Apple M4 vs AMD Ryzen 9 7940H

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M4 CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
Apple M4 AMD Ryzen 9 7940H

CPU comparison

Apple M4 or AMD Ryzen 9 7940H - 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 M4 has 9 cores with 9 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.41 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple M4 was released in Q2/2024.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7940H has 8 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 5.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 256 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940H was released in Q1/2023.
Apple M series (25) Family AMD Ryzen 9 (40)
Apple M4 (2) CPU group AMD Ryzen 7040 (21)
4 Generation 6
M4 Architecture Phoenix (Zen 4)
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple M3 Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M4 is a 9 core processor with a clock frequency of 0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz). The AMD Ryzen 9 7940H has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 4.00 GHz (5.20 GHz).

Apple M4 Characteristic AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
9 Cores 8
9 Threads 16
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz)
3x P-Core
A-Core 4.00 GHz (5.20 GHz)
8x Zen 4
0.74 GHz (2.85 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 M4 Characteristic AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware AMD Ryzen™ AI
16 Neural cores @ 38 TOPS AI specifications AMD dedicated AI XDNA Technology
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

Apple M4 (10 Core) GPU AMD Radeon 780M
0.39 GHz GPU frequency 0.80 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) 2.80 GHz
-- GPU Generation 3
3 nm Technology 4 nm
2 Max. displays 4
160 Compute units 12
1280 Shader 768
Yes Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation AMD FSR
24 GB Max. GPU Memory 32 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 M4 (10 Core) GPU AMD Radeon 780M
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
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
Decode Codec AV1 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M4 supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940H can connect up to 256 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Apple M4 Characteristic AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
LPDDR5X-7500 Memory DDR5-4800, DDR5-5600, LPDDR5-6400, LPDDR5X-7500
8 GB Max. Memory 256 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
120.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 120.0 GB/s
No ECC Yes
18.00 MB L2 Cache 8.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 16.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes 20
-- PCIe Bandwidth 39.4 GB/s

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Apple M4 has a TDP of 22 W, that of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H is 54 W.

Apple M4 Characteristic AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
22 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 54 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
15 W TDP down 35 W
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Apple M4 has a 18.00 MB cache, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H cache has a total of 24.00 MB.

Apple M4 Characteristic AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
3 nm Technology 4 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv9-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation, AVX2, SME ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2,FMA3, AVX2, AVX512
-- Socket FP8
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization AMD-V, SVM
Yes AES-NI Yes
macOS, iPadOS Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q2/2024 Release date Q1/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple M4 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.2 stars (95 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (14 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M4 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (76%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Apple M4 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (95%)

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 M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 4.41 GHz
2491 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
8C 16T @ 5.20 GHz
1974 (79%)

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 M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 4.41 GHz
3630 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
8C 16T @ 5.20 GHz
2617 (72%)

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 M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
13060 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
12447 (95%)

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 M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
38 (100%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
10 (26%)

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 M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
11600 (100%)

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 M4 Apple M4
Apple M4 (10 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
AMD Radeon 780M @ 2.80 GHz
4357 (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 M4 Apple M4
9C 9T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
30995 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M4 AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
Apple iPad Pro 11 (2024) Unknown

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. Apple M4Apple M1 Apple M4 vs Apple M1
2. Apple M2Apple M4 Apple M2 vs Apple M4
3. AMD Ryzen 7 7840HAMD Ryzen 9 7940H AMD Ryzen 7 7840H vs AMD Ryzen 9 7940H
4. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Apple M4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple M4
5. AMD Ryzen 9 7940HAMD Ryzen 9 7940HS AMD Ryzen 9 7940H vs AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS
6. Apple M4Apple M3 Apple M4 vs Apple M3
7. AMD Ryzen 9 7940HIntel Core i9-13900H AMD Ryzen 9 7940H vs Intel Core i9-13900H
8. Apple M4Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M4 vs Apple M3 (8-GPU)
9. Apple M4Apple A17 Pro Apple M4 vs Apple A17 Pro
10. Apple M4Intel Core i9-14900K Apple M4 vs Intel Core i9-14900K


back to index