Apple’s M3 Max represents a significant milestone in the company’s journey with custom silicon, and with the assistance of TSMC’s 3nm technology, it has pushed the boundaries even further, especially in the high-end segment.
Impressively, the latest Apple Silicon has demonstrated slightly better performance than the M2 Ultra in Geekbench 6’s multi-core testing, and now we have more insights into its GPU performance. In this case, the M3 Max’s 40-core graphics processor was pitted against NVIDIA’s high-end RTX 3080 and the laptop RTX 4080 in GFXBench, and the outcomes are surprisingly close, with only negligible performance variances.
All About the Apple M3 Max GPU Performance
While the GFXBench results are eye-catching, it’s essential to understand that they do not provide the whole picture. In other tests, the M3 Max can exhibit significantly lower performance. The GFXBench Aztex Ruins benchmark, shared by SJV, reveals that the M3 Max achieved a total of 28,517 frames at an average of 443.5 FPS at 1440p resolution.
Comparatively, the desktop RTX 3080 only marginally outperforms Apple’s 3nm SoC, registering a total of 28,889 frames at an average of 449.3 FPS. There is another version of the RTX 3080 that achieved a slightly higher score, but the key takeaway is the incredibly minor performance differences. Even NVIDIA’s laptop RTX 4080 GPU, which is expected to surpass the desktop RTX 3080, achieved a total of 29,759 frames at 462.8 FPS.
These results indicate that the M3 Max GPU is around 7 percent slower than the laptop RTX 4080. However, before drawing any hasty conclusions about the ARM-based chipset’s capabilities, there are some critical points to consider. Firstly, it’s worth noting that GFXBench results can be somewhat misleading, as previously, the M3’s 10-core GPU was reported to be just 7.4 percent faster than the M2, despite having the same number of GPU cores.
It was later discovered that GFXBench hasn’t received updates for over a year, raising the possibility that certain optimizations showcasing the true potential of next-gen GPUs may not be accurately reflected in these benchmarks. Additionally, GFXBench has shown inconsistencies, like claiming that the A16 Bionic outperforms the A17 Pro, highlighting potential issues that warrant further investigation. Notably, GFXBench employs different APIs depending on the GPU conducting the benchmark.
NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 and laptop RTX 4080 use DirectX, while the M3 Max leverages Metal, Apple’s proprietary graphics API. The lack of significant disparities displayed in GFXBench could stem from the use of different APIs. It’s crucial to note that, despite these promising results, the M3 Max faces challenges in rendering playable framerates in certain rasterization scenarios, such as older games running at higher resolutions.
In conclusion, dedicated GPUs are preferred for their unparalleled capabilities, and while the M3 Max excels in various tasks, it relies on an internal GPU rather than an external, dedicated die on the logic board. If the idea of using the fully unlocked M3 Max as your daily driver appeals to you, be prepared to pay a $500 premium when configuring it with either the 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro.
