Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) vs M2 GPU (8-core)
We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) with 640 pipelines and 5120 shaders against the 1 year and 5 months older M2 GPU (8-core) that utilizes 128 pipelines and 1024 shaders. Here you will find complete details about specs, efficiency, performance tests, and more.
Review
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
Reasons to consider the Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core)
- Performs significantly better (up to 5.4x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
- 4.9x higher maximum theoretical performance (14.1 vs 2.9 TFLOPS)
- Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
- Has 4x higher memory bandwidth: 409.6 vs 102.4 GB/s
- Achieves 3.2x more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (94K vs 29K)
- Has 5x more shading units (5120 vs 1024)
Benchmarks
Graphics cards’ performance in recent benchmarking apps3D Mark
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Solar Bay | 49656 | 7316 |
| Wild Life Extreme | 30893 | 5676 |
GeekBench 6 OpenCL
GB6 Compute Score
| Background Blur | 157.6 img/sec | 58.7 img/sec |
| Face Detection | 100.9 img/sec | 35.2 img/sec |
| Horizon Detection | 3.99 Gpixels/sec | 1.1 Gpixels/sec |
| Edge Detection | 6.04 Gpixels/sec | 1.82 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian Blur | 5 Gpixels/sec | 1.2 Gpixels/sec |
| Feature Matching | 0.84 Gpixels/sec | 0.37 Gpixels/sec |
| Stereo Matching | 363.8 Gpixels/sec | 96 Gpixels/sec |
| Particle Physics | 12226.9 FPS | 3825.9 FPS |
| API | OpenCL | OpenCL |
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Blender
Blender GPU
Artificial Intelligence Tests
Performance in machine learning and artificial intelligence tasksGeekBench 6 ML
GB6 ML Single Precision
GB6 ML Half Precision
GB6 ML Quantized
| Image Classification (SP) | 8685 | 3242 |
| Image Segmentation (HP) | 20739 | 4890 |
| Image Super Resolution (Q) | 22775 | 7149 |
| Face Detection (HP) | 37676 | 10340 |
| Pose Estimation (Q) | 91609 | 21268 |
| Text Classification (SP) | 2909 | 2268 |
| Machine Translation (HP) | 5274 | 1122 |
| Object Detection (SP) | 7480 | 3007 |
| Depth Estimation (Q) | 38212 | 13941 |
| Style Transfer (SP) | 190681 | 35943 |
| Framework | Core ML | Core ML |
| Backend | GPU | GPU |
Specifications
Technical specifications of Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) and M2 GPU (8-core)General
| Vendor | Apple | Apple |
| Build | Integrated | Integrated |
| Released | October 31, 2023 | June 6, 2022 |
| Case | Laptop | Laptop |
| Purpose | Professional | Professional |
| Segment | High-end | Mid-range |
| Architecture | Apple M GPU | Apple M GPU |
| Rival Equivalent | - GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop | - |
| Successor | - Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) | - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) |
| Recommended CPU | - Apple M3 Max or above | - Apple M2 or above |
| Used in CPUs | - Apple M3 Max | - Apple M2 |
Laptop GPU ranking (21st and 90th place)
Graphics Processing Unit
| Base Clock | 500 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1380 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| Shading Units | 5120 | 1024 |
| Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) | 320 | 64 |
| Render Output Units (ROPs) | 160 | 32 |
| Compute Units (Pipelines) | 640 | 128 |
| Instructions Per Cycle | 2 IPC | 2 IPC |
Raw Performance
| Pixel Fill Rate | 221 GPixel/s | 45 GPixel/s |
| Texture Fill Rate | 442 GTexel/s | 89 GTexel/s |
FLOPS (FP32)
Physical
| Interface | Custom | Custom |
| TGP | 60 W | 15 W |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 5 nm |
| Transistor Count | 56 billion | 11.6 billion |
| Max. Temperature | 100°C | 94°C |
Memory
| Memory Type | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory Clock | 6400 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Effective Memory Speed | 12800 Mbps | 12800 Mbps |
| Bus | 512-bit | 128-bit |
| ECC | No | No |
Memory Bandwidth
API
| Ray Tracing | Yes | No |
| DLSS | No | No |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1