Apple M2 GPU (8-core) vs M1 GPU (8-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M2 GPU (8-core) with 128 pipelines and 1024 shaders against the 1 year and 7 months older M1 GPU (8-core) that utilizes 128 pipelines and 1024 shaders. Here you will find complete details about specs, efficiency, performance tests, and more.

Review

General comparison of performance in games, applications, power efficiency, and other metrics
Gaming
Performance in DirectX, OpenCL, and Vulkan games
Workstation
Perf. in 3D modeling, video editing and rendering apps
AI/ML
Capabilities for machine learning and AI-related tasks
Energy Efficiency
Power consumption efficiency in different scenarios
NanoReview Final Score
Overall video card score

Key differences

Key distinctions and advantages of M1 GPU (8-core) over M2 GPU (8-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M2 GPU (8-core)
  • Performs slightly better (up to 17%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Has 50% higher memory bandwidth: 102.4 vs 68.2 GB/s
  • Achieves 43% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (29K vs 20K)

Benchmarks

Graphics cards’ performance in recent benchmarking apps

3D Mark

Multiplatform graphics benchmark suite that directly correlates with performance in modern games
Steel Nomad Lite Score
Solar Bay 7316 6317
Wild Life Extreme 5676 4966
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
29705
Background Blur 58.7 img/sec 38.3 img/sec
Face Detection 35.2 img/sec 23 img/sec
Horizon Detection 1.1 Gpixels/sec 0.76 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 1.82 Gpixels/sec 1.33 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 1.2 Gpixels/sec 0.87 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.37 Gpixels/sec 0.27 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 96 Gpixels/sec 69.9 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 3825.9 FPS 2766.4 FPS
API OpenCL OpenCL
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]

Cinebench 2024 GPU

Hardware benchmark using Maxon's Cinema 4D rendering engine
Cinebench 2024 GPU

Blender

Rendering performance test for 3D modeling
Blender GPU
301.33
Sources: Blender [9], [10] – 81 & 307 samples

Artificial Intelligence Tests

Performance in machine learning and artificial intelligence tasks

GeekBench 6 ML

Tests throughput of AI operations in single, half, and quantized precision
GB6 ML Single Precision
GB6 ML Half Precision
GB6 ML Quantized
Image Classification (SP) 3242 1400
Image Segmentation (HP) 4890 2280
Image Super Resolution (Q) 7149 3402
Face Detection (HP) 10340 5638
Pose Estimation (Q) 21268 12027
Text Classification (SP) 2268 2324
Machine Translation (HP) 1122 4296
Object Detection (SP) 3007 1530
Depth Estimation (Q) 13941 7675
Style Transfer (SP) 35943 17293
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU CPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M2 GPU (8-core) and M1 GPU (8-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released June 6, 2022 November 20, 2020
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
Rival Equivalent - - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
Successor - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M2 or above - Apple M1 or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M2 - Apple M1
Laptop GPU ranking (89th and 104th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
Boost Clock 1398 MHz 1278 MHz
Shading Units 1024 1024
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 64 64
Render Output Units (ROPs) 32 32
Compute Units (Pipelines) 128 128
Ray-tracing Cores - No
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 45 GPixel/s 41 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 89 GTexel/s 82 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
2.9 TFLOPS
2.6 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 15 W 15 W
Manufacturing TSMC Intel
Fabrication Process 5 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 11.6 billion 11.6 billion
Max. Temperature 94°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 6400 MHz 4266 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 12800 Mbps 8532 Mbps
Bus 128-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
102.4 GB/s
68.2 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing No No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
12 (70.6%)
5 (29.4%)
Total votes: 17

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