Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) vs GPU (8-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) with 512 pipelines and 4096 shaders against the 11 months older GPU (8-core) that utilizes 128 pipelines and 1024 shaders. Here you will find complete details about specs, efficiency, performance tests, and more.

Review

General comparison of performance in games, applications, power efficiency, and other metrics
Gaming
Performance in DirectX, OpenCL, and Vulkan games
Workstation
Perf. in 3D modeling, video editing and rendering apps
AI/ML
Capabilities for machine learning and AI-related tasks
Energy Efficiency
Power consumption efficiency in different scenarios
DeviceFacts Final Score
Overall video card score

Key differences

Key distinctions and advantages of M1 GPU (8-core) over M1 Max GPU (32-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 3.8x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 4.1x higher maximum theoretical performance (10.6 vs 2.6 TFLOPS)
  • Has 6x higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 68.2 GB/s
  • Achieves 3.5x more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (71K vs 20K)
  • Has 4x more shading units (4096 vs 1024)

Benchmarks

Graphics cards’ performance in recent benchmarking apps

3D Mark

Multiplatform graphics benchmark suite that directly correlates with performance in modern games
Steel Nomad Lite Score
Solar Bay 22586 6317
Wild Life Extreme 19880 4966
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 120.7 img/sec 38.3 img/sec
Face Detection 78.9 img/sec 23 img/sec
Horizon Detection 3.18 Gpixels/sec 0.76 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 6.15 Gpixels/sec 1.33 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 3.44 Gpixels/sec 0.87 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.62 Gpixels/sec 0.27 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 229.8 Gpixels/sec 69.9 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 8822.9 FPS 2766.4 FPS
API OpenCL OpenCL
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]

Cinebench 2024 GPU

Hardware benchmark using Maxon's Cinema 4D rendering engine
Cinebench 2024 GPU

Blender

Rendering performance test for 3D modeling
Blender GPU
Sources: Blender [9], [10] – 669 & 307 samples

Artificial Intelligence Tests

Performance in machine learning and artificial intelligence tasks

GeekBench 6 ML

Tests throughput of AI operations in single, half, and quantized precision
GB6 ML Single Precision
GB6 ML Half Precision
GB6 ML Quantized
Image Classification (SP) 5466 1400
Image Segmentation (HP) 12415 2280
Image Super Resolution (Q) 15930 3402
Face Detection (HP) 23179 5638
Pose Estimation (Q) 58520 12027
Text Classification (SP) 2299 2324
Machine Translation (HP) 1713 4296
Object Detection (SP) 5388 1530
Depth Estimation (Q) 26458 7675
Style Transfer (SP) 98278 17293
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU CPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M1 Max GPU (32-core) and GPU (8-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released October 18, 2021 November 20, 2020
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment High-end Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
Successor - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M1 Max or above - Apple M1 or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M1 Max - Apple M1
Laptop GPU ranking (54th and 105th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 450 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1296 MHz 1278 MHz
Shading Units 4096 1024
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 256 64
Render Output Units (ROPs) 128 32
Compute Units (Pipelines) 512 128
Ray-tracing Cores No No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 166 GPixel/s 41 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 332 GTexel/s 82 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
10.6 TFLOPS
2.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP - 15 W
Manufacturing TSMC Intel
Fabrication Process 5 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 46.4 billion 11.6 billion
Max. Temperature 94°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 6400 MHz 4266 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 12800 Mbps 8532 Mbps
Bus 512-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
409.6 GB/s
68.2 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing No No
DLSS No No

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Total votes: 4

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