At this week’s Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple unveiled the new M2 chip. As noted by 9to5Mac, analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech Research says Apple supplier TSMC will begin mass production of the more powerful “M2 Pro” chip later this year.
About the M2
Built using second-generation 5-nanometer technology, M2 takes the industry-leading performance per watt of M1 even further with an 185 faster CPU, a 35% more powerful GPU, and a 40% faster Neural Engine, according to Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. It also delivers 50% more memory bandwidth compared to M1, and up to 24GB of fast unified memory, he adds.
“M2 starts the second generation of M-series chips and goes beyond the remarkable features of M1,” Srouji says. “With our relentless focus on power-efficient performance, M2 delivers a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. And along with higher memory bandwidth and new capabilities like ProRes acceleration, M2 continues the tremendous pace of innovation in Apple silicon for the Mac.”
The M2, M2 Pro, and beyond
The new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 processor will ship next month. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks we’ll see a 24-inch iMac with an M2 processor in later summer or the fall.
I also expect to see a new Mac mini this fall with an M2 or M2 Pro processor. Finally, I think the long-awaited revamp of the Mac Pro desktop will arrive this fall with M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra options.
