Apple introduced 3nm M4 Pro and M4 Max processors – up to 16 CPU cores, up to 40 GPU cores, ray tracing and Thunderbolt 5

Apple has unveiled the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors found in the new MacBook Pro laptops launched today. Previously, Apple also released several new products based on the M4 processor. All three chips are manufactured using the 3nm process.

Image source: Apple

The integrated graphics architecture used in the M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max processors debuted in the M3 series of chips. It delivers twice the ray tracing performance of its predecessor. M4 Pro and M4 Max processors support Thunderbolt 5 for Mac and deliver up to 75% more unified memory bandwidth.

The M4 processor is equipped with up to 10 computing cores (four productive and up to six energy-efficient). It runs up to 1.8 times faster than the M1, and the ten-core version delivers up to 2 times the graphics performance of the M1. The processor also includes a 16-core Neural Engine, which accelerates Apple Intelligence functions.

The M4 processor supports up to 32 GB of unified RAM with a bandwidth of 120 GB/s. The updated media engine as part of the M4 processor series allows you to connect two additional external displays (in addition to the built-in one). The M4 also supports up to four Thunderbolt 4 interfaces.

M4 Pro offers up to 14 processing cores (up to 10 high-performance and four energy-efficient). It’s up to 1.9 times faster than Apple’s M1 chip and up to 2.1 times faster than the fastest PC AI processor (Apple doesn’t specify which chip we’re talking about). The M4 Pro also has up to 20 graphics cores, which is twice as many as the regular M4. M4 Pro delivers up to 2.4x the graphics performance of the fastest PC AI processor (unspecified).

The M4 Pro features up to 64GB of unified RAM with 273GB/s bandwidth, which is 75% more than M3 Pro processors and twice as much as any other AI-enabled CPU. In addition, the processor supports the Thunderbolt interface with data transfer speeds of up to 120 Gbps, which is twice the capabilities of Thunderbolt 4.

The flagship M4 Max chip is equipped with up to 16 computing cores (up to 12 productive and four energy-efficient). It’s up to 2.2x faster than the M1 Max processor and up to 2.5x faster than the fastest PC AI processor. The M4 Max’s integrated graphics feature up to 40 cores and deliver up to 1.9x the performance of the M1 Max and up to 4x the performance of PC processors.

In addition, M4 Max supports up to 128GB of unified RAM with up to 546GB/s bandwidth, four times faster than the latest AI-enabled PC processors. According to Apple, this allows developers to easily interact with AI language models that support up to 200 billion parameters. Like the M4 Pro, the flagship M4 Max chip supports Thunderbolt 5 at speeds up to 120 Gbps.

Apple also notes that the M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max processors are highly energy efficient, allowing the updated MacBook Pro to have up to 24 hours of battery life.