Apple M4 vs Apple M3 Pro: The M3 Pro Still Has a Minor Lead in Multi-Core Performance, but Falls Behind in Single-Core
We’ve already seen what the Apple M4 can do against the M3, however what about the M3 Pro? It should put up a decent fight when it comes to Multi-core performance, thanks to its higher number of cores, however, we’re expecting total domination for the M4 chip as far as Single-core performance is concerned (after all, it did bring down even the high and mighty Core i9-14900KF to its knees).
Specs table
The M3 Pro gets more cores in both of its configurations, which will help it in Multi-core tests.
CPU | CPU Cores | GPU Cores | Memory Bandwidth | Unified Memory | Process Technology |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apple M4 (10-core CPU) | 4 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores | 10 cores | 120 GB/s | TBD | 3 nm |
Apple M3 Pro (12-core CPU) | 6 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores | 14 cores or 18 cores | 153.6 GB/s | up to 36GB | 3 nm |
Apple M3 Pro (11-core CPU) | 5 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores | 14 cores or 18 cores | 153.6 GB/s | up to 36GB | 3 nm |
Benchmarks
CPU benchmarks
Comparing the Geekbench results, it’s clear that the new M4 chip has a strong lead in the Single-core test of about 21-26% when compared to both iterations of the M3 Pro chip. In terms of Multi-core performance, the M4 is also 2% faster than the 11-core M3 Pro. However, the 12-core M3 Pro is still the quickest overall, with a 7% lead over the M4.
CPU | Geekbench 6 Single / Multi Score |
---|---|
Apple M4 | 3810 / 14541 |
Apple M3 Pro (12-core CPU) | 3033 / 15538 |
Apple M3 Pro (11-core CPU) | 3155 / 14266 |
GPU benchmarks
Now, since these are SoCs with bundled GPUs, we can’t go without testing them too. We’ll use the Geekbench 6 Metal test, which reveals quite a lot. First of all, the more cores of the M3 Pro’s 14-core and 18-core GPU is much better suited to handle more intensive workloads. The 18-core is the fastest of the three, with a 46% lead over the M4 10-core GPU and a 15% lead over the M3 Pro 14-core GPU.
GPU | Geekbench 6 Metal |
---|---|
Apple M4 (10-core GPU) | 53792 |
Apple M3 Pro (14-core GPU) | 68043 |
Apple M3 Pro (18-core GPU) | 78324 |
You can check out the entire M3 range of notebooks and their prices down below.