Apple M3 Pro
vs
Apple M2 Max

vs

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M3 Pro and Apple M2 Max processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

  • Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.06 GHz (4.06 GHz vs 3.696 GHz)
  • Higher Technology: 3 nm (3 nm vs 5 nm)
  • Newer Launch Date: October 2023 (October 2023 vs January 2023)
  • Larger L3 Cache: 48 MB system level cache (12 MB system level cache vs 48 MB system level cache)

Basic

Apple
Label Name
Apple
October 2023
Launch Date
January 2023
Laptop
Platform
Laptop
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
CPU Architecture
Apple Avalanche + Apple Blizzard
Apple M3 Pro
CPU Name
Apple M2 Max
Apple M3 Pro
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 M2 Max
TSMC
Foundry
TSMC
Apple M3 series
Generation
Apple M2 series

CPU Specifications

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).
12
12
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
12
6
Performance-cores
8
6
Efficient-cores
4
2.75 GHz
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum E-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
2.424 GHz
NEON
Instruction Set Extensions
NEON
4.06 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
3.696 GHz
ARMv8-A, NEON
Extended Instruction Set
ARMv8-A, NEON
3 MB total L1 cache
L1 Cache
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
20 MB L2 cache
L2 Cache
P-core cluster: 36 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
12 MB system level cache
L3 Cache
48 MB system level cache
3 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
37 billion
Transistor Count
67 billion

Memory Specifications

192-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
36 GB
Max Memory Size
?
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
96 GB
150 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 2.1
Apple M3 Pro GPU
GPU Name
Apple M2 Max GPU
Up to two 6K 60Hz displays over Thunderbolt; or one 6K 60Hz display plus one 4K 144Hz display over HDMI; HDMI up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz
Max External Display Resolution
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
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video; AV1 decode
Video Concurrency
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 decode
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration and AV1 decode
Video Processing Unit
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration
1296 MHz
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1400 MHz
18
Graphics Core Count
38
Up to 2 external displays
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 4 external displays
Metal, OpenCL
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
Up to 4.6 TFLOPS FP32
Graphics Performance
Up to 13.6 TFLOPS FP32
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, and AV1 decode
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
1
Video Decode Engines
1
1
Video Encode Engines
2
1
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
2
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
18 TOPS
NPU Performance
15.8 TOPS

Connectivity

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

Benchmarks

Cinebench R23 Single Core
Apple M3 Pro
1928 +14%
Apple M2 Max
1695
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Apple M3 Pro
15061 +1%
Apple M2 Max
14855
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M3 Pro
3100 +13%
Apple M2 Max
2748
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M3 Pro
15263 +3%
Apple M2 Max
14754
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Apple M3 Pro
2314 +23%
Apple M2 Max
1874
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Apple M3 Pro
15235
Apple M2 Max
15506 +2%
Passmark CPU Single Core
Apple M3 Pro
4240 +2%
Apple M2 Max
4140
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Apple M3 Pro
23993
Apple M2 Max
26868 +12%
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M3 Pro
142 +17%
Apple M2 Max
121
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M3 Pro
1059 +3%
Apple M2 Max
1025
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Apple M3 Pro
5961 +2%
Apple M2 Max
5851
Blender
Apple M3 Pro
228
Apple M2 Max
249 +9%