Sony Playstation 5 vs Apple M2

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Sony Playstation 5 or Sony Playstation 5 – which processor offers superior performance? In this comparison, we examine disparities and assess which of these two CPUs outperforms the other. We delve into technical specifications and benchmark outcomes.
The Sony Playstation 5 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 16 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2020 and belongs to the 3 generation of the AMD Ryzen 7 series.
To use the Sony Playstation 5, you'll need a motherboard with a BGA socket.
The Apple M2 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q2/2022 and belongs to the 2 generation of the Apple M series series.
AMD Ryzen 4000G Group Apple M2
3 Generation 2
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
Sony Playstation 5 Name Apple M2
AMD Ryzen 7 Family Apple M series
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Sony Playstation 5 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 16 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the Sony Playstation 5 is 3.0 GHz
and turbo frequency for one core is 3.5 GHz.
The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.
The Apple M2 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.5 GHz.
Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
16 Threads 8
8x Zen 2 Cores None
None None 2.8 GHz
8 CPU Cores 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
None None 4x Avalanche
Yes Hyperthreading No
None None 3.5 GHz
No Overclocking No
None None 4x Blizzard
3.5 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 core) None
3.0 GHz Frequency None
3.5 GHz Turbo Frequency (all cores) None
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Sony Playstation 5 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Sony Playstation 5 uses the AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Playstation 5), which has 2304 texture shaders
and 36 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Apple M2 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple M2 uses the Apple M2 (10 Core), which has 1280 texture shaders
and 160 execution units.
2304 Shaders 1280
Q3/2021 Release date Q2/2022
7 nm Technology 5 nm
12 Direct X --
8.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 24.0 GB
-- Max. displays --
36 Execution units 160
2.23 GHz GPU frequency 1.4 GHz
1 Generation 2
-- GPU (Turbo) --
AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Playstation 5) GPU name Apple M2 (10 Core)
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
 
 

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode
Decode VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode JPEG Decode / Encode
No AV1 No
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode AVC Decode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
 
 

Memory & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 16.0 GB distributed across 2 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 24.0 GB distributed across 2 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
pci PCIe pci
Yes AES-NI Yes
GDDR6 Memory type LPDDR5-6400
No ECC No
16.0 GB Max. Memory 24.0 GB
2 Memory channels 2
448.0 GB/s Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s
 
 

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 65 W watts.
TDP indicates the cooling solution needed to effectively manage the processor's heat. It generally provides an approximate indication of the actual power consumption of the CPU itself.
The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 22 W watts.
None TDP down 10 W
65 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 22 W
100 °C Tjunction max 100 °C
 
 

Technical details

The Sony Playstation 5 is manufactured using a 7 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 8.0 MB cache.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The Apple M2 is manufactured using a 5 nm process.
Q3/2020 Release date Q2/2022
AMD-V, SVM Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, FMA3, AVX2 ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
7 nm Technology 5 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
-- Release price --
Renoir (Zen 2) Architecture M2
8.0 MB L3-Cache 0 bytes
Windows 10, Linux, Windows 11 Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
-- Part Number --
BGA Socket
0 bytes L2-Cache 20.0 MB
 
 

Benchmarks

Sony Playstation 5 and Apple M2 in leaderboards