Home > CPU Comparison > Apple M2 or Apple M1: what's better?

Apple M2 vs Apple M1

57 out of 100
Apple M2
VS
53 out of 100
Apple M1
Apple M2
Apple M1

We compared two 8-core laptop CPUs: the 3.5 GHz Apple M2 against the 3.2 GHz Apple M1. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (8)

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.
🔌 Usage Scenario:

Key Differences

What are the key differences between M1 and M2
Advantages of Apple M2
  • Supports up to 24 GB LPDDR5-6400 RAM
  • Around 34.15 GB/s (50%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Newer - released 1 year and 6 months later

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Apple M2
vs
Apple M1

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Apple M2 +14%
125
Apple M1
110
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Apple M2 +11%
582
Apple M1
525
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Apple M2 +7%
2589
Apple M1
2410
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Apple M2 +18%
10122
Apple M1
8547
File compression 1130 MB/sec 941 MB/sec
Clang compilation 80.4 Klines/sec 68.2 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 235.3 pages/sec 192.4 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 266.1 Mpixels/sec 211.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 257.4 pages/sec 250.8 pages/sec
Background blur 42.1 images/sec 34.1 images/sec
Photo processing 107 images/sec 60.9 images/sec
Ray tracing 10.5 Mpixels/sec 9.74 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 465 & 760 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Apple M2 +6%
3883
Apple M1
3673
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Apple M2 +11%
15651
Apple M1
14123
Integer math 37 GOps/sec 33.2 GOps/sec
Floating point math 37.5 GOps/sec 35.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 174M Primes/sec 141M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 23.7M Strings/sec 21M Strings/sec
Data encryption 9.5 GBytes/sec 8.5 GBytes/sec
Data compression 185.8 MBytes/sec 168 MBytes/sec
Physics 1667 Frames/sec 1359 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 7.8B Matrices/sec 7B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 4611 & 10702 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Apple M2 +15%
109.19
Apple M1
95.27

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 32.3 PPW 37.5 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 562.3 PPW 610.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 869.5 PPW 1008.8 PPW
Blender / Watt 6.07 PPW 6.81 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
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-03-14 (T)Geekbench 6 CPU2647 / 10245
📘 2026-01-05 (AR)Geekbench 6 CPU2655 / 10211
📘 2025-10-24 (Shivam)Geekbench 6 CPU2619 / 9900
Add View all (3)
Apple M1
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-25 -> op1Geekbench 6 CPU2273 / 7967
📘 2026-08-24 -> op1Geekbench 6 CPU2420 / 8793
📘 2026-03-06 (gaR)Geekbench 6 CPU2396 / 8763
📘 2025-04-11 (Ario)Geekbench 6 CPU2395 / 8820
📘 2025-04-11 (Ario)Cinebench 2024110 / 465
Add View all (8)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Apple M2 and Apple M1

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Released June 6, 2022 November 20, 2020
Type Laptop Laptop
Instruction Set ARMv8 ARMv8
Codename Apple M2 Apple M1
Integrated GPU Apple M2 GPU Apple M1 GPU
Successor - Apple M5 (10-Core) - Apple M5 (10-Core)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 4 4
P-Threads 4 4
Base Frequency (P) 3.5 GHz 3.2 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 4 4
E-Threads 4 4
Base Frequency (E) 2.4 GHz 2.1 GHz
Total
Total Cores 8 8
Total Threads 8 8
L1 Cache 192K (per core) 192K (per core)
L2 Cache 16MB (shared) 12MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Transistors 20 billions 16 billions
Fabrication Process 5 nm 5 nm
TDP (PL1) 18 W 14 W
Socket Apple M-Socket Apple M-Socket
Laptop processors ranking (133rd and 172nd place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Apple M2 GPU Apple M1 GPU
GPU Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1398 MHz 1278 MHz
Shading Units 1024 1024
TMUs 64 64
ROPs 32 32
Execution Units 128 128
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Apple M2 +12%
2.9 TFLOPS
Apple M1
2.6 TFLOPS
More info: Apple M1 GPU (8-core) compared to M2 GPU (8-core)

Memory Support

Memory Types - LPDDR5-6400 - LPDDR4X-4266
Max. Memory Size 24 GB 16 GB
Memory Channels 8 8
Max. Memory Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s 68.25 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
1588 (65.4%)
840 (34.6%)
Total votes: 2428

Competitors

1. Apple M2 vs Apple M4 (10-Core)
2. Apple M2 vs Apple M3
3. Apple M2 vs Intel Core i7 12700H (2)
4. Apple M2 vs Intel Core i5 12500H (7)
5. Apple M2 vs Apple M2 Pro (2)
6. Apple M1 vs Apple M4 (10-Core) (11)
7. Apple M1 vs Apple M3
8. Apple M1 vs Apple M4 Pro (12-Core)
9. Apple M1 vs Apple M3 Pro
10. Apple M1 vs Intel Core Ultra 5 125H
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Apple M1 or Apple M2?
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Avatar
Lol February 12, 2023 at 07:50 PM
On paper, the m2 is better but on daily use and gaming they are almost the same.
+155 Reply
Avatar
CubrYT October 30, 2023 at 10:35 AM
Firstly, in order to match the specifications of a Dell G16 equipped with an i9-12900H and a 3070 Ti, you have to spend $2,500! That's $1,000 more than the Dell, but the value isn't nearly as good. Consequently, it's evident that Apple is overpriced.
+49 Reply
Avatar
Vitu June 23, 2024 at 04:49 AM
CubrYT, With the difference that this Dell is like 2x heavier and doesn't have a third of a MacBook's battery life... they are two different product categories.
+15 Reply
Avatar
Enis February 3, 2023 at 05:10 AM
I guess it is not like worth to buy a mac with m2 while u have m1 one. I can't see any big news.
+57 Reply
Avatar
niubi January 31, 2023 at 11:10 AM
After reading this comparison, I feel no difference
+62 Reply
Avatar
sun March 4, 2024 at 03:49 AM
I believe this benchmark is intended for individuals who are considering purchasing the new M2 chip. After all, buying an M1 chip in 2024 may not be the best decision, as I anticipate Apple will only support the M1 chip for the next 1-2 years.
+28 Reply
Avatar
İBRAHİM July 18, 2024 at 11:59 AM
sun, NO, APPLE SUPPORT M1 CHİP NEXT 4-5 YEARS
+26 Reply
Avatar
Shawn October 30, 2024 at 02:43 AM
İBRAHİM, it's better to get M2 or M3 in 2024 even if you have to pay a little bit more.
+14 Reply
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