Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) vs Max GPU (40-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) with 256 pipelines and 2048 shaders against the Max GPU (40-core) that utilizes 640 pipelines and 5120 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 M4 Max GPU (40-core) over M4 Pro GPU (16-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 2.1x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 2.5x higher maximum theoretical performance (16.2 vs 6.5 TFLOPS)
  • Has 2x higher memory bandwidth: 546 vs 273 GB/s
  • Achieves 91% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (116K vs 61K)
  • Has 2.5x more shading units (5120 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 61312
Wild Life Extreme 16471 36641
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 195 img/sec
Face Detection 73.1 img/sec 125.9 img/sec
Horizon Detection 2.59 Gpixels/sec 4.82 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 3.8 Gpixels/sec 7.47 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 2.4 Gpixels/sec 5.8 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.73 Gpixels/sec 1.06 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 198.6 Gpixels/sec 417.4 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 8166.3 FPS 17079.9 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 & 456 samples

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core)
No benchmark results yet
Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-07-10 (thomas)GeekBench116478

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 10302
Image Segmentation (HP) 15108 23763
Image Super Resolution (Q) 20789 29314
Face Detection (HP) 28665 42016
Pose Estimation (Q) 57124 105972
Text Classification (SP) 2888 2963
Machine Translation (HP) 6086 6594
Object Detection (SP) 6804 8935
Depth Estimation (Q) 32732 43143
Style Transfer (SP) 123465 221563
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M4 Pro GPU (16-core) and Max GPU (40-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 29, 2024 October 30, 2024
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename Custom Custom
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop
Successor - Apple M5 Pro GPU (16-core) - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core) or above - Apple M4 Max (16-Core) or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core) - Apple M4 Max (16-Core)
Laptop GPU ranking (44th and 14th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1578 MHz 1578 MHz
Shading Units 2048 5120
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 128 320
Render Output Units (ROPs) 64 160
Compute Units (Pipelines) 256 640
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 101 GPixel/s 252 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 202 GTexel/s 505 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
16.2 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 26 W 50 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Max. Temperature 100°C 100°C

Memory

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

API

Ray Tracing Yes Yes
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

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1 (33.3%)
2 (66.7%)
Total votes: 3

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