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Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) vs Adreno X2-90

Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
VS
Adreno X2-90
Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Custom
Adreno X2-90
Adreno X2

We compared two integrated laptop graphics cards: the Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 shaders against the 5 months older Adreno X2-90 that utilizes 12 pipelines and 2048 shaders. Here you will find complete details about specs, efficiency, performance tests, and more.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Benchmarks
  4. AI
  5. Specs
  6. Comments

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
Energy Efficiency
Power consumption efficiency in different scenarios
NanoReview Final Score
Overall video card score

Key differences

Key distinctions and advantages of Adreno X2-90 over M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 3.4x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 2.2x higher maximum theoretical performance (16.6 vs 7.6 TFLOPS)
  • Has 2.7x higher memory bandwidth: 614 vs 228 GB/s
  • Has 2.5x more shading units (5120 vs 2048)
GPU
M5 Max GPU (40-core)
vs
Adreno X2-90

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
Time Spy - 3782
Solar Bay 79263 24300
Port Royal - 1592
Fire Strike - 10039
Wild Life Extreme 42423 9890
Night Raid - 57486
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 257 img/sec -
Face Detection 182.1 img/sec -
Horizon Detection 5.4 Gpixels/sec -
Edge Detection 8.33 Gpixels/sec -
Gaussian Blur 8.86 Gpixels/sec -
Feature Matching 1.28 Gpixels/sec -
Stereo Matching 455.4 Gpixels/sec -
Particle Physics 21658 FPS -
API OpenCL -
Sources: Geekbench [3]

Cinebench 2024 GPU

Hardware benchmark using Maxon's Cinema 4D rendering engine
Cinebench 2024 GPU

Passmark Graphics

Videocard test that focuses on compute shaders, multi-texturing, tessellation, and other features
G3D Mark Score
G2D Mark - 592
DirectX 11 - 57 FPS
DirectX 12 - 29 FPS
GPU Compute - 3638 Ops/s
Sources: PassMark [5] – 61 samples

Blender

Rendering performance test for 3D modeling
Blender GPU
Sources: Blender [9] – 201 samples
Add your GPU benchmark result

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-04-16 -> Apple loverGeekBench146276
📘 2026-03-25 (Steven)Cinebench 20249283
📘 2026-03-25 (Steven)Steel Nomad Light18486
Add View all (3)
Adreno X2-90
No benchmark results yet
Add

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) 10711 -
Image Segmentation (HP) 42406 -
Image Super Resolution (Q) 42905 -
Face Detection (HP) 73489 -
Pose Estimation (Q) 289766 -
Text Classification (SP) 6087 -
Machine Translation (HP) 8881 -
Object Detection (SP) 10130 -
Depth Estimation (Q) 84224 -
Style Transfer (SP) 264552 -
Framework Core ML -
Backend GPU -
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) and Adreno X2-90

General

Vendor Apple Qualcomm
Build Integrated Integrated
Released March 3, 2026 September 25, 2025
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Generic
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Adreno X2
GPU Codename Custom Adreno X2
Rival Equivalent - - Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) or above - Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) - Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-90-100)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-88-100)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-94-100)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100)
Laptop GPU ranking (6th and 34th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock - 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1620 MHz 1700-1850 MHz (configurable)
Shading Units 5120 2048
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 320 128
Render Output Units (ROPs) 160 64
Compute Units (Pipelines) 640 12
Tensor Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 259 GPixel/s 109-118 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 518 GTexel/s 218-237 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
M5 Max GPU (40-core) +118%
16.6 TFLOPS
Adreno X2-90
7-7.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom IGP
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Die Size - 220 mm²
Transistor Count 28 billion -
Max. Temperature 100°C -

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 9600 MHz -
Bus 512-bit 192-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
M5 Max GPU (40-core) +169%
614 GB/s
Adreno X2-90
228 GB/s

API

DirectX - 12.2
Vulkan - 1.4
OpenCL - 3.0
CUDA - No
Ray Tracing Yes Yes
DLSS No No
DisplayPort - 1.4

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
7 (77.8%)
2 (22.2%)
Total votes: 9

Related comparisons

1. Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) vs Apple M4 Max GPU (40-core)
2. Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) vs Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core)

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