M1 Max Chip May Have More Raw GPU Performance Than a PlayStation 5

Apple is making impressive and eye-catching claims about the performance of its new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, and on paper, the highest-end ‌M1 Max‌ chip actually has more raw GPU performance than Sony's PlayStation 5.

m1 max
The ‌M1 Max‌ chip can be configured to include up to a 32-core GPU, a gigantic leap compared to the 8-core GPU option offered in the M1 chip. Apple says that the ‌M1 Max‌ chip uses 70% less power at peak graphic performance than a PC laptop with a discrete graphics card. Apple also claims that the ‌M1 Max‌ chip offers "similar performance" to a "pro laptop with high-performing discrete GPU" while using 100 watts less power.

apple m1 max graphics claim
To make the claims, Apple tested the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the ‌M1 Max‌ chip, featuring a 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, and 64GB of RAM compared to the MSI GE76 Raider and the Razer Blade 15 Advanced. For a further breakdown of the GPU performance, Notebookcheck estimated how many teraflops the new ‌M1 Pro‌ and ‌M1 Max‌ chips can handle based on Apple's information about the new chips. These are their findings:

  • ‌M1‌ 8-core = 2.6 TF
  • ‌M1 Pro‌ 14-core = 4.5 TF
  • ‌M1 Pro‌ 16-core = 5.2 TF
  • ‌M1 Max‌ 24-core = 7.8 TF
  • ‌M1 Max‌ 32-core = 10.4 TF

On paper, the ‌M1 Max‌ chip maxed out with 32-cores of GPU can tackle more teraflops of graphics than Sony's PlayStation 5, which maxes out at 10.28 teraflops. Notebookcheck's numbers are based on estimations and not real-world testing, but until the new laptops begin arriving in the hands of customers next week, they are all we have to rely on. As noted by YouTuber ZoneOfTech on Twitter, the ‌M1 Max‌ chip can also read up to 7.4GB per second, higher than the PlayStation 5's 5.5GB read speed.

The new MacBook Pros cost more than the PlayStation 5, but nonetheless, Apple's ability to make claims about a portable laptop that rivals a high-end gaming console is impressive. As stated above, these claims are just on-paper, and proper performance and speed tests will surely come shortly after the new MacBook Pros start arriving for customers next week.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...

Top Rated Comments

zahuh Avatar
51 months ago
At 7x the price I would hope so! Still very impressive due to the size.
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
singularity0993 Avatar
51 months ago
Now if only there are decent games on macOS…

(I mean graphically intensive ones)
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NBAasDOGG Avatar
51 months ago
Such an illiterate logic ?.
Apple’s marketing and their fanbase never fails to impress me, especially on MacRumors…

10.4TF doesn’t mean that it can actually use 10.4TF if it’s power limited to +-60W and probably even bandwidth starved, (lack superior L1 and L2 caches, don’t use unified L3 chance, lacks a geometry engine, doesn’t support techniques such as VRS and storage APIs…)

The AMD Radeon V is actually 14.9 TF and the AMD VEGA 64 is 13.4 TF, and both are slower than the PS5 and Series X, significantly slower in fact!

Don’t fall for the fake marketing people. By no mean these MacBooks are slow or anything, but if you actually believe that it’s faster than a PS5 you have to seek help…

For consoles to consistently hit their maximum TFlops performance they actually uses these kind of heatsink.



Attachment Image
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
snipr125 Avatar
51 months ago
The problem is that there are no real AAA games on the Mac. We want to see games like COD modern warfare, red dead redemption 2 and cyber punk etc run on these M1 Pro chips.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spacedust Avatar
51 months ago
We want Windows 11 running on these chips.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4743913 Avatar
51 months ago
and yet Apple dropped the ball by not having one game announcement from an AAA publisher.

Games on the new mac are like Final Cut or Logic pro on the M1 iPad... we have sooooo much power... for nothing.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)