On my normal hammer drill, the whole chuck assembly goes in and out.
I reckon SDS works better in 3 ways:-
The lower mass of the drill against a drill/chuck combination makes the impact greater even if the 'hammer' were the same. The impact mechanism is better - a hammer drill uses a ramp mechanism, and there's a limit to the acceleration that can be achieved. IIRC, SDS uses a pneumatic system. The SDS bit can't slip even slightly in a rotary direction.
Feel free to add or subtract. ;-)