Apple M3 Max 16-Core vs Intel Core i5-14401TE vs Intel Core i5-13500T

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.

Intel Core i5-14401TE

The Intel Core i5-14401TE is a peculiar Raptor Lake family desktop processor (SoC) that has 6 performance cores but 0 efficient cores. It's the lack of E-cores that makes 14X01 chips special.

The product has decently sized level 2 and 3 caches at 12 MB and 24 MB, respectively. Its CPU cores run at up to 4.5 GHz. The UHD 730 serves as the integrated graphics solution. There is no 'proper' NPU here.

The i5 chip is manufactured using the Intel 7 process which is fairly old, as of mid 2025. Its base TDP sits at 45 W by default meaning at least one fan is required to keep it cool.

Performance

While we have not tested a single 14X01 processor as of May 2025, we do know that a single 4.6 GHz Raptor Cove core, like that of an i5-13450HX is good for 102 Cinebench 2024 points and 246 Cinebench R15 points. (The 14401TE is limited to 4.5 GHz, to remind you.) If we multiply the values by 6, we get a reasonably fair projection that sees the 14401TE going neck-and-neck with newer but not particularly powerful chips like Intel's Ultra 5 228V (Lunar Lake product family) as well as older chips of the more powerful kind, like AMD's Ryzen 7 5800H (Cezanne family, Zen 3 architecture). While not particularly impressive, this is most certainly sufficient for any tasks and applications one could run in 2025, top games included.

Intel Core i5-13500T

The Intel Core i5-13500T is a fast and very economical desktop processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, which was introduced in October 2022. The processor offers a base clock of 1.6 GHz and reaches up to 4.6 GHz in Turbo. The hybrid CPU architecture, which was introduced with Alder Lake, also benefits the Raptor Lake processors. The suffix T stands for a particularly economical CPU model, and with a TDP of just 35 watts (PL1 = 35 watts), these processors are ideally suited for small, compact systems.

Performance

The low power consumption ultimately results in slightly lower performance compared to the Intel Core i5-13500. Depending on how the PL2 (92 watts) is defined, there may be noticeable differences in multi-core performance. Compared to the Intel Core i5-12500T, the Intel Core i5-13500T is superior due to the higher number of physical computing units.

Graphics unit

Like the Intel Core i5-12500T, the Intel Core i5-13500T offers an integrated graphics unit. The Intel Iris Xe architecture continues to serve as the basis. In terms of performance, however, not much has changed with the new Intel UHD Graphics 770. The iGPU of the Intel Core i5-13500T also clocks 100 MHz higher, but this does not make a noticeable difference in everyday use.

Power consumption

The TDP of the Intel Core i5-13500T is 35 watts, with the option to increase this to up to 92 watts in Turbo mode. Compared to the Intel Core i5-12500T (PL2 = 74 watts), the maximum possible energy requirement increases slightly.