Tested: Does Apple’s M2 Chip Raise the Floor for Graphics Performance?

Apple's newest in-house chip, the M2, promises better performance, longer battery life, and beefed-up graphics. We've already tested the new processor for general applications and reviewed the first laptop with it, the 2022 edition of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. We've also commented on the enhanced capabilities that this new M2 system-on-a-chip (SoC) brings to the latest Macs. But what does the M2 have to offer for graphics and gaming?

According to Apple, the M2 delivers faster graphics as well as more processing power. Naturally, that makes us curious about how its beefed-up GPU compares to those of the older M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, as well as the original M1. Does the M2 set a new standard for integrated graphics on Apple machines? We went back to the test bench to find out.

Apple M2: More Muscle for Entry-Level Graphics

The M2 chip brings a laundry list of upgrades, from its total transistor count to wider memory bandwidth, and it also boasts a faster neural engine and ProRes acceleration. Most important to this discussion, though: The M2 processor can have more GPU cores than the M1 chip. The base version of the M1 comes in variants with seven or eight GPU cores, while the M2 comes in versions of eight cores or 10 cores.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro uses the Apple M2 processor.
(Photo: Brian Westover)

The added GPU cores mean more muscle dedicated to graphics performance, but the other improvements in the chip should contribute as well, such as its increased bandwidth and more energy-efficient design.

According to Apple, the M2 packs 25% higher graphics performance than the M1 when using the same amount of power. At maximum power, the advertised performance boost climbs to 35% over the best the M1 can do. That should translate into smoother, faster performance in games and other graphics-intensive apps for anyone using the new M2-powered MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

M2 vs. M1 Pro vs. M1 Max

The M2 occupies a very specific place in the Apple silicon family, with the M1 processor still available as a lower-tier model and the more robust M1 Pro and M1 Max offered as premium options in more expensive macOS systems. (A tip-top M1 Ultra variant also is available as an option with the Mac Studio desktop.)

The Apple Mac Studio desktop uses M1 Max or M1 Ultra processors.
(Photo: Molly Flores)

That means the M2 chip has to walk a tightrope between these upper and lower tiers in terms of performance. In our review of the new MacBook Pro 13, we found it fulfills that mission precisely, offering processing performance squarely between the original M1 and the more premium M1 Pro and M1 Max.

But what about graphics performance? Again, the M2 seems expertly tailored to its step-up-from-entry-level position. As mentioned, while the Apple M1 has seven or eight GPU cores, the M2 chip has eight to 10. But the M1 Pro boasts 14 or 16 cores, depending on the specific chip model, and the M1 Max scales even higher with 24 or 32 GPU cores.

The bottom line is that even in the area of graphics, where the M2 promises its biggest advancement over the M1, it's still not intended to compete with the M1 Pro or M1 Max.

Apples on the Bench: M2 Graphics Testing

To find out just how much the M2 chip improves Mac graphics and gaming, we turned to our benchmark tests.

For most of our M1 comparisons, we turned to the late-2020 M1 version of the Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch, which is the most direct comparison to our recently reviewed Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (the 2022 M2 version). However, for some tests, we have more complete testing data for the late-2020 M1 version of the Apple MacBook Air. By and large, the two offer fairly comparable results, especially in the broader context of comparing to the newer M2 and more powerful Pro and Max M1 models. But it’s worth noting that both models use the eight-core GPU, instead of the lower-powered seven-core GPU that Apple offers for its most affordable configurations.

The first test we'll look at is GFXBench, a cross-platform rendering test. We run two off-screen scenarios, the less demanding 1080p Car Chase and more intense 1440p Aztec Ruins subtests. Both exercise graphics and compute shaders, but one focuses on hardware tessellation and the other on the OpenGL application programming interface (API). Higher numbers are better.

We then challenged the GPU with a sample rendering workload in Blender. While this benchmark offers both CPU- and GPU-driven rendering tests, the latter is more germane to questions of GPU performance. Regardless, the new chip again fell behind the M1 Pro and M1 Max, making the older processors better bets for workstation-style graphics performance.

Finally, for a glance at real-world gaming, we ran an older benchmark—Rise of the Tomb Raider, one of the few AAA titles available for the Mac. The game's built-in benchmarking tool showed us the same pattern we saw in our other tests, with the M2 outperforming the M1 but not by a sufficient margin to threaten the M1 Pro or M1 Max chips. That said, the M2's GPU did manage frame rates of 50 frames per second or more, even at high detail levels, so it's certainly capable of running at least some of the limited library of games available for Macs as long as the resolution stays reasonable.

Great Graphics Potential, But Where Are the Games?

Indeed, the biggest constraint for Apple fans hoping to play games is not performance, but the lack of support for most current big-budget titles. Apple's gaming prospects have always been complicated, with fewer macOS games compared to the number of available Windows titles, and the Mac's move away from Intel has made things worse as MacBooks no longer share the same processor architecture and graphics engines as Windows gaming rigs. Some of this can be alleviated by running games in Rosetta 2 or even by installing Windows under a tool like Parallels Desktop, but these aren't always smooth and seamless solutions.

Apple has tried to expand its appeal to gamers and to bring some of the iPad's gaming success to the Mac with Apple Arcade, but it's still a fairly niche segment, with little overlap between Mac and Windows game libraries. The bottom line is that Apple makes great computers with highly capable graphics—especially for design pros and digital content creators—but gamers will likely stick with Windows for the foreseeable future.

With M2, Apple Threads the Silicon Needle

In the final analysis, it's hard not to be impressed by how perfectly Apple has positioned the M2 chip. The new processor stands as a solid step up from the M1, and as the first example of Apple's second generation of in-house CPU design, it's a winner in every respect.

But it does this without stepping on the toes of the M1 Pro or M1 Max, leaving those more potent chips to continue powering premium MacBook Pro models. While it's probable we'll see additional M2 variants before long (M2 Pro and M2 Max, anyone?), they may not show up until 2023 at the earliest. Apple wants to keep selling professionals the MacBook Pro 14-Inch and M1 Max MacBook Pro 16-Inch, but it can't do that if the cheaper MacBook Pro 13 has a newer, better processor inside.

All in all, that makes the M2 an upgrade that's nice but not essential for people who need graphics horsepower. The M2-based MacBook Pro is really only worth getting if you already needed a new MacBook, while the 2022 MacBook Air offers a far more extensive redesign to tempt buyers as well as a new processor.