Using the same M1 core, Apple M1 Pro/Max in-depth research: memory bandwidth GPU “horror”, MacBook Pro 2021 performance is the best desktop computer

On October 26th, in the early morning of October 19th, Apple released a new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro equipped with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, equipped with a new Liquid Retina XDR display. There are also larger physical size and smaller frame, mini LED high contrast and 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate.

The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro 2021 models will be officially launched on October 26, and related evaluations have now been lifted.

 

According to 9to5 Mac report, in-depth research of M1 Pro and M1 Max shows that the new chip not only allows the new MacBook Pro 2021 model to surpass Windows laptops, but also competes with the best desktop computers-this is the mobile chip before It was never considered such a possibility, so this is even more compelling.

What makes this all the more remarkable is the fact that the actual CPU cores of the M1 Pro and M1 Max seem to come from the basic M1 chip, but everything else is better.

 

AnandTech confirmed its suspicion that the cores of M1 Pro and M1 Max are the same as those in the base M1 chip.

“We pointed out in the initial report that Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips seem to use the same generation of CPU IP similar to the M1, instead of updating to the newer generation of cores used in the A15. We seem to be able to confirm this. Because compared to what we found on the M1 chip, we see no significant changes in the kernel.”

However, this does not mean that the only difference lies in their number. First of all, Apple pushed the kernel harder.

“The peak clock of the CPU core is 3228MHz, but the frequency is different, depending on how many cores are active in a cluster. The clock frequency of the 2 core is reduced to 3132MHz, and the clock frequency of the 3 and 4 cores is 3036MHz. Say it is for each cluster, It is because the 8 performance cores in M1 Pro and M1 Max are indeed composed of two 4-core clusters, each with its own 12MB L2 cache, and each cluster can be independent of the other’s CPU clock frequency, so there are actually Maybe 4 active cores in one cluster are running at 3036MHz, and 1 active core in another cluster is running at 3230MHz.”

Memory bandwidth is also three times faster.

“A major feature of these two chips is that their memory bandwidth and interfaces have been greatly increased-M1 Pro uses 256-bit LPDDR5 memory, with a speed of 6400MT/s, corresponding to 204GB/s bandwidth. This is significantly higher than the M1’s 68GB/s. It’s also generally higher than competitors’ notebook platforms that still rely on 128-bit interfaces.”

 

But the biggest difference lies in graphics capabilities, which is also the biggest difference we see between M1 Pro and M1 Max. IT Home is informed that the graphics performance of the M1 Pro model is twice that of the M1, while the M1 Max is four times that of the M1.

“The original M1 has 8 GPU cores, while the M1 Pro has 16 and the M1 Max has 32. All aspects of these GPUs have been expanded accordingly-the texture unit has been increased by 2 times/4 times, and the ROP has increased by 2 Times/4 times, the memory bus width is increased by 2 times/4 times, etc. […].

The GPU and memory interface of the chip are by far the biggest difference between [Pro and Max]. On the M1 Max we tested today, the GPU runs at a frequency of up to 1296MHz […].

Apple also doubled the memory interface, using up to 512-bit wide LPDDR5 memory subsystem-unheard of in SoC, even rare in the history of independent GPU design. This gives the chip a huge bandwidth of 408GB/s. ”

It also has a media encoding engine that appears to be doubled. AnandTech says that the overall result is truly incredible.

“The performance data achieved by M1 Pro and M1 Max is even considered impossible in laptop chips. The chips here can not only surpass any competitor’s laptop design, but also compete with the best desktop computers. You have to take out server-level hardware to surpass M1 Max-this is ridiculous […].

The combination of original performance, unique acceleration, and pure power efficiency is something you can’t find on any other platform now. It may make the new MacBook Pro 2021 not only the best laptop, but also the most suitable for it. The equipment of the mission target. “