The Apple M1 Max is an ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple. Developed for the Mac line of computers, the M1 Max and the smaller M1 Pro were introduced by Apple during a special event on October 18, 2021 for the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros.[1] In March 2022, it also became an option for the base configuration of the Mac Studio.[2]
Specifications[]
The M1 Max is manufactured by TSMC to Apple's design specifications. The 432 mm2 die contains 57 billion transistors that are fabricated through a 5 nm process. Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is built onto the package and is shared with memory bandwidth of up to 400GB/s through Apple's unified memory architecture (UMA) to eliminate the need to copy data from the CPU to GPU, which are both part of the package.[3][4]
The 10-core CPU (same as in the M1 Pro) contains eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores, similiar to the ARM big.LITTLE architecture used by mobile devices for power efficiency. However, the GPU contains 32 cores for graphics. In some mid-level configurations, eight of the GPU cores are deactivated, indicating the practice of binning.[5] The Neural Engine contains 16 cores for machine learning performance. The Media Engine accelerates codec processing at low power with twice the performance of the M1 Pro. A Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 controller is included on the chip. It also includes its own Secure Enclave.[3]
Performance and compatibility[]
Apple advertises up to 70% faster CPU performance than the preceding M1 and quadruple the GPU performance.[3] Compatibility with Intel software is provided through Rosetta 2 emulation, with a reported performance hit of about 21-22%, but still exceeding the speed of Apple's Intel-based models.[6][7] The first operating system from Apple to support the M1 Max and M1 Pro is macOS Monterey, which can also natively run iPadOS applications on the M1 processor family.[3]
Limitations[]
DRAM must be ordered in advance in 32 or 64 GB configurations as they are part of the M1 Max's SoC package.[3][5]
UltraFusion[]
On March 8, 2022, Apple senior VP of hardware technologies Johny Srouji revealed that the M1 Max included a previously undisclosed interconnect feature called UltraFusion, which allowed two of them to be packaged together to create the Apple M1 Ultra, with twice the computing power.[8][9]
References[]
- ↑ Apple Event — October 18 by Apple, YouTube. 2021-10-18.
- ↑ Apple unveils all-new Mac Studio and Studio Display, Apple Inc. 2022-03-08.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Introducing M1 Pro and M1 Max: the most powerful chips Apple has ever built, Apple Inc. 2021-10-18.
- ↑ Apple Announces M1 Pro & M1 Max: Giant New Arm SoCs with All-Out Performance by Andrei Frumusanu, AnandTech. 2021-10-18.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 MacBook Pro 14- and 16-inch - Technical Specifications, Apple Inc. Archived 2021-10-18.
- ↑ I love that Apple’s M1 can easily shrug off a 20% performance hit just to emulate x86_64 and still be faster than the Intel chips in the rest of Apple’s lineup by Steve Troughton-Smith, Twitter. 2020-11-15.
- ↑ Apple Silicon M1 Emulating x86 is Still Faster Than Every Other Mac in Single Core Benchmark by Frank McShan, MacRumors. 2020-11-15.
- ↑ Apple Event — March 8 by Apple, YouTube. 2022-03-08.
- ↑ Apple unveils M1 Ultra, the world’s most powerful chip for a personal computer, Apple Inc. 2022-03-08.
External links[]
- Mac computers with Apple silicon at Apple Support
- T6001 (Apple M1 Max) at The iPhone Wiki
- Apple M1 Max at NotebookCheck
- Apple M Family at WikiChip
- Apple M1 Max at WikiMóvel
- Apple M1 Max at Wikipedia
Articles[]
- What’s the Difference Between Apple’s M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max? by Benj Edwards at How-To Geek (2021-10-18)
- M1 Pro and M1 Max: Apple silicon is kicking Intel out of the Mac computer by Stephen Shankland at CNET (2021-10-18)
