M2 Ultra benchmarks reveal 20% faster performance than M1 Ultra

The last variant of the M2 series Apple Silicon, the M2 Ultra chip was unveiled at the WWDC 2023 event. Powering the 2023 Mac Studio and Mac Pro, the new M2 Ultra features a faster CPU and GPU to deliver higher performance.

But how does it compare to its predecessor M1 Ultra?

M2 Ultra benchmark scores

As Mac Studio is the only device to feature both variants of Ultra to date, we will review the benchmark scores of Mac Studio with M2 Ultra and M1 Ultra chips to see which chip delivers faster performance.

The 2023 Mac Studio has the same design language and the $3,999 premium price tag as the 2022 Mac Studio. Since its launch, the M1 Ultra Mac Studio is now available at third-party retailers for a reduced price like $3,199 on Amazon.

If you are looking interested in buying a new Mac or want to upgrade your older desktop, we have compared the M2 Ultra benchmarks with M1 Ultra for you to know which Mac Studio you should buy.

M2 Ultra vs. M1 Ultra: Specs comparison

SpecsM2 UltraM1 Ultra
Manufacturing
process
5nm5nm
CPU24-cores
(16 high-performance cores @3.50 GHz and
8 high-efficiency cores @2.80 GHz)
20-core CPU
(16 high-performance cores @3.20 GHz and
4 high-efficiency cores @2.06 GHz)
GPUUp to 76 cores @1.40 GHzUp to 64-core GPU @1.30 GHz
Transistors134 billion114 billion
Memory capacity192GB128GB
Memory bandwidth800GB/s800GB/s
Memory typeLPDDR5-6400LPDDR5-6400
Neural Engine32-core runs
31.6 trillion operations per second
32 core runs
up to 22 trillion operations per second
Low latencyOver 2.5TB/s of low-latency interprocessor bandwidth2.5TB/s of low latency inter-processor bandwidth
M2 Ultra

M2 Ultra vs. M1 Ultra: Benchmarks

Apple said that the M2 Ultra is 20% faster than the M1 Ultra chip. Let’s have a look at some popular benchmarks to see their performance.

BenchmarksM2 UltraM1 Ultra
Geekbench 6Single core: 2,837
Multi-core: 21,730
Single-core: 2,381
Multi-core: 17,664
Geekbench 5Single-core: 1,940
Multi-core: 27,860
Single-core: 1,793
Multi-core: 24,055
Cinebench R23 Single-core: 1,695
Multi-core: 28,570
Single-core: 1,534
Multi-core: 24,189
Blender 3.1N/A379

In conclusion, it can be said that the M2 Ultra is definitely faster than M1 Ultra but not necessarily by 20% across the board. In some benchmarks, the performance difference ranges from as low as 16% to as high as 20%.

About the Author

Addicted to social media and in love with iPhone, started blogging as a hobby. And now it's my passion for every day is a new learning experience. Hopefully, manufacturers will continue to use innovative solutions and we will keep on letting you know about them.