Apple M2 Pro vs i5-5250U

Place in the ranking	2138	543
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i5	Apple Apple M-Series
Power efficiency	9.65	no data
Architecture codename	Broadwell-U (2015)	no data
Release date	1 March 2015 (9 years ago)	17 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$315	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro 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	2 (Dual-core)	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	4	12
Base clock speed	1.6 GHz	2.424 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.7 GHz	3.5 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	3.3 MB
L2 cache	256K (per core)	36 MB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	24 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	5 nm
Die size	133 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	105 °C	no data
Number of transistors	1900 Million	40000 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro 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	FCBGA1168	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	no data

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	no data
AES-NI	+	-
AVX	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Smart Response	+	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	-
OS Guard	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro are enumerated here.

AMD-V	+	-
VT-d	+	no data
VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	no data
Maximum memory size	16 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 6000	Apple M2 Pro 19-Core GPU
Max video memory	16 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video	+	no data
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	950 MHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	2560X1600@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	3840x2160@60Hz	no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	11.2/12	no data
OpenGL	4.3	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-5250U and M2 Pro.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	12	no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i5-5250U 1.53

Apple M2 Pro 13.73
+797%

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.

i5-5250U 2435

Apple M2 Pro 21810
+796%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i5-5250U 260

Apple M2 Pro 2069
+696%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i5-5250U 107

Apple M2 Pro 230
+115%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.53	13.73
Recency	1 March 2015	17 January 2023
Physical cores	2	12
Threads	4	12
Chip lithography	14 nm	5 nm

Apple M2 Pro has a 797.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, 500% more physical cores and 200% more threads, and a 180% more advanced lithography process.

The M2 Pro is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-5250U in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-5250U and Apple M2 Pro, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.