Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) vs M4 Max GPU (32-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) with 320 pipelines and 2560 shaders against the 1 year and 4 months older M4 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 M4 Max GPU (32-core) over M5 Pro GPU (20-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs better (up to 24%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 55% higher maximum theoretical performance (12.9 vs 8.3 TFLOPS)
  • Has 33% higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 307 GB/s
  • Has 60% more shading units (4096 vs 2560)

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 46865 50957
Wild Life Extreme 23737 30044
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 177.6 img/sec 174.8 img/sec
Face Detection 114.5 img/sec 112 img/sec
Horizon Detection 3.19 Gpixels/sec 4.19 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 4.45 Gpixels/sec 6.3 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 4.59 Gpixels/sec 4.69 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.96 Gpixels/sec 0.98 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 250.4 Gpixels/sec 352.1 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 12529.9 FPS 14254.6 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]94 & 183 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) 8870 8624
Image Segmentation (HP) 28795 20392
Image Super Resolution (Q) 34820 21752
Face Detection (HP) 55699 34099
Pose Estimation (Q) 212347 77846
Text Classification (SP) 3018 2993
Machine Translation (HP) 9102 5658
Object Detection (SP) 8163 7933
Depth Estimation (Q) 70908 37622
Style Transfer (SP) 152297 173882
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) and M4 Max GPU (32-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released March 3, 2026 October 30, 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 4070 Laptop
Successor - - Apple M5 Max GPU (32-core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) or above - Apple M4 Max (14-Core) or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) - Apple M4 Max (14-Core)
Laptop GPU ranking (21st and 18th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock - 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1620 MHz 1578 MHz
Shading Units 2560 4096
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 160 256
Render Output Units (ROPs) 80 128
Compute Units (Pipelines) 320 512
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 130 GPixel/s 202 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 259 GTexel/s 404 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
12.9 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 28 W 51 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
Bus 256-bit 384-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
409.6 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes Yes
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
2 (20%)
8 (80%)
Total votes: 10

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