Intel Core i7-6700K vs Apple M2 Max. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• CPU group
  Intel Core i 6000 Apple M2
• Family
  Intel Core i7 Apple M series
• Generation
  6 2
• Predecessor
  - Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
• Segment
  Desktop / Server Mobile
• Successor
  Intel Core i7-7700K -

Core counts, threads, cache and clock modes describe the CPU configuration. Performance depends on the workload and comparable measured results.

• A-Core
  - 8x Avalanche
• B-Core
  - 4x Blizzard
• Base Frequency
  4 GHz -
• Core architecture
  normal hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• CPU Cores
  4 12
• CPU Threads
  8 12
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  Yes No
• Overclocking
  Yes No
• Turbo Frequency (1 Core)
  4.2 GHz -
• Turbo Frequency (4 Cores)
  4 GHz -
• A-Core Frequency
  - 3.5 GHz
• B-Core Frequency
  - 2.8 GHz

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• DirectX Version
  12 -
• Execution units
  24 512
• Generation
  9 2
• GPU Frequency
  350 MHz 1400 MHz
• GPU name
  Intel HD Graphics 530 Apple M2 Max (32 Core)
• GPU Turbo
  1150 MHz No turbo
• Max. displays
  3 2
• Max. GPU Memory
  64 GB 32 GB
• Release date
  Q3/2015 Q4/2022
• Shader
  192 4096
• Technology
  14 nm 5 nm

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• AV1
  No No
• H.264 / AVC
  Decode / Encode Conflicting source values: Decode | Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  Decode Decode / Encode
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• VP8
  Decode / Encode Decode
• VP9
  Decode Decode / Encode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple M2 Max and Intel Core i7-6700K. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• ECC
  No No
• Max. Memory
  64 GB 64 GB
• Memory channels
  2 2 (Dual Channel)
• Memory type
  - LPDDR5-6400
• PCIe lanes
  16 -
• PCIe version
  3.0 -
• Memory Bandwidth
  - 409.6 GB/s
• PCIe
  - 4.0

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i7-6700K and Apple M2 Max Power specifications describe different manufacturer limits. TDP, base power and maximum turbo power are separate values; they do not establish measured system consumption.

• Maximum Operating Temperature
  - 100 °C
• TDP (PL1, legacy label)
  91 W 45 W

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i7-6700K and Apple M2 Max, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Architecture
  Skylake S M2
• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
• L2-Cache
  - 36 MB
• L3-Cache
  8 MB -
• Release date
  Q3/2015 Q2/2022
• Socket
  LGA 1151 -
• Technology
  14 nm 5 nm
• Virtualization
  VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Apple Virtualization Framework
• Chip design
  - Chiplet
• Operating systems
  - macOS, iPadOS