Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) vs AMD Ryzen 3 3250U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) AMD Ryzen 3 3250U

CPU comparison

Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) or AMD Ryzen 3 3250U - 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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) has 12 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.06 GHz. Up to 36 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) was released in Q4/2023.

The AMD Ryzen 3 3250U has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Ryzen 3 3250U was released in Q1/2020.
Apple M series (25) Family AMD Ryzen 3 (33)
Apple M3 (6) CPU group AMD Ryzen 3000U (Dali) (2)
3 Generation 2
M3 Architecture Dali (Zen+)
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) has 12 CPU cores and can calculate 12 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) is 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz) while the AMD Ryzen 3 3250U has 2 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the AMD Ryzen 3 3250U is at 2.60 GHz (3.50 GHz).

Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Characteristic AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
12 Cores 2
12 Threads 4
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
6x P-Core
A-Core 2.60 GHz (3.50 GHz)
0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
6x E-Core
B-Core --

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Characteristic AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) or AMD Ryzen 3 3250U 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 M3 Pro (18 Core) GPU AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 (Raven Ridge)
0.39 GHz GPU frequency 1.00 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation 8
3 nm Technology 14 nm
3 Max. displays 3
288 Compute units 3
2304 Shader 192
Yes Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
36 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

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 M3 Pro (18 Core) GPU AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 (Raven Ridge)
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
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) can use up to 36 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 153.6 GB/s. The AMD Ryzen 3 3250U supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 38.4 GB/s.

Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Characteristic AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
LPDDR5-6400 Memory DDR4-2400
36 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
153.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 38.4 GB/s
No ECC Yes
36.00 MB L2 Cache 1.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 4.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version 3.0
-- PCIe lanes 8
-- PCIe Bandwidth 7.9 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) is 35 W, while the AMD Ryzen 3 3250U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Characteristic AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
35 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up 25 W
-- TDP down 12 W
100 °C Tjunction max. 95 °C

Technical details

The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) is manufactured in 3 nm and has 36.00 MB cache. The AMD Ryzen 3 3250U is manufactured in 14 nm and has a 5.00 MB cache.

Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Characteristic AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
3 nm Technology 14 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3
-- Socket FP5
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization AMD-V, SVM
Yes AES-NI Yes
macOS, iPadOS Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q4/2023 Release date Q1/2020
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (220 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the AMD Ryzen 3 3250U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.7 stars (9 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U (32%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U (12%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
2314 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
783 (34%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
15235 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1632 (11%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
3152 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
932 (30%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
15619 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1588 (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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
Apple M3 Pro (18 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
6390 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 (Raven Ridge) @ 1.00 GHz
384 (6%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
27304 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
3859 (14%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
142 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
1059 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
1928 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
15061 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-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 single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
309 (100%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
751 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
22 (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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
827 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
138 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
344 (100%)

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 M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)
Acer Aspire 3 (A314-22-R0YJ)
ASUS VivoBook 15 F512DA (90NB0LZ3-M22030)
Laptops

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