Apple M3 Ultra
Apple M3 Ultra vs Apple M1 Max
CPU Comparison Result
Below are the results of a comparison of the characteristics and performance of the Apple M3 Ultra and Apple M1 Max processors. This comparison will help you determine which one best suits your needs.
Basic
Label Name
Apple
Apple
Launch Date
March 2025
October 2021
Platform
Desktop
Laptop
CPU Name
Apple M3 Ultra
Apple M1 Max
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 Ultra
Apple M1 Max
Foundry
TSMC
TSMC
Generation
Apple M3 series
Apple M1 series
CPU Specifications
Interconnect Bandwidth
Over 2.5 TB/s
-
Interconnect Technology
UltraFusion
-
Efficient-cores
8
2
Performance-cores
24
8
Total Cores
?
Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).
32
10
Total Threads
?
Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.
32
10
CPU Architecture
Apple M3 performance cores + efficiency cores
Apple Firestorm + Apple Icestorm
Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum E-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
2.75 GHz
2.064 GHz
Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency
?
Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
4.05 GHz
3.228 GHz
L1 Cache
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
P-cores: 192 KB instruction + 128 KB data per core; E-cores: 128 KB instruction + 64 KB data per core
L2 Cache
P-core clusters: 72 MB total; E-core clusters: 8 MB total
P-core cluster: 24 MB; E-core cluster: 4 MB
L3 Cache
96 MB system level cache
48 MB system level cache
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
5 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
ARMv8-A
Extended Instruction Set
ARMv8.6-A, NEON
ARMv8-A, NEON
Instruction Set Extensions
NEON
NEON
Transistor Count
184 billion
57 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
Unified LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5 Speed
LPDDR5-6400
LPDDR5-6400
Max Memory Size
?
Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.
512 GB
64 GB
Memory Channels
?
The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.
8
-
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).
819 GB/s
400 GB/s
Maximum Memory Speed
6400 MT/s
6400 MT/s
Memory Bus Width
1024-bit
512-bit
GPU Specifications
External Display Standard
Thunderbolt 5, DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1
Thunderbolt 4, HDMI
GPU Name
Apple M3 Ultra GPU
Apple M1 Max GPU
Max External Display Resolution
Up to eight 6K 60Hz displays or four 8K 60Hz displays; HDMI up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz
Up to three 6K 60Hz displays plus one 4K 60Hz display
Video Concurrency
Up to 24 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video
Multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video
Video Decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 decode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Encode
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW
Video Processing Unit
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration and AV1 decode
Apple media engine with ProRes acceleration
GPU Max Dynamic Frequency
1400 MHz
1296 MHz
Graphics Base Frequency
?
Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.
390 MHz
389 MHz
Graphics Core Count
80
32
Number of Displays Supported
Up to 8 displays
Up to 4 external displays
GPU APIs
Metal, OpenCL
Metal, OpenCL
Graphics Performance
Up to 28.4 TFLOPS FP32
Up to 10.4 TFLOPS FP32
Media Engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, and AV1 decode
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
Video Decode Engines
2
1
Video Encode Engines
4
2
ProRes Encode/Decode Engines
4
2
OpenCL Support
?
OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.
Yes
Yes
AI Specifications
NPU Name
Apple Neural Engine
Apple Neural Engine
NPU Performance
36 TOPS
11 TOPS INT8
AI Engine
32-core Apple Neural Engine
16-core Apple Neural Engine
Neural Engine Core Count
32
16
Connectivity
Bluetooth Support
Yes
Yes
Bluetooth Version
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi Standard
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Interfaces and Ports
Thunderbolt Support
Yes, Thunderbolt 5 up to 120 Gb/s
Yes, Thunderbolt 4 up to 40 Gb/s
USB Version
USB4
USB4
USB4 Support
Yes, USB4 up to 120 Gb/s via Thunderbolt 5 ports
Yes, USB4 up to 40 Gb/s
Miscellaneous
Hardware-Verified Secure Boot
Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Yes, Apple silicon secure boot chain of trust
Image Signal Processor
-
Apple image signal processor
Runtime Anti-Exploitation
Hardware-verified secure boot and runtime anti-exploitation technologies
Kernel Integrity Protection, Pointer Authentication Codes, Fast Permission Restrictions
Advantages
Apple M3 Ultra
- More Total Cores: 32 (32 vs 10)
- Higher Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.05 GHz (4.05 GHz vs 3.228 GHz)
- Larger L3 Cache: 96 MB system level cache (96 MB system level cache vs 48 MB system level cache)
- Higher Technology: 3 nm (3 nm vs 5 nm)
- Newer Launch Date: March 2025 (March 2025 vs October 2021)
Geekbench 6
Single Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+34%
3215
Apple M1 Max
2396
Multi Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+127%
27759
Apple M1 Max
12255
Performance
Apple M1 Max
Single Core
Multi Core
Passmark CPU
Single Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+32%
5054
Apple M1 Max
3837
Multi Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+230%
72912
Apple M1 Max
22081
Performance
Integer Math
Multi Core
181.2 GOps/Sec
46.5 GOps/Sec
Floating Point Math
Multi Core
186.9 GOps/Sec
64.8 GOps/Sec
Find Prime Numbers
Multi Core
1059 M Primes/Sec
279 M Primes/Sec
Random String Sorting
Multi Core
122.8 M Strings/Sec
32.9 M Strings/Sec
Data Encryption
Multi Core
49.3 GB/Sec
12.3 GB/Sec
Data Compression
Multi Core
1074.9 MB/Sec
275.8 MB/Sec
Physics
Multi Core
8834 Frames/Sec
2822 Frames/Sec
Extended Instructions
Multi Core
54.8 B Matrices/Sec
12.1 B Matrices/Sec
Single Thread
Multi Core
5.1 GOps/Sec
3.8 GOps/Sec
Show more
Cinebench R23
Single Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+28%
1968
Apple M1 Max
1534
Multi Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+200%
37200
Apple M1 Max
12402
Cinebench 2024
Single Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+27%
142
Apple M1 Max
112
Multi Core
Apple M3 Ultra
+217%
2520
Apple M1 Max
796
SiliconCat Rating
6
Ranks 6 among Desktop CPU on our website
14
Ranks 14 among all CPU on our website
92
Ranks 92 among Laptop CPU on our website
328
Ranks 328 among all CPU on our website
Apple M3 Ultra
Apple M1 Max
