Today, AMD unveiled its latest laptop chip, the Ryzen AI Max, and while the company touted its performance against Apple’s M4 series, it conveniently omitted a significant detail.
AMD’s Ryzen AI Max: Comparison with Apple Chips, but Missing One
The Ryzen AI Max is a new 16-core laptop processor from AMD, designed with a strong focus on AI and graphics capabilities. It positions itself as a top-tier choice for creators, gamers, and other professionals.
In an effort to showcase its chip, AMD contrasted it with the highly regarded Apple M4 MacBook Pro.
However, a crucial M4 variant was noticeably absent from their comparison.
According to Paul Alcorn from Tom’s Guide:
AMD featured various rendering benchmarks of its 16-core flagship against the 12-core Apple MacBook M4 Pro, stating it had an advantage of up to 86% in a v-ray scenario. While the 14-core M4 Pro also appeared in the benchmarks, demonstrating fiercer competition, AMD still maintained a strong lead in the Blender, Corona, and v-ray tests. Nonetheless, the Ryzen AI Max+ didn’t perform as well in the multi-threaded Cinebench 2024 test, surpassing the 12-core M4 Pro by a mere 2%, while trailing the 14-core M4 Pro by 3%.
Did you catch what they didn’t include?
AMD’s 16-core chip was compared with:
- Apple’s 12-core M4 chip
- Apple’s 14-core M4 Pro
However, the powerful 16-core M4 Max was left out of all benchmarks.
Absence of M4 Max from Benchmarks: A Strategic Omission by AMD
During the announcement, a presenter emphasized that the Ryzen AI Max ‘easily outperformed the 12-core [M4], and was competitive with the 14-core [M4 Pro].’
The 12-core M4 features a modest 10-core GPU, while the 14-core M4 Pro can be equipped with a more powerful 20-core GPU.
Only with the 16-core M4 Max does one have the option of a 40-core GPU.
It’s reasonable to assume that the M4 Max would significantly outperform AMD’s offering in most relevant benchmarks, based on Ryzen’s performance struggle against the M4 Pro.
Of course, AMD prefers not to highlight this fact. Instead, they chose to compare chips from different tiers and claim superiority.
What are your thoughts on AMD’s comparisons? Do you find them fair? Share your opinions in the comments.
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