M2 vs. M1 Pro Chip Buyer's Guide: Why M1 Pro Is Still Better

This month, Apple introduced the M2 chip – the second-generation custom silicon chip for the Mac. The M2 now sits below the M1 Pro chip in Apple's custom silicon lineup, but why is the ‌M1 Pro‌, based on chip technology from 2020, still better than the latest ‌M2‌?

m1 pro chip
Apple says that the ‌M2‌ chip takes the performance per watt of the M1 even further with an 18 percent faster CPU, a 35 percent more powerful GPU, and a 40 percent faster Neural Engine. There are also other significant enhancements such as more memory bandwidth and support for up to 24GB of unified memory. Nevertheless, the ‌M1 Pro‌ remains a more capable and powerful chip, with up to four additional performance cores, support for 32GB of memory, and more.

The ‌M2‌ chip debuts in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the redesigned MacBook Air, so the extent to which the ‌M2‌ can compete with the ‌M1 Pro‌ could be an important consideration when purchasing a new Mac – especially if you are considering a 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro. Read on to learn more about the differences between the two chips.


M2 Chip

  • Made with TSMC's enhanced 5nm process (N5P)
  • 20 billion transistors
  • 4 high-performance "Avalanche" cores
  • 4 energy-efficient "Blizzard" cores
  • 3.49GHz CPU clock speed
  • CPU cores first seen in the iPhone 13 lineup's A15 Bionic chip
  • 10-core GPU
  • Support for 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB unified memory
  • 100GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Neural Engine
  • Media engine for hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
  • Higher-bandwidth video decode engine
  • Video encode engine
  • ProRes encode and decode engine
  • "New" image signal processor (ISP)


M1 Pro Chip

  • Made using TSMC's 5nm process (N5)
  • 33.7 billion transistors
  • Up to 8 high-performance "Firestorm" cores
  • 2 energy-efficient "Icestorm" cores
  • 3.2GHz CPU clock speed
  • CPU cores first seen in the iPhone 12 lineup's A14 Bionic chip
  • Up to 16-core GPU
  • Support for 16GB or 32GB unified memory
  • 204GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Neural Engine
  • Media engine for hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
  • Higher-bandwidth video decode engine
  • Video encode engine
  • ProRes encode and decode engine
  • Image signal processor (ISP)

Fabrication Process and Transistors

Like the A14 Bionic, the ‌M1 Pro‌ chip is built using TSMC's first-generation 5nm fabrication process. On the other hand, the ‌M2‌ uses TSMC's second-generation 5nm process like the A15 Bionic chip. The enhanced 5nm fabrication process is at the heart of many of ‌M2‌'s performance and efficiency improvements, but the ‌M1 Pro‌ has 13.7 billion additional transistors for a total of 33.7 billion – almost 70 percent more than the ‌M2‌. This is a key reason as to why the ‌M1 Pro‌ is more powerful than the ‌M2‌ despite being produced with older technology.

CPU

The ‌M2‌ offers four high-performance and four energy-efficient cores, while the ‌M1 Pro‌ has up to eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient cores. The ‌M1 Pro‌ features "Firestorm" and "Icestorm" cores from the A14 Bionic chip, but as a more modern chip, the ‌M2‌ has "Avalanche" and "Blizzard" from the A15 Bionic chip.

In early Geekbench benchmarks, the ‌‌M2‌‌, which runs at 3.49GHz compared to 3.2GHz for the ‌‌M1 Pro‌‌, earned a single-core score of 1,919, which is roughly 11 percent faster than the 1,731 single-core score of the ‌eight-core 14-inch MacBook Pro. The ‌‌M2‌‌ earned a multi-core score of 8,928, about six percent less than the 9,511 score of the eight-core ‌‌M1 Pro‌‌ 14-inch MacBook Pro and about 25 percent less than the 12,011 score of the ten-core ‌M1 Pro‌ 14-inch MacBook Pro.

The ‌M2‌'s high-performance cores share a 16MB L2 cache and the energy-efficient cores share a 4MB L2 cache. The chip also has an 8MB system level cache (SLC) shared by the GPU. In the ‌M1 Pro‌, the high-performance cores share a 12MB L2 cache and the two high-efficiency cores share a 4MB L2 cache. The ‌M1 Pro‌ also has 24MB of system level cache.

GPU

The ‌M1 Pro‌ features up to eight more GPU cores over the ‌M2‌, resulting in a major boost in graphics performance. In early Geekbench Metal benchmarks, the ‌‌M2‌‌ chip scored 30,627, noticeably less than the 39,758 score obtained by the ‌‌M1 Pro‌‌. The added graphics cores make the ‌M1 Pro‌ much more capable in GPU-intensive tasks.

Unified Memory

The ‌M2‌ comes configured with 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB of unified memory, while the ‌M1 Pro‌ is simply available with either 16GB or 32GB of memory. The ‌M1 Pro‌'s memory controller can also deliver 204GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, a substantial boost over the ‌M2‌'s 100GB/s memory bandwidth.

Other Custom Silicon Technologies

The ‌M2‌ features improvements to several of Apple's custom silicon technologies, such as the Neural Engine. The chip contains Apple's latest Secure Enclave and a new image signal processor (ISP) for better image noise reduction. Despite these improvements, the ‌M1 Pro‌ and the ‌M2‌ have the same dedicated video encode and decode engines for hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the ‌M2‌ chip is much closer to the ‌M1‌ than it is to the ‌M1 Pro‌, prioritizing efficiency over performance. The ‌M2‌ levelled the playing field in some senses by adopting the capabilities of the ‌M1 Pro‌'s dedicated media engine and the chip is more powerful in single-core tasks with its higher 3.49GHz CPU clock speed, but the ‌M1 Pro‌ is considerably better in multi-core and graphics tasks.

While the ‌M2‌ is ostensibly a more modern chip, being fabricated with next-generation 5nm process and offering the latest core technology, the ‌M1 Pro‌ remains more capable due to its scale. With significantly more transistors, performance CPU cores, and GPU cores, not to mention larger quantities of unified memory and higher memory bandwidth, the ‌M1 Pro‌ remains a powerful chip for professionals with demanding workflows. The ‌M2‌, on the other hand, is more of a consumer-oriented chip focused on delivering impressive performance for day-to-day tasks and excellent efficiency to keep temperatures down and prolong battery life.

Related Forums: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Unified Volume Button and Mute Button

Monday March 20, 2023 8:33 am PDT by
As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro. Instead of separate buttons for volume up and volume down, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a single elongated button for...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 for iPhone Nearing Launch With These 5 New Features

Monday March 20, 2023 11:50 am PDT by
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April. iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
voice isolation

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:01 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 update that is set to be released to the public in the near future includes voice isolation for cellular calls, according to notes that Apple shared today. Apple says that Voice Isolation will prioritize your voice and block out the ambient noise around you, making for clearer phone calls where you can better hear the person you're chatting with and vice versa. Voice...
original iphone auction

Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

Friday March 17, 2023 1:08 pm PDT by
A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007. The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000,...
airpodsd 3 purple 4

iOS 16.4 Seemingly References New AirPods and AirPods Case

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:43 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 release candidate version that was provided to developers today appears to hint at a new set of AirPods that could be coming in the near future. According to @aaronp613, the beta features references to AirPods that have a model number of A3048 and an AirPods case with a model number of A2968. There have been no rumors that new AirPods are on the horizon, and it is early for...
iOS 16

Apple Seeds Release Candidate Versions of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 to Developers [Update: Public RC Available]

Tuesday March 21, 2023 10:25 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the launch of the fourth betas. The RCs mark the final version of the software that will be provided to the public in the near future. Registered developers are able to download the iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates...
google bard

Google Opens Up Access to Bard AI Chatbot

Tuesday March 21, 2023 4:23 pm PDT by
Google today began allowing users to sign up to use Bard, its AI-powered chatbot that rivals Microsoft's Bing chatbot. First announced back in February, Bard is an experimental conversational AI service for Google Search. Those interested in Bard can join Google's waitlist to get access, and some users have reported getting invitation emails just hours after signing up. There are a long list ...
smart monitor m8 samsung

Deals: Samsung's iMac-Like Smart Monitor M8 Drops to Lowest Price of Year So Far With $250 Discount

Monday March 20, 2023 8:27 am PDT by
Samsung today kicked off a special "Discover Samsung" event, which will be a week-long savings event focusing on Samsung monitors, smartphones, TVs, appliances, and more. While some deals will stick around the entire week (through March 26), others will refresh every day. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...