Apple's 'M2' Next-Gen Mac Chip Enters Mass Production, Expected to Debut in Redesigned MacBooks Later This Year

[ChromeCloud]

“8 cores” here is misleading. The M1 has 4+4 cores, and the scaling is really more like the equivalent of 5, maybe 6 full-performance cores. An M2 with 8+4, maybe 12+4 cores will handily beat the 18-core Skylake.

But also, saturating that many cores is rare.

I never said that a 12-core (8+4) or a 16-core (12+4) A14-based SOC won't beat the 18-core Skylake.

My original point (it got lost after so many quotes and replies) is that this year Apple is going to launch the M1X, which is going to be a different class of SOC made specifically for the "pro" Macs.

The M2 cannot be such processor. Why? Because a 12-core or a 16-core SOC based on the A14 (or even A15) architecture won't scale low enough to be put inside an iPad or a fanless MacBook Air. They just do not have the thermals or the battery to support such a beast.

And then there is all the other stuff: the "pro" SOC needs to support much faster discrete (or discrete-like) GPU, 4x more RAM, and more I/O. It's a different class of SOC for a different class of product.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

What's frightening is Apple how easily manipulates people. They are making a cheaper cpu what was originally in the Air, put it in the iMac in place of a more expensive one, took away half the ports in the cheapest model, and you are hapilly paying the same price. But whatever, keep buying it, maybe they'll finally raise dividends.

I’m not paying anything And, that CPU is still the fastest performing iMac you can buy. So, yeah, if someone buying a 24 inch iMac is perturbed by having a faster computer that last year’s model… well, they’re unfortunately going to have to deal with having the fastest iMac ever made

 

[reyesmac]

M1- All the power of an M1 iMac in a laptop
M1x - All the power of a M1x iMac in a laptop (this is the equivalent of a top of the line 2020 iMac.)

Apple makes a new higher end category of laptop speed.
M2 - All the power of a M2 iMac Pro in a laptop

I don't think Apple will be putting all the power of Mac Pro in a laptop. And I don't think they will release a Mac Pro this year.

But they would be able to price an iMac Pro and a MacBook Pro very close to each other. Both over $3,000 but you can choose to spend that on screen size or portability.

 

[SuperMatt]

It’s going to be a LOOONG time before people are able to “get” this. Years of desktops having higher performance and having more CPU features than laptops have been burned into their brains. Such that, if you take a future Mac High Performance processor in a future Mac Laptop and it provides simliar raw compute, it won’t be an amazing feat that Apple/TSMC was able to do this, it’ll be because they MUST be putting laptop processors in the desktop

In reality, it doesn’t matter if that’s what they’re doing! Wanna run FCP the fastest you possibly can without spending $6,000+ dollars? Then, today, you’re going to be using one of those laptop processors

Did you read this article?

Apple's M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model - ExtremeTech

Apple is positioning its M1 quite differently from any CPU Intel or AMD has released. The long-term impact on the PC market could be significant.

www.extremetech.com

They are turning the PC sales model on its head, yet again.

 

[fourthtunz]

I'm disappointed in them releasing something so soon after the M1.
I was already less than excited about the lack of ports on the 13" but the computer I was using was literally dying on me all the time. I either bought into the M1 or stayed with intel based chips.
Now my newest computer is going to be dwarfed so soon after release.
I'd hate to be a Karen but if they release a 13" (or 14") with these leaked specs I'm going in for a return/exchange. Yes I get it, technology changes, but it feels like a slap in the face to be an early adopter and then be given a real 'pro' version device so soon after.

You don't have to worry. The M1's that came out are a great deal and you can always sell them
at not too much of a loss. I bought the m1 MacBook air and its a smoking deal.
Even when the come out with the 14 or 16 I might upgrade but the loss of a couple hundred bucks
was worth it. The new ones are going to be double the cost so you'll have to decide if
they offer enough performance upgrade to make the switch. enjoy!

 

[Abazigal]

If. But you can't have better performance if your end user experience is that you don't have enough memory. You can't fight starvation by eating faster if you don't have enough food..

Maybe Apple is rewriting the rules of the game by making it so that I don’t have to eat so much to begin with?

I am still trying to figure out how exactly the M1 chip works, but it seems that it allows PCs to make do with fewer ram what would we would normally be accustomed to. Apple seems to be pretty good when it comes to managing this sort of bottlenecks.

 

[quarkysg]

The M2 cannot be such processor. Why? Because a 12-core or a 16-core SOC based on the A14 (or even A15) architecture won't scale low enough to be put inside an iPad or a fanless MacBook Air. They just do not have the thermals or the battery to support such a beast.

Why don't you think a M2 can't also have a 4+4 CPU cores and 7/8 GPU cores variant, but with more performant cores?

Similarly the M1 cores can be scaled up as well.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

I am just curious, truly---how many folks have used an M1 Mac and thought---"Nope. Need more power?"

I understand the desire for a larger display (in a laptop) and the ability to run two monitors (or more), but leave those two factors out---what does the M1 lack that pro users are missing?

 

[dgdosen]

I am just curious, truly---how many folks have used an M1 Mac and thought---"Nope. Need more power?"

I understand the desire for a larger display (in a laptop) and the ability to run two monitors (or more), but leave those two factors out---what does the M1 lack that pro users are missing?

I'd personally like something similar with 32GB of ram... to avoid SSD thrashing when running containers.

 

[cmaier]

I never said that a 12-core (8+4) or a 16-core (12+4) A14-based SOC won't beat the 18-core Skylake.

My original point (it got lost after so many quotes and replies) is that this year Apple is going to launch the M1X, which is going to be a different class of SOC made specifically for the "pro" Macs.

The M2 cannot be such processor. Why? Because a 12-core or a 16-core SOC based on the A14 (or even A15) architecture won't scale low enough to be put inside an iPad or a fanless MacBook Air. They just do not have the thermals or the battery to support such a beast.

And then there is all the other stuff: the "pro" SOC needs to support much faster discrete (or discrete-like) GPU, 4x more RAM, and more I/O. It's a different class of SOC for a different class of product.

Who said the M2 is destined for ipads?

 

[cmaier]

I am just curious, truly---how many folks have used an M1 Mac and thought---"Nope. Need more power?"

I understand the desire for a larger display (in a laptop) and the ability to run two monitors (or more), but leave those two factors out---what does the M1 lack that pro users are missing?

It could definitely use a little more multi-core performance for multithreaded workloads. And it definitely needs to support more RAM. And the GPU needs beefing up. But it’s a fantastic processor that covers the needs of 95% of the market.

 

[terpsbball2002]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas! And hopefully 32 GB of ram!

 

[MacLawyer]

Looking forward to the new hardware but my M1 MBA will keep me happy for a long time. I'm not a power user.

 

[George Dawes]

Do you thin the M prefix is for Mobile ? Maybe the super powerful desktop chips will be called D for desktop or P for pro ??

 

[cmaier]

Do you thin the M prefix is for Mobile ? Maybe the super powerful desktop chips will be called D for desktop or P for pro ??

M could be for anything. At AMD, the K in K5 and K6 stood for ”krypton.”

 

[dwaite]

Hmm I wonder if Apple are waiting on UFS to replace SD cards.

That is my suspicion. Possibly a combined-slot design for UFS and MicroSD.

 

[dwaite]

Maybe we shouldn't order M1 iPad Pro and wait for M2-variant?
Just kidding, lmao.

Most likely Apple is focused on scaling up the # of cpu/gpu cores and memory bus to have a higher peak, less on how to have those higher cpu/gpu counts consume the same amount of power. A fanless, battery operated device likely cannot take full sustained advantage of a M1, let alone a M2.

 

[dwaite]

Enters production = M1X

A12X, etc were a result of them being able to have more CPU/GPU cores in their design, but it not being worth the extra silicon since an iPhone can only deal with so much power usage/heat.

M1 was likely not developed with the idea they could squeeze in more cores. My understanding is that they somewhat 'overshot' their goal in terms of performance.

They will need memory and IO bus changes to add more thunderbolt ports, video output, available RAM, etc. They may need new communication channels to add more CPU cores, and/or a wider memory channel to get full benefit from additional GPU cores.

I suspect we will ultimately see 3 tiers of chips from apple - iphone + ipad, ipad pro + entry mac, high end mac

 

[theorist9]

The three-month production time given in the article for the M2 chip seems to be about average for the industry:

"Manufacturing a finished chip for a customer can take up to 26 weeks. Here’s why: manufacturing a finished semiconductor wafer, known as the cycle time, takes about 12 weeks on average but can take up to 14-20 weeks for advanced processes."

From: https://www.semiconductors.org/chip...conductor-shortage-heres-why-that-takes-time/

 

[gene731]

I was about to pull the trigger in January but then I was like, I have been using this MBP since 2012, I might as well wait for the next one and go all in.

Yes. I tried that. Waiting for the M series 16” MBP. Then a odd thing happened. Not one but both of my Macs 2011 17” MBP and mid 2012 MacPro crapped out within 3 months of each other. So dealing with something else in life now so probably no more computers in my future.

 

[Fomalhaut]

So many people will be disappointed they 'didn't wait' when this appears.

Why? Those people will have been happily using an M1 Mac for at least 8 months, and enjoying the great performance.

What would you have suggested? Not having a computer for this time, or using an older, slower model that might not have been fit for purpose?

I expect many (most?) people bought an M1 Mac because they needed a (better) computer, particular if locked down or working from home. Not all purchases are unnecessary luxuries that can be deferred.

 

[Fomalhaut]

If it comes with a 8 cores M2, it will be extremely disappointing! Wasn’t it supposed to come with a M1X (with more cores)?
Let’s hope it isn’t the M2

It's quite possible that M1, M2, M3 will simply be the generation of each processor, similar to A13,14, 15 or Intel's 9th,10th, 11th generation core-i chips.

Within each generation there will be different specifications with differing capabilities in terms of CPU & GPU cores and other features of the SoC.

So we might get a 12 or 16 CPU core (8 power/4 efficiency, 12 power/4 efficiency) in an M1 that would be more powerful than an entry-level M2 etc.

We would expect each generation to have incremental improvements in architecture, so an M2 core might be 10-20% faster than an M1 core, but 8 M1 cores would have better multi-core performance than 4 M2 cores.

Whether Apple uses generation name suffixes like M1X, M1Z etc remains to be seen. Some people who may have inside information say that this is unlikely.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

So many people will be disappointed they 'didn't wait' when this appears.

Then next year will be the M3 and people will be disappointed they didn't wait for that. Technology always advances. I think my reason for getting the Mac Air was the same as many other stories from people who were Windows Users. The M1 was a huge selling point to get people to transition from Windows to Mac.

 

[groovebuster]

I hope the bigger imac will have more ports. I mean a desktop shouldn't have to compromise on ports. sd card atleast?

The smaller iMac is mainly for for basic tasks, not for pros with lots of external extras. If you are not doing (professionally) photos, audio or video, what are you connecting to a desktop computer these days? Exceptt maybe for and external hard drive (if at all)? Everything else is bluetooth or WiFi these days.

 

[BvizioN]

So many people will be disappointed they 'didn't wait' when this appears.

Not me. I been enjoying M1 Mac mini since last December. I do not do the waiting game. I always enjoy the present.