Now that Apple has announced the new M2 Pro and M2 Max-powered 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops, with more powerful CPU and GPU as well as support for up to 96GB of unified memory, we compare them to their predecessors, the M1 Pro and M1 Max versions, to see how good they are.
To start with, we are going to compare the basic specs of the M1 and M2 versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops.
This table starts to show that other than the new chips, there is very little difference between the old and new versions of the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops. The physical dimensions and two finishes, silver and space gray are the same as the 2021 models.
They both have a Liquid Retina XDR Display featuring double the sustained brightness via mini-LED backlighting, ProMotion with up to 120Hz refresh rates, an increased resolution/pixel per inch density, and greatly reduced bezels that Apple introduced with the 2021 models.
The 2023 models also come with a notch at the top centre of the display for the 1080p FaceTime camera, just like the 2021 models. However, we note that Apple was unable to bring Face ID to the M2-powered 2023 models, so that will have to wait for another day.
The new versions come with the same Magic Keyboard Touch ID, and continuing the ‘no change’ theme, the new versions have almost all the same ports with the same layout as the M1 MacBook Pro, including 3 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C 4 ports, an HDMI port, SDXC card reader, and MagSafe 3.
Even though the ports are the same, the new M2 Pro and M2 Max versions take external display support a bit further with an upgrade from the HDMI 2.0 to 2.1 port that offers support of up to 8K output at 60Hz and multichannel audio output. When it comes to wireless connectivity, the M2 versions come with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Processors
The 2021 M1 Pro version could have up to ten CPU cores, made up of eight performance cores and two efficiency cores. The integrated GPU offered up to 16 cores and with regards to the unified memory offered up to 32GB with 200GB/s of memory bandwidth, and all the options offered a Neural Engine component with 16 cores.
The 2021 M1 Max came with two configurations, starting with ten cores of CPU and 24 GPU cores, or the alternative configuration came with a 32-core GPU. With regards to the unified memory offered up 64GB with 400GB/s of memory bandwidth, and both options offered a Neural Engine component with 16 cores.
Moving onto the 2023 M2 Pro models can have up to 12 CPU cores, made up of eight performance cores and four efficiency cores, which Apple claims offers a 20% improvement over the M1 Pro model. With regard to the unified memory, the 2021 models offered up to 32GB with 400GB/s of memory bandwidth (double that of the M1 Pro model), and both options offered a Neural Engine component with 16 cores.
The 2023 M2 Max comes with two configurations, starting with twelve cores of CPU and 30 GPU cores, or the alternative configuration came with a 38-core GPU. With regard to the unified memory, the M2 Max models offer up to 96GB with 400GB/s of memory bandwidth, and both options offer a Neural Engine component with 16 cores.
Speaking of the Neural Engine, both M2 models include Apple's ‘next-generation’, 16-core Neural Engine, capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second, and even though it is still the same number of cores as the 2021 M1 models, Apple claims that the 2023 M2 models are up to 40% faster than the M2 models.
Benchmark Data
When the M2 models came out, we quickly learnt that the M2 was faster than the M1, with the M2 at 1,869 for a single-core test, compared to 1,707 for the M1. When it comes to multi-core, the M2 comes in at 8,900, compared to the M1 at 7,395.
Geekbench Single-core Benchmark Scores
Geekbench Multi-core Benchmark Scores
We have seen the first leaked Geekbench scores for a 12-core M2 Pro in a Mac mini with 16GB of unified memory with a single-Core score of 1952 and a Multicore score of 15013. This gives the M2 Pro a higher Geekbench than an M1 Max, say in a 2021 MacBook Pro or Mac Studio.
We have also seen the first leaked Geekbench scores for a MacBook Pro with an M2 Max SoC with 96GB unified memory with a single-Core score of 2027 and a Multicore score of 14888.
It’s interesting to note that the scores are very similar between the M2 Pro and M2 Max as they were between the M1 Pro and M1 Max, which perhaps isn’t that surprising as the M2 Pro and M2 Max share the share number of CPU cores. The difference between them is in the number of GPU cores, which don’t appear to show up on the Geekbench headline scores.
Video Performance
The M2 Pro models support hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, and ProRes video encoding and decoding. However, the M2 Max models do things differently. They feature two video encode engines and two ProRes engines, which Apple claim means that with the M2 Max models, the video encoding is twice as fast as the M2 Pro models.
Interestingly, the M1 Pro and M1 Max models also had Media Engines for ProRes video encoding and decoding.
To get a better understanding of the relative performances of the GPU, with reviewers getting their hands on the latest M2-powered Apple computers, we are starting to see some actual data on Geekbench rather than Apple’s marketing data. As a result, we are seeing Geekbench Metalal scores, which give a much more targetted measure of GPU performance, which is lacking from the Geekbench headline scores for Single-Core and Multi-core benchmarks, which are a measure of CPU performance.
Geekbench Metal Scores - Shows GPU Performance
These results seem to confirm Apple’s claim of a 30% improvement with the M2 Pro and M2 Max over the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. However, what is also interesting is that even the M2 Max isn’t better than the M1 Ultra, with the M1 Ultra still being about 9% faster than the M2 Max. But all this data points to the as yet, unreleased M2 Ultra as offering a very high score once it is released in a future version of the Mac Studio and/or Mac Pro.
Final Cut Pro 10.6.3 Video Export
Moving on to a Video Export comparison undertaken by YouTuber Brian Tong, this confirms Apple’s claim that the M2 Max’s dedicated dual ProRes encode and decode engines delivered just shy of 2x faster than the M1 Max export and even beat the M2 Ultra by 7 seconds! However, it should be noted that the M1 Ultra in the Mac Studio is still the fastest for exports from apps like Adobe Premiere and scored the highest in a Geekbench Metal GPU performance test.
Graphics
The 2021 models came with a 14-core or 16-core GPU integrated into the M1 Pro chip, and the M1 Max models came with an integrated 24-core or 32-core GPU built into the SoC.
Looking at the M2 Pro models, they can be configured with up to 19 cores, three more than the GPU in M1 Pro, and the M2 pro models also include a larger L2 cache. As a result, Apple claims that the speeds of the graphics are up to 30% faster than the M1 Pro.
Moving on to the M2 Max models, they can be configured with up to 38 cores and also include a larger L2 cache. As a result, Apple claims that the speeds of the graphics are up to 30% faster than the M1 Pro.
Screens
The M1 Pro models could support up to two external 6K monitors at up to 60Hz. The M1 Max, with its much larger GPU, could support up to three 6K displays and an extra 4K screen at 60Hz.
The M2 Pro models support up to two external monitors with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt. An alternative configuration can be one with up to 6K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one with up to 4K at 144Hz over HDMI. Another option is one external display with 8K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or one external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI.
The M2 Max models can support up to four external displays, up to three with 6K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one up to 4K at 144Hz over HDMI. An alternative configuration for the M2 Max is three external displays, two at 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz over HDMI.
Apple has been able to extend the battery life in the 2023 models without increasing the already impressive battery capacity of the 2021 models, offering a 1-hour extension of both video playback and wireless web usage.
Another ‘no change’ option is the ability to fast charge the 2023 models, which gives up to 50% battery capacity with just 30 minutes of charging.
SSDs Are Slower In The Base Models - Updated 26th February 2023
Although this is unlikely to impact most people buying a new Mac for the studio, it has come to light that the new M2 Mac mini with a 256GB SSD and new M2 MacBook Pro laptops with a 512GB SSD (the base model) have slower read and write speeds compared to their M1 powered predecessors.
As we reported in our article Apple M2 MacBook Pro - Another Reason To Think Twice Before Buying it seems that Apple has done something similar with the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro M2 Powered laptops. In the base model of the latest MacBook Pro, Apple has chosen to use one 512 GB NAND chip, whereas in the M1 version, Apple used two 256GB NAND chips, and the key here is that two chips performing read/write functions are faster than a single chip doing the same thing.
What makes this worse is that when an Apple Silicon-powered computer runs out of unified memory, it effectively uses the SSD as what we used to call virtual memory and is now called a swapfile. The problem is that if the SSD is slower, then it takes longer for the SSD to do the swapfile, and that will impact the computer’s overall performance.
To avoid this, we recommend you go for an M2-powered 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro with at least 1TB of storage.
Larger SSDs Are Found To Be Faster And Slower - Updated 26th February 2023
Interestingly, the larger SSDs used in the new M2 Pro and M2 Max-powered 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops are both faster and slower than their M1-powered predecessors. When Tom’s Guide and Macworld tested the new laptops against their predecessors using Blackmagic Designs’ Disk Speed benchmark app, they found that the read speeds of the M2 models were slightly slower, whereas the write speeds were slightly faster.
Pricing
The prices for the base and middle-level standard configurations for the 14-inch and 16-inch M2 MacBook Pro laptops remain the same. However, the different GPU options and options for unified memory, up to 96GB, mean the M2 MacBook Pro custom-built machines can cost up to $6,499 as opposed to up to $6,099 for the M1 versions.
Are They Worth It?
It really depends on where you are coming from. If like me, you already own an M1 Max MacBook Pro, then I think it is very hard to justify replacing it with an M2 2023 model. I won’t be buying one.
If, however, you are still using an Intel-powered MacBook Pro, then the M2 2023 model is well worth considering.
As to the ‘sweet spot’ amongst all the options, back in 2021, I went for an M1 Max with a 1TB SSD and 64GB of unified memory, which was the maximum at the time. I do not regret anything about my choice two years on, but if I were buying now, I would consider the additional cost of going to 96GB of unified memory to give me as much memory headroom as possible.
If you are considering the M2 Pro vs the M2 Max, then remember that although you will get the same 10 or 12-core processor with either the M2 Pro or M2 Max, the big difference is the extra GPU power, including the more capable media engine and increased external display support with the M2 Max chip builds. For me, it is why I went for an M1 Max in 2021, and if I were buying one now, I would make the same choice. However, if the budget is tight for you and you don’t need a lot of video and multiple hi-res screen support, then going for an M2 Pro would be worth considering, as the CPU is the same.