Apple M2 Max
vs
Apple M1 Max

vs

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M2 Max and Apple M1 Max processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

  • More Total Cores: 12 (12 vs 10)
  • Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 3.696 GHz (3.696 GHz vs 3.228 GHz)
  • Newer Launch Date: January 2023 (January 2023 vs October 2021)

Basic

Apple
Label Name
Apple
January 2023
Launch Date
October 2021
Laptop
Platform
Laptop
Apple Avalanche + Apple Blizzard
CPU Architecture
Apple Firestorm + Apple Icestorm
Apple M2 Max
CPU Name
Apple M1 Max
Apple M2 Max
Model Name
?
The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.
Apple M1 Max
TSMC
Foundry
TSMC
Apple M2 series
Generation
Apple M1 series

CPU Specifications

8
Performance Cores
8
12
Total Cores
?
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
10
12
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
10
4
Efficient-cores
2
2.424 GHz
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum E-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
2.064 GHz
NEON
Instruction Set Extensions
NEON
3.696 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
3.228 GHz
ARMv8-A, NEON
Extended Instruction Set
ARMv8-A, NEON
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
L1 Cache
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
P-core cluster: 36 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
L2 Cache
P-core cluster: 24 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
48 MB system level cache
L3 Cache
48 MB system level cache
5 nm
Technology
?
Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.
5 nm
ARMv8-A
Instruction Set
?
The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.
ARMv8-A
67 billion
Transistor Count
57 billion

Memory Specifications

512-bit
Memory Bus Width
512-bit
Unified LPDDR5-6400
Memory Type
?
Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.
Unified LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5 Speed
LPDDR5-6400
96 GB
Max Memory Size
?
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
64 GB
400 GB/s
Max Memory Bandwidth
?
Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).
400 GB/s
6400 MT/s
Maximum Memory Speed
6400 MT/s

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1
External Display Standard
Thunderbolt 4, HDMI
Metal, OpenCL
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
Apple M2 Max GPU
GPU Name
Apple M1 Max GPU
Up to three 6K 60Hz displays plus one 4K 144Hz display; or up to two 6K 60Hz displays plus one 8K 60Hz / 4K 240Hz display
Max External Display Resolution
Up to three 6K 60Hz displays plus one 4K 60Hz display
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
2
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
2
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video
Video Concurrency
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
1
Video Decode Engines
1
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
2
Video Encode Engines
2
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration
Video Processing Unit
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration
-
GPU Base Frequency
389 MHz
1400 MHz
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1296 MHz
38
Graphics Core Count
32
Up to 4 external displays
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 4 external displays
Up to 13.6 TFLOPS FP32
Graphics Performance
Up to 10.4 TFLOPS FP32
Yes
OpenCL Support
?
OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.
Yes

AI Specifications

16-core Apple Neural Engine
AI Engine
16-core Apple Neural Engine
16
Neural Engine Core Count
16
Apple Neural Engine
NPU Name
Apple Neural Engine
15.8 TOPS
NPU Performance
11 TOPS INT8

Connectivity

Yes
Bluetooth Support
Yes
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth Version
Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi Standard
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Interfaces and Ports

Yes, Thunderbolt 4 up to 40 Gb/s
Thunderbolt Support
Yes, Thunderbolt 4 up to 40 Gb/s
USB4
USB Version
USB4
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s
USB4 Support
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s

Miscellaneous

Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Hardware-Verified Secure Boot
Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Apple image signal processor
Image Signal Processor
Apple image signal processor
Kernel Integrity Protection, Pointer Authentication Codes, Fast Permission Restrictions
Runtime Anti-Exploitation
Kernel Integrity Protection, Pointer Authentication Codes, Fast Permission Restrictions
Secure Enclave
Security Processor
Secure Enclave

Benchmarks

Cinebench R23 Single Core
Apple M2 Max
1695 +10%
Apple M1 Max
1534
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Apple M2 Max
14855 +20%
Apple M1 Max
12402
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M2 Max
2748 +16%
Apple M1 Max
2376
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M2 Max
14754 +20%
Apple M1 Max
12280
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Apple M2 Max
1874 +5%
Apple M1 Max
1785
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Apple M2 Max
15506 +22%
Apple M1 Max
12697
Passmark CPU Single Core
Apple M2 Max
4140 +8%
Apple M1 Max
3831
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Apple M2 Max
26868 +21%
Apple M1 Max
22160
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M2 Max
121 +8%
Apple M1 Max
112
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M2 Max
1025 +29%
Apple M1 Max
796
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Apple M2 Max
5851 +30%
Apple M1 Max
4514
Blender
Apple M2 Max
249 +30%
Apple M1 Max
192