Apple M2 Pro vs Xeon Platinum 8256

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	670	462
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.23	no data
Market segment	Server	Laptop
Series	Intel Xeon Platinum	Apple Apple M-Series
Architecture codename	Cascade Lake-SP (2019)	no data
Release date	11 December 2018 (5 years ago)	17 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$7,007	no data
Current price	$12925 (1.8x MSRP)	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple 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	4 (Quad-Core)	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	8	12
Base clock speed	3.8 GHz	2.424 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.9 GHz	3.5 GHz
L1 cache	64K (per core)	3.3 MB
L2 cache	1 MB (per core)	36 MB
L3 cache	16.5 MB (shared)	24 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	5 nm
Maximum core temperature	72 °C	no data
Number of transistors	8,000 million	40000 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	no data
Unlocked multiplier	No	No

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple 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	8 (Multiprocessor)	no data
Socket	FCLGA3647	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	no data

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512	no data
AES-NI	+	no data
AVX	+	no data
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Speed Shift	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
TSX	+	no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data
Status	Launched	no data

Security technologies

Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2933	no data
Maximum memory size	1 TB	no data
Max memory channels	6	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	140.8 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

no data

Apple M2 Pro 19-Core GPU

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro.

PCIe version	3.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	48	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.

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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.

Apple M2 Pro outperforms Xeon Platinum 8256 by 35% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	10.85	14.61
Recency	11 December 2018	17 January 2023
Physical cores	4	12
Threads	8	12
Chip lithography	14 nm	5 nm

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Platinum 8256 and Apple M2 Pro, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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