Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Benchmark, Test and specs

Last updated: 2023-11-14

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) is a 12 core processor. It can process 12 threads concurrently and is based on the 2. gen of the Apple M series series. The processor was released in Q1/2023. The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) scores 1,874 points with one CPU core in the Geekbench 5 benchmark. When using all CPU cores, the result is 15,506 points.

CPU lineage
Here you can see which group the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) belongs to and which processor is the predecessor of the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU).
Name:	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
Family:	Apple M series (23)
CPU group:	Apple M2 (8)
Architecture:	M2
Segment:	Mobile
Generation:	2
Predecessor:	Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
Successor:	--

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The 12 CPU cores of the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) clock with 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz). The number of CPU cores and the clock frequency of the processor are largely responsible for the overall performance.

CPU Cores / Threads:	12 / 12
Core architecture:	hybrid (big.LITTLE)
A-Core:	8x Avalanche
B-Core:	4x Blizzard

Hyperthreading / SMT:	No
Overclocking:	No
A-Core Frequency:	0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz)
B-Core Frequency:	0.60 GHz (2.42 GHz)

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.

AI hardware:	Apple Neural Engine
AI specifications:	16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS

Internal Graphics

With the Apple M2 Max (38 Core), the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has an build in graphic solution. It has 608 SM processors, which have a total of 4864 texture shaders. The iGPU not only enables games, but also significantly accelerates video playback.

GPU name:	Apple M2 Max (38 Core)
GPU frequency:	0.45 GHz
GPU (Turbo):	1.40 GHz
Compute units:	608
Shader:	4864
Hardware Raytracing:	No
Release date:	Q1/2023

Max. displays:	5
Generation:	2
Direct X:	--
Technology:	5 nm
Max. GPU Memory:	96 GB
Frame Generation:	No

Hardware codec support

Processors that have an integrated graphics can play videos faster and more efficiently. This can have a positive effect on the battery life of notebooks, for example.

h265 / HEVC (8 bit):	Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit):	Decode / Encode
h264:	Decode / Encode
VP8:	Decode
VP9:	Decode / Encode

AV1:	No
AVC:	Decode
VC-1:	Decode
JPEG:	Decode / Encode

Memory type:	Memory bandwidth:
Memory & PCIe The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) supports up to 96 GB memory in up to 4 (Quad Channel) memory channels. This results in a maximum memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s.

LPDDR5-6400	409.6 GB/s
Max. Memory:	96 GB
Memory channels:	4 (Quad Channel)
ECC:	No
PCIe:	4.0 x 32
PCIe Bandwidth:	63.0 GB/s

Thermal Management With the TDP, the processor manufacturer specifies the cooling solution required for the processor. The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has a TDP of 40 W.

TDP (PL1 / PBP):	40 W
TDP (PL2):	--
TDP up:	--
TDP down:	--
Tjunction max.:	100 °C

Technical details

The Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has a 36.00 MB large cache. The processor is manufactured in 5 nm. Modern production increases the efficiency of the processor.

Technology:	5 nm
Chip design:	Chiplet
Socket:	--
L2-Cache:	36.00 MB
L3-Cache:	--
AES-NI:	Yes
Operating systems:	macOS, iPadOS

Virtualization:	Apple Virtualization Framework
Instruction set (ISA):	Armv8.5-A (64 bit)
ISA extensions:	Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
Release date:	Q1/2023
Release price:	--
Part Number:	--
Documents:	Technical data sheet

Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz)

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Benchmark results

The benchmark results for the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) have been carefully checked by us. We only publish benchmark results that have been created by us or that have been submitted by a visitor and then checked by a team member. All results are based on and fullfill our benchmark guidelines.

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.


	AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12C 24T @ 5.60 GHz	122
	AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D 12C 24T @ 5.60 GHz	122
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	122
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	121
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	121
	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16C 32T @ 5.70 GHz	121
	Intel Core i9-13900F 24C 32T @ 5.60 GHz	121

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.


	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12C 24T @ 4.60 GHz	1068
	Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) 12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz	1059
	AMD Ryzen 7 7700 8C 16T @ 5.30 GHz	1050
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1025
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1025
	Intel Core i7-12700F 12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz	1004
	Intel Core i7-12700 12C 20T @ 4.90 GHz	1004

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.


	Intel Core i5-1345U 10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz	1720
	Intel Core i5-1340P 12C 16T @ 4.60 GHz	1710
	Intel Core i5-1335U 10C 12T @ 4.60 GHz	1705
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1695
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	1695
	Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	1695
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1695

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.


	Intel Core i7-11700K 8C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	15011
	Intel Core i7-11700KF 8C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	15011
	Intel Core i9-7900X 10C 20T @ 4.00 GHz	14998
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	14855
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	14855
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	14855
	AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 8C 16T @ 3.30 GHz	14798

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.


	Intel Core i9-11900K 8C 16T @ 5.30 GHz	1878
	Intel Core i9-11900KF 8C 16T @ 5.30 GHz	1878
	Intel Core i5-14500 14C 20T @ 5.00 GHz	1877
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1874
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1874
	Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) 10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz	1874
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1874

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.


	Intel Xeon Gold 5220R 24C 48T @ 2.40 GHz	15684
	AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3955WX 16C 32T @ 4.00 GHz	15679
	Intel Xeon Gold 6238 22C 44T @ 2.60 GHz	15622
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	15506
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	15506
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	15506
	Intel Core i9-12900HX 16C 24T @ 2.30 GHz	15474

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.


	Intel Core i7-14650HX 16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz	2705
	Intel Core i7-13850HX 20C 28T @ 5.30 GHz	2699
	AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX 16C 32T @ 5.20 GHzNot verified	2691
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	2689
	Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	2689
	Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU) 24C 24T @ 3.50 GHz	2689
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	2689

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.


	AMD Ryzen 7 8700G 8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz	14326
	AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8700G 8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz	14326
	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8C 16T @ 4.60 GHz	14229
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	14207
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	14207
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	14207
	Intel Core i5-13500 14C 20T @ 4.20 GHz	14166

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 M1 Ultra (64-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (64 Core) @ 1.30 GHz	21200
	Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48 Core) @ 1.30 GHz	15900
	Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) Apple M3 Max (40 Core) @ 1.40 GHz	14200
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) Apple M2 Max (38 Core) @ 1.40 GHz	13490
	Microsoft XBox Series X AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (XBox Series X) @ 1.83 GHz	12150
	Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (30 Core) @ 1.40 GHz	10650
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Apple M2 Max (30 Core) @ 1.40 GHz	10650

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.


	Intel Core i9-10920X 12C 24T @ 4.40 GHz	26361
	Intel Core i9-7940X 14C 28T @ 3.70 GHz	26338
	Intel Xeon Gold 6242 16C 32T @ 3.40 GHz	26311
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	26310
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	26310
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 12C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	26294
	Intel Xeon W-3235 12C 24T @ 4.00 GHz	26028

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 M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) 24,028 CB R23 MC @ 57 W	422
	Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) 12,125 CB R23 MC @ 30 W	404
	AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 13,766 CB R23 MC @ 35 W	393
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 14,855 CB R23 MC @ 40 W	371
	Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) 14,855 CB R23 MC @ 40 W	371
	Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) 14,855 CB R23 MC @ 40 W	371
	Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU) 28,570 CB R23 MC @ 80 W	357

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).


	Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) 6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz	15.8
	Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) 6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz	15.8
	Apple M2 8C 8T @ 0.66 GHz	15.8
	Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) 12C 12T @ 0.66 GHz	15.8
	Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	15
	Samsung Exynos 990 8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz	15
	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ 8C 8T @ 3.10 GHz	15

Benchmarks

Cinebench 2024 (SC)
272 entries

Cinebench 2024 (MC)
271 entries

Cinebench R23 (SC)
586 entries

Cinebench R23 (MC)
565 entries

Geekbench 5 (SC)
2,488 entries

Geekbench 5 (MC)
2,461 entries

Geekbench 6 (SC)
1,755 entries

Geekbench 6 (MC)
1,703 entries

FP32 SP (iGPU)
2,026 entries

PassMark CPU-Mark
2,392 entries

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)
109 entries

AI / ML Performance
116 entries

Description of the processor

The name of the Apple M2 Max (38 GPU) alone provides a lot of information. Developed in-house by Apple, it comes from the second generation of its own processors, which are used in all current iMacs, Mac Minis and iPads. The addition "38-GPU" is necessary because the same processor is also available with 30 GPU cores.

The processor is built on a hybrid big.LITTLE structure consisting of 8 performance cores called Avalanche and 4 efficiency cores called Blizzard. The performance cores clock at a maximum of 3.50 gigahertz and the maximum clock frequency of the efficient cores is 2.80 gigahertz. Like all Apple processors, the Apple M2 Max (38 GPU) does not support hyperthreading, which means that CPU cores and computing threads are both at 12.

The internal graphics unit of the Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) has a maximum clock frequency of 1.40 gigahertz and consists of 608 execution units and 4864 shader units. The graphics unit achieves an FP32 computing power (single precision) of 13490 GigaFLOPS. In the Apple universe, when the processor appeared in the first quarter of 2023, only the graphics unit of the Apple M1 Ultra was more powerful.

The graphics unit can decode and encode the following codes: HEVC 8/10 bit, H.264, VP9, JPEG. The video codecs VP8, AVC and VC-1 can only be decoded. Hardware encoding of AV1 codec is not supported by Apple M2 Max (38 GPU).

The main memory is integrated in the processor, so the size must be selected when purchasing the device. How much memory you can install depends on the end device, but a maximum of 96 gigabytes of RAM can be selected. The Apple M2 Max (38 GPU) has 4 memory channels and thus achieves a bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s. For comparison: With the currently (Q1/2023) fastest Intel i9 processor, not even a quarter of the bandwidth is achieved.

Popular comparisons


1.		Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) vs Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
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3.		Intel Core i9-13900K vs Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
4.		Apple M3 vs Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
5.		Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) vs Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
6.		Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) vs Apple M2
7.		AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS vs Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
8.		Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) vs Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
9.		Apple M2 Max (38-GPU) vs Intel Core i7-13700K
10.		Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) vs Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)

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