Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) vs Intel Core i7-3520M

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-3520M
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Intel Core i7-3520M

CPU comparison

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) or Intel Core i7-3520M - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) has 12 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. Up to 96 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) was released in Q1/2023.

The Intel Core i7-3520M has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.60 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-3520M was released in Q2/2012.
Apple M series (25) Family Intel Core i7 (298)
Apple M2 (8) CPU group Intel Core i 3000M (29)
2 Generation 3
M2 Architecture Ivy Bridge H
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple M1 Max (24-GPU) Predecessor --
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) has 12 CPU cores and can calculate 12 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) is 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz) while the Intel Core i7-3520M has 2 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-3520M is at 2.90 GHz (3.60 GHz).
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-3520M
12 Cores 2
12 Threads 4
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz)
8x Avalanche		 A-Core 2.90 GHz (3.60 GHz)
0.60 GHz (2.42 GHz)
4x Blizzard		 B-Core --

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-3520M
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) or Intel Core i7-3520M has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
Apple M2 Max (30 Core) GPU Intel HD Graphics 4000
0.45 GHz GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.25 GHz
2 GPU Generation 7
5 nm Technology 22 nm
5 Max. displays 3
480 Compute units 16
3840 Shader 128
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
96 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 11.0

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
Apple M2 Max (30 Core) GPU Intel HD Graphics 4000
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) can use up to 96 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 409.6 GB/s. The Intel Core i7-3520M supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 25.6 GB/s.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-3520M
LPDDR5-6400 Memory DDR3L-1333, DDR3L-1600, DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600
96 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
409.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
36.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 4.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version 3.0
32 PCIe lanes 16
63.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) is 45 W, while the Intel Core i7-3520M has a TDP of 35 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-3520M
45 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 35 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) is manufactured in 5 nm and has 36.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i7-3520M is manufactured in 22 nm and has a 4.00 MB cache.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Intel Core i7-3520M
5 nm Technology 22 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv8.5-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
-- Socket BGA 1023
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT
Yes AES-NI Yes
macOS, iPadOS Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q1/2023 Release date Q2/2012
-- Release price 346 $
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M (34%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M (10%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
1695 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
621 (37%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
14855 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
1273 (9%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
1874 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
740 (39%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
15506 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
1613 (10%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
2689 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
685 (25%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
14207 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
1446 (10%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
Apple M2 Max (30 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
10650 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
Intel HD Graphics 4000 @ 1.25 GHz
320 (3%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
26310 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
2862 (11%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
121 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
1025 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
663 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 2.90 GHz
835 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
14,855 CB R23 MC @ 40 W
371 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2.90 GHz
0 (0%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz
15.8 (100%)
Intel Core i7-3520M Intel Core i7-3520M
2C 4T @ 2.90 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Intel Core i7-3520M
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)
 Unknown

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