Apple M2 Pro 10-Core vs Ultra 9 290HX Plus
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 18 | 714 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Apple M-Series |
| Designer | Intel | Apple |
| Manufacturer | TSMC | no data |
| Architecture codename | Arrow Lake-HX Refresh (2026) | no data |
| Release date | 17 March 2026 (recently) | 17 January 2023 (3 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 24 (Tetracosa-Core) | 10 (Deca-Core) |
| Threads | 24 | 10 |
| Base clock speed | 2.7 GHz | 2.424 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 5.5 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| L1 cache | 192 KB (per core) | 7.3 MB |
| L2 cache | 3 MB (per core) | 36 MB |
| L3 cache | 36 MB (shared) | 24 MB |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 5 nm |
| Die size | 243 mm2 | no data |
| Number of transistors | 17,800 million | 40000 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | 1 | no data |
| Socket | Intel BGA 2114 | no data |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | W |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR5 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU | Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and M2 Pro 10-Core.
| PCIe version | 5.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 24 | no data |
Synthetic benchmarks
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 17 March 2026 | 17 January 2023 |
| Physical cores | 24 | 10 |
| Threads | 24 | 10 |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 5 nm |
Ultra 9 290HX Plus has an age advantage of 3 years, 140% more physical cores and 140% more threads, and a 66.7% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Apple M2 Pro 10-Core. We've got no test results to judge.
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