Apple M4 Pro (14-CPU 20-GPU) vs Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) and Apple M4 Pro (14-CPU 20-GPU) are powerful processors tailored for professional users.

The Apple M2 Max, based on the M2 architecture, is manufactured using the 5 nm process and offers a 38-core GPU. It was developed for graphics-intensive workloads. The Apple M4 Pro utilizes the M4 architecture and is manufactured using the more advanced 3 nm process. It features 14 CPU cores and a 20-core GPU and is designed for balanced overall performance.

In single-core and multi-core CPU performance, the Apple M4 Pro shows clearly superior performance compared to the Apple M2 Max in newer benchmarks (Geekbench 6, Cinebench 2024). This underscores its efficiency in general and compute-intensive tasks. However, the Apple M2 Max performs significantly better in a specific older multi-core benchmark (Cinebench R23).

For gaming scenarios, the Apple M2 Max, with 38 GPU cores and a maximum memory bandwidth of 410 GB/s, which also enables good AI performance, offers advantages over the 20-core GPU and 273 GB/s of the Apple M4 Pro. Both processors are known for their energy efficiency, with the Apple M4 Pro's 3 nm manufacturing process bringing improved efficiency compared to the Apple M2 Max's 5 nm.

As a newer generation, the Apple M4 Pro is generally more expensive, while the Apple M2 Max maintains an attractive price-performance ratio for heavily GPU-intensive applications.