> UNIFIED MEMORY VS INTEGRATED GRAPHICS

If you’re thinking “hang on, isn’t unified memory the same as the integrated graphics in laptops?” you’re almost right. But there are some key differences between, say, the Intel UHD Graphics 630 in the current 16–inch MacBook Pro and the Unified Memory Architecture of the M1 MacBook and MacBook Pro.

With integrated graphics processors, such as Intel’s, the GPU and CPU are combined on the same chip and share memory. That memory is system memory, not the faster memory you get in high–end graphics cards, and it’s still separate from the CPU and GPU so it suffers from the same bottlenecks. There are also limits to how much system memory an integrated graphics system can access. In practice, that means integrated graphics have typically been used in low–end laptops; powerful ones like the 16–inch MacBook Pro use integrated graphics to save energy and then utilize their more powerful, discrete graphics cards when heavy lifting is required. With an M1 Mac, the GPU can fulfil both roles.