Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

CPU comparison

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 - 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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.40 GHz. The CPU supports up to 24 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was released in Q4/2023.
Apple M series (25) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (104)
Apple M2 (8) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (2)
2 Generation 3
M2 Architecture --
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple M1 Max (24-GPU) Predecessor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Successor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4

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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is at 3.40 GHz.

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
12 Cores 8
12 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz)
8x Avalanche
A-Core 3.40 GHz
1x Cortex-X4
0.60 GHz (2.42 GHz)
4x Blizzard
B-Core 2.96 GHz (3.15 GHz)
5x Cortex-A720
-- C-Core 2.27 GHz
2x Cortex-A520

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS AI specifications Hexagon NPU @ 34 TOPS
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 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 Qualcomm Adreno 750
0.45 GHz GPU frequency 0.90 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
2 GPU Generation --
5 nm Technology 4 nm
5 Max. displays 2
480 Compute units --
3840 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
96 GB Max. GPU Memory 6 GB
-- DirectX Version 12.1

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 Qualcomm Adreno 750
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 supports up to 24 GB of memory in 4 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 76.6 GB/s.

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
LPDDR5-6400 Memory LPDDR5X-9600
96 GB Max. Memory 24 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
409.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 76.6 GB/s
No ECC No
36.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 12.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version --
32 PCIe lanes --
63.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) is 45 W, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has a TDP of 12.5 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
45 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 12.5 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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is manufactured in 4 nm and has a 12.00 MB cache.

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
5 nm Technology 4 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8.5-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv9-A (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
macOS, iPadOS Operating systems Android, Windows 10/11 (ARM)
Q1/2023 Release date Q4/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (16 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (88%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (46%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
1709 (91%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
6431 (41%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
2293 (85%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
7117 (50%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Qualcomm Adreno 750 @ 0.90 GHz
2287 (21%)

AI performance (NPU)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

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 (46%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
34 (100%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
0 (0%)

AnTuTu 10 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 10 benchmark is one of the best-known benchmarks for mobile processors, which is now available in version 10. There is a version for Android-based smartphones and tablets, as well as a version for Apple mobile devices, i.e. iPhones and iPads.

The Antutu 10 benchmark has 3 phases. In the first phase, the device's RAM is tested, in phase 2 the graphics are tested and in the final phase the entire device is pushed to its performance limits by rendering 3D graphics.

Antutu 10 is therefore ideal for comparing the performance of different devices.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
1949480 (100%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
1476480 (100%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
8C 8T @ 3.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
3.40 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)
Xiaomi 14
Xiaomi 14 Pro
ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro
Samsung S24 Ultra

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