Apple M3 Max Benchmark Scores Reveal Performance on Par With M2 Ultra Chip

Apple launched new MacBook Pro and iMac models at its 'Scary fast' launch event on Tuesday and the new computers are powered by the firm's latest M3 chips. These next generation 3nm chips offer improved CPU and GPU performance compared to their predecessors and are available in M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max variants. Days after the new models were launched, the first performance benchmark of the new M3 Max chip has surfaced online, and the new chip appears to be as fast as Apple's M2 Ultra processor.

The first listing for the M3 Max chip running on one of Apple's new computers has surfaced on Geekbench, a popular benchmarking website. It appears that the benchmark test was run on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, as the listing includes the "Mac 15,9" model identifier. The M3 Max is currently Apple's most powerful computer chip.

The new M3 Max chip on the 16-inch MacBook Pro has a Geekbench 6 score of 21,084 points in the multi-core test. This is significantly higher than its predecessor, which scored 14,495 points. Apple claimed during the event that the new M3 Max chip offered "up to 50 percent" better performance than the M2 Max. The benchmark scores suggest that Apple's claims related to speed improvements are accurate.

When compared with the M2 Ultra chip, the new M3 Max chip is a few points behind — the M2 Ultra running on a Mac Pro (2023) had a score of 21,187 points. This shows that Apple's new M3 Max chip is on par with its most powerful M2-series chip. However, the website also has a listing for the M2 Ultra-powered Mac Studio (2023) with a slightly higher multi-core score of 21,317 points.

It is worth noting that synthetic benchmark scores are useful to get a sense of the performance improvements offered by a new processor or device, but actual day-to-day performance can also be affected by a variety of factors. Two users running the same hardware might end up with different scores.

We can expect to see more benchmarks of the M3 Max on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro in the coming days as the devices announced at the last launch event are set to go on sale later this month, starting on November 7.