Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU vs Radeon R9 280

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Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking365not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.30no data
Power efficiency4.96no data
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)no data
GPU code nameTahitino data
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Designreferenceno data
Release date4 March 2014 (10 years ago)17 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$279 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores179216
Boost clock speed933 MHzno data
Number of transistors4,313 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)200 Wattno data
Texture fill rate104.5no data
Floating-point processing power3.344 TFLOPSno data
ROPs32no data
TMUs112no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizeno datamedium sized
Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
Length275 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pinno data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5LPDDR5-6400
Maximum RAM amount3 GBno data
Memory bus width384 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1250 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth240 GB/sno data
Shared memory-+

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPortno data
Eyefinity+-
HDMI+-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

CrossFire+-
FreeSync+-
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectXDirectX® 12no data
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan+-

Pros & cons summary


Recency 4 March 2014 17 January 2023
Chip lithography 28 nm 5 nm

Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU has an age advantage of 8 years, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.

We couldn't decide between Radeon R9 280 and Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that Radeon R9 280 is a desktop card while Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Radeon R9 280
Radeon R9 280
Apple M2 Pro 16-Core GPU
M2 Pro 16-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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3.6 396 votes

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3.3 195 votes

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Questions & comments

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