Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) vs Intel Core Ultra 7 255U

[ VERDICT ] Winner: Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) (97/100)

Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) leads overall with a score of 97/100 compared to Intel Core Ultra 7 255U (55/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.

Why choose Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU):
  • + Higher Efficiency score (92 vs 78)
  • + Higher Performance score (100 vs 69)

Benchmark Performance Comparison

Normalized Lab Scores
Benchmark measurements and scores across compared devices
Benchmark Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Efficiency 92.0 Excellent WINNER 78.0 Good
Performance 100.0 Excellent WINNER 69.0 Average

Detailed Technical Specifications

CPU

CPU specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Base Frequency (E) 4.38 GHz 1.7 GHz
Base Frequency (P) 4.61 GHz 2.0 GHz
E-Cores 12 10
E-Threads 12 10
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 112K (per core)
Multiplier 46x 20x
P-Cores 6 2
P-Threads 6 4
Total Cores 18 12
Total Threads 18 14
Unlocked Multiplier No No
Bus Frequency — 100 MHz
L2 Cache — 2MB (per core)
L3 Cache — 12MB (shared)
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) — 4.2 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) — 5.2 GHz

Cinebench

Cinebench specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 9428 —
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 734 —

GeekBench v6

GeekBench v6 specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Background blur 106.1 images/sec 46.6 images/sec
Clang compilation 271.1 Klines/sec 75.6 Klines/sec
File compression 2990 MB/sec 999.4 MB/sec
HTML 5 Browser 811.7 pages/sec 267.7 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 764 Mpixels/sec 334.8 Mpixels/sec
Photo processing 303.8 images/sec 80.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 47.8 Mpixels/sec 12 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 457.1 pages/sec 240.5 pages/sec

General

General specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Codename Apple M5 Arrow Lake
Instruction Set ARMv9 x86-64
Integrated GPU Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) Arc Graphics (4-Cores)
Released March 3, 2026 January 6, 2025
Type Laptop Laptop
Vendor Apple Intel
Model number — 255U

Memory Support

Memory Support specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
ECC Support No No
Max. Memory Bandwidth 614 GB/s —
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 32 2
Memory Types - LPDDR5X-9600 - LPDDR5-8400- LPDDR5x-8400- DDR5-6400

Package

Package specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Peak Temperature 100°C 110°C
Socket Apple M-Socket FCBGA-2049
TDP (PL1) 72 W 12-15 W (configurable)
Transistors 28 billions —
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) — 57 W

PassMark

PassMark specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Data compression 689.6 MBytes/sec 196.1 MBytes/sec
Data encryption 40.8 GBytes/sec 12.4 GBytes/sec
Extended instructions 33.4B Matrices/sec 10.8B Matrices/sec
Find prime numbers 553M Primes/sec 63M Primes/sec
Floating point math 186.1 GOps/sec 45.7 GOps/sec
Integer math 132.6 GOps/sec 65.3 GOps/sec
Physics 6847 Frames/sec 1137 Frames/sec
Random string sorting 84.9M Strings/sec 21.3M Strings/sec

Performance Per Watt

Performance Per Watt specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Blender / Watt 8.1 PPW —
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 28.8 PPW 34.3 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 419.7 PPW 670.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 798.1 PPW 1191.6 PPW

Recent User Tests

Recent User Tests specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Date Benchmark —
📘 2026-07-03->Apple lover GeekBench —

iGPU

iGPU specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Execution Units 640 64
GPU Boost Clock 1620 MHz 2100 MHz
Integrated Graphics Apple M5 Max GPU (40-core) Arc Graphics (4-Cores)
ROPs 160 16
Shading Units 5120 512
TMUs 320 32
GPU Base Clock — 300 MHz
TGP — 14 W

Misc

Misc specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 7 255U
Official Site — Intel Core Ultra 7 255U official page
PCI Express Lanes — 20
PCI Express Version — 4.0

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