Apple M3 Max 16-Core vs AMD Ryzen 9 7900 vs Apple M3
Apple M3 Max 16-Core
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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.
AMD Ryzen 9 7900
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The AMD Ryzen 9 79 00 is a high-end desktop processorfrom the Raphael series with 12 cores and hyperthreading (SMT), which means it can process up to 24 threads simultaneously. Launched in early 2023, the Ryzen 9 7900 is the fastest 12-core processor with 65 watts TDP.
The Ryzen 9 7900 clocks at 3.7 GHz base clock and reaches up to 5.4 GHz on one core in Turbo mode. This is also the difference to the higher clocked Ryzen 9 7900X.
At first glance, the internal structure of the processor has not changed fundamentally. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 is still based on the chiplet design consisting of two CCD clusters, each containing a CCX with 8 cores. However, the manufacturing process has been scaled down to 5 nm, which ensures higher clock rates. There is also the IO die, which contains the memory controller and the iGPU, among other things. This is now manufactured in a 6 nm structure width.
The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 can impress in games thanks to the significantly improved IPC.
Apple M3
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The Apple M3 is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced in late 2023. It integrates a new 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores running at up to 2.75 GHz. Apple claims that the CPU is up to 20% faster than in the old Apple M2 (3.5 GHz).
Due to the higher clock speeds and architecture improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 in benchmarks (see e.g. Geekbench below) and can keep up with the fastest CPUs in short single-core tests (like the Raptor Lake i9-13950HX).
The M3 also integrates a new graphics adapter with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration called Apple M3 10-Core GPU. According to Apple, it is 20% faster than the GPU in the M2. The chip integrates again 10 GPU cores, but the cheaper variant only offers 8 cores (e.g. in the entry iMac). Later in early 2025 Apple also introduced a 9-core variant in the new iPad Air models. Furthermore, the GPU only supports 2 displays (an additional 6K60 display to the internal one).
Both GPU and CPU can access the unified memory on the package together. It is still available in 8, 16 and 24 GB variants and offers the same 100 GB/s maximum bandwidth (unlike the Pro models that feature a reduced memory bandwidth).
The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (versus 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded.
Unfortunately, the integrated wireless network module only supports Wi-Fi 6E (no Wi-Fi 7) and due to the support of only a single external monitor, the chip also has to make do with no Thunderbolt 4 (Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 support only for up to 40 Gbit/s).
The chip is manufactured on the current 3nm TSMC process (N3B most likely) and contains 25 billion transistors (+25% vs. Apple M2). The 3nm process should also contribute to the excellent efficiency of the chip. Under load, the M3 CPU consumes approximately 20 Watt.
Model | Apple M3 Max 16-Core | AMD Ryzen 9 7900 | Apple M3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Apple M3 | AMD Raphael (Zen 4, Ryzen 7000) | Apple M3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: M3 |
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Clock | 2748 - 4056 MHz | 3700 - 5400 MHz | 2748 - 4056 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 16 / 16 12 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | 12 / 24 | 8 / 8 4 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TDP | 78 Watt | 65 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transistors | 92000 Million | 9.9 Million | 25000 Million | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technology | 3 nm | 5 nm | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | ARMv8 Instruction Set | MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512F, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2 | ARMv8 Instruction Set | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU | AMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 7000) ( - 2200 MHz) | Apple M3 10-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | ARM | x86 | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | www.apple.com | www.amd.com | www.apple.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Raphael (Zen4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 768 KB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 12 MB | 4 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L3 Cache | 64 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Voltage | 0.650 - 1.475V V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Die Size | 262 mm2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 95 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Socket | AM5 (LGA 1718) |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Apple M3 Max 16-Core → 100% n=15
Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 9 7900 → 110% n=15
Average Benchmarks Apple M3 → 74% n=15

* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation