Apple M3
vs
Apple M6 12 Cores
vs
CPU Comparison Result
Below are the results of a comparison of
Apple M3
and
Apple M6 12 Cores
processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.
Advantages
- More Total Cores: 12 (8 vs 12)
- Higher Technology: 2 nm (3 nm vs 2 nm)
- Newer Launch Date: August 2026 (October 2023 vs August 2026)
Basic
Apple
Label Name
Apple
October 2023
Launch Date
August 2026
Laptop
Platform
Laptop
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
CPU Architecture
-
Apple M3
CPU Name
Apple M6
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 M6 12 Cores
TSMC
Foundry
TSMC N2
Apple M3 series
Generation
M6
CPU Specifications
-
Performance-core Multi-Core Max Frequency
4.61 GHz
-
Super-core Max Frequency
4.80 GHz
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).
12
8
Total Threads
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
12
4
Performance-cores
4
4
Efficient-cores
6
-
Super-cores
2
2.75 GHz
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
Maximum E-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
3.20 GHz
NEON
Instruction Set Extensions
-
4.06 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
-
ARMv8.6-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: 16 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
L2 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.
2 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.
-
25 billion
Transistor Count
-
Memory Specifications
128-bit
Memory Bus Width
-
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 memory
LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5 Speed
10667 MT/s
24 GB
Max Memory Size
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
32 GB
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).
170 GB/s
6400 MT/s
Maximum Memory Speed
-
GPU Specifications
Thunderbolt 3 / USB4 with DisplayPort, HDMI
External Display Standard
DisplayPort 1.4 over Thunderbolt 4; HDMI
Apple M3 GPU
GPU Name
Apple M6 12-core GPU
-
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
Supported
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
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Hardware-accelerated video encode/decode; AV1 decode
Video Concurrency
-
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 decode
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1
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
-
1400 MHz
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
-
10
Graphics Core Count
12
-
Max Resolution
Up to 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
Up to 2 external displays with lid closed
Number of Displays Supported
3
Metal, OpenCL
GPU APIs
-
Up to 3.55 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
1
Video Encode Engines
1
1
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
Dual 16-core Neural Engine; Neural Accelerators in each GPU core
16
Neural Engine Core Count
32
Apple Neural Engine
NPU Name
Dual 16-core Neural Engine
18 TOPS
NPU Performance
-
Connectivity
Yes
Bluetooth Support
-
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth Version
-
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi Standard
-
Interfaces and Ports
Yes, Thunderbolt 3 up to 40 Gb/s
Thunderbolt Support
Thunderbolt 4
USB4
USB Version
-
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s
USB4 Support
Supported
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
Geekbench 6 Single Core
Apple M3
3075
Apple M6 12 Cores
4698
+53%
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Apple M3
11525
Apple M6 12 Cores
21302
+85%
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
Apple M3
137
Apple M6 12 Cores
221
+61%
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Apple M3
659
Apple M6 12 Cores
1468
+123%
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