Benchmarks for Apple’s new M2 MacBook Air have been revealed and the performance is very similar to the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro. The M2 chip used in both portable Macs is the same, with the only difference being active cooling via fans for the SoC on the MacBook Pro.
M2 MacBook Air benchmarks
We had previously covered M2 chip benchmarks, which were posted on Geekbench using a 13-inch MacBook Pro. Geekbench showed that the chip was clocked at 3.49GHz, a jump from the 3.2GHz that the M1 chip was clocked at. Following are the scores that the 13-inch MacBook Pro achieved:
- Single-core: 1919
- Multi-core: 8928
The clock speed is the same on the M2 MacBook Air, and it manages to achieve the following scores in Geekbench 5:
- Single-core: 1899
- Multi-core: 8965
The difference between the results is within a margin of error, which means that the result could vary between different benchmark runs on both Macs. However, the results make it clear that the chip performance is the same on both the M2 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro.
This should come as a surprise to nobody as the Geekbench benchmark does not push the system long enough for the 13-inch MacBook Pro’s active cooling to come into play. That is the major reason for users to opt for the Pro variant over the Air variant.
Once active cooling is in the equation, the M2 chip is likely going to perform better as it will result in more thermal headroom before the chip is throttled and performance is impacted. Apple Silicon is really good when it comes to thermals as the M1 chip can also be pushed considerably before any thermal limitations appear. Users have been able to use the MacBook Air for advanced uses such as programming and 3D rendering, even though it does not have a fan.
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