We sure didn’t have to wait very long to get a glimpse of what the new M2 Pro silicon can dish out. A Geekbench benchmark result has surfaced, and it shows a surprisingly large gain in multi-core performance over both its M1 and M2 predecessors. It’s a somewhat shocking delta given all of the M-class chips were made on the same TSMC 5nm process. The gains are impressive and position the new Mini with the M2 Pro as a reasonably powerful computer.
To recap, Apple launched new Mac Minis this week. It was previously available with either an M1 or Intel CPU. Those have both been jettisoned in favor of the M2 or M2 Pro SoCs. Apple has previously launched the M2 in the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Now it’s stuck the new SoC into the desktop Mini and added a Pro variant to the lineup.
Turning to the numbers, we see little improvement in single-core performance. This is not a surprise as what Apple’s been doing across its lineup is beefing up the GPU as it moves up the ladder. For example, both the M1 and M2 have a 4+4 CPU configuration, with four efficiency cores and four performance cores. However, the M1 offers only seven GPU cores, whereas the M2 has 10. The M2 Pro has more of everything, with either a 10- or 12-core CPU (6+4 or 8+4) and 16 or 19 GPU cores. That’s a huge difference, and it shows in the benchmarks.
The Geekbench multi-core test scores were noted by 9to5mac, and they’re eye-opening. The M1 scores 5181 points, with the M2 racking up 9003, making it 73% faster. The Pro demolishes both of them with a score of 15013, which is 189% faster than the M1. It should be noted that in addition to offering more CPU and GPU cores than the M1 and M2, the M2 Pro also has twice the memory bandwidth at 200GB/s. The M2 Pro is also about 50% faster than the 8-core M1 Pro in Geekbench. Compared with the 10-core M1 Pro, it’s about 20% faster. It’s even faster than the M1 Max too, which scores around 11000 in this test. That just leaves the M1 Ultra, which uses two Max dies fused together. That chip, which is only in the Mac Studio, scores around 23000, so it’s still the king.
The bad news is given the similarities in single-core configurations, there’s almost no difference in benchmarks. Sure, there’s a bump from the M1 to the M2 of 18%, but zero difference between the M2 and M2 Pro in single-core performance. They scored 1951 and 1952, respectively. That’s not a surprise though, and anyone not needing the extra horsepower is a fool to upgrade to the Pro if they’re just using a browser all day.
(Image: Apple)
We don’t have numbers yet for the M2 Max, which was also announced this week. There will also certainly be an M2 Ultra, which could go into both the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro. It’s unclear if the M2 Ultra will also be a TSMC N5 product, or built on the latest 3nm process. There’s no indication of when Apple could announce it, so we’re in the dark here.
It’s a strong showing for Apple’s newest silicon, and the M2 Pro in the Mini and MacBook Pro seems like a worthy upgrade for those with M1 machines. That is if you do professional creative work, such as photo, audio, or video editing. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for M2 Max benchmarks, though, which will only whet our appetites for the inevitable Ultra SoC’s arrival.
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