Intel vs M2 Chip - What are the differences?

Barely two years ago, the Mac underwent an impressive transformation. Both in design and, especially, in power. Since Macs started to use Apple-designed processors, the leap in two years is almost the equivalent of a decade.

Traditionally, Macs easily last 8 to 10 years. With the arrival of Apple's M1 or M2 Chip, the entire computer industry has been revolutionised. So if, for example, you have a Mac that's even from 2020, you will find that there has been an incredibly big leap. That's why in this article, we're going to compare a 2020 MacBook Pro with the current MacBook M2 Air- What are they like?

Intel vs M2 Chip - What are the differences?

Intel vs M2 Chip: Differences in the processor and graphics

At iSTYLE, for this Intel vs M2 comparison, we have:

a 2020 MacBook Pro with a quad-core Intel Core i5 and 8GB of RAM.
a MacBook Air M2 with an 8-core M2 chip and also 8GB of RAM.

We will run a series of tests on the processor, graphics, internet browsing, and, yes, the temperature. It's worth noting that the MacBook Pro has fans, and the MacBook Air no longer needs them due to the M2 Chip's efficiency.

Also, check out the differences between all Apple M2 chipsets, here.

Geekbench: Intel vs M2 CPU Test

Let’s start with Geekbench, a test that measures the power of the main processor. Perfect for comparing Intel vs. M2. The higher the score, the more powerful the Mac.

Intel vs M2 Chip - What are the differences?

Cinebench: Intel vs M2 graphics test

We are now going to use a test called Cinebench. This is the best test to see the differences in the graphics between Intel and M2. For 10 minutes, this test generates 3D environments from scratch. The more environments it generates, the faster the Mac and the faster the processor. The MacBook Air achieved 7 environments, while the MacBook Pro achieved 4. Almost double!

Intel vs M2 Chip - What are the differences?

Speedometer: Intel vs M2 WEB test

A speedometer is a test for loading websites. The idea is that the loading bar you see in Safari finishes sooner. The MacBook Pro scores 169 points, and the MacBook Air scores 417. Wow! What a big difference between the Intel vs. the M2.

Intel vs M2 Chip - What are the differences?

Experience gaming with the Intel vs M2 Chip

When it comes to gaming with the Mac, this is where we find the most significant differences between the Intel and M2. The Mac with Intel even lags in mouse movement. On the Mac with M2, everything runs smoothly and instantly. The MacBook Pro moves at fewer than 10 frames per second, whereas the MacBook Air is around 25/30.

As you can see, the change for a Mac has been enormous in two years. All this means you can edit your videos more efficiently, export your Excel sheets faster, or play games without limits.

If you want to test all this power in your own hands, come and visit our iSTYLE Apple Stores and experience M2 for yourself!

13" MacBook Air: M3 chip, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, Arabic/English Keyboard, Space Grey