Apple M4 GPU (10-Core) vs M2 GPU (8-core)

We compared two integrated laptop professional GPUs: the Apple M4 GPU (10-Core) with 160 pipelines and 1280 shaders against the 1 year and 11 months older M2 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 M4 GPU (10-Core)
Reasons to consider the Apple M4 GPU (10-Core)
  • Performs significantly better (up to 77%) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Manufactured using a more efficient 3 nm process technology
  • 31% higher maximum theoretical performance (3.8 vs 2.9 TFLOPS)
  • Achieves 27% more points in the GeekBench 6 Compute test (37K vs 29K)
  • Has 25% more shading units (1280 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 16554 7316
Wild Life Extreme 9610 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 72.2 img/sec 58.7 img/sec
Face Detection 48.3 img/sec 35.2 img/sec
Horizon Detection 1.4 Gpixels/sec 1.1 Gpixels/sec
Edge Detection 1.94 Gpixels/sec 1.82 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian Blur 1.5 Gpixels/sec 1.2 Gpixels/sec
Feature Matching 0.53 Gpixels/sec 0.37 Gpixels/sec
Stereo Matching 123.3 Gpixels/sec 96 Gpixels/sec
Particle Physics 4938.4 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
1067.3
Sources: Blender [9], [10] – 529 & 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) 4874 3242
Image Segmentation (HP) 8168 4890
Image Super Resolution (Q) 11983 7149
Face Detection (HP) 17036 10340
Pose Estimation (Q) 31171 21268
Text Classification (SP) 2964 2268
Machine Translation (HP) 3410 1122
Object Detection (SP) 5112 3007
Depth Estimation (Q) 22700 13941
Style Transfer (SP) 60872 35943
Framework Core ML Core ML
Backend GPU GPU
Sources: Geekbench [9], [10]

Specifications

Technical specifications of Apple M4 GPU (10-Core) and M2 GPU (8-core)

General

Vendor Apple Apple
Build Integrated Integrated
Released May 7, 2024 June 6, 2022
Case Laptop Laptop
Purpose Professional Professional
Segment Mid-range Mid-range
Architecture Apple M GPU Apple M GPU
GPU Codename Custom -
Rival Equivalent - Adreno X1-85 -
Successor - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) - Apple M5 GPU (10-Core)
Recommended CPU - Apple M4 (10-Core) or above - Apple M2 or above
Used in CPUs - Apple M4 (10-Core) - Apple M2
Laptop GPU ranking (72nd and 89th place)

Graphics Processing Unit

Base Clock 500 MHz 500 MHz
Boost Clock 1470 MHz 1398 MHz
Shading Units 1280 1024
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) 80 64
Render Output Units (ROPs) 40 32
Compute Units (Pipelines) 160 128
Instructions Per Cycle 2 IPC 2 IPC

Raw Performance

Pixel Fill Rate 59 GPixel/s 45 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate 118 GTexel/s 89 GTexel/s
FLOPS (FP32)
3.8 TFLOPS
2.9 TFLOPS

Physical

Interface Custom Custom
TGP 18 W 15 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Fabrication Process 3 nm 5 nm
Transistor Count 28 billion 11.6 billion
Max. Temperature 100°C 94°C

Memory

Memory Type System Shared System Shared
Memory Clock 7500 MHz 6400 MHz
Effective Memory Speed 15000 Mbps 12800 Mbps
Bus 128-bit 128-bit
ECC No No
Memory Bandwidth
120 GB/s
102.4 GB/s

API

Ray Tracing Yes No
DLSS No No

Cast your vote

Choose between two graphics cards
18 (81.8%)
4 (18.2%)
Total votes: 22

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