Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) VS Apple M2 (8-GPU)

Comparison of video cards Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) vs Apple M2 (8-GPU) in benchmarks and specifications.

Differences Specifications Benchmarks

Differences

Top features of Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU)

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Top features of Apple M2 (8-GPU)

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Performance per watt

22 W 30 W

About 0.73 times less performance per watt

Specifications

Complete list of technical specifications

Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) Apple M2 (8-GPU)

CPU generation and family

Let's find out which one of Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) and Apple M2 (8-GPU) is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

Specification	Value
Name	Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) Apple M2 (8-GPU)
Family	Apple M series Apple M series
CPU group	Apple M1 Apple M2
Segment	Mobile Mobile
Generation	1 2
Predecessor	-- Apple M1

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

In this block we are going to compare Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) vs Apple M2 (8-GPU) by main technical specifications: number of cores and threads, base and maximum frequencies, process technology and cache size. The higher these specifications are, the more powerful your CPU will be.

Specification	Value
CPU Cores / Threads	8 / 8 8 / 8
Core architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (big.LITTLE)
A-Core	6x Firestorm 4x Avalanche
B-Core	2x Icestorm 4x Blizzard
Hyperthreading / SMT	No No
Overclocking	No No
A-Core Frequency	3.20 GHz 3.50 GHz
B-Core Frequency	2.06 GHz 2.80 GHz

Internal Graphics

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) and Apple M2 (8-GPU) along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

Specification	Value
GPU name	Apple M1 Pro (14 Core) Apple M2 (8 Core)
GPU frequency	1.30 GHz 1.40 GHz
GPU (Turbo)	No turbo No turbo
Execution units	224 128
Shader	1792 1024
Max. GPU Memory	32 GB 24 GB
Max. displays	3 2
Generation	1 2
Technology	5 nm 5 nm
Release date	Q3/2021 Q2/2022

Hardware codec support

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) and Apple M2 (8-GPU). Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

Specification	Value
h265 / HEVC (8 bit)	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit)	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
h264	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
VP8	Decode Decode
VP9	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
AV1	No No
AVC	Decode Decode
VC-1	Decode Decode
JPEG	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

To choose the best model between Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) and Apple M2 (8-GPU) you need to pay special attention to memory type, clock frequency, multi-channel features, and PCIe version. The higher these numbers are, the better your CPU will be. Keep in mind that the maximum memory and frequency may also depend on the model of the motherboard.

Specification	Value
Memory type	LPDDR5-6400 LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory	32 GB 24 GB
Memory channels	2 (Dual Channel) 2 (Dual Channel)
Bandwidth	204.8 GB/s 102.4 GB/s
ECC	No No
PCIe	4.0 4.0
AES-NI	Yes Yes

Thermal Management

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) or Apple M2 (8-GPU)? The Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicates the maximum amount of heat that should be dissipated by the chip cooling system. However, the value of TDP gives only a rough indication of the real power consumption of the CPU.

Specification	Value
TDP (PL1)	30 W 22 W
TDP up	40 W --
TDP down	-- 10 W
Tjunction max.	-- 100 \xc2\xb0C

Technical details

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple M1 Pro (8-CPU) and Apple M2 (8-GPU) CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

Specification	Value
Technology	5 nm 5 nm
Chip design	Chiplet Chiplet
Socket	N/A N/A
L2-Cache	24.00 MB 20.00 MB
Architecture	M1 M2
Operating systems	macOS macOS, iPadOS
Virtualization	Apple Virtualization Framework Apple Virtualization Framework
Instruction set (ISA)	ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions	Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
Release date	Q3/2021 Q2/2022
Part Number	APL 1103 --
Documents	-- Technical data sheet