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Apple M2 (8-core)
A refined M1 rather than a reinvention: modestly faster CPU cores, a bigger 10-core GPU option, and a 24GB memory ceiling kept the fanless MacBook Air ahead of every x86 ultraportable of its day.
Pros
- Strong single-core for a fanless design
- Excellent battery efficiency
- 24GB memory option lifts the M1 ceiling
- Improved media engine with ProRes support
Cons
- Modest multi-core against H-class x86 chips
- 100GB/s bandwidth limits heavy workloads
- Slow SSDs in base 256GB configurations
Average
Computed from specs & benchmarks via our public methodology.
Full specifications
Everything we track for the Apple M2 (8-core)
General
- Announced
- 2022
- Process
- 5 nm
Cores & Clocks
- Cores
- 8
- Performance cores
- 4
- Efficiency cores
- 4
- Threads
- 8
- Boost clock
- 3.5 GHz
Integrated GPU
- iGPU
- Apple 10-core GPU
Memory
- Memory support
- LPDDR5-6400
- Max memory
- 24 GB
Benchmarks
- Geekbench 6 (single)
- 2,600Top 44%
- Geekbench 6 (multi)
- 9,750Bottom 38%
- Cinebench R23 (single)
- 1,580Bottom 39%
- Cinebench R23 (multi)
- 8,700Bottom 30%
- PassMark
- 15,648Bottom 32%
Quick answers
Is the Apple M2 (8-core) good in 2026?
The Apple M2 (8-core) earns an Inno Score of 50.4/100 (“Average”) based on its specs and benchmark results. A refined M1 rather than a reinvention: modestly faster CPU cores, a bigger 10-core GPU option, and a 24GB memory ceiling kept the fanless MacBook Air ahead of every x86 ultraportable of its day.
Does the Apple M2 (8-core) count as "Core i7 or equivalent"?
Its PassMark CPU Mark average is 15,648 (cpubenchmark.net, retrieved Sep 26, 2026), which puts it in Tier B of our CPU tier checker: recent mainstream Core i7 / Ryzen 7, plus older H-series chips. It is an Arm-based chip, so a requirement that asks specifically for an Intel or AMD (x86-64) processor excludes it. Requirement pages word this differently, so check the exact wording with your department.
What are the key specs of the Apple M2 (8-core)?
Cores: 8 · Threads: 8 · Boost clock: 3.5 GHz
What are the closest alternatives to the Apple M2 (8-core)?
Its closest rivals on InnoReviews are Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Core i7-1260P, AMD Ryzen 7 7730U — open the comparison pages for a spec-by-spec breakdown.
