Apple M4 Max Debuts: 16-Core CPU, 40-Core GPU, 16-Core NPU

On October 30 local time, Apple launched its latest MacBook Pro models, now equipped with the new M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips. Notably, the M4 chip made its debut in the new iPad Pro models earlier this year in May.

According to Apple, the M4 Max is built on TSMC's advanced 3nm process technology, featuring a CPU core configuration of up to 16 cores, which includes 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores (similar to the M3 Max). The performance cores have been enhanced with improved branch prediction, 10-bit instruction decoding, a 40% increase in the reorder buffer, and both performance and efficiency cores now support the next generation of machine learning accelerators.

The M4 Max also boasts a powerful GPU with up to 40 cores, matching the capabilities of the M3 Max. It features dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and a second-generation hardware-level ray tracing accelerator, delivering double the performance improvement compared to its predecessor.

In terms of multimedia capabilities, the M4 Max supports hardware acceleration for H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW formats. It includes a video decoding engine, two video encoding engines, and dual ProRes encoding and decoding engines.

The neural processing unit (NPU) in the M4 Max is also equipped with 16 cores, similar to the M4 Pro. While Apple has not disclosed specific performance metrics for the NPU, it is expected to execute up to 380 trillion operations per second.

The M4 Max supports up to 128GB of unified memory, with memory bandwidth increased to 546GB/s. This upgrade enables devices powered by the M4 Max to run large language models with up to 200 billion parameters. Additionally, the M4 Max supports Thunderbolt 5 standards, providing data transfer capabilities of up to 120Gb/s.

In terms of performance, Apple claims that the CPU performance of the M4 Max is 220% faster than the M1 Max and 250% faster than the latest AI PC chips. For GPU performance, the M4 Max is reported to be 190% faster than the M1 Max and an impressive 400% faster than contemporary AI PC chips.

For example, in 3D rendering, the 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M3 Max achieves performance levels 55.5 times greater than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro based on the Intel Core i7. The 14-inch MacBook Pro featuring the M4 Max surpasses this benchmark, achieving performance levels 64.9 times greater. This translates to approximately a 16.9% improvement in gaming performance when comparing the M4 Max to the M3 Max.

In gaming scenarios, the performance of the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Max is 15.1 times greater than that of the previous Intel-based model, while the M4 Max achieves an 18.3 times performance increase, representing a 21.2% improvement over the M3 Max.

Thanks to the energy-efficient design of the M4 series processors, the new MacBook Pro models offer the longest battery life in the Mac lineup to date, lasting up to 24 hours on a single charge. They also support fast charging, allowing users to reach 50% battery capacity in just 30 minutes.