Nintendo Switch vs Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Nintendo Switch CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
Nintendo Switch Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) which has 16 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2023.
NVIDIA Tegra (2) Family Apple M series (25)
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) CPU group Apple M3 (6)
2 Generation 3
Cortex-A57/-A53 Architecture M3
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Nintendo Switch is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) clocks with 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz), has 16 CPU cores and can calculate 16 threads in parallel.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
8 Cores 16
8 Threads 16
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A57
A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
12x P-Core
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
4x E-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.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Apple M3 Max (40 Core)
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
0.77 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
1 GPU Generation --
20 nm Technology 3 nm
1 Max. displays 5
2 Compute units 640
256 Shader 5120
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 128 GB
12 DirectX Version --

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.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Apple M3 Max (40 Core)
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) supports a maximum of 128 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s enabled.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5-6400
4 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 409.6 GB/s
No ECC No
2.50 MB L2 Cache 36.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) is 57 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 57 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
5 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) is at 36.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 3 nm.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
20 nm Technology 3 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
-- Socket --
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q1/2017 Release date Q4/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (9%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (3%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
270 (9%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
3125 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
702 (3%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz
21045 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz
393 (3%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
Apple M3 Max (40 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
14200 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
141 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
1607 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
1968 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz
24028 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
2150 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz
22736 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
496 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz
6311 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz
266 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz
3375 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
24,028 CB R23 MC @ 57 W
422 (100%)

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).
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Nintendo Switch Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
Nintendo Switch Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)

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