Is the M2 Chip Worth The Hype?
Apple released the M2 processor this month, the second-generation proprietary silicon chip for the Mac. Apple claims that the M2 processor improves on the M1’s performance per watt by having an 18% faster CPU, a 35% more powerful GPU, and a 40% quicker Neural Engine. Other notable improvements include increased memory bandwidth and support for up to 24GB of unified memory. Now the question is, is it worth it?
The M2 processor will be available in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the revamped MacBook Air, so how much better the M2 is than its predecessor may be a key factor when selecting a new Mac. Continue reading to discover more about the distinctions between the two chips.
CPU
Both the M1 and M2 contain four high-performance and four energy-efficient cores, however the M1 has “Firestorm” and “Icestorm” cores from the A14 Bionic chip, and the M2 has “Avalanche” and “Blizzard” cores from the A15 Bionic chip. According to Apple, this results in an 18% increase in multithreaded performance over M1.
In early Geekbench evaluations, the M2, which operates at 3.49GHz against 3.2GHz for the M1, scored a single-core score of 1,919, which is nearly 12% quicker than the M1 13-inch MacBook Pro’s 1,707 single-core result. The M2 had a multi-core score of 8,928, which is almost 20% higher than the M1 model’s score of 7,419. This is consistent with Apple’s assertion that the M2 processor is up to 18% quicker than the M1.
Both chips have high-performance processors, as well as 192KB of L1 instruction cache and 128KB of L1 data cache hence phone clone should not be an issue. The cores are equipped with a 128KB L1 instruction cache, a 64KB L1 data cache, and a shared 4MB L2 cache. The sole difference is that the shared L2 cache on the M2 chip is bigger — 16MB against 12MB on the M1.
Media Engine & Unified Memory
The M1 and M2 both contain specialized video encode and decode engines for hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC, but the M2’s video engines can additionally accelerate ProRes and ProRes RAW to allow for the viewing of multiple streams of 4K and 8K video. The M2’s media engine also contains a higher-bandwidth video decoder that supports 8K H.264 and HEVC video.
The M1 and M2 both include 8GB or 16GB of unified memory, while the M2 has an extra, higher-tier 24GB option. The memory controller in the M2 can also produce 100GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, which is a significant boost above the M1’s 68.25GB/s memory capacity.
GPU
The M2 has two extra GPU cores than the M1, which results in a slight increase in graphics performance. According to Apple, the M2 boasts up to 25% greater graphics performance than the M1 at the same power level, and up to 35% better performance at full power. The M2 processor scored 30,627 in early Geekbench Metal testing, a significant boost above the M1’s 21,001 score.
Summing Up
Even though most M1 users are unlikely to notice major advantages when upgrading to the M2, the M2 chip provides modest enhancements over the M1. The improvements in the M2 are typically valuable, if not revolutionary, and the chip will undoubtedly provide users of Apple silicon computers with lesser specifications a more modern experience.
The largest improvements go to those who need to work with video and those who have memory-intensive workflows, even if the M2 delivers improvements across the board owing to its improved 5nm technology, upgraded cores, and extra GPU cores. Video editors may benefit from the M2’s higher bandwidth video decoder and dedicated ProRes and ProRes RAW video engine, while the M2 machines’ 100GB/s memory bandwidth and 24GB/s unified memory tier greatly increase their ability to handle memory-intensive applications and intensive multitasking.
