Apple M4 SoC analysis - AMD, Intel and Qualcomm currently don't stand a chance

We have two versions available for our test, namely the base version of the iPad Pro 11 with 256 GB RAM, 8 GB RAM and the 9-core M4 chip as well as the iPad Pro 13 with the 1 TB SSD, 16 GB RAM and the 10-core M4 chip. This is the first time that Apple has debuted one of its new M-SoCs inside the iPad Pro, which naturally limits our testing options compared to the MacBook. For one thing, the number of benchmarks available for iPad OS is clearly limited. Since it is also only has one USB-C port, we can't take any power measurements on an external display. For precise efficiency results, we will have to wait for new MacBooks with the M4. However, since the current MacBook Air models with the M3 chips only came onto the market a few months ago, we do not expect a quick update. If Apple sticks with its M3 scheme, the base model of the MacBook Pro 14 will probably be the first to be launched with the M4 SoC.

The new M4 SoC is Apple's second M-SoC generation after the M3 (or the M3 Pro/M3 Max) to be produced using the advanced 3 nm process. When switching from the M2 to the M3, Apple was able to increase its clock rates thanks to a smaller structure width without significantly changing its power consumption. However, the processor's basic core architecture with four performance and four efficiency cores remained unchanged. The new M4 SoC's maximum clock rate has been increased further, although we can currently only determine the value for its performance cores. It can now reach up to 4.38 GHz instead of the M3's 4.056 GHz (M2: 3.48 GHz). At the same time, its core configuration has also changed for the first time, as six efficiency cores are now combined with either three or four performance cores.

When it comes to its graphics card, Apple has compared the M4 GPU's performance primarily with the previous iPad Pro's (2022) old M2 SoC. It continues to use a 10-core GPU which supports dynamic caching as well as hardware-based mesh shading and ray tracing—just like the M3 generation. We currently have no information surrounding the GPU cores' clock rates. The new Neural Engine has also received an upgrade, with it now reaching 38 TOPS instead of 18 TOPS (M3 SoC) and 15.8 TOPS (M2 SoC). However, one big disadvantage of the old M chips remains, namely the M4 SoC can also only power one external display.

To measure single-core performance, we only have Geekbench available on the iPad Pro. After the M3 generation already leapt about 20 % ahead of the M2, both M4 models again show a 20 % advantage over the Apple M3. Even the M3 could keep up with most current mobile processors from AMD and Intel in benchmarks like Cinebench and it only had to admit defeat to high-clocked models such as the Core Ultra 9 185H or HX models. With its new performance leap, Apple's M4 can clearly take the single-core performance crown, and it should also have no problems competing with the new Snapdragon X Elite processors for which we are still using Qualcomm's reference values from the product launch last fall. Based on its consumption values during the benchmark, we again assume a power consumption of around 5 watts in single-core scenarios. This means you can expect more single-core performance with the new iPad Pro 11 base model than with the current MacBook Pro. 

In contrast to its very good single-core performance, the old M3 SoC's multi-core performance was respectable with a consumption of around 20 watts—but especially compared to the Zen4 mobile processors from AMD, this efficiency advantage wasn't terribly large and in terms of pure performance, the competitors products were faster, too (but of course featured active cooling systems). Apple has rectified this problem in its new M4 chip and higher clock rates play a part in helping—alongside its two additional efficiency cores.

In Geekbench, the "small" M4 SoC with three performance cores inside our iPad Pro 11 managed to position itself about 10 % ahead of the old M3 SoC, however, it trailed behind the base model of the M3 Pro with 11 cores as well as the Snapdragon X Elite with 23 watts. The M4 with all four performance cores came 22 % ahead of the old M3, the X Elite and the M3 Pro (11 cores), so it offers more performance than the MacBook Pro 14 with the small M3 Pro. The old Apple M2 has been outperformed by 32 % (9-core M4) and 46 % (10-core M4), so Apple's claim of 1.5 times the CPU performance of the M2 iPad Pro is correct. 

It managed to beat the fast H45-class Intel and AMD chips (for example the Core Ultra 9 185H or the Ryzen 9 8945HS) but the current HX processors are of course significantly faster.

The current M3 Pro with 12 cores (as used in the MacBook Pro 16, for example) is only slightly faster—as is the 80-watt reference system from the Snapdragon X Elite. However, these results become even more impressive when you look at the processor's power consumption, which in the case of the iPad Pro 13 was around 15 watts during the benchmark (with a 65-watt power supply). This means that the new M4 SoC consumes even less power despite its higher performance, and the mere fact that such a fast chip can be passively cooled is unlikely to make the competition very happy.

As was the case with the M3, the graphics card is based on 10 cores and all the same features are supported. As a result, we only assume a slightly higher clock rate due to its improved process—although our test results suggest a difference between the two M4 models. During the Geekbench Metal test, we noted a 12 % advantage for the new GPU over the old M3 GPU, and the Apple M2's 10-core GPU was outperformed by 18 %. On the other hand, the small M3 Pro graphics card with 14 cores was still significantly faster during this test (+27 %). In the GPU benchmarks, we measured a consumption of around 15 watts, which also corresponds to the old M3 GPU with 10 cores.

The 3DMark test Wildlife Extreme Unlimited is very suitable for comparing the performance of GPUs from different platforms. The old M3 GPU was already a good deal faster than the current iGPUs from Intel and AMD. With its new M4 GPU, Apple was able to extend its lead even further, now coming in 30-37 % ahead of fast variants of Arc Graphics with 8 Xe cores and more than 60 % ahead of the Radeon 780M. It is also interesting to note that the fast M4 only came 5 % behind the 30-watt version of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop inside the Dell XPS 14. However, the M3 Pro GPU is significantly faster in this respect, too.

The chip's GFX Bench test results were somewhat more mixed, but here, too, we noted an advantage over the M3 GPU in almost all cases. The Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen test is particularly exciting, as Qualcomm has published results for this. With its new M4 SoC, Apple was able to overtake the 23-watt reference system.