MacBook Pro with M2 in the test – processor performance inspires

The new Macbook Pro with M2 chip is here. In the test, the new Apple chip now shows what it can really do.

Cupertino, California – Apple aims to introduce and launch new products by mid-2023. In addition to the new iPhone, the improved systems-on-a-chip (SoC) within the new MacBooks will play a major role. With the in-house M2 chip, the group wants to set new standards. The chip is already installed in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and has been available in stores since June 24th. First tests show that Apple doesn’t seem to have promised too much.

Apple introduces new product range and the M2 chip

These products are to come: At the “World Wide Developers Conference” (WWDC), Apple announced that a lot of new products are in the planning stage. Apple is working on these projects:

• iphone 14
• Three Apple Watch variations
• Two new MacBooks with M2 chips
• Mixed reality headset
• New iPad models
• AirPods Pro 2
• New home pod
• Improved Apple TV

According to the business magazine Bloomberg, the M2 chip will also be produced in Pro and Max versions. Apple will install the variants of the M2 chip in these models in the future:

• Mac Mini
• MacBook Pro 14 inch
• MacBook Pro 16 inch

Apple: The M2 chip in the test – what can it do?

What the testers say: So far, the new M2 chip has only been installed in the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Externally, however, the Mac has not received any refreshment and therefore looks confusingly similar to its predecessor. Despite some resistance from the Apple community, the small MacBook also has a touch bar again. But much more important is what’s inside the new MacBook Pro. Because the model is equipped with the latest System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

Thus, the M2 chip is not a pure ARM processor at all, since the chip includes several integrated systems. The M2 chip contains, among other things, the processing unit for graphics calculation and also the main memory. With the M1 chip produced in 2020, Apple had already made its competition from Intel and AMD look old. And now the company promises even better performance.

The M2 chip brings these improvements: The ten graphics cores of the M2 chip should bring more performance, in the normal version of the M1 chip there were only eight installed so far. The data throughput of the main memory has also been significantly increased and brought to a full 100 gigabytes per second.

The news portal Watson has carried out a test with the measurement program Geekbench. This shows that the new M2 chip from Apple has a performance of 1,940 points, while the older M1 chip cuts off with 1,730 points. This means an increase in performance of around 12 percent.

In the graphics area, the M2 chip showed a 51 percent higher performance compared to the M1 chip in the MacBook Air. However, the M2 chip performs worse in the test than the M1 Pro chip. With its 14 graphics cores, it ensures better graphics performance and was able to overtake the M2 chip with around 35 percent higher performance. The renewed comparison with the M2 Pro chip will be exciting here, but we still have to wait a bit for this. In addition to the different variants of the M2 chip, Apple also plans to interlock its devices more.

Apple M2 chip keeps the competition on their toes

This is the verdict of the testers on the M2 chip: The new M2 chip again shows impressive results in the performance area. And Apple manages to achieve outstanding efficiency values ​​again. Also astounding is the performance leap that Apple has achieved in just a year and a half since the release of the M1 chip. With these advances, Apple wants to keep its competition at bay.

However, the improvements will only be noticeable when you use your MacBook with more demanding applications. In normal use, however, a difference to the old M1 chip should hardly be noticeable.