Apple ’s M2 is here … or it will be shortly , when the 13 - column inch MacBook begin shipping on June 24 . As expected , theM2 is a nice upgrade over the M1 , but not radical . There are advance in every part of the system of rules - on - chip ; the CPU , GPU , memory system , Neural Engine , and medium engine .
Clearly , theM2 is superior to the M1 , but it now begs the question : Is it deserving purchase a Mac with the M1 Pro , M1 Max , or M1 Ultra any longer ? Just because the second generation of Apple silicon is here , does that signify the first genesis has get hold of the conclusion of the line ?
We do n’t have benchmark yet , but in general , the answer to that is function to be yes , with the difference of opinion becoming starker as you move up the performance stack . If anything , it ’s those considering the M1 Pro simply to get more memory or GPU performance that might be influence by the M2 . Here ’s how the products stack up .
M2 vs M1 Pro
The M1 Pro has a CPU with up to eight performance cores ( twice that in the M2 ) and two efficiency cores ( half that of the M2 ) . It ’s 10 cores for the M1 Pro vs. 8 kernel for the M2 , but with the M1 Pro tend more heavily toward operation nitty-gritty .
The M1 Pro by and large offered CPU performance more about 60 per centum higher than the M1 . Apple says the M2 ’s C.P.U. is 18 percent quicker than the M1 ( andrecently leak benchmarksback up those number ) , so there ’s still a pretty substantial opening there . When the benchmarks come , we surmise the M1 Pro will still deliver multi - core public presentation that is around 35 percentage high than the M2 .
Apple
The M2 ’s GPU is 35 percent faster than that of the M1 , according to Apple . But the M1 Pro , with up to 16 GPU cores and way more memory bandwidth , is about twice as fast as the M1 . So expect the M1 Pro to still hail in around 40 per centum faster than the M2 .
likewise , the M2 offers more maximal computer storage ( 24 GB ) and memory bandwidth ( 100GB / sec ) than the M1 . But the M1 Pro grant up to 32 GB of memory and 200GB / sec of memory board bandwidth .
Interestingly , the M2 ’s rise to the culture medium locomotive engine really appeared in the M1 Pro . You get improved H.264 and HEVC encode and decode performance and ProRes support in the M1 Pro , while you did n’t in the M1 . As far as we can tell , it ’s the same media locomotive engine – it just landed in the M1 Pro first .
The one area where the M2 has a light performance advantage over the M1 Pro is in the Neural Engine – Apple ’s tradition ironware to accelerate political machine learning and AI software . They both feature a 16 - core Neural Engine , but the M1 Pro has the same Neural Engine as the M1 ( and A14 ) , capable of 11 trillion military operation per second gear . The M2 ’s newer - coevals 16 - burden Neural Engine can cover a report 15.8 trillion ops , making it more than 40 percentage quicker .
In sum , expect a Mac with the M1 Pro to be a good 30 percentage to 40 percent faster than the M2 in every manner , with the the exception of the media railway locomotive ( which appears the be the same ) and the Neural Engine ( in which the M2 is 40 percentage faster ) .
M2 vs M1 Max
If the M1 Pro is faster than the M2 in most ways , the M1 Max surely will be . It has the same CPU , so performance there wo n’t change – still likely about 35 percent quicker than the M2 .
Apple ’s M1 Max has the same central processing unit as the M1 Pro but adds more art power .
The GPU is twice as big , and it offers twice the maximal memory with twice the memory bandwidth as the M1 Pro . ask GPU performance rough 2.5x that of the M2 . The M1 Max has two medium engine , giving it standardised features but double the performance of the M1 Pro or M2 .
But the M1 Max only has one 16 - kernel Neural Engine , of the same generation as that in the M1 and M1 Pro , which means the M2 ’s Neural Engine is likely 40 percent faster .
M2 vs M1 Ultra
The M1 Ultra is essentially two M1 Max chips stitch together with a super - fast interconnect , so you may take everything about the M1 Max and double it . You in reality get 20 CPU cores , so it ’ll be more than 2.5x faster than the M2 ’s CPU . The GPU is up to 64 inwardness , and is probable 5x faster than the M2 . There are four spiritualist engine , too .
In fact , the M1 Ultra will actually stupefy the M2 ineveryway , including the Neural Engine , because it hastwo16 - core Neural Engines . While they each do 11 trillion ops , the immix 22 trillion ops is still about 40 % quicker than the next - generation Neural Engine in the M2 .
M2: External Display support
If you really care about hooking your MacBook up to multiple outside display , you should sleep together that the first merchandise to include the M2 – the new MacBook Air and the updated 13 - column inch MacBook Pro – only suffer a single external presentation with a resolution up to 6 K at 60Hz . In this respectfulness , it is just like the M1 . you could work aroundthe restriction with DisplayLink adaptersand drivers , but you ca n’t simply punch in two monitor .
It ’s unclear if this is a restriction of the chip itself or the product it is used in so far . A hypothetical updated Mac mini or other product with more than one pair of Thunderbolt ports might defend more exhibit , but such a ware might never exist . The current M1 Mac miniskirt has one pair of Thunderbolt port wine that support a undivided 6 grand show and one HDMI port that support up to 4 K at 60Hz .
The M1 Pro supports two external 6 K displays and the M1 Max supports three 6 K exhibit and one 4 K display on the MacBook Pro . The Mac Studio supports four 6 K displays and one 4 K presentation over HDMI wither you have the M1 Max or M1 Ultra .
Should you wait for M2 Pro, M2 Max, or M2 Ultra?
We certainly do n’t know exactly what to look from theM2 Pro , Max , and Ultra(or when they will plunge ) . It seems sane to expect that Apple will keep an eye on the same strategy it did with the M1 , increasing CPU and GPU core count , memory bandwidth , and media engines while keep the Neural Engine the same ( save for the M2 Ultra ) .
But we do n’t really ask these potato chip to descend soon . It will probably be at least previous 2022 before an M2 Pro and/or M2 Max is announce , and at least another six months after that before we get the M2 Ultra . It ’s potential that we do n’t see any of those chips until mid-2023 .
And of course , they will appear in moreexpensiveMacs , while the M2 Ultra , like the M1 Ultra , will likely not appear in any laptop computer . If you are thinking of buying the entry - level$1,999 14 - column inch MacBook Pro , with an M1 Pro that has an 8 - core CPU and 14 - core GPU , along with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage , you might want to seriously consider the forthcoming M2 MacBook Air instead . Similarly configure it would be $ 1,699 , and you ’d only give up a couplet of port , a bantam bit of filmdom size , and a tiny bit of performance . It could well be deserving the lower price , not to mention size and weight unit .
If you want a MacBook Pro with the full 10/16 - core M1 Pro frame-up , or anything more powerful than that , you probably should n’t rent the existence of the M2 care you just yet . It ’s only when the M2 Pro , Max , and Ultra hit the scene that it will really weigh , and that ’s credibly at least six months away .
For more information read : Apple silicon , ranked : How the M2 liken to every other Apple chip .
