Apple M2 vs Intel Core i7-3720QM. Specifications, performance, tests

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

• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Family
  Apple M series Intel Core i7
• Generation
  2 3
• CPU group
  Apple M2 Intel Core i 3000M

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 2.60 GHz
• CPU Cores
  8 4
• Turbo (1 Core)
  No turbo 3.60 GHz
• CPU Threads
  8 8
• Hyperthreading
  No Yes
• Overclocking
  No No
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) normal
• A core
  4x Avalanche --
• B core
  4x Blizzard --

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) Intel HD Graphics 4000
• GPU frequency
  3.50 GHz 0.65 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo 1.25 GHz
• Execution units
  128 16
• Shader
  0 128
• Max. GPU Memory
  16 GB --
• Max. displays
  3 3
• Generation
  2 7
• DirectX Version
  11.0
• Technology
  5 nm 22 nm
• Release date
  Q1/2022 Q1/2011

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

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  Decode / Encode No
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  Decode / Encode No
• h264
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VP9
  Decode / Encode No
• VP8
  Decode No
• AV1
  Decode No
• AVC
  Decode Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode Decode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i7-3720QM and Apple M2. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  LPDDR5-5500 DDR3-1333DDR3-1600DDR3L-1333 SO-DIMMDDR3L-1600 SO-DIMM
• Max. Memory
  16 GB 32 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  2 2
• PCIe version
  4.0 3.0
• PCIe lanes
  16

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Apple M2 and Intel Core i7-3720QM to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  15 W 45 W
• TDP up
  20 W --
• TDP down
  10 W --
• Tjunction max.
  -- 105 °C

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

• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  None VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
• ISA extensions
  Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
• L2-Cache
  16.00 MB --
• L3-Cache
  -- 6.00 MB
• Architecture
  M2 Ivy Bridge H
• Technology
  5 nm 22 nm
• Socket
  N/A BGA 1224
• Release date
  Q1/2022 Q2/2012