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Apple M1 Max

Apple M1 Max

The Apple M1 Max is a System on a Chip (SoC) from Apple that is found in the late 2021 MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch models. It offers all 10 cores available in the chip divided in eight performance cores (P-cores with 600 - 3220 MHz) and two power-efficiency cores (E-cores with 600 - 2064 MHz). There is no Turbo Boost for single cores or short burst periods. The cores are similar to the cores in the Apple M1.

The big cores (codename Firestorm) offer 192 KB instruction cache, 128 KB data cache, and 24 MB shared L2 cache (up from 12 MB in the M1). The four efficiency cores (codename Icestorm) are a lot smaller and offer only 128 KB instruction cache, 64 KB data cache, and 4 MB shared cache. CPU and GPU can both use the 48 MB SLC (System Level Cache). The efficiency cores (E cluster) clock with 600 - 2064 MHz, the performance cores (P cluster) with 600 - 3228 MHz.

The unified memory (32 or 64 GB LPDDR5-6400) next to the chip is connected by a 512 bit memory controller (200 GB/s bandwidth) and can be used by the GPU and CPU. This is the main difference to the M1 Pro and the CPU performance is quite similar.

The biggest difference to the M1 Pro is the bigger integrated GPU with 24 or 32 cores (up from 16).

Furthermore, the SoC integrates a fast 16 core neural engine, a secure enclave (e.g., for encryption), a unified memory architecture, Thunderbolt 4 controller, an ISP, and media de- and encoders (including two ProRes engines).

The M1 Pro is manufactured in 5 nm at TSMC and integrates 57 billion transistors. The peak power consumption of the chip was advertised around 30W for CPU intensive tasks. 

SeriesApple Apple M-Series

Series: Apple M-Series

Apple M1 Max « 2.06 - 3.22 GHz10 / 10 cores48 MB L3
Apple M1 Pro compare2.06 - 3.22 GHz10 / 10 cores24 MB L3
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core compare2.06 - 3.22 GHz8 / 8 cores16 MB L3
Apple M1 compare2.06 - 3.22 GHz8 / 8 cores8 MB L3
Clock Rate2060 - 3220 MHz
Level 1 Cache2.9 MB
Level 2 Cache28 MB
Level 3 Cache48 MB
Number of Cores / Threads10 / 10
Transistor Count57000 Million
Manufacturing Technology5 nm
FeaturesARMv8 Instruction Set
GPUApple M1 Max 32-Core GPU
64 Bit64 Bit support
ArchitectureARM
Announcement Date10/18/2021

Benchmarks

Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Multi Core
min: 12385     avg: 12389     median: 12386 (12%)     max: 12396 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit
min: 1689     avg: 1691     median: 1691 (11%)     max: 1693 Points
08517025534042551059568076585093510201105119012751360144515301615Tooltip
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit
min: 197     avg: 202.3     median: 200 (60%)     max: 210 Points
Blender - Blender 2.79 BMW27 CPU *
min: 187     avg: 188.7     median: 189 (1%)     max: 190 Seconds
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 12563     avg: 12656     median: 12697 (23%)     max: 12708 points
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
min: 404.3     avg: 459.2     median: 482.3 (1%)     max: 491.1 ms
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
min: 66938     avg: 68647     median: 68029 (61%)     max: 70973 Points
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
min: 350     avg: 358.7     median: 360 (75%)     max: 366 Points
Power Consumption - Prime95 Power Consumption - external Monitor *
50.8 Watt (9%)
05101520253035404550556065Tooltip
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Consumption - external Monitor *
53 Watt (10%)
0510152025303540455055Tooltip
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption - external Monitor *
11.6 Watt (8%)
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- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

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Reviews for the Apple M1 Max processor

Apple Mac Studio 2022 M1 Max and Studio Display in review: The perfect combination for content creators?

Apple Mac Studio 2022 M1 Max and Studio Display in review: The perfect combination for content creators?

With the Mac Studio, Apple offers a desktop computer for content creators that's now also based on Apple's in-house M1 CPUs. We review the version with the M1 M...
Apple M1 Max | Apple M1 Max 32-Core GPU | | 2.7 kg
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 Laptop Review: The performance of the M1 Max is limited

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 Laptop Review: The performance of the M1 Max is limited

Apple also offers the MacBook Pro 14 with the M1 Max SoC and the faster GPU, but the performance of the M1 Max is limited in combined workloads and it is not mu...
Apple M1 Max | Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU | 14.20" | 1.6 kg
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Max Laptop Review: Full Performance without Throttling

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Max Laptop Review: Full Performance without Throttling

The new MacBook Pro 16 with Apple’s own M1 Max SoC offers plenty of performance and uses a completely new Mini-LED panel with 120 Hz ProMotion technology. We re...
Apple M1 Max | Apple M1 Max 32-Core GPU | 16.20" | 2.2 kg

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU: Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
  External Review » Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Max: Apple M1 Max 32-Core GPU, 16.20", 2.2 kg
  External Review » Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Max

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU: Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
   » MacBook Pro 14 with Apple M1 Max, 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD now discounted by 39%

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Max: Apple M1 Max 32-Core GPU, 16.20", 2.2 kg
   » MacBook Pro 16 with Apple M1 Max, 64GB RAM and 1TB SSD gets colossal 38% discount

Apple Mac Studio 2022 M1 Max: Apple M1 Max 32-Core GPU, 2.7 kg
   » Apple’s Mac Studio with the M1 max does not have any performance advantages over the MacBook Pro 16

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Benchmarklist of all known CPUs that are used in laptops (desktop and laptop CPUs)

Other CPUs of the series Apple M-Series

» Apple M1 Max
   10x 2.06 GHz - 3.22 GHz
» Apple M1 Pro
   10x 2.06 GHz - 3.22 GHz
» Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
   8x 2.06 GHz - 3.22 GHz
» Apple M1
   8x 2.06 GHz - 3.22 GHz

Surrounding CPUs

+ Intel Core i7-1370P
   14x 1.4 GHz - 5.2 GHz
+ AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H
   8x 3.3 GHz - 4.9 GHz
+ AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX
   8x 3.3 GHz - 4.9 GHz
+ Intel Core i5-13450HX
   10x 1.8 GHz - 4.6 GHz
+ Intel Core i7-12650H
   10x 1.7 GHz - 4.7 GHz
» Apple M1 Max
   10x 2.06 GHz - 3.22 GHz
- Apple M2 Pro 10-Core
   10x 2.42 GHz - 3.7 GHz
- Apple M1 Pro
   10x 2.06 GHz - 3.22 GHz
- AMD Ryzen 9 6980HS
   8x 3.3 GHz - 5 GHz
- AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
   8x 3.3 GHz - 4.9 GHz
- AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950HS
   8x 3.3 GHz - 4.9 GHz
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > Notebook Processors > Apple M1 Max Processor - Benchmarks and Specs
Klaus Hinum (Update: 2021-11-27)