Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX vs Apple M4 Max (16 cores) vs Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX

Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX

The Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX is a mobile high-end CPU for gaming notebooks based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It offers 20 cores consisting of 8 fast performance cores with up to 5.2 GHz and 12 of the 16 smaller efficiency cores with up to 4.5 GHz clock speed. The CPU has access to 30 MB L2 cache and 36 MB L3 cache and is specified with a TDP of 55 watts.

The SoC integrates a small dedicated NPU called AI Boost with 13 TOPS (Int8) and optionally supports vPro Essentials. The integrated memory controller supports up to 192 GB DDR5-6400 (dual channel, ECC optional). The integrated GPU (iGPU) is a small Intel Graphics graphics card with four Xe cores running at 300 - 1850 MHz.

Performance - High End

Thanks to the improved IPC of the cores (especially the efficiency cores), the CPU should perform just behind or at the level of the Raptor Lake Core i9-14700HX (8 + 12 cores, max 5.5 / 3.9 GHz). This makes the CPU ideal for demanding tasks such as high-end gaming and content creation.

Production - TSMC and Foveros

The Arrow Lake-HX chips are based on the desktop Arrow Lake-S chips and are composed of several chiplets. The CPU part is manufactured at TSMC in the modern N3B (3nm) process, the GPU also comes from TSMC in the N5P process. The SoC and I/O tile are manufactured in the TSMC N6 process. The base tile is manufactured by Intel in the 22nm process and carries the individual chiplets thanks to Fovero's 3D packaging.

Apple M4 Max (16 cores)

The 16-core Apple M4 Max is a powerful ARM architecture processor (SoC) for laptops and mini-PCs that debuted in Sep 2024. It features 12 performance CPU cores running at well over 4 GHz along with 4 efficient cores running at under 3 GHz. The 40-core M4 Max GPU and at least 48 GB of fast 546 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 around 15% faster than the 16-core M3 Max. This is very, very impressive.

Graphics

The 40-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 4070 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

To let so many CPU and GPU cores breathe, some really high TDP figures are required. We assume the chip consumes 90 W to 100 W when under full load.

The 2nd generation 3 nm TSMC process the M4 Max is built with delivers good power efficiency, as of late 2024.

Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a mobile high-end CPU for gaming notebooks based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It offers 24 cores consisting of 8 fast performance cores with up to 5.4 GHz and 16 smaller efficiency cores with up to 4.6 GHz clock speed. The CPU has access to 40 MB L2 cache and 36 MB L3 cache and is specified with a TDP of 55 watts.

The SoC integrates a small dedicated NPU called AI Boost with 13 TOPS (Int8) and optionally supports vPro Essentials. The integrated memory controller supports up to 192 GB DDR5-6400 (dual channel, ECC optional). The integrated GPU (iGPU) is a small Intel Graphics graphics card with four Xe cores running at 300 - 1900 MHz.

Performance - High End

The performance of the Ultra 9 275HX is only slightly behind the top model, the Core Ultra 9 285HX, due to the 100 MHz lower boost clock of the P-cores Core Ultra 9 285HX and therefore also remains below the similar Desktop Core Ultra 9 285K (higher clocked with up to 5.7 GHz and more TDP with 125 watts). Due to the improved IPC of the cores (especially the efficiency cores), the CPU should perform just behind or at the level of the Raptor Lake Core i9-14900HX (8 + 16 cores, max 5.8 / 4.1 GHz). This makes the CPU ideal for very demanding tasks such as high-end gaming and content creation.

Production - TSMC and Foveros

The Arrow Lake-HX chips are based on the desktop Arrow Lake-S chips and are composed of several chiplets. The CPU part is manufactured at TSMC in the modern N3B (3nm) process, the GPU also comes from TSMC in the N5P process. The SoC and I/O tile are manufactured in the TSMC N6 process. The base tile is manufactured by Intel in the 22nm process and carries the individual chiplets thanks to Fovero's 3D packaging.