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Apple M2 vs Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
Last updated:
Benchmarks
Performance Overview
Average performance across multiple benchmarks
Single-core performance
Multi-core performance
Cinebench 2024 Single-Core
Single-core performance
Apple M2
85 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 4.06 GHz
Cinebench 2024 Multi-Core
Multi-core performance
Apple M2
52 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 4.06 GHz
Cinebench R23 Single-Core
Single-core performance
Apple M2
83 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 4.06 GHz
Cinebench R23 Multi-Core
Multi-core performance
Apple M2
57 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 3.80 GHz
Geekbench 6 Single-Core
Single-core performance
Apple M2
82 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 4.06 GHz
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core
Multi-core performance
Apple M2
64 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 3.80 GHz
Geekbench 5, 64bit Single-Core
Single-core performance
Apple M2
81 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 4.06 GHz
Geekbench 5, 64bit Multi-Core
Multi-core performance
Apple M2
58 %
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
12C / 12T · 3.80 GHz
iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)
Apple M2
56 %
Apple M2 (10 Core)
Apple M3 Pro (18 Core)
AI performance (NPU)
Apple M2
45 %
8C / 8T · 0.66 GHz
12C / 12T · 0.70 GHz
More benchmarks
Cinebench 2026 (ST)
218 entries
218 entries
Cinebench 2026 (MC)
219 entries
219 entries
Cinebench 2024 (SC)
427 entries
427 entries
Cinebench 2024 (MC)
422 entries
422 entries
Cinebench R23 (SC)
690 entries
690 entries
Cinebench R23 (MC)
665 entries
665 entries
Geekbench 6 (SC)
1,989 entries
1,989 entries
Geekbench 6 (MC)
1,927 entries
1,927 entries
Geekbench 5 (SC)
2,512 entries
2,512 entries
Geekbench 5 (MC)
2,483 entries
2,483 entries
FP32 SP (iGPU)
2,219 entries
2,219 entries
PassMark CPU-Mark
2,504 entries
2,504 entries
Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
190 entries
190 entries
CPU performance per watt (efficiency)
140 entries
140 entries
AI performance (NPU)
218 entries
218 entries
Specifications
At a glance
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Apple M series (38) | Apple M series (38) |
| CPU group | Apple M2 (8) | Apple M3 (6) |
| Architecture | M2 | M3 |
| Technology | 5 nm | 3 nm |
| Segment | Notebook | Notebook |
| Socket | ||
| Predecessor | Apple M1 | Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU) |
| Successor | Apple M3 | Apple M4 Pro (14-CPU 20-GPU) |
CPU Cores and Base Frequency
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Cores / Threads | 8 / 8 | 12 / 12 |
| Hyperthreading / SMT | ✗ | ✗ |
| Core architecture | hybrid (big.LITTLE) | hybrid (big.LITTLE) |
| Core Cluster 1: | 4x Avalanche 0.66 - 3.50 GHz |
6x Lobos P-Core 0.70 - 4.06 GHz |
| Core Cluster 2: | 4x Blizzard 0.60 - 2.42 GHz |
6x Lobos E-Core 0.74 - 2.75 GHz |
| L2-Cache | 20.00 MB | 36.00 MB |
| L3-Cache | ||
| Overclocking | ✗ | ✗ |
Integrated graphics (iGPU)
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| GPU name | Apple M2 (10 Core) | Apple M3 Pro (18 Core) |
| GPU frequency | 0.45 - 1.40 GHz | 0.39 - 1.40 GHz |
| CUs / Shader | 160 / 1280 | 288 / 2304 |
| Raytracing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Max. displays | 2 | 3 |
| Max. GPU Memory | 24 GB | 36 GB |
| Technology | 5 nm | 3 nm |
| Release date | Q2/2022 | Q4/2023 |
NPU AI performance
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| AI hardware | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| AI specifications | 16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS | 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS |
| NPU + CPU + iGPU |
Memory & PCIe
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | LPDDR5-6400 (102.4 GB/s) | LPDDR5-6400 (153.6 GB/s) |
| Max. Memory | 24 GB | 36 GB |
| Memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| ECC | No | No |
| PCIe | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| PCIe Bandwidth |
Thermal Management
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| TDP | 20 W | 35 W |
| TDP (PL2) | ||
| TDP up | 30 W | |
| TDP down | 10 W | |
| T. junction max. | 100 °C | 100 °C |
Technical details
|
Wischen
|
Apple M2 | Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) |
|---|---|---|
| Chip design | Monolithic | Monolithic |
| AES-NI | ✓ | ✓ |
| Operating systems | macOS, iPadOS | macOS, iPadOS |
| Instruction set | Armv8.5-A (64 bit) | Armv8-A (64 bit) |
| ISA extensions | Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation | Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation |
| Release date | Q2/2022 | Q4/2023 |
| Release price | ||
| Documents | Technical data sheet |
User Reviews
Your rating
Here you can rate one or both of the processors. The average rating of Apple M2 is 4.4 stars (742 ratings), while Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) has received 4.8 stars (291 ratings).
Click on the stars to rate one or both processors.
Most popular CPUs in both categories
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Apple M5 Max (18-CPU 32-GPU)
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Apple M5 Max (18-CPU 40-GPU)
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3
Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU)
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Apple M1 Ultra (64-GPU)
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Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
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Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C / 12T · 4.06 GHz
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Apple M2
8C / 8T · 3.50 GHz
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