Apple M5 Pro 18-Core vs Apple M4 Max 16-Core
Aggregate performance score
M5 Pro 18-Core outperforms M4 Max 16-Core by a substantial 30% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 289 | 181 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Designer | Apple | Apple |
| Release date | 30 October 2024 (1 year ago) | 3 March 2026 (less than a year ago) |
Detailed specifications
Basic parameters of M4 Max 16-Core and M5 Pro 18-Core: number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) | 18 (Octadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 16 | 18 |
| Base clock speed | 2.592 GHz | 3.048 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.51 GHz | 4.61 GHz |
| L2 cache | 4 MB | 32 MB |
| L3 cache | no data | 24 MB |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 3 nm |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by M4 Max 16-Core and M5 Pro 18-Core. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR5 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Apple M4 Max 40-Core GPU | no data |
Synthetic benchmarks
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance rating.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 25.65 | 33.30 |
| Recency | 30 October 2024 | 3 March 2026 |
| Physical cores | 16 | 18 |
| Threads | 16 | 18 |
Apple M5 Pro 18-Core has a 30% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and 13% more physical cores and 13% more threads.
The Apple M5 Pro 18-Core is our recommended choice as it beats the Apple M4 Max 16-Core in performance tests.
Other comparisons
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