Apple M2 Pro vs Apple M2

65 out of 100
Apple M2 Pro
VS
57 out of 100
Apple M2

We compared two laptop CPUs: the 3.5 GHz Apple M2 Pro with 12-cores against the 3.5 GHz Apple M2 with 8-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between M2 and Pro
Advantages of Apple M2 Pro
  • More powerful Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) integrated graphics: 6.8 vs 2.9 TFLOPS
  • Around 102.4 GB/s (100%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Has 4 more physical cores
  • Supports up to 32 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM
  • Newer - released 7 months later

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
vs

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
125
125
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
M2 Pro +37%
795
582

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
M2 Pro +3%
2666
2589
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
M2 Pro +43%
14489
10122
File compression 1630 MB/sec 1130 MB/sec
Clang compilation 125.3 Klines/sec 80.4 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 356.9 pages/sec 235.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 352.9 Mpixels/sec 266.1 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 266.9 pages/sec 257.4 pages/sec
Background blur 53.8 images/sec 42.1 images/sec
Photo processing 126.3 images/sec 107 images/sec
Ray tracing 17 Mpixels/sec 10.5 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 917 & 465 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
M2 Pro +5%
4089
3883
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
M2 Pro +71%
26724
15651
Integer math 57.6 GOps/sec 37 GOps/sec
Floating point math 73.2 GOps/sec 37.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 354M Primes/sec 174M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 40.9M Strings/sec 23.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 15.6 GBytes/sec 9.5 GBytes/sec
Data compression 334.8 MBytes/sec 185.8 MBytes/sec
Physics 3611 Frames/sec 1667 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 14.7B Matrices/sec 7.8B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 584 & 4611 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
M2 Pro +82%
198.23
109.19

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 26.5 PPW 32.3 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 483 PPW 562.3 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 890.8 PPW 869.5 PPW
Blender / Watt 6.61 PPW 6.07 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple M2 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-23 (Roman)Cinebench 2024125 / 795
Apple M2
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-14 (T)GeekBench2647 / 10245
πŸ“˜ 2026-01-05 (AR)GeekBench2655 / 10211
πŸ“˜ 2025-10-24 (Shivam)GeekBench2619 / 9900

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M2 Pro and Apple M2

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released January 17, 2023 June 6, 2022
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv8 ARMv8
Codename Apple M2 Apple M2
Integrated GPU Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) Apple M2 GPU
Successor - Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) - Apple M5 (10-Core)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 4
P-Threads 8 4
Base Frequency (P) 3.5 GHz 3.5 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 4 4
E-Threads 4 4
Base Frequency (E) 2.4 GHz 2.4 GHz
Total
Total Cores 12 8
Total Threads 12 8
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 32MB (shared) 16MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 40 billions 20 billions
Fabrication Process 5 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 30 W 18 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Peak Temperature 100Β°C -
Laptop processors ranking (74th and 133rd place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) Apple M2 GPU
GPU Base Clock 450 MHz 500 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1398 MHz 1398 MHz
Shading Units 2432 1024
TMUs 152 64
ROPs 76 32
Execution Units 304 128
TGP 35 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
M2 Pro +134%
6.8 TFLOPS
2.9 TFLOPS

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5-6400 - LPDDR5-6400
Max. Memory Size 32 GB 24 GB
Memory Channels 4 8
Max. Memory Bandwidth 204.8 GB/s 102.4 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
316 (79.6%)
81 (20.4%)
Total votes: 397

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M2 or M2 Pro?
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ComputerNerd March 16, 2024 at 04:47 PM
The M2 Pro easily wins if you need more than the basics. Far better multi-core performance and far better GPU. M2 Pro are for those doing serious professional work. Only look into the basic M2 CPU for basic needs and light professional work. Think interns or hobbyists.
+15 Reply
Avatar
Karan December 10, 2024 at 02:26 PM
Both are equal in Video editing (FCPx rendering) because the iGpu is same with 1398Mhz.. in other works undoubtedly the M2 pro is 20% fast with his double price.
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