Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) vs M2 Max GPU (38-core)
We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 shaders against the 3 years and 2 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 M5 Max GPU (40-core)
- Performs significantly better (up to 88%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
- Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
- 22% higher maximum theoretical performance (16.6 vs 13.6 TFLOPS)
- Achieves 68% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (146K vs 86K)
- Has 50% higher memory bandwidth: 614 vs 409.6 GB/s
Benchmarks
Graphics cards’ performance in recent benchmarking apps3D Mark
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Solar Bay | 79263 | 30368 |
| Wild Life Extreme | 42423 | 24948 |
GeekBench 6 OpenCL
GB6 Compute Score
| Background Blur | 257 img/sec | 149 img/sec |
| Face Detection | 182.1 img/sec | 98.1 img/sec |
| Horizon Detection | 5.4 Gpixels/sec | 3.8 Gpixels/sec |
| Edge Detection | 8.33 Gpixels/sec | 6.88 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian Blur | 8.86 Gpixels/sec | 4.44 Gpixels/sec |
| Feature Matching | 1.28 Gpixels/sec | 0.73 Gpixels/sec |
| Stereo Matching | 455.4 Gpixels/sec | 264.9 Gpixels/sec |
| Particle Physics | 21658 FPS | 11144.2 FPS |
| API | OpenCL | OpenCL |
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Blender
Blender GPU
Recent User Tests
Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-04-16 -> Apple lover | Geekbench 6 OpenCL | 146276 |
| 📘 2026-03-25 (Steven) | Cinebench 2024 | 9283 |
| 📘 2026-03-25 (Steven) | Steel Nomad Light | 18486 |
Apple M2 Max GPU (38-core)
No benchmark results yet
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) | 10711 | 6657 |
| Image Segmentation (HP) | 42406 | 13854 |
| Image Super Resolution (Q) | 42905 | 18642 |
| Face Detection (HP) | 73489 | 27965 |
| Pose Estimation (Q) | 289766 | 83144 |
| Text Classification (SP) | 6087 | 2377 |
| Machine Translation (HP) | 8881 | 2052 |
| Object Detection (SP) | 10130 | 6495 |
| Depth Estimation (Q) | 84224 | 31105 |
| Style Transfer (SP) | 264552 | 135686 |
| Framework | Core ML | Core ML |
| Backend | GPU | GPU |
Specifications
Technical specifications of Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) and M2 Max GPU (38-core)General
| Vendor | Apple | Apple |
| Build | Integrated | Integrated |
| Released | March 3, 2026 | 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 3060 Laptop |
| Successor | - | - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) |
| Recommended CPU | - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) or above | - |
| Used in CPUs | - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) | - Apple M2 Max |
Laptop GPU ranking (6th and 40th place)
Graphics Processing Unit
| Base Clock | - | 450 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1620 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| Shading Units | 5120 | 4864 |
| Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) | 320 | 304 |
| Render Output Units (ROPs) | 160 | 152 |
| Compute Units (Pipelines) | 640 | 608 |
| Instructions Per Cycle | 2 IPC | 2 IPC |
Raw Performance
| Pixel Fill Rate | 259 GPixel/s | 212 GPixel/s |
| Texture Fill Rate | 518 GTexel/s | 425 GTexel/s |
FLOPS (FP32)
Physical
| Interface | Custom | Custom |
| TGP | - | 70 W |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 5 nm |
| Transistor Count | 28 billion | 52 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 | 512-bit | 512-bit |
| ECC | No | No |
Memory Bandwidth
API
| Ray Tracing | Yes | No |
| DLSS | No | No |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 4