Apple M3 Max
vs
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores

vs

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M3 Max and Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

  • More Total Cores: 16 (16 vs 14)
  • Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.5 GHz (4.06 GHz vs 4.5 GHz)
  • Newer Launch Date: October 2024 (October 2023 vs October 2024)

Basic

Apple
Label Name
Apple
October 2023
Launch Date
October 2024
Laptop
Platform
Laptop
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
CPU Architecture
Apple custom ARM architecture
Apple M3 Max
CPU Name
Apple M4 Pro
Apple M3 Max
Model Name
Apple M4 Pro 14-Core
TSMC
Foundry
TSMC
Apple M3 series
Generation
M4 Pro

CPU Specifications

16
Total Cores
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
14
16
Total Threads
14
12
Performance-cores
10
4
Efficient-cores
4
-
Max Turbo Frequency
4.5 GHz
2.75 GHz
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
2.6 GHz
NEON
Instruction Set Extensions
-
4.06 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
4.5 GHz
ARMv8-A, NEON
Extended Instruction Set
-
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
L1 Cache
-
P-core cluster: 36 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
L2 Cache
-
48 MB system level cache
L3 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.
Second-generation 3 nm
ARMv8-A
Instruction Set
An instruction set architecture (ISA) defines the instructions a processor can execute. Common architectures include x86-64, ARM and RISC-V. The ISA determines software compatibility, while optional instruction extensions add specialized capabilities.
-
92 billion
Transistor Count
-

Memory Specifications

512-bit
Memory Bus Width
-
Unified LPDDR5-6400
Memory Type
LPDDR5X unified memory
LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5 Speed
-
128 GB
Max Memory Size
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
48 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).
273 GB/s
6400 MT/s
Maximum Memory Speed
8533 MT/s

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1
External Display Standard
Thunderbolt / DisplayPort 2.1 over USB-C; HDMI
Apple M3 Max GPU
GPU Name
Apple M4 Pro 20-core GPU
-
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
Supported
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 external displays: three 6K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI; or two external displays with one 6K at 60Hz and one 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video; AV1 decode
Video Concurrency
-
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 decode
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration and AV1 decode
Video Processing Unit
-
1400 MHz
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
-
390 MHz
Graphics Base Frequency
Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.
-
40
Graphics Core Count
20
-
Max Resolution
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Up to 4 external displays
Number of Displays Supported
-
Metal, OpenCL
GPU APIs
Metal
Up to 14.2 TFLOPS FP32
Graphics Performance
-
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, and AV1 decode
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode
1
Video Decode Engines
1
2
Video Encode Engines
1
2
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
1
Yes
OpenCL Support
OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.
-

AI Specifications

16-core Apple Neural Engine
AI Engine
Apple Neural Engine with enhanced machine learning accelerators
16
Neural Engine Core Count
16
Apple Neural Engine
NPU Name
16-core Neural Engine
18 TOPS
NPU Performance
38 TOPS

Connectivity

Yes
Bluetooth Support
Supported
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth Version
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
Thunderbolt 5
USB4
USB Version
USB 4 up to 120Gb/s
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s
USB4 Support
USB4

Miscellaneous

Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Hardware-Verified Secure Boot
-
Kernel Integrity Protection, Pointer Authentication Codes, Fast Permission Restrictions
Runtime Anti-Exploitation
-

Benchmarks

Cinebench R23 Single Core
Apple M3 Max
1968
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
2270 +15%
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Apple M3 Max
24028 +3%
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
23435
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M3 Max
3128
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
3852 +23%
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M3 Max
20969
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
22455 +7%
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Apple M3 Max
2150
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
2699 +26%
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Apple M3 Max
22736 +3%
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
22181
Passmark CPU Single Core
Apple M3 Max
4784 +5%
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
4555
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Apple M3 Max
41257 +9%
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
38017
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M3 Max
141
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
178 +26%
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M3 Max
1607
Apple M4 Pro 14 Cores
1696 +6%