Nintendo Switch vs Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Nintendo Switch CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
Nintendo Switch Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) which has 10 CPU cores and was introduced in Q1/2023.
NVIDIA Tegra (2) Family Apple M series (25)
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) CPU group Apple M2 (8)
2 Generation 2
Cortex-A57/-A53 Architecture M2
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple M1 Pro (10-CPU 14-GPU)
-- Successor Apple M3 Pro (11-CPU 14-GPU)

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Nintendo Switch is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) clocks with 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz), has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 10 threads in parallel.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
8 Cores 10
8 Threads 10
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A57
A-Core 0.66 GHz (3.50 GHz)
6x Avalanche
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core 0.60 GHz (2.42 GHz)
4x Blizzard

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Apple M2 Pro (16 Core)
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.45 GHz
0.77 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
1 GPU Generation 2
20 nm Technology 5 nm
1 Max. displays 3
2 Compute units 256
256 Shader 2048
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 32 GB
12 DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Apple M2 Pro (16 Core)
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) supports a maximum of 32 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s enabled.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5-6400
4 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s
No ECC No
2.50 MB L2 Cache 28.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) is 30 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 30 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
5 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) is at 28.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 5 nm.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
20 nm Technology 5 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8.5-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
-- Socket --
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q1/2017 Release date Q1/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Nintendo Switch to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.4 stars (7 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (10%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (6%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
270 (10%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
2689 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
702 (6%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
12084 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz
393 (7%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
Apple M2 Pro (16 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
5680 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
122 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
782 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
1695 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
12125 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
1874 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
12224 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.50 GHz
21532 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
12,125 CB R23 MC @ 30 W
404 (100%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU) Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
10C 10T @ 0.66 GHz
15.8 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Nintendo Switch Apple M2 Pro (10-CPU 16-GPU)
Nintendo Switch Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple mac mini (2023)

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