Apple M2 GPU outdoes its own hype with up to +45% faster performances than the M1 in GFXBench while CPU part offers up to +13.5% in Cinebench R23 ^↺

The Apple M2 processor has already proven itself to be something of a low-power GPU beast in recent Geekbench appearances, and this initial impression has been somewhat cemented by following visits to both GFXBench and Cinebench R23. While the results in the latter CPU-oriented benchmark, when compared to those of the Apple M1, were not exactly mind-blowing (+13.55% single; +11.46% multi), some of the tests in GFXBench revealed the M2 GPU to be performing as expected if not even better.

It's important to point out that the Apple M2 SoC does feature a 10-core GPU in the 2022 MacBook Pro 13 and the higher-end configuration of the new MacBook Air, so it does have a core-count advantage over the M1 that can be configured with either seven or eight GPU cores. Apple has advertised that the M2 GPU can offer +35% performance over the M1 at maximum performance levels; however, there are several tests on GFXBench where the M2 actually reaches over +40% and even +45% faster performance than its predecessor.

As pointed out by Max Tech’s Vadim Yuryev, the GPU part of the Apple M2 SoC manages 42-45% performance increases over the M1 in the Aztec Ruins tests, and it continues to show big performance differences in 1440p Manhattan and T-Rex. There is a bit of a stutter in Car Chase, where the lead drops to +32.79% FPS rate for the 2022 ARM-based chip, but even that is still reasonably close to Apple’s claim of +35%. While the CPU part of the M2 SoC has only offered apparent small gains so far, despite a clock-rate advantage (M2: 3.49 GHz; M1: 3.20 GHz), the GPU component's ability should certainly please future owners of the 2022 Apple MacBook Air or MacBook Pro 13.

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