Apple continues to work on the upcoming “M2” chip with help from its frenemy, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, ET News reports.
The latter is purportedly developing (for those who like technical details) a flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) for Apple’s next-generation Mac processors. FC-BGA is a semiconductor substrate that connects the semiconductor chip to the main substrate.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics will develop the product this year and supply it to Apple, adds ET News. The company also supplied FC-BGA substrates for Apple’s M1 chip, the article adds.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple has started “widespread internal testing” of “several” new Macs with next-generation M2 processors.
The article says the tech giant is testing at least nine new Macs with four different M2-based chips. They include:
° A MacBook Air with an M2 chip that features an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU;
°A Mac mini with the M2 chip and a variant with the M2 Pro chip;
° An entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip;
° 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The M2 Max chip features a 12-core GPU and 38-core GPU, along with 64GB Memory.
° A Mac Pro that will include a successor to the M1 Ultra used in the Mac Studio.