Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) vs M1 Max GPU (32-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) with 160 pipelines and 1280 shaders against the 4 years 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 M5 GPU (10-Core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs better (up to 39%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 2.6x higher maximum theoretical performance (10.6 vs 4.1 TFLOPS)
  • Has 2.7x higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 153 GB/s
  • Has 3.2x more shading units (4096 vs 1280)

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 24536 22586
Wild Life Extreme 12278 19880
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 GPU Compute

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 155.7 img/sec 120.7 img/sec
Face Detection 178.1 img/sec 78.9 img/sec
Horizon Detection 2.22 Gpixels/sec 3.18 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 2.87 Gpixels/sec 6.15 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 5.8 Gpixels/sec 3.44 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.95 Gpixels/sec 0.62 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 190.7 Gpixels/sec 229.8 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 6579.1 FPS 8822.9 FPS
API Metal 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
2022.33
Sources: Blender [9], [10] – 135 & 666 samples

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-01-03 -> RennsportGeekbench 6 OpenCL48688
Apple M1 Max GPU (32-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) 6348 5466
Image Segmentation (HP) 16813 12415
Image Super Resolution (Q) 30322 15930
Face Detection (HP) 34387 23179
Pose Estimation (Q) 111591 58520
Text Classification (SP) 2319 2299
Machine Translation (HP) 5555 1713
Object Detection (SP) 6450 5388
Depth Estimation (Q) 53195 26458
Style Transfer (SP) 82314 98278
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) and M1 Max GPU (32-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 15, 2025 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 - Adreno X2-90 - GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop
Successor - - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M5 (10-Core) or above - Apple M1 Max or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M5 (10-Core) - Apple M1 Max
Laptop GPU ranking (43rd and 53rd place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock - 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1620 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 1280 4096
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 80 256
Render Output Units (ROPs) 40 128
Compute Units (Pipelines) 160 512
Ray-tracing Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 65 GPixel/s 166 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 130 GTexel/s 332 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
4.1 TFLOPS
10.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 28 billion 46.4 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 9600 MHz 6400 MHz
Effective Memory Speed - 12800 Mbps
Bus 128-bit 512-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
153 GB/s
409.6 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
13 (39.4%)
20 (60.6%)
Total votes: 33

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