M3 Max 14-core vs. M3 Max 16-core

[ProQuiz]

How much of a performance difference would there be between the two chips in both CPU and GPU intensive tasks? Also, is the cooling system of the 14" good enough so there is an actual difference between the two chips? I am asking because if the 16-core is going to throttle more than the 14-core, the performance might end up being similar.

 

[macduke]

From what I've seen they're not too far off on CPU, the higher end variant is about 8-9% faster on multicore.

They differ a lot more on GPU, and I've seen a bit more variance in their Metal Scores, but it seem like the higher end chip is anywhere from 24-28% faster for Metal.

The cooling system seems good enough on the 14", which has High Performance Mode for the first time in a 14" MBP. I was just watching this video:

where they compare two M3 Max 14" and 16" and they are pretty close on most tests within a few percent, with the 14" slipping behind a little when under sustained load, and it seems more evident in Premiere Pro for some reason. But the 14" M3 Max still beats out the M2 Ultra in that real-world test! So that's pretty significant. And gaming it seems like a more middle ground difference of about 8%. We're talking about computers that are so fast here, that the form factor you want is honestly probably more important than the speed. Get what suits your needs best for size.

Edit: It's also important to note that the 16" in this test has twice as much RAM, so that might affect video apps more in particular.

 

[hackeron]

From what I understand the above compares a 14" to a 16" M3 Max, it isn't comparing 14 cores vs 16 cores, or am I missing something? - it doesn't mention cores in the screenshots anyway.

EDIT: Yes, I double checked and both the 14" and 16" are running the 16 core Max, so that doesn't answer the question.

 

[ProQuiz]

From what I understand the above compares a 14" to a 16" M3 Max, it isn't comparing 14 cores vs 16 cores, or am I missing something? - it doesn't mention cores in the screenshots anyway.

The above is comparing 14" M3 Max 16-core vs. 16" M3 Max 16-core. We are trying to see if there is more throttling in the 14" thus resulting in lower performance than the same spec'd 16".

 

[FrankySavvy]

Based on MacBook Pro Geekbench 6 Scores below, the non-binned M3 Max (16/40) is about 10% faster in multicore CPU, and 20-25% faster in GPU than the binned M3 Max (14/30). Will see how much this affects real world usage but on paper these are the numbers.


M3 Max 14 CPU 30 GPU (Binned)

Single - 3223
Multi - 19,555

Metal Score - 125136

M3 Max 16 CPU 40 GPU (Non-binned)

Single - 3216 -0.2% Decrease
Multi - 21528 +10.08% Increase

Metal Score - 158287 +26.492% Increase

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In year-over-year comparison below is the full M2 Max Geekbench 6 results:

Overall the CPU in the M3 Max is anywhere from 30-40% faster in multicore than M2 Max.

Overall the GPU in the binned M3 Max in regards to metal is slightly faster than the M2 Max, but the non-binned M3 Max is 26% faster than the M2 Max.

Things to consider is that M3 GPU has the advantage of Hardware Accelerated Ray Tracing and Mesh Shading, as well as Dynamic Memory Caching. Will have to see how this affects rendering and gaming performance.

M2 Max 12 CPU 38 GPU

Single - 2765
Multi - 14964

Metal Score - 124723

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Also just to see how much you gain from going M3 Pro to M3 Max see below scores

M3 Pro 12 CPU 18 GPU

Single - 3179
Multi - 15692

Metal - 78422

Overall the CPU in the M3 Max is about 24.61% - 37.19% faster in multicore than the M3 Pro.

Over all the GPU in the M3 Max is about 59.04% - 101.84% faster than the M3 Pro. WOW.

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M2 Ultra 24 Core 60 GPU

Single - 2805
Multi - 21557

Metal - 218803

Overall the CPU in the non binned M3 Max is about the same as the M2 Ultra, the M3 Max binned is slightly slower by 10%.

Overall the GPU in the full M3 Max is 38% slower than the M2 Ultra and the binned M3 Max is about 75% slower. However you are comparing 60 GPU cores to 30 or 40. Still very impressive.

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IN CONCLUSION

There are obviously performance gains going for the full M3 Max over the binned chip, but for most workflows and gaming situations I don't think it will make a noticeable difference in FPS and rendering times. At almost $500 more it is probably not worth it for most to only gain 10% in CPU and an additional 20-25% in GPU.

What is most definitely worth it is the jump from M3 Pro to M3 Max, which has an almost 25% faster CPU and whopping 60% faster GPU for only an upgrade of $700 dollars. You also get double the system RAM and double the memory bandwidth.

I will see if I can dig anything up on FPS and rendering time comparisons to see if the on paper number gains matter or not between the binned and un-binned M3 Max.

All these chips are crazy fast but hope this helps.

 

[Tomguin]

My choice was between the Pro and the base Max 14” so this is encouraging news as I bought the base Max 14

 

[Robbo1]

Probably a bigger driver of 14 vs 16 core decision is memory needs. The 14 core is only available in 36/96 GB. The 16 core is available in 48/64/128. For the $500 up charge you get more cores and an additional 12GB.