Apple's M4 Max chip scores 4,060 in single-core tests, making it the first production CPU to cross 4,000 in Geekbench 6, and scores 26,675 in multi-core tests
After months of swirling rumors, Apple revealed its new Mac devices with updated M4 chips last week.
The benchmark result matters because it supplies an independent, widely legible performance marker for that flagship positioning—not merely a generational comparison supplied by Apple.
First-order effects
Apple gains a clear benchmark claim for the M4 Max: it is the first production CPU reported here to pass 4,000 in Geekbench 6 single-core performance, while also posting 26,675 multi-core.
Mac buyers evaluating high-end systems get a sharper distinction between the M4 Max and the recently introduced M4 Pro, whose launch emphasized a lower core-count tier below the M4 Max lineup.
Second-order effects
Rival PC-chip vendors face added pressure to compete on both peak single-thread responsiveness and heavily threaded throughput, rather than framing performance around only one workload class.
For Mac software and workstation buyers, the result raises the value of applications that can exploit both fast individual cores and the M4 Max’s larger core count; benchmark leadership alone will not determine real-world gains.
Third-order effects
The result reinforces Apple’s multiyear shift from buying general-purpose PC processors to differentiating Macs through vertically integrated silicon, with performance tiers increasingly central to product segmentation.
If successive Apple chips continue to set conspicuous benchmark milestones, cross-platform PC competition may place more weight on tightly integrated CPU, GPU, memory, and accelerator designs—a broader move toward higher-capability system-on-chip Macs.
The trend: Apple’s M4 Max is another data point in the shift toward vertically integrated, heterogeneous compute platforms competing across CPU performance and specialized workloads.
Apple's M4 Max is the first production CPU to pass 4000 Single-Core score in Geekbench 6. The M4 Max is faster than the M2 Ultra in almost every way (90% as powerful as M2 Ultra in GPU). Simply incredible. [image]
HOLY SMOKES!!!! The M4 Max chip benchmarks have leaked and it's the FIRST production chip in the WORLD to break the 4,000 single-core score barrier in Geekbench 6! AND WOWWWW 26,675 multi-core! WHAAAT!!!!!! @jimmyjamesuk123 Official Geekbench listing: https://browser.geekbench.co…
The M4 benchmark numbers are insane. Single core dominating the very best from AMD, and the M4 Max is even beating an AMD Threadripper with four times as many cores in multicore. Absolute insane performance from these new Apple chips. Give their engineering team all the money. [i…
this is interesting, but Geekbench just tests for day to day tasks and does stuff like compressing / decompressing a 75MB archive or rendering a 1.5MB PDF. It's far more interesting to see what sustained performance CPUs have to offer with tools like Cinebench
If Apple's M4 Max chip is scoring 26,419 in Geekbench 6's Multi-core test, I wonder how much the M4 Ultra is gonna score.. 🤯 Geekbench 6 Multi-core: M3 Max: 20,927 M2 Ultra: 21,351 M4 Pro: 22,669 M4 Max: 26,419 M4 Ultra: ???
M4 Max Graphics Benchmarks have LEAKED and it's almost as fast as the 76-core M2 Ultra GPU which is NUTS! It's 25% faster than M3 Max with the SAME 40 cores! Geekbench 6 Metal: 40-core M4 Max: 192,532 76-core M2 Ultra: 221,646 40-core M3 Max: 154,860 https://browser.geekbench.com…
The new Mac mini with a 14-core M4 Pro chip ($1,599) can outperform a Mac Studio with the highest-end M2 Ultra chip ($3,999), according to Geekbench 6 results so far. And the 16-core M4 Max chip will be even faster! M4 Pro and M4 Max are the fastest-ever Apple silicon chips.