GPU comparison

Apple M4 Max (64GB) vs GeForce RTX 4090

Compared on the specs that decide a purchase: memory, bandwidth, power, and which workloads each card actually fits — gaming, creative, or local models when that is the job.

Specifications verified October 2, 2026. Launch MSRP is not today's price — in September 2026 the memory shortage pushed street prices 1.2×–3× above it; the notes row below carries a dated lowest UK/US price where we have one.

Apple

Apple M4 Max (64GB)

64GB unified · 546 GB/s

NVIDIA

GeForce RTX 4090

24GB VRAM · 1008 GB/s

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GPU specification, memory, bandwidth, and price comparison
Specification	Apple M4 Max (64GB)	GeForce RTX 4090
Vendor
Vendor	Apple	NVIDIA
Memory
Memory	Winner: 64GB unified	24GB
Usable for a model
Usable for a model	Winner: 48GB	24GB
Bandwidth
Bandwidth	546 GB/s	Winner: 1008 GB/s
Segment
Segment	prosumer	consumer
Released
Released	November 8, 2024	October 12, 2022
Launch MSRP
Launch MSRP	Not sold standalone	~$1,599~£1,184
Notes
Notes	Apple's historical 16-inch MacBook Pro specification pairs 64GB M4 Max with a 16-core CPU/40-core GPU and 546GB/s memory bandwidth. Apple announced availability beginning November 8, 2024; October 30 was the announcement/pre-order day. This is an earlier hardware reference, not a current-stock claim. Unified memory is shared with the OS/apps, and the site's 75% planning allocation does not certify model loading or throughput.	24GB GDDR6X and 1008GB/s theoretical bandwidth. NVIDIA's launch notice lists October 12, 2022 availability starting at $1,599. Current production status, retailer stock and used prices are unverified here. Local-model fit is a planning estimate; model files, context, cache, backend and driver support determine actual memory use and speed.
UK street price
UK street price	Search Amazon (opens in new tab)	Search Amazon (opens in new tab)

Local models

Estimated local-model fit

Planning estimates from published VRAM and a weights-plus-overhead heuristic. Context length, KV cache, quantization and runtime can change actual memory needs.

Local model fit comparison for both GPUs
Model	Apple M4 Max (64GB) (est.)	GeForce RTX 4090 (est.)
Qwen 3 4B4B parameters
Qwen 3 4B4B parameters	Est. fit	Est. fit
Qwen 3.8 27B27B parameters
Qwen 3.8 27B27B parameters	Est. fit	Est. fit
Gemma 4 31B30.7B parameters
Gemma 4 31B30.7B parameters	Est. fit	Est. tight
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct8B parameters
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct8B parameters	Est. fit	Est. fit
Qwen 3 14B14.8B parameters
Qwen 3 14B14.8B parameters	Est. fit	Est. fit
Gemma 3 27B27B parameters
Gemma 3 27B27B parameters	Est. fit	Est. fit
Qwen 3 30B-A3B30.5B parameters
Qwen 3 30B-A3B30.5B parameters	Est. fit	Est. tight
Qwen 3 32B32.8B parameters
Qwen 3 32B32.8B parameters	Est. fit	Est. tight
Llama 3.3 70B70B parameters
Llama 3.3 70B70B parameters	Est. tight	Est. no fit
Muse Glimmer 30B29.6B parameters
Muse Glimmer 30B29.6B parameters	Est. fit	Est. tight
Mixtral 8x22B141B parameters
Mixtral 8x22B141B parameters	Est. no fit	Est. no fit
Qwen 3 235B-A22B235B parameters
Qwen 3 235B-A22B235B parameters	Est. no fit	Est. no fit
Qwen 3 Coder 480B-A35B480B parameters
Qwen 3 Coder 480B-A35B480B parameters	Est. no fit	Est. no fit
DeepSeek V4-Flash284B parameters
DeepSeek V4-Flash284B parameters	Est. no fit	Est. no fit

Common questions

Apple M4 Max (64GB) vs GeForce RTX 4090

Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.

Which is better for high-refresh gaming, Apple M4 Max (64GB) or GeForce RTX 4090?

GeForce RTX 4090 has more memory bandwidth — 1008 GB/s against 546 GB/s. That usually helps high-refresh 1440p and 4K once VRAM is sufficient for your settings. Still verify with dated independent tests for the games you play.

Which has more VRAM for gaming and creative work, Apple M4 Max (64GB) or GeForce RTX 4090?

Apple M4 Max (64GB) — 48GB usable against 24GB on GeForce RTX 4090. Extra memory helps texture mods, video timelines, and 3D scenes before it helps esports frame rates.

For local inference only — which holds larger models, Apple M4 Max (64GB) or GeForce RTX 4090?

Apple M4 Max (64GB). With 48GB usable against 24GB it additionally holds Llama 3.3 70B at Q4.

For local inference only — is Apple M4 Max (64GB) or GeForce RTX 4090 faster at generating tokens?

GeForce RTX 4090, at 1008 GB/s against 546 GB/s — roughly 1.8× the memory bandwidth. Bandwidth is the practical ceiling on token throughput once a model fits, but it only matters if the model fits in the first place.

For local inference only — can either run a 70B model?

Apple M4 Max (64GB) can, at Q4 — a 70B model needs about 48GB including runtime overhead. GeForce RTX 4090 does not have the memory. Expect little headroom for long context.

If one card holds a model the other cannot, that capacity difference usually outweighs a bandwidth advantage. A model that spills to system memory can be substantially slower, but the actual impact depends on the backend, transfer path, context, and workload.

All GPU comparisons Compare hosted models instead