Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) Benchmark, Test and specs

Last updated:

CPU lineage

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) features 12 processor cores and has the capability to manage 12 threads concurrently. It was released in Q1/2023 and belongs to the 2 generation of the Apple M series series.
Name: Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
Family: Apple M series
Group: Apple M2
Segment: Mobile
Generation: 2

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) has 12 CPU cores and can calculate 12 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.5 GHz. The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator. Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
CPU Cores: 12
Threads: 12
Cores A: 8x Avalanche
Cores B: 4x Blizzard
Core architecture: hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Hyperthreading: No
Overclocking: No
A-Core Frequency: 3.5 GHz
B-Core Frequency: 2.8 GHz

Internal Graphics

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. Specifically, the Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) uses the Apple M2 Max (30 Core), which has 3840 texture shaders and 480 execution units. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
GPU name: Apple M2 Max (30 Core)
GPU frequency: 1.4 GHz
GPU (Turbo): --
Execution units: 480
Shaders: 3840
Max. GPU Memory: 96.0 GB
Max. displays: --
Generation: 2
Direct X: --
Technology: 5 nm
Release date: Q1/2023

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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

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.
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 & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 96.0 GB distributed across 4 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
Memory type: LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory: 96.0 GB
Memory channels: 4
Bandwidth: 409.6 GB/s
ECC: No
PCIe: pci
AES-NI: Yes

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 45 W watts. TDP indicates the cooling solution needed to effectively manage the processor's heat. It generally provides an approximate indication of the actual power consumption of the CPU itself.
TDP (PL1 / PBP): 45 W
TDP (PL2): None
TDP up: None
TDP down: None
Tjunction max: 100 °C

Technical details

The Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) is manufactured using a 5 nm process. A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU. A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
Technology: 5 nm
Chip design: Chiplet
Socket:
L2-Cache: 36.0 MB
L3-Cache: 0 bytes
Architecture: M2
Operating systems: macOS, iPadOS
Virtualization: Apple Virtualization Framework
Instruction set (ISA): ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions: Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
Release date: Q1/2023
Release price: --
Part Number: --
Documents: Technical data sheet
ADS

Benchmarks

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Intel Xeon Gold 6242
16C 32T @ 2.8 GHz
26311
26311
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
26310
26310
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
26310
26310
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
26310
26310
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
26294
26294

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15506
15506
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15506
15506
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15506
15506
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15506
15506
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15506
15506

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14855
14855
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14855
14855
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14855
14855
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14855
14855
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14855
14855

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14207
14207
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14207
14207
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14207
14207
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14207
14207
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
14207
14207

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
13490
13490
Microsoft XBox Series X
8C 16T @ 3.2 GHz
12150
12150
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
10650
10650
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.2 GHz
10600
10600
Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.0 GHz
10300
10300

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
24C 24T @ 3.5 GHz
2689
2689
Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU)
24C 24T @ 3.5 GHz
2689
2689
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
2689
2689
Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
2689
2689
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
2689
2689

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Apple M2
8C 8T @ 3.5 GHz
1874
1874
Apple M2 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 3.5 GHz
1874
1874
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
1874
1874
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.5 GHz
1874
1874
Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU)
24C 24T @ 3.5 GHz
1874
1874

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Apple M2
8C 8T @ 3.5 GHz
1695
1695
Apple M2 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 3.5 GHz
1695
1695
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
1695
1695
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.5 GHz
1695
1695
Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU)
24C 24T @ 3.5 GHz
1695
1695

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.5 GHz
15.8
15.8
Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15.8
15.8
Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.5 GHz
15.8
15.8
Apple M2
8C 8T @ 3.5 GHz
15.8
15.8
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
15.8
15.8