Apple M2 Pro vs Ryzen 5 3500

Place in the ranking	940	544
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	AMD Ryzen 5	Apple Apple M-Series
Power efficiency	11.71	no data
Architecture codename	Zen 2 (2017−2020)	no data
Release date	no data	17 January 2023 (1 year ago)

Detailed specifications

Ryzen 5 3500 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	6 (Hexa-Core)	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	6	12
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	2.424 GHz
Boost clock speed	4.1 GHz	3.5 GHz
L1 cache	384 KB	3.3 MB
L2 cache	3 MB	36 MB
L3 cache	16 MB	24 MB
Chip lithography	7 nm, 12 nm	5 nm
Number of transistors	no data	40000 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data
Unlocked multiplier	+	-

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 5 3500 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 (Uniprocessor)	no data
Socket	Socket AM4	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	no data

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 5 3500 and M2 Pro. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

AES-NI	+	-
AVX	+	-
Precision Boost 2	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 5 3500 and M2 Pro are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 5 3500 and M2 Pro. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-3200	no data
Maximum memory size	128 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	51.196 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

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.

Ryzen 5 3500 8.05

Apple M2 Pro 13.73
+70.6%

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.

Ryzen 5 3500 12789

Apple M2 Pro 21802
+70.5%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.05	13.73
Physical cores	6	12
Threads	6	12
Chip lithography	7 nm	5 nm

Apple M2 Pro has a 70.6% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 40% more advanced lithography process.

The M2 Pro is our recommended choice as it beats the Ryzen 5 3500 in performance tests.

Note that Ryzen 5 3500 is a desktop processor while Apple M2 Pro is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 5 3500 and Apple M2 Pro, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.