M3 vs M4: Which Apple silicon chip is better?
AppleThe Apple M4 chip has been revealed. If you’re wondering how M4 compares versus M3, we’ve got you covered with a detailed comparison.
The Apple M3 chip was announced last year in October. At just seven months old, Apple also introduced the M4 chip. The latest silicon was revealed during the Apple “Let Loose” event which also saw the introduction of new iPad Pro and iPad Air.
The M4 chip currently only powers the iPad Pro 2024, while the M3 chip is found in MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and other Apple devices. Also, Apple has only announced the vanilla M4 so far.
The M3 comes in three flavors — M3, M3 Pro, and the M3 Pro Max. As the name suggests, the Pro Max is the most powerful one, while the M3 is the entry-level option.
The real comparison between the two Apple chips will come when Apple announces other M4 variants. For now, let’s see how the standard M4 chip stacks up against the M3 chip. We’ll be comparing the specs, cores, and performance between the two chips.
Apple M3 vs M4: Specs
Before we discuss the two chips in detail, let’s get their specifications out of the way. Again, we’re only talking about the standard M3 chip and not the Pro and Pro Max variants. We’ve already compared all three M3 SoCs in detail against the M2 chips.
Like the M3 chip, the M4 is manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm process. However, the new chip is based on the second-generation process, which is believed to offer significant performance and efficiency improvements over the first-generation process.
| Specification | Apple M3 | Apple M4 |
| Total Cores | 8 | 9 or 10 |
| GPU Cores | 8 or 10 | 10 |
| Neural Engine Cores | 16 | 16 |
| Transistors | 25 billion | 28 billion |
| Memory Capacity | 8GB, 16GB, 24GB | 16GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Manufacturer | TSMC | TSMC |
Apple M3 vs M4: CPU
AppleStarting with the CPU cores at the heart of these chips, the M3 has an 8-core CPU broken into four performance and four efficiency configurations.
The M4 on iPad Pro models with 1TB or 2TB storage has a 10-core CPU consisting of up to four performance cores and now six efficiency cores. Models with 256GB or 512GB storage get a 9-core CPU with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores
“M4 delivers up to 1.5x faster CPU performance over the powerful M2 in the previous iPad Pro,” says Apple. The company didn’t compare the chip to M3. However, the M4’s CPU has been benchmarked on Geekbench 6, scoring 3,767 points in single-core tests and 14,677 points in multi-core tests.
The M4 chip outperforms the M3 chip by approximately 22% in single-core and 25% in multi-core synthetic benchmarks. The M3 chip achieves scores of 3,087 points in single-core and 11,702 points in multi-core tests.
But, of course, this is not a fair comparison. The M4 has been benchmarked running on an iPad Pro, while the M3 scores we are quoting are from a MacBook. You can expect these scores to be different when M4 MacBook benchmarks appear. Those devices will have better cooling and possibly better clock speeds for the chip.
Apple M3 vs M4: GPU
AppleMoving on to GPU cores, both chips have the same configurations. Those start with eight cores in the M3 chip, although you can choose to upgrade to a 10-core by paying extra. The M4 GPU has a 10-core GPU and Apple says it “builds upon the next-generation graphics architecture of the M3 family of chips.”
The M3 has five billion more transistors than the M2, making the M3 family as a whole around 15% faster than the M2 family when using AI and machine learning workflows.
The M4’s GPU benchmarks aren’t out yet, so we are left with Apple’s claimss. “Pro rendering performance in apps like Octane gets a huge boost with M4, and is now up to four times faster than on M2,” says the company.
The M4 also brings features like dynamic caching and hardware acceleration for ray tracing and mesh shading. These features are already available on M3, but what’s interesting is that M4 also adds them to the iPad Pro.
Apple M3 vs M4: Neural Engine
The M4’s neural engine (what other companies call a neural processing engine) has the same core count as the M3.
However, the M4’s 16-core neural engine is rated capable of up to 38 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), surpassing the M3 by 20 TOPS in theoretical performance. Apple calls the M4 “an outrageously powerful chip for AI.”
Apple M3 vs M4: Which is better?
On paper, the M4 appears to be a significant leap in terms of performance and efficiency. Apple claims it can deliver the same performance as the M2 while using just half the power. Compared with the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop, the M4 is claimed to deliver the same performance using just a quarter of the power.
But, it’s hard to say which chip is better without benchmark scores. The M4 looks incredibly powerful, and it should run any task on the OLED iPad Pro without breaking a sweat. But since there’s no M3 iPad, we can’t say which chip is better. It’s too early to conclude.
As we mentioned earlier, a proper comparison would be when Apple releases M4 Mac hardware as well as other versions of the chip.
Apple has equipped the new chip with a display engine, a dedicated chunk of silicon made for driving the OLED or Ultra Retina XDR display, which was missing on the M3.