First benchmarks show that Apple’s M4 Max really is a monster

This week, Apple introduced its latest Macs with the new M4 chips. Both the iMac and Mac mini feature significant upgrades, but the MacBook Pro has also caught the attention of enthusiasts, largely thanks to the debut of the M4 Max chip.

M4 Max is Apple's most advanced chip to date
The M4 Max offers a 16-core CPU (divided into 12 high-performance cores and 4 efficiency cores) and a GPU with up to 40 cores. This powerhouse also includes a 16-core Neural Engine, that improves the tasks of machine learning. Apple has paired the M4 Max with support for up to 128GB of RAM, a memory bandwidth of 546GB/s, and up to 8TB of storage in its MacBook Pro lineup.
Apple promised a leap in performance with the M4 Max, and the first benchmark tests seem to confirm this fact. The initial results of Geekbench 6 reveal that Apple's latest chip is significantly faster than its previous flagship, the M2 Ultra.
In Geekbench 6 testing, a 16-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the M4 Max's 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, and 128GB of RAM achieved scores of 4,060 for single-core performance and 26,675 for multi-core performance.

What if we compare these numbers with the M2 Ultra?
In the same benchmark, a Mac Studio with M2 Ultra - with its 24-core CPU and up to 76-core GPU - achieved 2,777 in single-core scores and 21,351 in multi-core scores. Although the M2 Ultra has held up so far, clearly lags behind when compared to the latest M4 Max.
The M4 Max therefore shows a clear advantage over the M2 Ultra, offering approximately 25% better multi-core performance. This improvement aligns well with Apple's goal for the M4 Max to be its most powerful chip to date.
The M4 Max is currently available exclusively on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, but it is likely that Apple will expand its availability. Speculation suggests that the M4 Max could be integrated into updated versions of the Mac Pro and Mac Studio as early as 2025.
An open question is whether Apple will introduce an "Ultra" version of the M4 chip. Both the M1 and M2 lines included an Ultra level, but the same did not happen with the M3 generationwhich was limited to the standard, Pro and Max versions.

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