Home > CPU Comparison > M6 (12-Core) or M1 Max: what's better?

Apple M6 (12-Core) vs M1 Max

86 out of 100
Apple M6 (12-Core)
VS
61 out of 100
Apple M1 Max
Apple M6 (12-Core)
Apple M1 Max

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 4.79 GHz Apple M6 (12-Core) with 12-cores against the 3.2 GHz M1 Max with 10-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
DeviceFacts Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
๐Ÿ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between Max and (12-Core)
Advantages of Apple M6 (12-Core)
  • Newer - released 4 years and 11 months later
  • More modern manufacturing process โ€“ 2 versus 5 nanometers
  • 90% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 4610 vs 2431 points
  • Has 2 more physical cores
Advantages of Apple M1 Max
  • Around 239.6 GB/s (141%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More powerful Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) integrated graphics: 10.6 vs 4.9 TFLOPS
  • Supports up to 64 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
M6 (12-Core)
vs
M1 Max

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
M6 (12-Core) +96%
218
M1 Max
111
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M6 (12-Core) +66%
1308
M1 Max
789
Cinebench Scores (#91st place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
M6 (12-Core) +90%
4610
M1 Max
2431
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M6 (12-Core) +63%
20676
M1 Max
12673
File compression - 1450 MB/sec
Clang compilation - 105.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser - 329.2 pages/sec
PDF Renderer - 317 Mpixels/sec
Text processing - 249.6 pages/sec
Background blur - 42.2 images/sec
Photo processing - 122.8 images/sec
Ray tracing - 14.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 447 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M6 (12-Core)
n/a
M1 Max
3831
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M6 (12-Core)
n/a
M1 Max
22162
Integer math - 46.1 GOps/sec
Floating point math - 64.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers - 278M Primes/sec
Random string sorting - 32.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption - 12.2 GBytes/sec
Data compression - 274.4 MBytes/sec
Physics - 2833 Frames/sec
Extended instructions - 12.8B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3] โ€“ 2398 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M6 (12-Core)
n/a
M1 Max
199.2

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt - 15.8 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt - 253.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt - 443.2 PPW
Blender / Watt - 3.98 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M6 (12-Core)
No benchmark results yet
Add
Apple M1 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-07-04 (Daniel)Geekbench 6 CPU2459 / 13052
Add View all (1)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M6 (12-Core) and M1 Max

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released August 25, 2026 October 18, 2021
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv9 ARMv8
Codename Apple M6 Apple M1
Model number T8152 -
Integrated GPU Apple M6 GPU (12-core) Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
Successor - - Apple M5 Max (40-ัore GPU)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 8
P-Threads 6 8
Base Frequency (P) 4.79 GHz 3.2 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 6 2
E-Threads 6 2
Base Frequency (E) - 2.1 GHz
Total
Total Cores 12 10
Total Threads 12 10
Bus Frequency 100 MHz -
Multiplier 47x -
L1 Cache 256K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 8MB (shared) 24MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors - 57 billions
Fabrication Process 2 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) - 50 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Laptop processors ranking (10th and 95th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M6 GPU (12-core) Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
GPU Base Clock - 450 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1600 MHz 1296 MHz
Shading Units 1536 4096
TMUs 96 256
ROPs 80 128
Execution Units 192 512
iGPU FLOPS
M6 (12-Core)
4.9 TFLOPS
M1 Max +116%
10.6 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) compared to M6 GPU (12-core)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5X-10667 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 32 GB 64 GB
Memory Channels 8 4
Max. Memory Bandwidth 170 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
3 (75%)
1 (25%)
Total votes: 4

Competitors

1. Apple M6 (12-Core) vs Apple M4 (10-Core)
2. Apple M6 (12-Core) vs Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100)
3. Apple M6 (12-Core) vs Apple M5 (10-Core) (2)
4. Apple M6 (12-Core) vs Apple M4 Pro (14-Core)
5. Apple M6 (12-Core) vs Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-94-100)
6. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 (4)
7. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 Max (14-Core)
8. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 (10-Core) (13)
9. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
10. Apple M1 Max vs Apple M3 Pro
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M1 Max or M6 (12-Core)?
๐ŸŒ Register your profile and become part of DeviceFacts community!
Englishะ ัƒััะบะธะน