Notebookcheck Logo

Apple M3 8-Core GPU vs Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU

Apple M3 8-Core GPU

► remove from comparison Apple M3 8-Core GPU

The Apple M3 GPU is an integrated graphics card offering 10 cores designed by Apple and integrated in the Apple M3 SoC. It uses the unified memory architecture of the M3 SoC (up to 24 GB LPDDR5-6400 with 100 GB/s bandwidth). The GPU uses a new architecture with support for mesh shading and ray tracing. Dynamic caching is also a new feature that should only us as much shared memory as needed.

The old M2 SoC showed a difference of around 15% between the 8-core and 10-core variant. Therefore, we expect a similar difference for the M3 models. This means, the M3 8-core version should be slightly faster than the 10-core GPU in the Apple M2.

The M3 chip is manufactured in the new 3nm process at TSMC (most likely N3B). The power limit should be around the same 15 Watt as the 10-core variant.

Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU

► remove from comparison Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU

The Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU is a self-designed graphics card in the Apple M3 Pro (with 12 CPU cores) and offers all eighteen cores available on the chip. The graphics card uses a new architecture and now offers dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration.

The GPU can access up to 36 GB LPDDR5-6400 unified memory via a 192-bit memory bus (max 150 GBit/s). Thanks to dynamic caching, the GPU only reserves as much memory as is required.

The entire chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (probably N3B) at TSMC.

show full text
Apple M3 8-Core GPUApple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU
Apple M3 Series
M3 Max 40-Core GPU compare 40
M3 Max 30-Core GPU compare 30
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU 18
M3 Pro 14-Core GPU compare 14
M3 10-Core GPU compare 10
M3 8-Core GPU 8
M3 Max 40-Core GPU compare 40
M3 Max 30-Core GPU compare 30
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU 18
M3 Pro 14-Core GPU compare 14
M3 10-Core GPU compare 10
M3 8-Core GPU 8
Pipelines8 - unified18 - unified
Memory TypeLPDDR5-6400LPDDR5-6400
Shared Memorynono
Power Consumption15 Watt
technology5 nm5 nm
Date of Announcement31.10.2023 31.10.2023
PredecessorM1 8-Core GPU
Notebook Sizemedium sized
CPU in M3 Pro 18-Core GPUGPU Base SpeedGPU Boost / Turbo
Apple M3 Pro 12-Core12 x 2748 MHz, 27 W? MHz? MHz

Benchmarks

3DMark - 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited
14545 Points (17%)
Blender - Blender 3.3 Classroom METAL *
69 Seconds (7%)
GFXBench - GFXBench 5.0 4K Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen
97.8 fps (40%)
GFXBench - GFXBench 5.0 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen
219.7 fps (40%)
GFXBench - GFXBench 5.0 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen
580 fps (43%)
GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen
436 fps (49%)
GFXBench 3.1 - GFXBench Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen
670 fps (14%)
GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen
936 fps (55%)
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 + Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 - GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16
1480 fps (12%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 GPU OpenCL
50373 Points (15%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 GPU Metal
78324 Points (50%)
Power Consumption - The Witcher 3 Power Consumption - external Monitor *
40 Watt (6%)
Power Consumption - Witcher 3 Power Consumption *
52.1 Watt (11%)
Power Consumption - Witcher 3 ultra Power Efficiency
0.8 fps per Watt (82%)
Power Consumption - Witcher 3 ultra Power Efficiency - external Monitor
min: 1.075     avg: 1.1     median: 1.1 (89%)     max: 1.207 fps per Watt
Emissions Witcher 3 Fan Noise + Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU
Emissions - Witcher 3 Fan Noise
25.1 dB(A) (40%)

Average Benchmarks Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU → 0% n=

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Total War Pharaoh

Total War Pharaoh

2023
low 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
212  fps
med. 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
140  fps
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
77  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
58  fps
QHD 2560x1440
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
42  fps
Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Phantom Liberty

Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Phantom Liberty

2023
low 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
53  fps
med. 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
42.6  fps
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
35  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
30.8  fps
Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3

2023
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
53  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
43  fps
Star Wars Jedi Survivor

Star Wars Jedi Survivor

2023
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
30  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
26  fps
QHD 2560x1440
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
17  fps
Total War: Three Kingdoms

Total War: Three Kingdoms

2019
med. 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
87  fps
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
56  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
41  fps
QHD 2560x1440
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
25  fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

2018
med. 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
71  fps
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
65  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
57  fps
QHD 2560x1440
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
37  fps
The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3

2015
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
43  fps
GTA V

GTA V

2015
med. 1366x768
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
90  fps
high 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
79  fps
ultra 1920x1080
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
52  fps
QHD 2560x1440
M3 Pro 18-Core GPU:
49  fps
Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPUlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Total War Pharaoh212140775842
Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Phantom Liberty5342.63530.8
Baldur's Gate 35343
Star Wars Jedi Survivor302617
Total War: Three Kingdoms87564125
Shadow of the Tomb Raider71655737
The Witcher 343
GTA V90795249
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps
1

1
1
3
1
4
3
1
7

2
3




For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

Add one or more devices and compare

In the following list you can select (and also search for) devices that should be added to the comparison. You can select more than one device.

restrict list:

show all (including archived), 2024, 2023
v1.26
log 18. 23:51:18

#0 checking url part for id 12030 +0s ... 0s

#1 checking url part for id 11638 +0s ... 0s

#2 not redirecting to Ajax server +0s ... 0s

#3 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Thu, 16 May 2024 05:40:59 +0200 +0.001s ... 0.001s

#4 composed specs +0.093s ... 0.095s

#5 did output specs +0s ... 0.095s

#6 start showIntegratedCPUs +0s ... 0.095s

#7 getting avg benchmarks for device 12030 +0.024s ... 0.119s

#8 got single benchmarks 12030 +0s ... 0.119s

#9 getting avg benchmarks for device 11638 +0.001s ... 0.12s

#10 got single benchmarks 11638 +0.006s ... 0.126s

#11 got avg benchmarks for devices +0s ... 0.126s

#12 min, max, avg, median took s +0.025s ... 0.151s

#13 before gaming benchmark output +0s ... 0.151s

#14 Got 27 rows for game benchmarks. +0.004s ... 0.156s

#15 composed SQL query for gamebenchmarks +0s ... 0.156s

#16 got data and put it in $dataArray +0.005s ... 0.161s

#17 benchmarks composed for output. +0.015s ... 0.176s

#18 calculated avg scores. +0s ... 0.176s

#19 return log +0.046s ... 0.222s

Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > Graphics Card Comparison - Head 2 Head
Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)