Apple Announces M4 Max Chip: Up to 16-Core CPU, Up to 40-Core GPU, Up to 128GB of RAM, and More - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
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Apple Announces M4 Max Chip: Up to 16-Core CPU, Up to 40-Core GPU, Up to 128GB of RAM, and More

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Apple today announced the M4 Max chip alongside new MacBook Pro models—its most advanced and powerful Apple silicon chip to date.

Apple M4 chip series hero
Like the M4 chip introduced in the iPad Pro and the M4 Pro chip unveiled yesterday in the redesigned Mac mini, the M4 Max chips are fabricated with TSMC's enhanced 3nm (N3E) process. Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji said:

Apple silicon has taken the Mac to unprecedented heights, and the rapid pace of innovation continues with M4 Pro and M4 Max. With the world's fastest CPU core, immensely more powerful GPUs, and the fastest Neural Engine ever, the power-efficient performance and capabilities of the M4 family extend its lead as the most advanced lineup of chips in the industry.

The M4 Max's 16-core CPU contains 12 performance cores and four efficiency cores, making it 2.2x faster than the M1 Max. The GPU contains up to 40 cores for performance up to 1.9x faster than the ‌M1 Max‌. The M4 Max supports up to 128GB of unified memory with up to 546GB/s of memory bandwidth. The chip also contains an enhanced Media Engine with two video encode engines and two ProRes accelerators. Like the M4 Pro chip, the M4 Max supports Thunderbolt 5 with up to 120Gb/s data transfer capability.

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Apple also today drew attention to the M4 and M4 Pro chip, with the M4 Max completing the new chip lineup. Apple's new MacBook Pro models are available with either the M4, M4 Pro, or M4 Max chips, depending on the model and configuration.

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Tags: Apple Silicon Guide, M4, M4 MacBook Pro Guide, M4 Macs
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Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
macduke
20 months ago
Damn, the M4 Max (low) only supports 36GB memory. For comparison, the M3 Max (low) supported up to 96GB. Apple is really squeezing people to upgrade to the topmost spec to get more memory. What's even crazier is the M4 Pro in the Mac mini can be configured to 64GB memory but in the MacBook Pro the M4 Pro is limited to 48GB. Why??
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
ROLLTIDE1
20 months ago
no wifi 7 :(
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
GDF
20 months ago

Like 4 people in the world are set up with WiFi 7.
Interesting comment. When companies like Apple start producing more WiFi 7 devices that will make people like me upgrade to WiFi 7. I am sure others would agree and would upgrade to WiFi 7 too. I think anything Apple releases now should be WiFi 7. Makes no sense that iPhone 16 Pro’s are WiFi 7 capable, but all the new devices announced this week are not.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
allquixotic
20 months ago
I'm extremely disappointed that Apple did not increase the RAM on the top end M4 Max. We need more RAM for our generative AI (LLM) workloads, and this isn't getting it done. 48 GB sticks are available commercially; they could have slotted 4 x 48 GB modules for 192 GB on the top end. Why didn't they? Why?

+15% CPU and +20% GPU isn't gonna get it done. Sorry Apple, I'm skipping this generation. Your inability to ship more RAM just cost you at least $8k from me.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mazz0 Avatar
mazz0
20 months ago
Why can't you get the Max in a Mac Mini? If the cooling in the MacBook Pro is sufficient you'd think the cooling in the Mini would be too (even the new tiny one). Probably to help them differentiate the Studio (and charge extra for it).
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CWallace Avatar
CWallace
20 months ago
My guess is that the M4 Ultra will be two M4 Max with the UltraFusion interconnector so that is going to be a beast at up to 32 CPU and 80 GPU cores and 256GB of RAM.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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