Apple M3 10-Core GPU vs Apple M4 10-core GPU
Apple M3 10-Core GPU
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The 10-core Apple M3 GPU is an integrated graphics adapter designed by Apple that features 10 cores. This iGPU is built into the Apple M3 SoC and it uses the unified memory architecture (up to 24 GB LPDDR5-6400 with 100 GB/s bandwidth). Compared to M2 series GPUs, this new graphics adapter uses a new architecture with support for mesh shading and ray tracing. Dynamic caching is another new feature worth mentioning - it is coming to optimize shared memory usage.
In our testing, the M3 GPU (10 cores) mostly was 5% to 20% faster than the 10-core M2 GPU depending on the task.
Just like the rest of the Apple M3 chip, the graphics adapter is manufactured on a 3 nm TSMC process (possibly N3B). Our MBP 14 review revealed sustained power consumption figures of around 15 W for the iGPU.
Apple M4 10-core GPU
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The 10-core Apple M4 GPU is a graphics adapter built into the 9-core and 10-core Apple M4 processors that has direct access to fast on-package LPDDR5x-7500 RAM (120 GB/s bandwidth) as well as hardware support for ray tracing and mesh shading and other modern technologies. It supports up to 3 displays with an "8K" resolution attainable on a single display. It also can HW-decode a few popular video codecs including first and foremost AVC, HEVC and AV1.
Performance
As our Fall 2024 Mac mini review confirmed, the iGPU is fast enough to run many 2023 and 2024 games at 1080p on low or medium quality settings. It appears its real-world performance is almost as good as the GeForce GTX 1650 Laptop. That being said, very few games have been compiled specifically for Apple silicon Macs meaning most titles have to be run via emulation layers. Some of them are displayed with visual artefacts as a result, or don't start at all.
- Сyberpunk 2077 2.1 Phantom Liberty (1080p, Med): 28 fps
M4-powered iPad Pros will be much slower in long-term GPU-intensive workloads than M4 iMacs, Mac minis and MacBook Pros due to the lack of proper cooling.
Power consumption
In M4 Mac minis, the GPU gets just slightly over a half of the total 40 W power budget allocated to the entire M4 chip. Needless to say, it has to be a lot more modest in iPad Pros where the entire M4 chip can consume ~14 W in short-term tasks and less than half of that in long-term tasks.
Just like the rest of the M4 chip, the graphics adapter is manufactured on a "second generation 3 nm" TSMC process which is still cutting-edge as of late 2024.
| Apple M3 10-Core GPU | Apple M4 10-core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apple M4 Series |
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| Pipelines | 10 - unified | 10 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memory Type | LPDDR5-6400 | LPDDR5X-7500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shared Memory | no | yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power Consumption | 15 Watt | 8 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| technology | 5 nm | 3 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Announcement | 31.10.2023 | 07.05.2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | M1 8-Core GPU | M3 10-Core GPU |
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Benchmarks
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit + Apple M3 10-Core GPU
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 + Apple M3 10-Core GPU
Average Benchmarks Apple M3 10-Core GPU → 100% n=13
Average Benchmarks Apple M4 10-core GPU → 111% n=13
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
Total War Pharaoh
2023
Baldur's Gate 3
2023
Call of Duty Mobile
2020
Genshin Impact
2020
PUBG Mobile
2018
Far Cry 5
2018
The Witcher 3
2015
GTA V
2015
Asphalt 8: Airborne
2013
Asphalt 9: Legends
2013Average Gaming Apple M3 10-Core GPU → 100%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%
Average Gaming Apple M4 10-core GPU → 113%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 109%
| Apple M3 10-Core GPU | Apple M4 10-core GPU | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |||
| Total War Pharaoh | 130 | 79 | 44 | 33 | 24 | 53 | 46 | 45 | 39 | 27.1 | ||||
| Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 Phantom Liberty | 33 | 25.7 | 21.3 | 18.1 | 34 | 27 | 23 | 20 | ||||||
| Baldur's Gate 3 | 32 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 44 | 36 | 32 | 30 | ||||||
| Total War: Three Kingdoms | 151 | 52 | 33 | 24 | 15 | |||||||||
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 106 | 42 | 38 | 33 | 23 | 129 | 48 | 44 | 39 | 27 | ||||
| Far Cry 5 | 79 | 46 | 42 | 39 | 26 | |||||||||
| The Witcher 3 | 37 | 25 | 120 | 42.8 | 28.6 | |||||||||
| GTA V | 98 | 83 | 68 | 44 | ||||||||||
| Apple M3 10-Core GPU | Apple M4 10-core GPU | |||||||||||||
| low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 2 3 2 | 2 3 2 | 2 5 1 | 4 4 | 4 | | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 3 2 | 1 3 | 1 4 | 2 3 | 2 | |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
