Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Apple M2 Max. Specifications, performance, tests

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

• CPU group
  Apple M1 Apple M2
• Family
  Apple M series Apple M series
• Generation
  1 2
• Predecessor
  - Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile

Core counts, threads, cache and clock modes describe the CPU configuration. Performance depends on the workload and comparable measured results.

• A-Core
  4x Firestorm 8x Avalanche
• A-Core Frequency
  3.2 GHz 3.5 GHz
• B-Core
  4x Icestorm 4x Blizzard
• B-Core Frequency
  2.06 GHz 2.8 GHz
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• CPU Cores
  8 12
• CPU Threads
  8 12
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No

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

• Execution units
  112 512
• Generation
  1 2
• GPU Frequency
  1300 MHz 1400 MHz
• GPU name
  Apple M1 (7 Core) Apple M2 Max (32 Core)
• GPU Turbo
  No turbo No turbo
• Max. displays
  2 2
• Max. GPU Memory
  8 GB 32 GB
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q4/2022
• Shader
  896 4096
• Technology
  5 nm 5 nm

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

• AV1
  No No
• H.264 / AVC
  Conflicting source values: Decode | Decode / Encode Conflicting source values: Decode | Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• VP8
  Decode Decode
• VP9
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple M2 Max and Apple M1 (7-GPU). Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• ECC
  No No
• Max. Memory
  16 GB 64 GB
• Memory Bandwidth
  68.2 GB/s 409.6 GB/s
• Memory channels
  2 (Dual Channel) 2 (Dual Channel)
• Memory type
  LPDDR4X-4266 LPDDR5-6400
• PCIe
  4.0 4.0

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple M2 Max Power specifications describe different manufacturer limits. TDP, base power and maximum turbo power are separate values; they do not establish measured system consumption.

• Maximum Operating Temperature
  - 100 °C
• TDP (PL1, legacy label)
  15 W 45 W
• TDP down
  10 W -
• TDP up
  20 W -

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple M2 Max, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Architecture
  M1 M2
• Chip design
  Chiplet Chiplet
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
• L2-Cache
  16 MB 36 MB
• Operating systems
  macOS macOS, iPadOS
• Part Number
  APL 1102 -
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q2/2022
• Technology
  5 nm 5 nm
• Virtualization
  Apple Virtualization Framework Apple Virtualization Framework