Apple M2 Pro 10-Core vs Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 vs Intel Core 2 Duo P9600
Apple M2 Pro 10-Core
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The Apple M2 Pro 10-Core is a System on a Chip (SoC) from Apple that is found in the early 2023 MacBook Pro 14 and Mac Mini entry level models. It offers 10 of the 12 cores available in the chip divided in six performance cores (P-cores) and four power-efficiency cores (E-cores). The E-cores clock with up to 3.4 GHz, the P-Cores up to 3.7 GHz (mostly 3.3 GHz in multi-threaded workloads and 3.4 GHz in single threaded).
The big cores (codename Avalanche) offer 192 KB instruction cache, 128 KB data cache, and 36 MB shared L2 cache (up from 24 MB in the M1 Pro). The four efficiency cores (codename Blizzard) are a lot smaller and offer only 128 KB instruction cache, 64 KB data cache, and 4 MB shared cache. CPU and GPU can both use the 24 MB SLC (System Level Cache).
The unified memory (16 or 32 GB LPDDR5-6400) next to the chip is connected by a 256 Bit memory controller (200 GB/s bandwidth) and can be used by the GPU and CPU.
The performance of the M2 Pro 10-Core should be similar to the old M1 Pro with all 10 cores. The multi-threaded performance should be slower, as the M2 10-core has two p-cores less (and 2 e-cores more) but the single-threaded performance should be better due to the faster clock speed and architectural improvements. The old M1 Pro 8-core should be noticeably slower.
The integrated graphics card in the M1 Pro 10-core offers all 16 of the 19 cores.
Furthermore, the SoC integrates a fast 16 core neural engine (faster than M1 Pro), a secure enclave (e.g., for encryption), a unified memory architecture, Thunderbolt 4 controller, an ISP, and media de- and encoders (including ProRes).
The M2 Pro is manufactured in 5 nm at TSMC (second generation) and integrates 40 billion transistors.
Intel Core 2 Duo P9500
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The Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 was a upper middle class dual core CPU for laptops, at the time of introduction. It is similar to the Core 2 Duo T9400 except for the lower TDP of 25 versus 35 Watt).
Due to the relatively high clock speed and 6MB Level 2 cache, the P9500 offers enough performance for most demanding games (in 2009) and applications.
The P9500 uses a Penryn (Montevina Update) core that features 2 integer units, 1 floating point unit, 1 load unit, and 1 store unit in a 14-stages long pipeline. Due to the Wide Dynamic Execution Technology, the core is able to simultaneously execute up to four instructions.
The integrated Enhanced Speedstep is able to downclock the core dynamically to save power (in idle mode).
Intel Core 2 Duo P9600
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The Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 was a upper middle class dual core CPU for laptops, at the time of introduction. It is similar to the Core 2 Duo T9550 except for the lower TDP of 25 versus 35 Watt).
Due to the relatively high clock speed and 6MB Level 2 cache, the P9600 offers enough performance for demanding games (in 2009) and applications. The newer Core i3-330M should deliver a similar performance due to the hyperthreading support.
The P9600 uses a Penryn (Montevina Update) core that features 2 integer units, 1 floating point unit, 1 load unit, and 1 store unit in a 14-stages long pipeline. Due to the Wide Dynamic Execution Technology, the core is able to simultaneously execute up to four instructions.
The integrated Enhanced Speedstep is able to downclock the core dynamically to save power (in idle mode).
| Model | Apple M2 Pro 10-Core | Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 | Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 | ||||||||||||||||
| Series | Apple M2 | Intel Core 2 Duo | Intel Core 2 Duo | ||||||||||||||||
| Series: Core 2 Duo Penryn |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Clock | 2424 - 3696 MHz | 2530 MHz | 2660 MHz | ||||||||||||||||
| L1 Cache | 7.3 MB | 128 KB | 128 KB | ||||||||||||||||
| L2 Cache | 36 MB | 6 MB | 6 MB | ||||||||||||||||
| L3 Cache | 24 MB | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cores / Threads | 10 / 10 | 2 / 2 | 2 / 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Transistors | 40000 Million | 410 Million | 410 Million | ||||||||||||||||
| Technology | 5 nm | 45 nm | 45 nm | ||||||||||||||||
| Features | ARMv8 Instruction Set | Virtualization Technology (VT-x), Trusted Execution, Intel 64, Enhanced Speedstep, Execute Disable Bit | Virtualization Technology (VT-x), Trusted Execution, Intel 64, Enhanced Speedstep, Execute Disable Bit | ||||||||||||||||
| iGPU | Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | ARM | x86 | x86 | ||||||||||||||||
| Announced | |||||||||||||||||||
| Codename | Penryn | Penryn | |||||||||||||||||
| FSB | 1066 | 1066 | |||||||||||||||||
| TDP | 25 Watt | 25 Watt | |||||||||||||||||
| Die Size | 107 mm2 | 107 mm2 | |||||||||||||||||
| max. Temp. | 105 °C | 105 °C | |||||||||||||||||
| Socket | BGA479, PGA478 | PGA478 | |||||||||||||||||
| $348 U.S. | $348 U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | ark.intel.com | ark.intel.com | |||||||||||||||||
| Voltage | 1.05-1.212V V |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Apple M2 Pro 10-Core → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 → 0% n=0
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
