Side by side
| M1 Pro | M2 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory sizes | 16, 32 GB | 16, 32 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 200 GB/s | 200 GB/s |
| For models, at most | about 24 GB | about 24 GB |
| Models that run well | 30 of 73 | 30 of 73 |
| MLX seat class | Pro | Pro |
| Found in | MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021), MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) | MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2023), MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023), Mac mini (2023) |
Speed with popular models
Tokens a second for one conversation, each chip at its largest memory size (32 GB and 32 GB), with the best version of the model that fits.
| Model | M1 Pro | M2 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct8B | 11–19 8-bit | 11–19 8-bit |
| gpt-oss-20b21B · 3.6B active | 47–84 native 4.25-bit | 47–84 native 4.25-bit |
| Qwen3.6 35B A3B35B · 3B active | 53–94 4-bit | 53–94 4-bit |
| Qwen3.8 27B27B | 4–7 6-bit | 4–7 6-bit |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct70B | 4–7 2-bit lower quality | 4–7 2-bit lower quality |
| gpt-oss-120b117B · 5.1B active | too big | too big |
| Qwen3.5 122B A10B122B · 10B active | too big | too big |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731284B · 13B active | too big | too big |
Questions
- Is the M2 Pro faster than the M1 Pro for LLMs?
- About the same: their memory bandwidth is within a few percent. Both go up to 32 GB of memory.
- Which can run bigger models, the M1 Pro or the M2 Pro?
- Neither: both go up to 32 GB. At that size the M1 Pro runs 30 and the M2 Pro 30 of 73 open models well; the faster one clears more of them at 10 tokens a second.
More comparisons
The M1 Pro for local AI · The M2 Pro for local AI · Compare every model · The best Mac for local LLMs
How it’s worked out
Memory: the model’s parameters at 8, 6, 4, 3 or 2 bits per weight plus MLX’s group scales (half a bit per weight), or its native format, with room for the context on top. By default macOS lets the GPU use about 75% of unified memory. Speed: memory bandwidth divided by the bytes read per token is the ceiling for one conversation; in llama.cpp’s public Apple Silicon benchmarks real runs reach about 45% to 80% of it, which is the range shown. These are estimates, not measurements: measure your own Mac on MLX Bench. Model figures from each official model card, chip figures from Apple’s Tech Specs. Checked 2026-10-19. Same data as mlx.app/compare.