Apple M3 Pro 12-Core vs AMD Ryzen 5 8640U vs Apple M3 Max 16-Core
Apple M3 Pro 12-Core
► remove from comparison![Apple Apple M3 Pro 12-Core](fileadmin/_processed_/3/6/csm_m3_soc_18fe44e71f.png)
The Apple M3 Pro (12 Core) is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was launched in late 2023. It integrates a new 12-core CPU with 6 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 6 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz. There is also a slimmed-down 11-core variant with a 14-core GPU.
Compared to the M2 Pro the M3 Pro has been slimmed down somewhat and swaps two performance cores for efficiency cores. This is due to the changed core configuration, as 6 cores are now used per cluster (the M2 Pro and M3 still have 4 cores per cluster). Furthermore, the memory bus has been reduced from 256 bits to 192 bits (150 GB/s vs. 200 GB/s). However, thanks to the new architecture and higher clock rates, the new M3 Pro is still slightly faster.
The M3 Pro also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the top model, all 18 cores of the chip are used and support up to 3 displays simultaneously (internal and 2 external).
GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 18 or 36 GB variants and offers 150 GB/s maximum bandwidth (192 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.
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 37 billion transistors (-7.5% vs. Apple M2 Pro).
AMD Ryzen 5 8640U
► remove from comparison![AMD R5 8640U](fileadmin/_processed_/a/2/csm_7040_Angle_3_161633f8ac.png)
The Ryzen 5 8640U is a Hawk Point family processor that was unveiled in Q4 2023. This is not a new chip; instead, it's a rebadged Ryzen 5 7640U that we are dealing with here. Just like the 7640U, the R5 8640U has 6 SMT-enabled cores (12 threads) running at 3.5 GHz to 4.9 GHz. Those Zen 4 architecture cores are mated to the Radeon 760M integrated graphics adapter.
Furthermore, this Ryzen 5 series laptop chip comes with the 2nd generation Ryzen AI technology.
Architecture & Features
Hawk Point family chips are powered by the Zen 4 architecture, much like Phoenix and Dragon Range family chips are. That's not to say there is no difference between the three. With Hawk Point, AMD is betting big on generative AI; these chips are said to deliver an up to 40% increase in generative AI performance over 7040 series APUs making apps like DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Photoshop even more powerful.
Unlike Zen 3, Zen 4 features AVX512 support and, thanks to a plethora of other improvements including larger caches/registers/buffers, is slated to bring a double-digit IPC improvement over the former.
Elsewhere, the 8640U has 16 MB of L3 cache and USB 4 support (therefore, Thunderbolt is supported as well). The chip is compatible with DDR5-5600 and LPDDR5x-7500 RAM which is still impressive as of H2 2023.
A system powered by this Ryzen 5 will have access to twenty PCIe 4 lanes; this means a speedy enough NVMe SSD will be able to deliver speeds up to 7.8 GB/s.
Systems powered by this APU are expected to run 64-bit Windows 11, 64-bit Windows 10, or Linux. Like most laptop chips, the 8640U is neither overclockable nor user-replaceable. It gets soldered down for good (FP7, FP7r2, FP8 socket interfaces).
Performance
It's safe to expect the chip to be at least 10% faster than the Zen 3 Plus-powered Ryzen 5 6600U (6 cores, 12 threads, up to 4.5 GHz).
Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your laptop is.
Graphics
The Radeon 760M has 8 CUs (512 shaders) running at up to 2,600 MHz. This iGPU will happily drive up to 4 monitors with resolutions as high as SUHD 4320p and it also will HW-decode and HW-encode AV1, HEVC, AVC without breaking a sweat. VP9 videos can be decoded but not encoded. As far as gaming is concerned, the average 760M in our database is reasonably close to the GeForce MX550 and the Radeon 680M. In early 2024, this means the latest games can only be played at 1600x900 with most settings set to Low.
Power consumption
The 8640U has a long-term power limit (default TDP) of 28 W that laptop makers are free to change to anything between 15 W and 30 W. Either way, an active cooling solution is a must for any system powered by the chip.
Last but not the least, the 8640U is manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process for high, as of late 2023, energy efficiency.
Apple M3 Max 16-Core
► remove from comparison![Apple Apple M3 Max 16-Core](fileadmin/_processed_/d/9/csm_Apple-M3-Max-chip-series-unified-memory-architecture_c0044e24af.jpg)
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.
Model | Apple M3 Pro 12-Core | AMD Ryzen 5 8640U | Apple M3 Max 16-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Apple Apple M3 | AMD Hawk Point (Zen 4/4c, Ryzen 8040) | Apple Apple M3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Apple M3 |
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Clock | 2748 - 4056 MHz | 3500 - 4900 MHz | 2748 - 4056 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 12 / 12 6 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 6 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | 6 / 12 6 x 4.9 GHz AMD Zen 4 | 16 / 16 12 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TDP | 27 Watt | 28 Watt | 78 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transistors | 37000 Million | 92000 Million | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technology | 3 nm | 4 nm | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | ARMv8 Instruction Set | DDR5-5600/LPDDR5x-7500 RAM, PCIe 4, Ryzen AI, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, SSSE3 | ARMv8 Instruction Set | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU | AMD Radeon 760M ( - 2600 MHz) | Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | ARM | x86 | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | www.apple.com | www.amd.com | www.apple.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Hawk Point-U (Zen 4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 384 KB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 6 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L3 Cache | 16 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Die Size | 178 mm2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 100 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Socket | FP7/FP7r2/FP8 |