Apple M3 Max vs Apple M5 Pro (18-Core)
[ VERDICT ]
Winner: Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) (97/100)
Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) leads overall with a score of 97/100 compared to Apple M3 Max (83/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | 79.0 Good | 98.0 Excellent WINNER |
| Performance | 91.0 Excellent | 100.0 Excellent WINNER |
Detailed Technical Specifications
CPU
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Base Frequency (E) | 2.75 GHz | 4.38 GHz |
| Base Frequency (P) | 4.05 GHz | 4.61 GHz |
| E-Cores | 4 | 12 |
| E-Threads | 4 | 12 |
| L1 Cache | 192K (per core) | 192K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 32MB (shared) | — |
| Multiplier | 40x | 46x |
| P-Cores | 12 | 6 |
| P-Threads | 12 | 6 |
| Total Cores | 16 | 18 |
| Total Threads | 16 | 18 |
| Unlocked Multiplier | No | No |
GeekBench v6
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Background blur | 68.9 images/sec | 100.3 images/sec |
| Clang compilation | 198.5 Klines/sec | 262.5 Klines/sec |
| File compression | 2190 MB/sec | 2530 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 557.3 pages/sec | 738.1 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 648.9 Mpixels/sec | 744.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Photo processing | 183.5 images/sec | 250.8 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 30.6 Mpixels/sec | 46.5 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 309.1 pages/sec | 450.7 pages/sec |
General
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Codename | Apple M3 | Apple M5 |
| Instruction Set | ARMv8 | ARMv9 |
| Integrated GPU | Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) | Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) |
| Released | October 30, 2023 | March 3, 2026 |
| Successor | -Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) | — |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
| Vendor | Apple | Apple |
Memory Support
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| ECC Support | No | No |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 409.6 GB/s | 307 GB/s |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory Channels | 32 | 16 |
| Memory Types | - LPDDR5-6400 | - LPDDR5X-9600 |
Misc
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| PCI Express Version | 4.0 | — |
Package
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | 3 nm | 3 nm |
| Peak Temperature | 100°C | 100°C |
| Socket | Apple M-Socket | Apple M-Socket |
| TDP (PL1) | 56 W | — |
| Transistors | 92 billions | 28 billions |
PassMark
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Data compression | 530.4 MBytes/sec | 697.9 MBytes/sec |
| Data encryption | 24.7 GBytes/sec | 40.8 GBytes/sec |
| Extended instructions | 24.2B Matrices/sec | 33.3B Matrices/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 573M Primes/sec | 486M Primes/sec |
| Floating point math | 131.5 GOps/sec | 186.8 GOps/sec |
| Integer math | 91.2 GOps/sec | 132.7 GOps/sec |
| Physics | 4332 Frames/sec | 5687 Frames/sec |
| Random string sorting | 61.7M Strings/sec | 85.6M Strings/sec |
Performance Per Watt
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Blender / Watt | 7.21 PPW | — |
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 30.3 PPW | — |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 378 PPW | — |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 735.9 PPW | — |
Recent User Tests
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Benchmark | — |
| 📘 2024-04-27(Guest #1) | Cinebench 2024 | — |
| 📘 2024-09-27(JayZeppelin) | Cinebench 2024 | — |
iGPU
| Specification | Apple M3 Max | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Execution Units | 640 | 320 |
| GPU Base Clock | 500 MHz | — |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1380 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| Integrated Graphics | Apple M3 Max GPU (40-core) | Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) |
| ROPs | 160 | 80 |
| Shading Units | 5120 | 2560 |
| TGP | 60 W | 28 W |
| TMUs | 320 | 160 |
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