Apple M3
vs
Apple M1 Ultra

vs

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M3 and Apple M1 Ultra 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 3.228 GHz)
  • Higher Technology: 3 nm (3 nm vs 5 nm)
  • Newer Launch Date: October 2023 (October 2023 vs March 2022)
  • More Total Cores: 20 (8 vs 20)

Basic

Apple
Label Name
Apple
October 2023
Launch Date
March 2022
Laptop
Platform
Desktop
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
CPU Architecture
Apple Firestorm + Apple Icestorm
Apple M3
CPU Name
Apple M1 Ultra
Apple M3
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 Ultra
TSMC
Foundry
TSMC
Apple M3 series
Generation
Apple M1 series

CPU Specifications

-
Interconnect Bandwidth
2.5 TB/s
-
Interconnect Technology
UltraFusion
4
Performance Cores
16
8
Total Cores
?
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
20
8
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
20
4
Efficient-cores
4
2.75 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
4.06 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
3.228 GHz
ARMv8.6-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: 16 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
L2 Cache
P-core clusters: 48 MB total; E-core clusters: 8 MB total
-
L3 Cache
96 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
ARMv8.6-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
25 billion
Transistor Count
114 billion

Memory Specifications

128-bit
Memory Bus Width
1024-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
24 GB
Max Memory Size
?
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
128 GB
-
Memory Channels
?
The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.
8
100 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).
800 GB/s
6400 MT/s
Maximum Memory Speed
6400 MT/s

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt 3 / USB4 with DisplayPort, HDMI
External Display Standard
-
Apple M3 GPU
GPU Name
Apple M1 Ultra GPU
Up to 6K 60Hz external display; up to 5K 60Hz second external display with lid closed; HDMI up to 4K 120Hz
Max External Display Resolution
-
Hardware-accelerated video encode/decode; AV1 decode
Video Concurrency
Up to 18 streams of 8K ProRes 422 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
-
GPU Base Frequency
450 MHz
1400 MHz
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1296 MHz
10
Graphics Core Count
64
Up to 2 external displays with lid closed
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 5 displays
Metal, OpenCL
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
Up to 3.55 TFLOPS FP32
Graphics Performance
Up to 21.2 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
2
1
Video Encode Engines
4
1
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
4
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
32-core Apple Neural Engine
16
Neural Engine Core Count
32
Apple Neural Engine
NPU Name
Apple Neural Engine
18 TOPS
NPU Performance
22 TOPS

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 3 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
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 M3
1965 +28%
Apple M1 Ultra
1534
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Apple M3
10437
Apple M1 Ultra
24189 +132%
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M3
3075 +28%
Apple M1 Ultra
2398
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M3
11525
Apple M1 Ultra
18458 +60%
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Apple M3
2150 +20%
Apple M1 Ultra
1793
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Apple M3
10450
Apple M1 Ultra
24055 +130%
Passmark CPU Single Core
Apple M3
4712 +22%
Apple M1 Ultra
3860
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Apple M3
19087
Apple M1 Ultra
41380 +117%
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M3
137 +20%
Apple M1 Ultra
114
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M3
659
Apple M1 Ultra
1624 +146%
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Apple M3
3340 +0%
Apple M1 Ultra
3331
Blender
Apple M3
132
Apple M1 Ultra
379 +187%