Apple M2
Apple M1
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Apple M2 vs Apple M1. Specifications, performance, tests

Overall score
star star star star star
Released
Q1/2022
Apple M2
Apple M2
Released
Q4/2020
Overall score
star star star star star
Apple M1
Apple M1

What's the best choice Apple M2 or Apple M1? Which processor is faster?

We have prepared a comparison to help you choose the best processor. Compare their specifications and benchmarks.

Apple M2 has a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. 8 Cores. Power consumption of 15 W. Released in Q1/2022.

Apple M1 has a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. 8 Cores. Power consumption of 15 W. Released in Q4/2020.

Differences

Apple M2 Reasons to consider
Apple M2
Report a bug
  • Place in the overall ranking

    (based on several benchmarks)

    164 left arrow score
  • Higher clock speed

    Around 9% better clock speed

    3.50 GHz left arrow 3.20 GHz

Positions in all rankings

Common positions Apple M2 CPU in popular benchmarks, for comparison with other models.

  • Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
    60 place
  • Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
    197 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)
    68 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
    283 place
  • iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)
    42 place
  • Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
    120 place
  • Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark
    361 place
  • Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
    46 place
  • Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
    125 place
Apple M1 Reasons to consider
Apple M1
Report a bug
  • Place in the overall ranking

    (based on several benchmarks)

    182 left arrow score

Positions in all rankings

Common positions Apple M1 CPU in popular benchmarks, for comparison with other models.

  • Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
    128 place
  • Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
    216 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)
    117 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
    346 place
  • iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)
    57 place
  • Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
    106 place
  • Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
    86 place

Specifications

Technical data
Apple M2 Apple M2
Apple M1 Apple M1
CPU family and group

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

  • Segment
    Mobile left arrow Mobile
  • Family
    Apple M series left arrow Apple M series
  • Generation
    2 left arrow 1
  • CPU group
    Apple M2 left arrow Apple M1
CPU Technical specs

Basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base and turbo frequency, and cache size. These parameters indirectly tell about the speed of the processor, the higher they are the better.

  • Frequency
    3.50 GHz left arrow 3.20 GHz
  • CPU Cores
    8 left arrow 8
  • Turbo (1 Core)
    No turbo left arrow No turbo
  • CPU Threads
    8 left arrow 8
  • Turbo (8 Cores)
    No turbo left arrow No turbo
  • Hyperthreading
    No left arrow No
  • Overclocking
    No left arrow No
  • Core architecture
    hybrid (big.LITTLE) left arrow hybrid (big.LITTLE)
  • A core
    4x Avalanche left arrow 4x Firestorm
  • B core
    4x Blizzard left arrow 4x Icestorm
IGPU

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

  • GPU name
    Apple M2 (8 Core) left arrow Apple M1 (8 Core)
  • GPU frequency
    3.50 GHz left arrow 3.20 GHz
  • GPU (Turbo)
    No turbo left arrow No turbo
  • Execution units
    128 left arrow 128
  • Max. GPU Memory
    16 GB left arrow 8 GB
  • Max. displays
    3 left arrow 2
  • Generation
    2 left arrow 1
  • Technology
    5 nm left arrow 5 nm
  • Release date
    Q1/2022 left arrow Q4/2020
Hardware codec support

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

  • h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
    Decode / Encode left arrow Decode / Encode
  • h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
    Decode / Encode left arrow Decode / Encode
  • h264
    Decode / Encode left arrow Decode / Encode
  • VP9
    Decode / Encode left arrow Decode / Encode
  • VP8
    Decode left arrow Decode
  • AV1
    Decode left arrow Decode
  • AVC
    Decode left arrow Decode
  • VC-1
    Decode left arrow Decode
  • JPEG
    Decode / Encode left arrow Decode / Encode
Memory specs & PCI

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple M1 and Apple M2. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

  • Memory type
    LPDDR5-5500 left arrow LPDDR4X-4266
  • Max. Memory
    16 GB left arrow 16 GB
  • ECC
    No left arrow No
  • Memory channels
    2 left arrow 2
  • PCIe version
    4.0 left arrow 4.0
Encryption
  • AES-NI
    Yes left arrow Yes
Thermal Management

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Apple M2 and Apple M1 to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

  • TDP (PL1)
    15 W left arrow 15 W
  • TDP up
    20 W left arrow 20 W
  • TDP down
    10 W left arrow 10 W
Technologies and extensions

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Apple M2 and Apple M2, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

  • Instruction set (ISA)
    ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) left arrow ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
  • Virtualization
    None left arrow None
  • ISA extensions
    Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation left arrow Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
  • L2-Cache
    16.00 MB left arrow 16.00 MB
  • Architecture
    M2 left arrow M1
  • Technology
    5 nm left arrow 5 nm
  • Socket
    N/A left arrow N/A
  • Release date
    Q1/2022 left arrow Q4/2020

Benchmarks

Performance tests CPUs

Based on the results of several benchmarks, you can more accurately estimate the difference in performance between Apple M2 and Apple M1.

Compare the synthetic test values and choose the best processor!

Latest comparisons