Every Apple processor compared, as M3 Max matches M2 Ultra

Macworld has updated its tables in which the performance of every Apple processor is compared – from the A13 Bionic in the 9th-gen iPad, to the top-end M3 Max in the new MacBook Pro.

It’s been a week since we first saw just how impressive an achievement the M3 Max is: Apple’s top-end mobile chip matching that of its previous generation maxed-out desktop chip …

M3 Max benchmarks

Geekbench results showed last week that the M3 Max in the 2023 MacBook Pro almost exactly matches the performance of the M2 Ultra in the maxed-out Mac Studio and Mac Pro machines.

On the single-core test, M3 Max achieves an average score of ~2980. On multi-core, M3 Max hits around ~20800. This compares very favorably to the previous best Apple Silicon chip, the M2 Ultra, which scores ~2800 and ~21000 respectively.

The headline results are impressive as it means the best chip found in Apple’s portable laptops is now on par with the most performant Mac desktop chips seen in the current Mac Studio and Mac Pro.

The M3 Max gets its enhanced performance over the M2 Max from a move to a 3nm process, as well as 50% more performance cores (12 versus 8).

Every Apple processor compared

Macworld’s comparison chart shows every Apple processor found in a current device – that is, one still sold by Apple.

The site last month updated it to illustrate the power of the A17 Pro found in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max machines – which is on a par with the M1 chip found in the entry level MacBook Air. It’s now been updated again to throw the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max into the mix.

The M2 Ultra is still king – but only just! The rankings see the two configurations of the M2 Ultra retain positions #1 and #2, but the top-spec M3 Max is only a fraction behind. The lower-end M3 Pro sits behind both variants of the M2 Max. (All comparisons are Geekbench 6 Multi-core.)

The M3 Ultra is still to come, of course, and that will obviously top the rankings once it’s available in updates to the Mac Studio and Mac Pro.