Apple M3 Max 16-Core vs Intel Core i7-11370H

Apple M3 Max 16-Core

The Apple M3 Max (16 Core) is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was launched towards the end of 2023. It integrates a new 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz. There is also a slimmed-down 14-core variant with a 30-core GPU.

Thanks to the higher clock rates and architectural improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 Max in benchmarks and can keep up with the fastest mobile CPUs (such as a Core i9-13900HX).

The M3 also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the top model, all 40 cores of the chip are used and support up to 5 displays simultaneously (internal and 4 external).

GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 48, 64 and 128 GB variants and offers 400 GB/s maximum bandwidth (512 bit bus).

The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded. Like its predecessor, the Max chip offers two video engines and can therefore encode and decode two streams simultaneously.

Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).

The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 92 billion transistors (+37% vs. Apple M2 Max). Under load, the CPU part consumes up to 56 watts, the chip can use a total of 78 watts.

Intel Core i7-11370H

The Intel Core i7-11370H is a quad-core SoC designed for use in ultra-thin gaming laptops and mobile workstations. It is based on the Tiger Lake H35 generation and was announced early 2021. It integrates four Willow Cove processor cores (8 threads thanks to HyperThreading). The base clock speed depends on the TDP setting and can vary from 3 (28 W TDP) to 3.3 GHz (35 W). The boost of a single and two cores under load can reach up to 4.8 GHz. All four cores can reach up to 4.3 GHz. The 11370H can use the whole 12 MB level 3 cache.

The SoC also includes the improved Iris Xe iGPU with all 96 EUs active clocked at up to 1350 MHz.

Furthermore, Tiger Lake SoCs add PCIe 4 support (four lanes), AI hardware acceleration, and the partial integration of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 and Wi-Fi 6 in the chip.

All articles on Tiger Lake can be found on our Tiger Lake architecture hub.

Performance

The average 11370H in our database matches the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, a noticeably less power-hungry chip, in multi-thread performance. Disregard the Core i7 moniker; this is essentially a mid-range CPU and no match for the likes of the Core i7-11800H or the Ryzen 9 5900HS.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 25 W, the TUF Dash F15 FX516PR is among the fastest laptops powered by the 11370H that we know of. It can be around 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

The Core i7 has a default TDP of 28 W to 35 W, the expectation being that laptop makers will go for a higher value in exchange for higher performance. Either way, that's way too high to allow for passively cooled designs.

The i7-11370H is built with Intel's third-gen 10 nm process marketed as SuperFin for average, as of late 2022, energy efficiency.