Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) vs GPU (8-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) with 304 pipelines and 2432 shaders against the 7 months older 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 M2 GPU (8-core) over M2 Pro GPU (19-core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 2.2x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • 2.3x higher maximum theoretical performance (6.8 vs 2.9 TFLOPS)
  • Has 2x higher memory bandwidth: 204.8 vs 102.4 GB/s
  • Achieves 66% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (49K vs 29K)
  • Has 2.4x more shading units (2432 vs 1024)

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 16218 7316
Wild Life Extreme 12726 5676
Sources: 3DMark [1], [2]

GeekBench 6 OpenCL

GPU test for computational tasks (image processing, photography, computer vision, and ML)
GB6 Compute Score
Background Blur 89.7 img/sec 58.7 img/sec
Face Detection 58 img/sec 35.2 img/sec
Horizon Detection 1.94 Gpixels/sec 1.1 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 3.26 Gpixels/sec 1.82 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 2.19 Gpixels/sec 1.2 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.55 Gpixels/sec 0.37 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 163 Gpixels/sec 96 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 6139.2 FPS 3825.9 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
Sources: Blender [9], [10]206 & 81 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) 5279 3242
Image Segmentation (HP) 8089 4890
Image Super Resolution (Q) 15007 7149
Face Detection (HP) 19212 10340
Pose Estimation (Q) 44046 21268
Text Classification (SP) 2280 2268
Machine Translation (HP) 1972 1122
Object Detection (SP) 4941 3007
Depth Estimation (Q) 22209 13941
Style Transfer (SP) 79898 35943
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) and GPU (8-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released January 17, 2023 June 6, 2022
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment High-end Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
Rival Equivalent - GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop -
Successor - Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M2 Pro or above - Apple M2 or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M2 Pro - Apple M2
Laptop GPU ranking (68th and 88th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 450 MHz 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1398 MHz 1398 MHz
Shading Units 2432 1024
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 152 64
Render Output Units (ROPs) 76 32
Compute Units (Pipelines) 304 128
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 106 GPixel/s 45 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 212 GTexel/s 89 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
6.8 TFLOPS
2.9 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 35 W 15 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 5 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 26 billion 11.6 billion
Max. Temperature 94°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 6400 MHz 6400 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 12800 Mbps 12800 Mbps
Bus 256-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
204.8 GB/s
102.4 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing No No
DLSS No No

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