Apple M2 vs Apple M5 Pro (18-Core)
[ VERDICT ]
Winner: Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) (97/100)
Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) leads overall with a score of 97/100 compared to Apple M2 (57/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | 77.0 Good | 98.0 Excellent WINNER |
| Performance | 74.0 Good | 100.0 Excellent WINNER |
Detailed Technical Specifications
CPU
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Base Frequency (E) | 2.4 GHz | 4.38 GHz |
| Base Frequency (P) | 3.5 GHz | 4.61 GHz |
| E-Cores | 4 | 12 |
| E-Threads | 4 | 12 |
| L1 Cache | 192K (per core) | 192K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 16MB (shared) | — |
| P-Cores | 4 | 6 |
| P-Threads | 4 | 6 |
| Total Cores | 8 | 18 |
| Total Threads | 8 | 18 |
| Unlocked Multiplier | No | No |
| Multiplier | — | 46x |
GeekBench v6
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Background blur | 42.1 images/sec | 100.3 images/sec |
| Clang compilation | 80.4 Klines/sec | 262.5 Klines/sec |
| File compression | 1130 MB/sec | 2530 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 235.3 pages/sec | 738.1 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 266.1 Mpixels/sec | 744.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Photo processing | 107 images/sec | 250.8 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 10.5 Mpixels/sec | 46.5 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 257.4 pages/sec | 450.7 pages/sec |
General
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Codename | Apple M2 | Apple M5 |
| Instruction Set | ARMv8 | ARMv9 |
| Integrated GPU | Apple M2 GPU | Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) |
| Released | June 6, 2022 | March 3, 2026 |
| Successor | -Apple M5 (10-Core) | — |
| Type | Laptop | Laptop |
| Vendor | Apple | Apple |
Memory Support
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| ECC Support | No | No |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 102.4 GB/s | 307 GB/s |
| Max. Memory Size | 24 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory Channels | 8 | 16 |
| Memory Types | - LPDDR5-6400 | - LPDDR5X-9600 |
Misc
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| PCI Express Version | 4.0 | — |
Package
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication Process | 5 nm | 3 nm |
| Socket | Apple M-Socket | Apple M-Socket |
| TDP (PL1) | 18 W | — |
| Transistors | 20 billions | 28 billions |
| Peak Temperature | — | 100°C |
PassMark
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Data compression | 185.8 MBytes/sec | 697.9 MBytes/sec |
| Data encryption | 9.5 GBytes/sec | 40.8 GBytes/sec |
| Extended instructions | 7.8B Matrices/sec | 33.3B Matrices/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 174M Primes/sec | 486M Primes/sec |
| Floating point math | 37.5 GOps/sec | 186.8 GOps/sec |
| Integer math | 37 GOps/sec | 132.7 GOps/sec |
| Physics | 1667 Frames/sec | 5687 Frames/sec |
| Random string sorting | 23.7M Strings/sec | 85.6M Strings/sec |
Performance Per Watt
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Blender / Watt | 6.07 PPW | — |
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 32.3 PPW | — |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 562.3 PPW | — |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 869.5 PPW | — |
Recent User Tests
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Benchmark | — |
| 📘 2025-10-24(Shivam) | GeekBench | — |
| 📘 2026-01-05(AR) | GeekBench | — |
| 📘 2026-03-14(T) | GeekBench | — |
iGPU
| Specification | Apple M2 | Apple M5 Pro (18-Core) |
|---|---|---|
| Execution Units | 128 | 320 |
| GPU Base Clock | 500 MHz | — |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1398 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| Integrated Graphics | Apple M2 GPU | Apple M5 Pro GPU (20-core) |
| ROPs | 32 | 80 |
| Shading Units | 1024 | 2560 |
| TGP | 15 W | 28 W |
| TMUs | 64 | 160 |
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