Apple M2 review: specs and price
Apple M2
Why is Apple M2 better than the average?
- CPU speed?
4 x 3.2 GHz & 4 x 2 GHzvs14.42 GHz - RAM speed (max)?
6400 MHzvs2846.95 MHz - Semiconductor size?
5 nmvs15.71 nm - Thermal Design Power (TDP)?
15Wvs47.93W - PassMark result?
15363vs10597.34 - L2 cache?
16 MBvs3.12 MB - L2 core?
1.5 MB/corevs0.47 MB/core - Maximum memory bandwidth?
100 GB/svs42.45 GB/s
Price comparison
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User reviews
Overall rating
Features
Value for money
8.0/10
2 votes
Gaming
7.0/10
2 votes
Performance
10.0/10
2 votes
Reliability
10.0/10
2 votes
Energy efficiency
9.5/10
2 votes
General info
Type
Laptop
The market that the CPU is designed for.
Has integrated graphics
✔Apple M2
With integrated graphics you don’t need to buy a separate graphics card.
Small semiconductors provide better performance and reduced power consumption. Chipsets with a higher number of transistors, semiconductor components of electronic devices, offer more computational power. A small form factor allows more transistors to fit on a chip, therefore increasing its performance.
The thermal design power (TDP) is the maximum amount of power the cooling system needs to dissipate. A lower TDP typically means that it consumes less power.
CPU temperature
100 °C
If the CPU exceeds the maximum operating temperature then problems such as random resets can occur.
PCI Express (PCIe) version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) is a high-speed interface standard for connecting components, such as graphics cards and SSDs, to a motherboard. Newer versions can support more bandwidth and deliver better performance.
number of transistors
20000 million
A higher transistor count generally indicates a newer, more powerful processor.
Supports 64-bit
✔Apple M2
A 32-bit operating system can only support up to 4GB of RAM. 64-bit allows more than 4GB, giving increased performance. It also allows you to run 64-bit apps.
Performance
CPU speed
4 x 3.2 GHz & 4 x 2 GHz
The CPU speed indicates how many processing cycles per second can be executed by a CPU, considering all of its cores (processing units). It is calculated by adding the clock rates of each core or, in the case of multi-core processors employing different microarchitectures, of each group of cores.
CPU threads
8 threads
More threads result in faster performance and better multitasking.
turbo clock speed
3.2GHz
When the CPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
Has an unlocked multiplier
✖Apple M2
Some processors come with an unlocked multiplier which makes them easy to overclock, allowing you to gain increased performance in games and other apps.
L2 cache
16 MB
A larger L2 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
L3 cache
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
A larger L3 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
L1 cache
192 KB
A larger L1 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
L2 core
1.5 MB/core
More data can be stored in the L2 cache for access by each core of the CPU.
L3 core
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
More data can be stored in the L3 cache for access by each core of the CPU.
Benchmarks
PassMark result
15363
This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU using multiple threads.
This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU using a single thread.
Cinebench R20 (multi) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark tool that measures a CPU's multi-core performance by rendering a 3D scene.
Cinebench R20 (single) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark tool that measures a CPU's single-core performance by rendering a 3D scene.
Geekbench 6 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor's multi-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2024)
Geekbench 6 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor's single-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2024)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor's multi-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2024)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor's single-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2024)
Blender (bmw27) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
The Blender (bmw27) benchmark measures the performance of a processor by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render the scene in less time.
Integrated graphics
GPU clock speed
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
The clock speed of the graphics processing unit (GPU).
GPU turbo
1278 MHz
When the GPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
A graphics processing unit (GPU) with a greater number of execution units can deliver better graphics.
DirectX version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
DirectX is used in video games, with newer versions supporting better graphics and features. The latest version is DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes support for ray tracing, mesh shaders, and variable rate shading (VRS).
Using multiple displays you can create a larger workspace, making it easier to work across multiple apps.
OpenGL version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
OpenGL is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
OpenCL version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
Some apps use OpenCL to apply the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions introduce more functionality and better performance.
TMUs take textures and map them to the geometry of a 3D scene. More TMUs will typically mean that texture information is processed faster.
The ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, writing the final pixel data to memory and carrying out other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the look of graphics.
Memory
RAM speed (max)
6400 MHz
The maximum speed of RAM that is supported by the CPU.
maximum memory bandwidth
100 GB/s
This is the maximum rate that data can be read from or stored into memory.
DDR (Double Data Rate) memory is the most common type of RAM. Newer versions of DDR memory support higher maximum speeds and are more energy-efficient.
More memory channels increases the speed of data transfer between the memory and the CPU.
The maximum amount of memory (RAM) supported.
bus transfer rate
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
The bus is responsible for transferring data between different components of a computer or device.
Supports ECC memory
✖Apple M2
Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.
eMMC version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
A higher version of eMMC allows faster memory interfaces, having a positive effect on the performance of a device. For example, when transferring files from your computer to the internal storage over USB.
bus speed
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
The bus is responsible for transferring data between different components of a computer or device.
Features
instruction sets
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
Instruction sets are sets of codes that the CPU runs for certain functions.
uses multithreading
✖Apple M2
Multithreading technology (such as Intel's Hyperthreading or AMD's Simultaneous Multithreading) provides increased performance by splitting each of the processor's physical cores into virtual cores, also known as threads. This way, each core can run two instruction streams at once.
bits executed at a time
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
NEON provides acceleration for media processing, such as listening to MP3s.
Has TrustZone
✔Apple M2
A technology integrated into the processor to secure the device for use with features such as mobile payments and streaming video using digital rights management (DRM).
The CPU can decode more instructions per clock (IPC), meaning that the CPU performs better
Has NX bit
✔Apple M2
NX bit helps protect the computer from malicious attacks.
VFP version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value.
Vector Floating-Point (VFP) is used by the processor to deliver increased performance in areas such as digital imaging.
Price comparison
M.2 NVME SSD Adapter for Apple Macbook A1708 Laptop NVMe PCIe M2 NGFF SSD to 2016 2017 Macbook Pro A1708 ...M.2 NVME SSD Adapter for Apple Macbook A1708 Laptop NVMe PCIe M2 NGFF SSD to 2016 2017 Macbook Pro A1708 SSD Adapter Riser Card
For Macbook Air SSD Adapter For Apple SSD Adapter Card M2 M.2 For Macbook Pro Accessories Retina 2013 201...For Macbook Air SSD Adapter For Apple SSD Adapter Card M2 M.2 For Macbook Pro Accessories Retina 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Cards
M2 SSD Adapter M.2 PCIE NVME SSD Converter Card for Apple Macbook Air Pro 2013 2014 2015 2017 Year A1465 ...M2 SSD Adapter M.2 PCIE NVME SSD Converter Card for Apple Macbook Air Pro 2013 2014 2015 2017 Year A1465 A1466 A1398 A1502 A1419
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Comments
Harrison
6 months ago
10 / 10
Immense power in a portable package (MacBook Air)
Harrison
6 months ago
10 / 10
I’ve have gotten to use the M2 MacBook Air for. Few months and I can appreciate the snappy performance. Apps open very quickly in a fluid manner. I haven’t tried gaming so I won’t say much, but for very intensive games, the weak passive cooling won’t be doing this chip any favours. Productivity is a breeze, seamless, nothing else I can really add to that. Finally, the battery life: Amazing. It destroys any other laptop i’ve ever owned. After a FULL day’s worth of work, I still have 40% in the evening. This chip is truly amazing tech.
Felix
10 months ago
10 / 10
One of the most powerful Chips
Felix
10 months ago
10 / 10
Pros
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