MacNews

Apple works on the ‘M2’ processor with its frenemy, Samsung

A newly discovered vulnerability baked into Apple’s M-series of chips allows attackers to extract secret keys from Macs when they perform widely used cryptographic operations.

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.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.