General
| Vendor | Apple | Apple |
| Build | Integrated | Integrated |
| Released | October 29, 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 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 | - |
| Used in CPUs | - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core) | - Apple M2 Max |
Laptop GPU ranking (46th and 42nd place)
Graphics Processing Unit
| Base Clock | 500 MHz | 450 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1578 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| Shading Units | 2048 | 4864 |
| Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) | 128 | 304 |
| Render Output Units (ROPs) | 64 | 152 |
| Compute Units (Pipelines) | 256 | 608 |
| Instructions Per Cycle | 2 IPC | 2 IPC |
Raw Performance
| Pixel Fill Rate | 101 GPixel/s | 212 GPixel/s |
| Texture Fill Rate | 202 GTexel/s | 425 GTexel/s |
FLOPS (FP32)
Physical
| Interface | Custom | Custom |
| TGP | 26 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 | 15000 Mbps | 12800 Mbps |
| Bus | 192-bit | 512-bit |
| ECC | No | No |
Memory Bandwidth
API
| Ray Tracing | Yes | No |
| DLSS | No | No |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 7