Apple M4 8-core GPU vs Apple M4 Pro 16-Core GPU

Apple M4 8-core GPU

The 8-core Apple M4 GPU is a graphics adapter built into the smallest Apple M4 series SoC that debuted in October 2024 alongside the new iMac. It isn't clear if this is a 10-core M4 GPU with two cores disabled, or if Apple actually makes an entirely new M4 SoC now that has fewer CPU and GPU cores by design.

A few popular video codecs can be HW-decoded and HW-encoded here but the list is nowhere near as long as what current AMD iGPUs deliver, let alone Intel iGPUs. However, there is a healthy selection of modern technologies such as ray tracing on offer.

Just like the rest of the Apple M4 chip, the graphics adapter is manufactured on a "second generation 3 nm" TSMC process that's still cutting-edge, as of late 2024. It has access to the 16 or 24 gigabytes of fast on-package LPDDR5x-7500 RAM and, apart from the iMac's internal display, allows one to connect one more monitor with an "up to 6K" resolution whereas the 10-core M4 GPU can drive 2 such monitors.

Its performance is slated to be around 15% lower than that of the 10-core M4 GPU. Still, it's going to be at least as fast as the Radeon 760M in many tasks, including gaming.

Apple M4 Pro 16-Core GPU

The Apple M4 Pro 16-core GPU is an integrated graphics card developed by Apple and integrated into the 12-core Apple M4 Pro SoC. It has 16 of the 20 graphics cores and, depending on the configuration, has access to at least 24 GB of fast 273 GB/s LPDDR5x on-package RAM (unified memory). As is typical for graphics cards from 2024, it has hardware support for ray tracing, mesh shading and other modern technologies. It also supports external displays with resolutions up to 8K and can decode some common video codecs such as h.264, h.265 and AV1 HW.

Performance

Its gaming performance is highly dependent on the game and if it is using emulation or if it is optimized for Apple silicon. In Baldur's Gate 3, for example, the iGPU is similar to a GeForce RTX 4050 in Windows 11. In synthetic benchmarks, the performance looks much better and can compete with an RTX 4060. The old M3 Pro 18-core GPU can easily be beaten despite the higher core count.

Power consumption

Under heavy CPU and GPU load, the iGPU part of the 12-core M4 Pro consumes approx. 25 W (Unigine Valley, max) according to the monitoring software "powermetrics".

Just like the rest of the Apple M4 Pro chip, the integrated graphics card is manufactured in a "second generation 3 nm" TSMC process, which will still be modern at the end of 2024.