Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) vs M4 Pro GPU (16-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) with 512 pipelines and 4096 shaders against the 1 year and 4 months older M4 Pro GPU (16-core) that utilizes 256 pipelines and 2048 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 Pro GPU (16-core) over M5 Max GPU (32-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 2.2x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 2x higher maximum theoretical performance (13.3 vs 6.5 TFLOPS)
  • Achieves 2x more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (124K vs 61K)
  • Has 69% higher memory bandwidth: 460.8 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 69788 28734
Wild Life Extreme 35786 16471
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 234.8 img/sec 106 img/sec
Face Detection 158.1 img/sec 73.1 img/sec
Horizon Detection 4.48 Gpixels/sec 2.59 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 6.62 Gpixels/sec 3.8 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 7.19 Gpixels/sec 2.4 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 1.17 Gpixels/sec 0.73 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 384.9 Gpixels/sec 198.6 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 17866.8 FPS 8166.3 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] – 37 & 289 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) 10338 7548
Image Segmentation (HP) 42053 15108
Image Super Resolution (Q) 41729 20789
Face Detection (HP) 71929 28665
Pose Estimation (Q) 287035 57124
Text Classification (SP) 2958 2888
Machine Translation (HP) 9156 6086
Object Detection (SP) 9951 6804
Depth Estimation (Q) 82338 32732
Style Transfer (SP) 264780 123465
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core) and M4 Pro GPU (16-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released March 3, 2026 October 29, 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
Successor - - Apple M5 Pro GPU (16-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M5 Max (32-сore GPU) or above - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core) or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M5 Max (32-сore GPU) - Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
Laptop GPU ranking (9th and 45th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock - 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1620 MHz 1578 MHz
Shading Units 4096 2048
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 256 128
Render Output Units (ROPs) 128 64
Compute Units (Pipelines) 512 256
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 207 GPixel/s 101 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 415 GTexel/s 202 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
13.3 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP - 26 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Transistor Count 28 billion -
Max. Temperature 100°C 100°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 9600 MHz 8533 MHz
Effective Memory Speed - 15000 Mbps
Bus 384-bit 192-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
460.8 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes Yes
DLSS No No

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