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Apple's 'M2' Next-Gen Mac Chip Enters Mass Production, Expected to Debut in Redesigned MacBooks Later This Year
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It's not early, it's a differentiation. There has always been a big performance difference between "low end" (ie. cheaper) Macs and premium Macs (Macbook Pro 16, iMac 27, iMac Pro etc.) and much of that difference is due to processor differences. The M1 has filled out all the low end Macs at this point, essentially being the same computer in various form factors: Mac mini, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro 13, and iMac 24. The M2 will be a big performance jump from M1 to create that differentiation again and justify higher prices in the rest of the lineup. I suspect the M2 will be put in a more expensive Macbook Pro 14 (that will replace the Pro 13 in time) and Macbook Pro 16, and also an iMac 30. It will remain to be seen if over the years the high end chip will drift to the lower models and then a new high end chip will take its place, or if both chips will just tick toc through the years... ie. M1 machines gets replaced by M3, M2 machines replaced by M4.
depends... there will certainly be a larger than 27 inch iMac (rumors point to 30) that will use the M2 and have a lot more performance. it of course will be significantly more expensive than the M1 iMac 24 machines. they *might* also create a varient of the iMac 24 with the M2 as a high end option, but of course again for more money. I don't think the M2 will be upgrading what we have now for the same price, they will be adding more capable machines but for more money. so... if the iMac you are looking at now is 3k, the higher performance versions this fault might be more.
Intel/AMD has had a continuous stream of processors with OEM’s providing incremental updates as soon as the processors are available every year. I don’t think this consumer exhaustion has shown itself to be a problem in the industry. In reality, folks buy what they need and, at some point in the future replace it. Folks that HAVE to have the latest and greatest, well, they’ll always want the latest and greatest regardless of how often Apple updates their processors
Even two years for them is too soon (more than likely, just too soon for their money-havers).Hoping for some speculation on how much of a RAM bump for the M2, more cores are a given. The M1 is User class SoC so M2 and M3 should start beginning of Prosumer class chips. That means Pro level for the Mac Pro probably won't be until M4 or M5.
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Why would you upgrade a 2019 MacBook pro?
The 2014 iMac okay, but the 2019 Macbook is a beast!
Wahoo, the power of marketing hits strong on some 😮
That;s what I originally thought, but it’s looking more like it will now be an M2 with higher single core performance, and unknown number of cores.
On the contrary, I'd bet that the next generation will have RAM outside the processor, so it's basically unlimited. 8GB or 16GB on chip will be used for a huuuge cache, which gives >90% of the speed advantage. The M1 has no RAM outside the processor because that makes the design simpler; that's fine for low-end Macs but not for the high end.
While I hope it's an M2 with a little more power, I'd be fine with an M1. I cannot justify buying an MB with only 2 USB-C ports though. I know Apple likes to kill things off because they are looking ahead, but right now average joes and creators need USB ports, video output ports and for photographers they need an SD card slot. I hope the 14 and 16 inch rumors are true that they'll have more ports.
My 2011 is running well with Catalina installed but it'd be nice to get an upgraded laptop.
My 2011 is running well with Catalina installed but it'd be nice to get an upgraded laptop.
I think it will be a spec bump processor and not a night and day experience, compared to the current M1.
No, they are using the exact same chip for everything. From iPad Pro to iMac everything uses the exact same chip.
It's a MacBook Air. It is supposed to be as small and light as possible. A 16" MBA wouldn't make any sense at all.
I guess I see "better" as an assessment of fitment-to-requirements of the target market segment.
I may be wrong, but the 24" iMac seems solidly aimed at the buyer who knows nothing about (or doesn't want to be) choosing various bits and pieces to put together a system, definitely wants a desktop vs laptop format, and really isn't performance oriented.
For example a basic family of non-techies with a couple elementary/middle-school kids who wants a "family" computer to sit in the den or the side counter in the kitchen. They can walk into BestBuy or the Apple Store and pick from one or two in stock models and just have to decide on which color. Take it home, open the box, plug it into the wall, and they're up and running quickly. 7 vs 8 GPU cores would be immaterial to such a buyer and thus the internals aren't "better" in that context on one vs the other.
Why "should" this be so?
Who is the arbiter of How Things Should Be if not the free market of buyers?
The 24" iMac is clearly a basic AIO setup aimed of the general populace who may prefer an AIO vs a laptop or a some-assembly-required mac mini setup.
Since the 27" iMacs have yet to transition to Apple Silicon, I expect you'll still have your opportunity for the higher tier / more ports / more memory capacity options AIO systems - just as you'll likely have the same when the many-port mac mini systems transition to Apple Silicon.
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The original M1 Air/Pro/Mini are such good value no one is losing out. M1 performance is better than Intel i9 8 core. I know as I’ve tested with W10 ARM64 on M1 and Dell XPS17 i9 8 core.
Low end is more than just the processor speed. It's the amount of RAM, and the I/O system, that make it low-end. Now I must admit that at the moment we have to emphasize the "low-end" bit because too many people compare with the remaining high-end Macs that cost a lot more.
Joined the M1 family last week, been loving the Air so far. It's a beast of a machine, so fast and the battery lasts forever. Will probably be slightly saddened if a MBP without the touch bar is released with the M2, as it was my reasoning for going with the Air for this laptop, but it's a wonderful laptop nonetheless.
I see the product differentiation as two tiers - there's the base tier of the M1 systems we've seen released so far. They have some inherent limitations on ports, I/O, and memory capacity. Despite the limitations they meet lots of folks needs - even if most of those folks likely have never heard of MacRumors.
Presumably there is a yet to be released upper tier of Apple Silicon systems which will likely address those limitations and be better suited for the true power users who need the memory and I/O and myriad ports.
Will there be substantial single-core computer differences? I don't know that we'll see quite the same jump as we did with the M1 -- but presumably there may be more cores to spread the work.
Glad I didn’t invest in an M1 MBP now. The redesign MBP and new SoC will be a great jumping on point for someone who has been using Windows PC for decades. I am ready for a change.
People want a MacMini because it is small. Very often used as a server. Now many people are happy with the performance of an M1, but some really want the performance of three times as many performance cores because they want the performance. In a small device, possibly without any need for multiple monitors are even a big monitor.
M2 and M1X are just names given by the marketing department.