Top 500

Apple M3

Apple M3
Apple M3 is a Laptop processor from Apple. It began to be released in October 2023. The processor has 8 cores and 8 threads. And the processor is also made using 3 nm technology. Its characteristics, as well as benchmark results, are presented in more detail below.
Top Laptop/Mobile CPU: 139

Basic

Label Name
Apple
Platform
Laptop
Launch Date
October 2023
CPU Name
Apple M3
Model Name
?
The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.
Apple M3
Foundry
TSMC
Generation
Apple M3 series

CPU Specifications

Performance Cores
4
Efficient-cores
4
Total Cores
?
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
8
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
8
CPU Architecture
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum E-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
2.75 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
4.06 GHz
L1 Cache
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
L2 Cache
P-core cluster: 16 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
Technology
?
Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.
3 nm
Instruction Set
?
The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.
ARMv8.6-A
Extended Instruction Set
ARMv8.6-A, NEON
Instruction Set Extensions
NEON
Transistor Count
25 billion

Memory Specifications

Memory Type
?
Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.
Unified LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5 Speed
LPDDR5-6400
Max Memory Size
?
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
24 GB
Max Memory Bandwidth
?
Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).
100 GB/s
Maximum Memory Speed
6400 MT/s
Memory Bus Width
128-bit

GPU Specifications

External Display Standard
Thunderbolt 3 / USB4 with DisplayPort, HDMI
GPU Name
Apple M3 GPU
Max External Display Resolution
Up to 6K 60Hz external display; up to 5K 60Hz second external display with lid closed; HDMI up to 4K 120Hz
Video Concurrency
Hardware-accelerated video encode/decode; AV1 decode
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 decode
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Processing Unit
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration and AV1 decode
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1400 MHz
Graphics Core Count
10
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 2 external displays with lid closed
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
Graphics Performance
Up to 3.55 TFLOPS FP32
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, and AV1 decode
Video Decode Engines
1
Video Encode Engines
1
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
1
OpenCL Support
?
OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.
Yes

AI Specifications

NPU Name
Apple Neural Engine
NPU Performance
18 TOPS
AI Engine
16-core Apple Neural Engine
Neural Engine Core Count
16

Connectivity

Bluetooth Support
Yes
Bluetooth Version
Bluetooth 5.3
Wi-Fi Standard
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)

Interfaces and Ports

Thunderbolt Support
Yes, Thunderbolt 3 up to 40 Gb/s
USB Version
USB4
USB4 Support
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s

Miscellaneous

Hardware-Verified Secure Boot
Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Runtime Anti-Exploitation
Kernel Integrity Protection, Pointer Authentication Codes, Fast Permission Restrictions

Geekbench 6

Single Core
2945
Multi Core
10437

Performance

406
MB/Sec
File Compression
1160
16.6
Routes/Sec
Navigation
68
60.2
Pages/Sec
HTML5 Browser
253
67.5
MPixels/Sec
PDF Renderer
247.2
36.2
Images/Sec
Photo Library
177
18.4
KLines/Sec
Clang
90.6
227.3
Pages/Sec
Text Processing
298.2
87
MB/Sec
Asset Compression
445.9
73
Images/Sec
Object Detection
233.8
11.5
Images/Sec
Background Blur
43.6
111.2
MPixels/Sec
Horizon Detection
446.3
270
MPixels/Sec
Object Remover
892.1
104
MPixels/Sec
HDR
402
29
Images/Sec
Photo Filter
46.3
2430
KPixels/Sec
Ray Tracer
12600
96.5
KPixels/Sec
Structure from Motion
370.6
Single Core
Multi Core

Passmark CPU

Single Core
4756
Multi Core
19214

Performance

Integer Math
Multi Core
42 GOps/Sec
Floating Point Math
Multi Core
48.7 GOps/Sec
Find Prime Numbers
Multi Core
236 M Primes/Sec
Random String Sorting
Multi Core
27.7 M Strings/Sec
Data Encryption
Multi Core
11.5 GB/Sec
Data Compression
Multi Core
229.1 MB/Sec
Physics
Multi Core
1877 Frames/Sec
Extended Instructions
Multi Core
10 B Matrices/Sec
Single Thread
Multi Core
4.8 GOps/Sec
Show more

Cinebench R23

Single Core
1965
Multi Core
10437

Geekbench 5

Single Core
2150
Multi Core
10450

Cinebench 2024

Single Core
137
Multi Core
659

Cinebench 2024 GPU

3340

Blender

133

Compared to Other CPU

25%
41%
83%
Better then 25% CPU over the past year
Better then 41% CPU over the past 3 years
Better then 83% CPU

SiliconCat Rating

139
Ranks 139 among Laptop/Mobile CPU on our website
464
Ranks 464 among all CPU on our website
Cinebench R23 Single Core
M5 Pro 18 Cores
Apple, March 2026
2595
Core i7-14700F
Intel, January 2024
2062
M3
Apple, October 2023
1965
1622
Core i5-11400
Intel, March 2021
1329
Cinebench R23 Multi Core
Ryzen 7 8745HS
AMD, July 2024
16068
Ryzen 5 8645HS
AMD, December 2023
13183
M3
Apple, October 2023
10437
Core i5-1038NG7
Intel, May 2020
5106
Celeron N5100
Intel, January 2021
1832
Geekbench 6 Single Core
M5 Pro 18 Cores
Apple, March 2026
4284
Ryzen 5 9600
AMD, February 2025
3167
M3
Apple, October 2023
2945
Core i5-14600
Intel, January 2024
2750
Ryzen 5 7645HX
AMD, February 2023
2639
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
Ryzen 5 8400F
AMD, April 2024
11715
Xeon Platinum 8276
Intel, December 2018
11031
M3
Apple, October 2023
10437
Xeon w3-2435
Intel, February 2023
9860
Ryzen 5 8645HS
AMD, December 2023
9324
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Core i5-14600K
Intel, October 2023
3116
M3
Apple, October 2023
2150
Core i9-13900HX
Intel, January 2023
1909
Core i5-12600T
Intel, January 2022
1778
Core i5-12500
Intel, January 2022
1717
Geekbench 5 Multi Core
Core i7-13700T
Intel, January 2023
12547
Xeon Gold 6346
Intel, April 2021
11458
M3
Apple, October 2023
10450
9730
Core i5-12600H
Intel, January 2022
9130
Passmark CPU Single Core
M5 Max (32-core GPU)
Apple, March 2026
5947
M3
Apple, October 2023
4756
Core Ultra 5 245T
Intel, January 2025
4586
Core Ultra 5 225
Intel, October 2024
4429
Ryzen AI 7 450
AMD, January 2026
4251
Passmark CPU Multi Core
Core i7-1280P
Intel, February 2022
20599
Core i7-11700
Intel, March 2021
19794
M3
Apple, October 2023
19214
Ryzen AI 5 435
AMD, January 2026
18592
Core i7-1270PE
Intel, January 2022
17960
Cinebench 2024 Single Core
M3 Pro
Apple, October 2023
142
Ryzen 9 9950X3D2
AMD, March 2026
141
M3
Apple, October 2023
137
Ryzen 9 9950X3D
AMD, March 2025
136
Ryzen 9 PRO 9945
AMD, September 2025
134
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
Snapdragon X Plus X1P-46-100
Qualcomm, September 2024
748
Ryzen AI 5 440
AMD, January 2026
696
M3
Apple, October 2023
659
Core Ultra 5 335
Intel, January 2026
497
Core Ultra 5 332
Intel, January 2026
432
Cinebench 2024 GPU
M4 10 Cores
Apple, May 2024
4023
M4 8 Cores
Apple, October 2024
3574
M3
Apple, October 2023
3340
M2
Apple, June 2022
3340
M1 Ultra
Apple, March 2022
3331
Blender
Xeon E5-2699 v3
Intel, September 2014
213
M4 Max 16 Cores
Apple, October 2024
167
M3
Apple, October 2023
133
Ryzen 3 2200G
AMD, February 2018
45
Celeron N4020
Intel, November 2019
5

Related CPU Comparisons