Apple in October 2021 introduced its second-generation Apple silicon chips, the M1 Pro and the M1 Max, which follow the M1 and are available in the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. This guide focuses on the M1 Max, while we have a separate guide for the M1 Pro.
M1 Max Explained
The M1 Max, along with the M1 Pro, is Apple's second System on a Chip (SoC) developed for use in Macs, and it marks Apple's continued transition away from the Intel chips that have been used in Macs since 2006.
As a "System on a Chip," the M1 Max integrates several different components, including the CPU, GPU, unified memory architecture (RAM), Neural Engine, Secure Enclave, SSD controller, image signal processor, encode/decode engines, Thunderbolt controller with USB 4 support, and more, all of which power the different features in the Mac.
Traditional Intel-based Macs used multiple chips for the CPU, GPU, I/O, and security, but integrating multiple components onto one chip allows Apple silicon chips to operate faster and more efficiently than Intel chips.
The M1 Max is equipped with 57 billion transistors and it is built on a 5-nanometer process. It has 70 percent more transistors than the M1 Pro chip and before the M1 Ultra, it was the largest chip that Apple had built to date.
M1 Max vs. Intel Chips
Apple silicon chips like the M1 Max use an Arm-based architecture, similar to the A-series chips that have been used in iPads and iPhones for many years.
Intel chips, meanwhile, are built on x86 architecture, which Apple has decided to move away from. Apple's chips are built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a company that builds all of Apple's A-series and M-series chips.
CPU
The M1 Max has a 10-core CPU that includes eight high performance cores and two high efficiency cores. According to Apple, the M1 Max's 10-core CPU is up to 70 percent faster than the 8-core CPU in the original M1 chip, which featured four high performance cores and four high efficiency cores.
GPU
There are two M1 Max variants, one with a 24-core GPU and one with a 32-core GPU. The 32-core option is the high-end option available in higher-end machines, while the 24-core GPU is exclusively available as a build-to-order option.
According to Apple, the 32-core M1 Max is up to 4x faster than the original M1 chip. It also delivers performance comparable to a high-end GPU in a compact pro PC laptop while using 100 watts less power. Thanks to this efficiency, the fans run infrequently and quietly, and battery life on the MacBook Pro is longer than ever.
Memory
Apple is using a unified memory architecture that lets the CPU, GPU, and other processor components use the same data pool rather than wasting time copying data between one another and swapping between multiple pools of memory. It's a technique that makes all of Apple's M-series chips remarkably efficient.
With the M1, available memory maxed out at 16GB, but the M1 Max supports up to 64GB. It also offers up to 400GB/s memory bandwidth, 2x more than the M1 Pro and 6x more than the M1.
Media Engine
There's a Media Engine included in the M1 Max that's designed to accelerate video processing without heavily impacting battery life. The M1 Max has the fastest video encoding and is 2x faster than the M1 Pro, plus it has two ProRes accelerators.
The new MacBook Pro with M1 Max can transcode ProRes video up to 10x faster compared to the prior-generation 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Other Chip Features
The M1 Max has several other built-in technologies.
- 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning.
- A display engine that drives external displays.
- Integrated Thunderbolt 4 controllers that offer more I/O bandwidth than before.
- A custom image signal processor used to enhance the camera's image quality.
- Secure Enclave with hardware-verified secure boot and runtime anti-exploitation technology.
M1 Max vs. M1 Pro
The M1 Pro and the M1 Max share the same 10-core CPU (with the exception of the base 8-core Pro chip), but have different graphics capabilities.
The M1 Pro has up to a 16-core GPU, while the M1 Max has up to a 32-core GPU.
