M3 (iPad) vs A17 Pro
We compared the 8-core Apple M3 (iPad) (Apple M3 GPU) with the older 6-core A17 Pro (Apple A17 GPU) SoC. Here you will find the pros and cons of each chip, technical specs, and comprehensive tests in benchmarks, like AnTuTu and Geekbench.
Review
CPU Performance
Single and multi-core processor tests
Gaming Performance
GPU performance in games and OpenCL/Vulkan
Battery life
Efficiency of battery consumption
NanoReview Score
Overall chip score
Key Differences
Pros of Apple M3 (iPad)
- Supports 100% higher memory bandwidth (102.4 against 51.2 GB/s)
- Shows significantly better (up to 89%) AnTuTu 11 score β 2777K vs 1467K
- Performs 48% better in floating-point computations
- Has 2 more cores
- 7% higher CPU clock speed (4050 vs 3780 MHz)
Benchmarks
Performance tests in popular benchmarksAnTuTu 11
| CPU | 782907 | 374357 |
| GPU | 1029236 | 463612 |
| Memory | 305749 | 184670 |
| UX | 659395 | 444831 |
| Total score | 2777287 | 1467470 |
| Samples | [8 tests] | [21 tests] |
GeekBench 6
Single-Core Score
Multi-Core Score
| Asset compression | 458.1 MB/sec | 254.1 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 270.6 pages/sec | 166 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 299.9 Mpixels/sec | 180.7 Mpixels/sec |
| Image detection | 287.2 images/sec | 178.7 images/sec |
| HDR | 422.1 Mpixels/sec | 240.3 Mpixels/sec |
| Background blur | 48.2 images/sec | 26.7 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 116.1 images/sec | 77.8 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 13.4 Mpixels/sec | 7.76 Mpixels/sec |
| Samples | 4 tests | 32 tests |
Compute Score (GPU)
| Background blur | 86.1 images/sec | 55.5 images/sec |
| Face detection | 108.3 images/sec | 65.1 images/sec |
| Horizon detection | 1.43 Gpixels/sec | 0.8 Gpixels/sec |
| Edge detection | 1.93 Gpixels/sec | 1.08 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian blur | 2.41 Gpixels/sec | 1.11 Gpixels/sec |
| Feature matching | 0.62 Gpixels/sec | 0.43 Gpixels/sec |
| Stereo matching | 128.9 Gpixels/sec | 87.6 Gpixels/sec |
| Particle physics | 4690 FPS | 3313.9 FPS |
| API | Metal | Metal |
| Samples | 3 tests | 22 tests |
3DMark
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Score | 2695 | 1391 |
| Stability | 70% | 71% |
| Graphics test | 20 FPS | 10 FPS |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Score | 10356 | 6089 |
| Stability | - | 73% |
| Graphics test | 39 FPS | 23 FPS |
| Section 1 | 52 FPS | 29 FPS |
| Section 2 | 38 FPS | 23 FPS |
| Section 3 | 28 FPS | 16 FPS |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Score | - | 3655 |
| Stability | - | 63% |
| Graphics test | - | 21 FPS |
Recent User Tests
Apple M3 (iPad)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-04-17 (Jacob) | AnTuTu 11 | 2015536 |
| π 2026-04-12 (Kaimen) | AnTuTu 11 | 2811760 |
| π 2026-04-08 (Bearry) | AnTuTu 11 | 2838721 |
| π 2026-03-22 (Noora) | AnTuTu 11 | 2779459 |
| π 2026-03-21 (Noora) | AnTuTu 11 | 2708158 |
Apple A17 Pro
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-09-23 (podsolnuh) | AnTuTu 11 | 1357765 |
| π 2026-09-11 (Zabza) | AnTuTu 11 | 1599694 |
| π 2026-09-10 (elio) | AnTuTu 11 | 1445771 |
| π 2026-07-28 (human) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 26734 |
| π 2026-07-28 (human) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2892 / 7293 |
Specifications
Full list of technical specifications of M3 (iPad) and A17 ProCPU
| Architecture | 4x 4.05 GHz β 4x 2.75 GHz β |
2x 3.78 GHz β Everest 4x 2.11 GHz β Sawtooth |
| Cores | 8 | 6 |
| Frequency | 4050 MHz | 3780 MHz |
| Instruction set | ARMv8.6-A | ARMv8.6-A |
| L1 cache | 256 KB | 256 KB |
| L2 cache | 16 MB | 16 MB |
| Process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Transistor count | 25 billion | 19 billion |
| TDP (Sustained Power Limit) | 20 W | 8 W |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
Graphics
| GPU name | Apple M3 GPU | Apple A17 GPU |
| Architecture | Apple GPU | Apple Bionic GPU |
| GPU frequency | 1380 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| Pipelines | 9 | 6 |
| Shading units | 128 | 128 |
| Total shaders | 1152 | 768 |
| FLOPS | 3179.5 Gigaflops | 2147.2 Gigaflops |
AI Accelerator
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| NPU theoretical performance | 18 TOPS | 35 TOPS |
Memory
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory frequency | 3200 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Bus | 8x 16 Bit | 4x 16 Bit |
| Max bandwidth | 102.4 Gb/s | 51.2 Gb/s |
| Max size | 24 GB | 8 GB |
Multimedia (ISP)
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Max display resolution | 2732 x 2048 | 1290 x 2796 |
| Max camera resolution | 1x 48MP | 1x 48MP |
| Video capture | 4K at 60FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video playback | 4K at 60FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video codecs | - H.264 - H.265 - AV1 - VP9 |
- H.264 - H.265 - AV1 - VP8 - VP9 - Motion JPEG |
| Audio codecs | - AAC - AIFF - CAF - MP3 - MP4 - WAV |
- AAC - AAX - AAX+ - AC-3 - AIFF - CAF - E-AC-3 - MP3 - MP4 - WAV |
Connectivity
| Modem | - | Snapdragon X70 |
| 4G support | - | LTE Cat. 24 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
| Download speed | Up to 7500 Mbps | Up to 7500 Mbps |
| Upload speed | Up to 3500 Mbps | Up to 3500 Mbps |
| Wi-Fi | 6 | 6 |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Navigation | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
Info
| Announced | October 2023 | September 2023 |
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Model number | - | APL1V02 |
| Successor | - | - Apple A19 Pro |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 193
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