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.
| Series | Apple M3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Series: M3
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Clock Rate | 2748 - 4056 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of Cores / Threads | 16 / 16 12 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power) | 78 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Transistor Count | 92000 Million | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturing Technology | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | ARMv8 Instruction Set | ||||||||||||||||||||
| GPU | Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||
| NPU / AI | 18 TOPS INT8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 64 Bit | 64 Bit support | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcement Date | 10/30/2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Product Link (external) | www.apple.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
- Average benchmark values
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max: Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
External Review » Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M3 Max: Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU, 16.00", 2.1 kg
External Review » Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M3 Max
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max: Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
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Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M3 Max: Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU, 16.00", 2.1 kg
» Apple MacBook Air M3 15-inch with 16 GB of RAM is now on sale at record low price
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max: Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU, 14.20", 1.6 kg
» MacBook Pro 14 with lightning-fast Apple M3 Max processor gets biggest price cut ever on Amazon
» Mobile CPU Comparison
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» Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist
Benchmarklist of all known CPUs that are used in laptops (desktop and laptop CPUs)
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