Apple M4 (10 cores) vs MediaTek Dimensity 9300 vs Apple M4 Max (14 cores)
Apple M4 (10 cores)
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The 10-core Apple M4 is an impressively fast ARM architecture processor (SoC) sporting 4 performance and 6 efficient CPU cores along with a 16-core neural engine and a 10-core GPU with hardware RT support and other modern features. On-package 7500 MT/s LPDDR5x RAM, USB 4 support and Thunderbolt 4 support are onboard as well, as are Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
The M4 debuted in May 2024 as part of an iPad launch event; its 4 performance cores run at up to 4.4 GHz, representing a healthy improvement over the M3 (10-core GPU) and its 4.06 GHz top clock speed. Besides, this new chip also has 6 efficient cores at its disposal that run at up to 2.9 GHz. The M3 had to make do with 4 performance cores and 4 efficient cores, for reference.
Architecture and Features
The new CPU cores run at faster clock speeds than what the M3 was capable of while also featuring some minor architectural improvements. A heavily customized version of ARM's v9.4-A microarchitecture is reportedly employed here. The M4 comes with on-package LPDDR5x-7500 RAM (120 GB/s) whereas the M3 was limited to 6400 MT/s. The updated NPU delivers up to 38 TOPS of performance for AI workloads.
Performance
In 2024 iPad Pros, the 3 nm chip is 10% to 20% faster than the M3 (10 GPU cores) in both multi-thread and single-thread short-term workloads. It also delivers about 10% higher multi-thread performance than the 9-core M4. This puts the 10-core part on an equal footing with the Ryzen 7 7745HX, Core i7-13705H and other higher-end x86 processors released in 2023 and 2024.
iPad Pros come with no active cooling solution however Mac minis and MacBook Pros do have one and the latest iMacs probably do as well. As our Fall 2024 Mac mini review shows, the M4's short-term performance doesn't benefit much from the presence of a fan, however its sustained performance benefits tremendously.
Graphics
The M4 GPU (10 cores) has hardware support for ray tracing as well as mesh shading and other modern technologies. It supports external displays with resolutions as high as 8K.
The graphics adapter runs at higher clock speeds than what the (otherwise identical) 10-core GPU built into the 9-core M4 can muster. As our Mac mini 2024 review confirmed, its performance is good enough to run many 2023 and 2024 games at 1080p on low or medium quality settings.
- Сyberpunk 2077 2.1 Phantom Liberty (1080p, Med): 28 fps
Much like it is with CPU performance, M4-powered iPad Pros will be much slower in long-term GPU-intensive workloads than iMacs, Mac minis and MacBook Pros due to the lack of proper cooling.
Power consumption
This specific M4 chip is found in 2024 iPad Pros, 2024 iMacs, 2024 Mac minis and 2024 MacBook Pros. Within the thin metal cases of the iPads - no active cooling - the chip's sustained power consumption hovers in the 4 W - 5 W area, with short-term peaks of up to 14 W possible. However, Mac minis and MacBook Pros do have an active cooling solution (and the new iMacs probably do, too) meaning the power consumption figures are several times higher. In our Fall 2024 Mac mini review, the SoC consumed 30 W to 40 W when under high loads.
The M4 is built with a "second generation" 3 nm TSMC process which is still cutting-edge as of late 2024.
MediaTek Dimensity 9300
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The MediaTek Dimensity 9300 (MT6989) is a high-end SoC for smartphones and tablets based on Android. For the first time, the CPU no longer uses classic energy-saving cores, but only so-called big cores. In this case, four Cortex-X4 cores with up to 3.25 GHz each and four additional Cortex-A720 cores with up to 2.0 GHz each. The manufacturer has also increased the level 3 and SLC cache by 29% compared to its predecessor, which now has a capacity of 18 MB.
In initial benchmarks with a Vivo X100 Pro, the performance is roughly comparable to an Apple A15 or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
The integrated MediaTek APU 790 fully relies on generative AI and aims to accelerate adapted algorithms by a factor of eight. Energy efficiency is said to have been improved by 45 percent. With the MiraVision 990, displays can be operated in Ultra HD at up to 120 Hz and Google Ultra HDR image display (from Android 14) is also supported.
The graphics unit is an ARM Immortalis-G720 MP12 is used.
The SoC is manufactured using the 3rd generation 4-nanometer process at TSMC (N4X).
Apple M4 Max (14 cores)
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The 14-core Apple M4 Max is a powerful ARM architecture processor (SoC) for laptops and mini-PCs that debuted in Sep 2024. It features 10 performance CPU cores running at well over 4 GHz along with 4 efficient cores running at under 3 GHz. The 32-core M4 Max GPU and at least 36 GB of fast 410 GB/s LPDDR5x on-package memory depending on the configuration are included as well, as is USB 4 and Thunderbolt 5 support.
The built-in 16 core neural engine (up to 38 TOPS) is found across the whole M4 chip family. Furthermore, all M4 processors are thought to be based on the ARM v9.4-A architecture to a certain degree.
Performance
The M4 Max is set to be just a bit faster than the 14-core M4 Pro, meaning it outguns the 16-core M3 Max by a small margin. This is nothing to scoff at, yet it's the new integrated graphics adapters that are the real stars of the show.
Graphics
The 32-core M4 Max GPU has hardware support for ray tracing as well as mesh shading and other modern technologies. It supports external displays with resolutions as high as "8K" and it can HW-decode a few popular video codecs such as h.264, h.265 and AV1.
Its gaming performance is set to be about as good the GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop. Please keep in mind that 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.
Power consumption
The slower M4 Pro (14 cores) consumes around 80 W when under full load but is happy with just 2 W to 7 W when idling. We presume the 14-core M4 Max needs just slightly more juice than its slower brother to keep going.
The 2nd generation 3 nm TSMC process the M4 Max is built with delivers good power efficiency, as of late 2024.
| Model | Apple M4 (10 cores) | MediaTek Dimensity 9300 | Apple M4 Max (14 cores) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series | Apple M4 | Mediatek Dimensity 9000 | Apple M4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series: M4 |
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| Clock | 2890 - 4464 MHz | 2000 - 3250 MHz | 2592 - 4512 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L2 Cache | 4 MB | 4 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cores / Threads | 10 / 10 4 x 4.5 GHz Apple M4 P-Core 6 x 2.9 GHz Apple M4 E-Core | 8 / 8 4 x 3.3 GHz ARM Cortex-X4 4 x 2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A720 | 14 / 14 10 x 4.5 GHz Apple M4 P-Core 4 x 2.6 GHz Apple M4 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TDP | 40 Watt | 80 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TDP Turbo PL2 | 40 Watt | 80 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transistors | 28 Million | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology | 3 nm | 4 nm | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | Unified Memory LPDDR5X-7500 (120 GB/s), 16-Core Neural Engine, Media Engine (Encoding / Decoding: H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 Decoding only) | ARM Immortalis-G720 MP12, Wi-Fi 7 up to 6.5 GBit/s, Bluetooth 5.4, LPDDR5T-9600 @ 4800 MHz, Imagiq 990, AI 5G Modem up to 7 GBit/s, | Unified Memory LPDDR5X-8533 (410 GB/s), 16-Core Neural Engine, Dual Media Engine (Encoding / Decoding: H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 Decoding only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iGPU | Apple M4 10-core GPU | Apple M4 Max 32-Core GPU | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | ARM | ARM | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Codename | Cortex-X4 / A720 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L3 Cache | 18 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | www.mediatek.com |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Apple M4 (10 cores) → 100% n=2
Average Benchmarks MediaTek Dimensity 9300 → 54% n=2
Average Benchmarks Apple M4 Max (14 cores) → 131% n=2
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
