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Apple Testing at Least Nine New Macs With Four Different M2 Chip Variants

CWallace said:
As for the various M2 models (and their codenames), current reporting/speculation is:
  • M2 (Staten): 8 CPU cores and 9/10 graphics cores
  • M2 Pro (Rhodes Chop): 10/12 CPU cores and 14/16 graphics cores
  • M2 Max (Rhodes 1C): 12 CPU cores and 24/32 graphics cores
  • M2 Ultra (Rhodes 2C): 24 CPU cores and 48/64 graphics cores
  • M2 Extreme (Rhodes 4C): 48 CPU cores and 96/128 graphics cores
Click to expand...
You might want to check those GPU cores as the Bloomberg article states that M2 Max may feature up to 38 graphics cores.
 
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Kylo83 said:
I got the m1 max 16” I hope the m2 max doesn’t come anytime soon
Click to expand...
Don’t worry, it’s 6 months away, that’s an eternity. ;)


Fun fact… typical Macrumors user when….
  • Apple used Intel/AMD: “What they released this CPU/GPU three days ago, why is Apple not updating their system?!? Damn Apple!!!111”
  • Apple switched to Apple Silicon: “What? They release a new chip after one year (two years for the M1)?!? They can’t do this!!!”
Careful what you wish for, just like the iPhone, a new chip version every year is what we‘re in for.
 
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CWallace said:
As for the various M2 models (and their codenames), current reporting/speculation is:
  • M2 (Staten): 8 CPU cores and 9/10 graphics cores
  • M2 Pro (Rhodes Chop): 10/12 CPU cores and 14/16 graphics cores
  • M2 Max (Rhodes 1C): 12 CPU cores and 24/32 graphics cores
  • M2 Ultra (Rhodes 2C): 24 CPU cores and 48/64 graphics cores
  • M2 Extreme (Rhodes 4C): 48 CPU cores and 96/128 graphics cores
Click to expand...
If we are supposed to be believe this, is the base line M2 Pro(+higher config) 8+4?
That seems unlikely given the current 8+2. But alternatives like (5+5)+2 also don't make sense.
6+6 makes sense (a cluster of 6 rather than 4 P-cores is not necessarily a crazy idea) or 4+4+4, but then no E-cores really doesn't make sense.
 
It makes perfect sense for the Mac Mini to have M2 and M2 Pro, and the Mac Studio to have M2 Max and Ultra.

The other models make sense as well.

The LARGE remaining question is what the Mac Pro will bring. Do we start with 1 M2 Ultra and scale up to 8? M2U x1, 2, 4, 6, or 8?

Do they include expandability with Modules containing CPU’s, GPU’s, RAM, all the other stuff like Neural Engine and on board codec stuff?

Very interested to se the precedent set with the Mac Pro.
 
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matthew12 said:
Apple updates their iOS devices every year. They obviously are going to update their Mac hardware every year as well now that they're on their own chips.
Click to expand...
I think 2 years is a more likely cycle length. That allows them to stagger M2/Pro/Max/Ultra releases and prevent consumer overload from refreshing the whole Mac line at once.
 
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CWallace said:
As for the various M2 models (and their codenames), current reporting/speculation is:
  • M2 (Staten): 8 CPU cores and 9/10 graphics cores
  • M2 Pro (Rhodes Chop): 10/12 CPU cores and 14/16 graphics cores
  • M2 Max (Rhodes 1C): 12 CPU cores and 24/32 graphics cores
  • M2 Ultra (Rhodes 2C): 24 CPU cores and 48/64 graphics cores
  • M2 Extreme (Rhodes 4C): 48 CPU cores and 96/128 graphics cores
Click to expand...

Maybe Apple has a Mac Pro configuration that uses four "regular" M2 Max SoCs & four "mainly memory controllers & GPU cores" M2 Max SoCs all working together; thereby offering up to 512GB LPDDR5 SDRAM and 256 GPU cores...!

falkon-engine said:
You might want to check those GPU cores as the Bloomberg article states that M2 Max may feature up to 38 graphics cores.
Click to expand...

38 is an odd number though, most "GPU core stuff" is on a base-8 kinda thing...?

name99 said:
If we are supposed to believe this, is the base line M2 Pro (+higher config) 8+4?
That seems unlikely given the current 8+2. But alternatives like (5+5)+2 also don't make sense.
6+6 makes sense (a cluster of 6 rather than 4 P-cores is not necessarily a crazy idea) or 4+4+4, but then no E-cores really doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Maybe the M2 Max/Ultra/Extreme/Kraken have all Performance cores, with the M2 and M2 Pro having a mix of Performance and Efficiency cores...?

CPUCore TypesGPURAM
M28-core4P/4E10-core16GB
M2 Pro12-core8P/4E16-core32GB
M2 Max12-core12P/0E32-core64GB
M2 Ultra24-core24P/0E64-core128GB
M2 Extreme48-core48P/0E128-core256GB
M2 Kraken48-core48P/0E256-core512GB

So the 14" & 16" M2 Max MacBook Pro laptops take a hit by not having any Efficiency cores, but the headless desktops are All Killer, No Filler...?!? ;^p

TabletLaptopHeadless Desktop
M211" iPad Pro
12.9" iPad Pro		13" MacBook
15" MacBook		Mac mini
M2 Pro14" MacBook Pro
16" MacBook Pro		Mac mini
M2 Max14" MacBook Pro
16" MacBook Pro		Mac Studio
M2 UltraMac Studio
Mac Pro
M2 ExtremeMac Pro
M2 KrakenMac Pro

A full-sweep M2-family refresh before the end of 2022 would be quite the successful transition...!
 
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CWallace said:
As for the various M2 models (and their codenames), current reporting/speculation is:
  • M2 (Staten): 8 CPU cores and 9/10 graphics cores
  • M2 Pro (Rhodes Chop): 10/12 CPU cores and 14/16 graphics cores
  • M2 Max (Rhodes 1C): 12 CPU cores and 24/32 graphics cores
  • M2 Ultra (Rhodes 2C): 24 CPU cores and 48/64 graphics cores
  • M2 Extreme (Rhodes 4C): 48 CPU cores and 96/128 graphics cores
Click to expand...
The question is, on the Mac Pro, will there be multiple of the extreme (x1,2,4,6, or 8)? I wonder if RAM limits will stay the same on each level of chip this time around?
 
Would it be worth waiting for the M2 Pro 14” MacBook Pro? I’m planning on upgrading sometime this year, but I can afford to wait a few months. Admittedly I’d probably be satisfied with the current generation.
 
I am thrilled about this news. Hey everyone! Do not buy any M1 powered computers if you want to squeeze every dollar possible outta your system. The tech is moving so fast just wait for the next generation M2 family.
 
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Macaholic868 said:
Is it possible to get a MacBook Air with a 512 GB SSD? My current system only has a 256 GB SSD and if I’ve got to go to a MacBook Pro for a 512 GB SSD that’s what I’ll do. 13” is fine for me on a laptop in terms of screen size. My wife’s a Covid-19 nurse. We don’t travel often these days. Outside of the SSD capacity the MacBook Air has been fantastic but I really look forward to the kind of extended battery life you can get with Apple’s SoC than you can get out of the remaining Intel. Charging the system every 3 - 5 hours feels like ancient technology when I think of my iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. I was nervous I’d have to go back to a Windows laptop. I work in IT and do some programming and it’s all Windows based. I don’t want to deal with that crap when I’m home. I want something that just works. I don’t want to deal with bad Windows Updates breaking things and zero day exploit solutions like “turn off the print spooler service”. Get real Microsoft and bring your QA team back. Apple isn’t perfect these days either but I’d take them over Microsoft every day that ends with a “y”.
Click to expand...

I have Macbook Air M1, RAM 16GB, SSD (actually it is high speed NVME) 512GB. So far using have about 400GB of drive free.
 
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People underestimate the M2 (based on A15). Compared to the M1 (A14), it has 50% higher graphics performance and the E-cores are around 50-60% faster, which means the P-cores activate much less frequently. This leads to great improvement in battery life.
 
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I hear that M2 is about 15% faster than M1 (probably single core speed). Obviously, multicore scores will be much higher due to the speed difference of a single core and also higher number of cores in general. Apple also will probably include various media encoders, all in all, M2, while an incremental upgrade, is going to be quite a leap.
 
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CWallace said:
We do have one more Mac desktop and one more Mac laptop expected in the near term based on the filings with the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The most logical desktop to me would be an M2 Mac mini. The most logical laptop to me would be an M2 MacBook Air or M2 MacBook Pro 13.3". Both could launch at WWDC or soon after.

I do expect Apple to announce the Apple Silicon Mac Pro at WWDC, but not give a release date because I could see it slip into 2023.

I do not believe we will see an M1 Pro Mac mini configuration. I'm not sure we'll see an M2 Pro Mac mini configuration, but if we do, my thinking is 2023. Same with an M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pro. And the M2 iMac 24" (with possibly an M2 Pro configuration if Apple does not release an Apple Silicon version of the iMac 5K 27").
Click to expand...
Of all these products, the M1/M2 Pro mini is the one that most needs to exist. They need to fill this gap between M1 mini and M1 Max Studio.
 
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