Notebookcheck Logo

Apple M3 Max 16-Core vs Apple M3 Pro 11-Core

Apple M3 Max 16-Core

► remove from comparison Apple Apple M3 Max 16-Core

The Apple M3 Max (16 Core) is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was launched towards the end of 2023. It integrates a new 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz. There is also a slimmed-down 14-core variant with a 30-core GPU.

Thanks to the higher clock rates and architectural improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 Max in benchmarks and can keep up with the fastest mobile CPUs (such as a Core i9-13900HX).

The M3 also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the top model, all 40 cores of the chip are used and support up to 5 displays simultaneously (internal and 4 external).

GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 48, 64 and 128 GB variants and offers 400 GB/s maximum bandwidth (512 bit bus).

The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded. Like its predecessor, the Max chip offers two video engines and can therefore encode and decode two streams simultaneously.

Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).

The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 92 billion transistors (+37% vs. Apple M2 Max). Under load, the CPU part consumes up to 56 watts, the chip can use a total of 78 watts.

Apple M3 Pro 11-Core

► remove from comparison Apple Apple M3 Pro 11-Core

The Apple M3 Pro 11 Core is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced late 2023. It integrates 11 of the 12 CPU cores with 5 of 6 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 6 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz.

Compared to the M2 Pro the M3 Pro has been slimmed down somewhat and swaps two performance cores for efficiency cores. This is due to the changed core configuration, as 6 cores are now used per cluster (the M2 Pro and M3 still have 4 cores per cluster). Furthermore, the memory bus has been reduced from 256 bits to 192 bits (150 GB/s vs. 200 GB/s). Thanks to the new architecture and higher clock rates, the new M3 Pro is still slightly faster.

The M3 Pro also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the entry-level model, only 14 of the chip's 18 cores are used and support up to 3 displays simultaneously (internal and 2 external).

GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 18 or 36 GB variants and offers 150 GB/s maximum bandwidth (192 bit bus).

The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded.

Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).

The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 37 billion transistors (-7.5% vs. Apple M2 Pro).

ModelApple M3 Max 16-CoreApple M3 Pro 11-Core
SeriesApple Apple M3Apple Apple M3
Series: Apple M3
Apple M3 Max 16-Core « 2.75 - 4.06 GHz16 / 16 cores
Apple M3 Max 14-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz14 / 14 cores
Apple M3 Pro 12-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz12 / 12 cores
Apple M3 Pro 11-Core2.75 - 4.06 GHz11 / 11 cores
Apple M3 compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz8 / 8 cores
Apple M3 Max 16-Core2.75 - 4.06 GHz16 / 16 cores
Apple M3 Max 14-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz14 / 14 cores
Apple M3 Pro 12-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz12 / 12 cores
Apple M3 Pro 11-Core « 2.75 - 4.06 GHz11 / 11 cores
Apple M3 compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz8 / 8 cores
Clock2748 - 4056 MHz2748 - 4056 MHz
Cores / Threads16 / 16
12 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core
4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core
11 / 11
5 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core
6 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core
TDP78 Watt27 Watt
Transistors92000 Million37000 Million
Technology3 nm3 nm
FeaturesARMv8 Instruction SetARMv8 Instruction Set
iGPUApple M3 Max 40-Core GPUApple M3 Pro 14-Core GPU
ArchitectureARMARM
Announced
Manufacturerwww.apple.comwww.apple.com

Benchmarks

Cinebench 2024 - CB24 CPU Single Core
min: 139     avg: 139.5     median: 139.5 (97%)     max: 140 Points
144 Points (100%)
Cinebench 2024 - CB24 CPU Multi Core
min: 1532     avg: 1572     median: 1572 (29%)     max: 1612 Points
908 Points (17%)
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Multi Core
min: 24020     avg: 24022     median: 24022 (22%)     max: 24024 Points
13315 Points (12%)
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Single Core
min: 1950     avg: 1959     median: 1959 (83%)     max: 1968 Points
1942 Points (83%)
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Single Core)
min: 492     avg: 494.5     median: 494.5 (55%)     max: 497 Points
502 Points (56%)
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Multi Core)
min: 5920     avg: 6124     median: 6123.5 (15%)     max: 6327 Points
3529 Points (9%)
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit
min: 3225     avg: 3297     median: 3264 (21%)     max: 3401 Points
1913 Points (12%)
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit
min: 269     avg: 271     median: 271 (82%)     max: 273 Points
281 Points (85%)
Blender - Blender 3.3 Classroom CPU *
min: 194     avg: 195     median: 195 (2%)     max: 196 Seconds
355 Seconds (5%)
Blender - Blender 2.79 BMW27 CPU *
min: 215     avg: 216     median: 216 (2%)     max: 217 Seconds
365 Seconds (3%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Single-Core
min: 3096     avg: 3127     median: 3126.5 (95%)     max: 3157 Points
3113 Points (95%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Multi-Core
min: 21243     avg: 21254     median: 21253.5 (84%)     max: 21264 Points
14412 Points (57%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
min: 2318     avg: 2325     median: 2324.5 (98%)     max: 2331 Points
2331 Points (98%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 22816     avg: 22938     median: 22937.5 (41%)     max: 23059 Points
13312 Points (24%)
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
min: 379.2     avg: 385.5     median: 385.5 (0%)     max: 391.7 ms
374.1 ms (0%)
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
min: 94770     avg: 96363     median: 96362.5 (87%)     max: 97955 Points
98732 Points (89%)
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
min: 416     avg: 421     median: 421 (88%)     max: 426 Points
431 Points (90%)
CrossMark - CrossMark Overall
min: 2032     avg: 2042     median: 2041.5 (78%)     max: 2051 Points
1966 Points (75%)
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Consumption - external Monitor *
min: 91.8     avg: 92.3     median: 92.3 (17%)     max: 92.7 Watt
40.1 Watt (7%)
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption - external Monitor *
min: 3.81     avg: 5.2     median: 5.2 (3%)     max: 6.49 Watt
2.1 Watt (1%)
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption 150cd 1min *
min: 4.63     avg: 6.3     median: 6.3 (7%)     max: 7.91 Watt
4.8 Watt (5%)
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Efficiency - external Monitor
min: 35.1     avg: 35.9     median: 35.9 (27%)     max: 36.7 Points per Watt
47.7 Points per Watt (36%)

Average Benchmarks Apple M3 Max 16-Core → 100% n=18

Average Benchmarks Apple M3 Pro 11-Core → 87% n=18

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

Add one or more devices and compare

In the following list you can select (and also search for) devices that should be added to the comparison. You can select more than one device.

restrict list:

show all (including archived), 2024, 2023
v1.26
log 08. 09:26:38

#0 checking url part for id 15113 +0s ... 0s

#1 checking url part for id 16354 +0s ... 0s

#2 not redirecting to Ajax server +0s ... 0s

#3 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Tue, 07 May 2024 05:39:01 +0200 +0.001s ... 0.001s

#4 composed specs +0.03s ... 0.031s

#5 did output specs +0s ... 0.031s

#6 getting avg benchmarks for device 15113 +0.004s ... 0.035s

#7 got single benchmarks 15113 +0.016s ... 0.05s

#8 getting avg benchmarks for device 16354 +0.004s ... 0.054s

#9 got single benchmarks 16354 +0.012s ... 0.066s

#10 got avg benchmarks for devices +0s ... 0.066s

#11 min, max, avg, median took s +0.15s ... 0.217s

#12 return log +0.035s ... 0.252s

Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > Processor Comparison - Head 2 Head
Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)