Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) vs Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus

[ 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 9 290HX Plus (85/100), 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 89)
[ WINNER ]
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)
Apple

Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)

97/100
View Full Specs →
Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Intel

Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus

85/100
View Full Specs →

Benchmark Performance Comparison

Normalized Lab Scores
Benchmark measurements and scores across compared devices
Benchmark Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Efficiency 92.0 Excellent WINNER 78.0 Good
Performance 100.0 Excellent WINNER 89.0 Very Good

Detailed Technical Specifications

CPU

CPU specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Base Frequency (E) 4.38 GHz 1.8 GHz
Base Frequency (P) 4.61 GHz 2.7 GHz
E-Cores 12 16
E-Threads 12 16
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
Multiplier 46x 27x
P-Cores 6 8
P-Threads 6 8
Total Cores 18 24
Total Threads 18 24
Unlocked Multiplier No Yes
Bus Frequency — 100 MHz
L2 Cache — 3MB (per core)
L3 Cache — 36MB (shared)
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) — 4.7 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) — 5.5 GHz

Cinebench

Cinebench specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 9428 8798
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 734 565

GeekBench v6

GeekBench v6 specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Background blur 106.1 images/sec 84 images/sec
Clang compilation 271.1 Klines/sec 217.2 Klines/sec
File compression 2990 MB/sec 1660 MB/sec
HTML 5 Browser 811.7 pages/sec 495.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 764 Mpixels/sec 584.4 Mpixels/sec
Photo processing 303.8 images/sec 160.2 images/sec
Ray tracing 47.8 Mpixels/sec 46.4 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 457.1 pages/sec 342.8 pages/sec

General

General specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
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 17, 2026
Type Laptop Laptop
Vendor Apple Intel
Model number — 290HX+

Memory Support

Memory Support specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
ECC Support No No
Max. Memory Bandwidth 614 GB/s 102.4 GB/s
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 256 GB
Memory Channels 32 2
Memory Types - LPDDR5X-9600 - DDR5-6400

Package

Package specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Fabrication Process 3 nm 3 nm
Peak Temperature 100°C 105°C
Socket Apple M-Socket FCBGA-2114
TDP (PL1) 72 W 45-55 W (configurable)
Transistors 28 billions —
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) — 160 W

PassMark

PassMark specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Data compression 689.6 MBytes/sec 656.5 MBytes/sec
Data encryption 40.8 GBytes/sec 50 GBytes/sec
Extended instructions 33.4B Matrices/sec 51B Matrices/sec
Find prime numbers 553M Primes/sec 514M Primes/sec
Floating point math 186.1 GOps/sec 201.5 GOps/sec
Integer math 132.6 GOps/sec 165.3 GOps/sec
Physics 6847 Frames/sec 3361 Frames/sec
Random string sorting 84.9M Strings/sec 80M Strings/sec

Performance Per Watt

Performance Per Watt specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Blender / Watt 8.1 PPW —
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 28.8 PPW 39.9 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 419.7 PPW 392.4 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 798.1 PPW 1077.7 PPW

Recent User Tests

Recent User Tests specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Date Benchmark —
📘 2026-07-03->Apple lover GeekBench —

iGPU

iGPU specifications comparison
Specification Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Execution Units 640 64
GPU Boost Clock 1620 MHz 2000 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 9 290HX Plus
Official Site — Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus official page
PCI Express Lanes — 24
PCI Express Version — 5.0

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