Apple M2 Pro vs A8-3870K

Place in the ranking	2175	544
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Apple Apple M-Series
Power efficiency	1.39	no data
Architecture codename	Llano (2011−2012)	no data
Release date	20 December 2011 (13 years ago)	17 January 2023 (1 year ago)

Detailed specifications

A8-3870K 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	4	12
Base clock speed	3 GHz	2.424 GHz
Boost clock speed	3 GHz	3.5 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	3.3 MB
L2 cache	1 MB (per core)	36 MB
L3 cache	0 KB	24 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	5 nm
Die size	228 mm²	no data
Number of transistors	1,178 million	40000 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data
Unlocked multiplier	+	-

Compatibility

Information on A8-3870K 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	1	no data
Socket	FM1	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by A8-3870K and Apple M2 Pro are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by A8-3870K and Apple M2 Pro. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

DDR3

no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare

AMD Radeon HD 6550D

Apple M2 Pro 19-Core GPU

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.

A8-3870K 1.47

Apple M2 Pro 13.73
+834%

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.

A8-3870K 2328

Apple M2 Pro 21802
+837%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.47	13.73
Recency	20 December 2011	17 January 2023
Physical cores	4	12
Threads	4	12
Chip lithography	32 nm	5 nm

Apple M2 Pro has a 834% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, 200% more physical cores and 200% more threads, and a 540% more advanced lithography process.

The Apple M2 Pro is our recommended choice as it beats the A8-3870K in performance tests.

Note that A8-3870K is a desktop processor while Apple M2 Pro is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between A8-3870K and Apple M2 Pro, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.