Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) vs M3 Max GPU (40-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 shaders against the 2 years and 4 months older M3 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 M3 Max GPU (40-core) over M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 43%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 18% higher maximum theoretical performance (16.6 vs 14.1 TFLOPS)
  • Has 50% higher memory bandwidth: 614 vs 409.6 GB/s
  • Achieves 55% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (146K vs 94K)

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 79263 49656
Wild Life Extreme 42423 30893
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 257 img/sec 157.6 img/sec
Face Detection 182.1 img/sec 100.9 img/sec
Horizon Detection 5.4 Gpixels/sec 3.99 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 8.33 Gpixels/sec 6.04 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 8.86 Gpixels/sec 5 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 1.28 Gpixels/sec 0.84 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 455.4 Gpixels/sec 363.8 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 21658 FPS 12226.9 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]201 & 444 samples

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
Apple M3 Max GPU (40-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) 10711 8685
Image Segmentation (HP) 42406 20739
Image Super Resolution (Q) 42905 22775
Face Detection (HP) 73489 37676
Pose Estimation (Q) 289766 91609
Text Classification (SP) 6087 2909
Machine Translation (HP) 8881 5274
Object Detection (SP) 10130 7480
Depth Estimation (Q) 84224 38212
Style Transfer (SP) 264552 190681
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) and M3 Max GPU (40-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released March 3, 2026 October 31, 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 4070 Laptop
Successor - - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) or above - Apple M3 Max or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M5 Max (40-сore GPU) - Apple M3 Max
Laptop GPU ranking (6th and 20th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock - 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1620 MHz 1380 MHz
Shading Units 5120 5120
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 320 320
Render Output Units (ROPs) 160 160
Compute Units (Pipelines) 640 640
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 259 GPixel/s 221 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 518 GTexel/s 442 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
16.6 TFLOPS
14.1 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP - 60 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Transistor Count 28 billion 56 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 100°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
614 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes Yes
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
3 (75%)
1 (25%)
Total votes: 4

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