Apple's Upcoming M2 Pro Chip for High-End MacBook Pro and Mac Mini Will Reportedly Be 3nm

[MayaUser]

Like I said, if you want M2 Pro this year, it wont be N3. If it really is N3, that means it a 2023 product.

who said about this year? he can be presented late November with release in early 2023...who cares
We are talking about M2 pro/Max being on 3nm not when it will be released. Plus we dont know , not me, not even you or your pal Kuo account ))
Its clear you dont know much, so dont pretend, you already made a mistake.

 

[uczcret]

It doesn't have any sense to have different production processes within the M2 silicon family.

Exactly, I thought the whole point of the Mx family was that you just increase the amount of (the same) CPU and GPU cores to scale up to a Max sized chip. Just like all the M1 family chips were based on the A14 cores, it's safe to safe all M2 chips will be based on the A15 ones.

 

[Onimusha370]

At this rate, I might end upgrading sooner than 2025 from my M1 MBP. Since there will be no 4NM, does that likely mean they will jump 1 NM when the time comes?

All speculation, but I don't think they would jump from 3nm to 1nm. I assume the difficulty of decreasing sizes is all proportional. If you look at past transitions, I think we've gone:

20nm -> 16nm -> 10nm -> 7nm -> 5nm -> 3nm.

Moral of the story, 5nm -> 3nm is a big jump (40% reduction in size), going from 3nm to 1nm would be a giant reduction (67%). I think it'll be 3 -> 2 -> 1, and the jump from 2 to 1 might take a while!

 

[Kazgarth]

Don't expect it anytime soon.

For example M2 hitting mass production news was reported back in April 2021

Apple's rumored M2 processor reportedly hits mass production

Apple is reportedly planning to ship the successor to its M1 chipset by July. A new report claims the M2 chipset has entered mass production this month and may arrive in MacBooks by H2 2021.

www.neowin.net

Actual release date June 2022

 

[Student of Life]

If the base model pro gets the slower SSD, one can only anticipate that the new base model Air will get the same or lower type of SSD.

 

[dj458]

When is M8 Ultra Mega come out?

 

[theluggage]

Remember folks, the most important thing is that there will always be people posting stuff as fact when they have no actual knowledge of the situation.

So are you saying that the M2 pro won't be depicted as a black square with "M2 Pro" in Apple publicity?

Nobody here has any actual knowledge of the situation, apart from speculation based on guesses, inference and dubious leaks based, at best, on prototypes that may or may not turn into actual products.

Apple have not said a word about when of if the M2 Pro will appear, what process it will use or anything else about its spec, and when it does appear, the decision whether to brand it M2 Pro, M3 Pro or something completely different will be made by the marketing department, not the engineers. We've already had the whole "M2 is really M1.1" nonsense based on a lot of pundits deciding for themselves that M2 had to be 3nm.

All the rumours in this article really mean is "Apple's future M-numbers won't necessarily relate to the node size". Film at 11.

 

[EugW]

who said about this year? he can be presented late November with release in early 2023...who cares

That’s not going to happen. A November 2022 launch would mean a 2022 release. A N3 M2 Pro/Max wouldn’t get announced until 2023.

 

[AVEGA]

I’ll wait for M2 Pro Max Ultra Alpha Turbo Hyper Super Mega 64 iXL Championship Limited Anniversary edition

 

[Wildkraut]

Didn't they run out of Pro and Max buzzwords?

When will Apple employ a Tim Cook Pro?
Skipping Tim Cook Pro Max(I don't want to get to this one)

 

[Macative]

Not this year, no.

 

[macduke]

If true, this is tempting. But honestly my Intel setup is still fast enough, just runs hot. I was waiting for M3 because of the 3nm process improvements, mainly the crazy speed gains we were likely to see. I want to replace my 27” iMac and my 16” MBP in one fell swoop with a 14” MBP with M_ Max.

 

[theluggage]

I’ll wait for M2 Pro Max Ultra Alpha Turbo Hyper Super Mega 64 iXL Championship Limited Anniversary edition

Other possibilities:

M2 Snow Pro
M2 Mountain Pro
M2 Ludicrous
M2 faster-than-Max-but-not-as-fast-as-Ultra

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

perhaps m3 in the next mba will be 4nm then ,we never know

 

[Freeangel1]

Most software will have gone as far as they can go by the time these new models come out.

Software is already starting to show its maturity

how many more new features can they continue to add in Adobe Software.

The Big software push currently is Artificial Intelligence AI features.

And Touch Screen if Mac ever goes Touch

 

[jz0309]

Somewhat doubtful, entirely different design between 3 and 5nm, and Apple supposedly had a design engineering exodus and this approach would take more resources… but who knows

 

[ph001bi]

TSMC will manufacture Apple's upcoming "M2 Pro" and "M3" chips based on its 3nm process, according to Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes.

"Apple reportedly has booked TSMC capacity for its upcoming 3nm M3 and M2 Pro processors," said DigiTimes, in a report focused on competition between chipmakers like TSMC and Samsung to secure 3nm chip orders. As expected, the report said TSMC will begin volume production of 3nm chips in the second half of 2022.

In his latest newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said he expects the M2 Pro to be used in the 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and a high-end Mac mini. As for the M3, Gurman expects the chip to be used in an updated 13-inch MacBook Air, an all-new 15-inch MacBook Air, a new iMac, and potentially a new 12-inch MacBook.

In all likelihood, the M2 Max would also be manufactured based on a 3nm process in this scenario. That chip would be suitable for the highest-end MacBook Pro configurations, and the Mac Studio if Apple chooses to update that computer within the next year or so.

While it was widely expected that the M3 would be 3nm, it is more notable that the M2 Pro might be as well, given that the standard M2 chip that debuted in the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro remains built based on TSMC's 5nm process. Both the M1 and M1 Pro chips share the same process, so the M2 and M2 Pro being built on different processes would represent a change of course for Apple silicon in the Mac.

Vadim Yuryev, host of the YouTube channel Max Tech, has adamantly expressed his belief that the M2 Pro will indeed be 3nm in a series of tweets over the last few weeks. In the past, Yuryev accurately revealed that the M1 Ultra chip in the Mac Studio would effectively be two M1 Max chips connected as a singular chip.

If the 3nm report is accurate, the performance delta between the M2 Pro and M2 could be even greater than between the M1 Pro and M1. However, it's worth tempering expectations until any additional reports corroborate the M2 Pro chip being 3nm.

Article Link: Apple's Upcoming M2 Pro Chip for High-End MacBook Pro and Mac Mini Will Reportedly Be 3nm

I was excited by this, and then I read "according to Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes." I no longer was excited after that.

 

[vadimyuryev]

Don't expect it anytime soon.

For example M2 hitting mass production news was reported back in April 2021

Apple's rumored M2 processor reportedly hits mass production

Apple is reportedly planning to ship the successor to its M1 chipset by July. A new report claims the M2 chipset has entered mass production this month and may arrive in MacBooks by H2 2021.

www.neowin.net

Actual release date June 2022

Wrong. That's because everyone thought that the M1 Pro chip would be called the M2.
The chips that went into production were actually the M1 Pro/Max chips that were revealed in October.

 

[Jbusick7944]

I'll hold out for the M2 Max Explosion Nuclear Turbo Supreme.

 

[terminator-jq]

Interesting if true. Definitely taking this with a grain of salt.

On one hand: Part of the efficiency of the M1 was its scalability. Each iteration just builds upon what already exist making manufacturing far more cost effective. So it would make more sense from that perspective to keep the M2 Pro and Max chips on the same 5np silicon as the base M2.

On the other hand: Moving the Pro/ Max chips to 3nm should give them a bigger lead over the base M2 and keep Apple competitive in terms of performance for laptops and computers at that price point. This would also line up with rumors of the VR headset possibly using a version of the M2 Pro and other rumors claiming the VR headset requires 3nm.

Pretty interesting for sure! As an M1 Max owner I’m probably waiting until the M3 generation to upgrade regardless but if the M2 Max makes the jump to 3nm that could mean Apple has some bigger things planned for the M3 generation to set it apart. Fingers crossed for GPU ray tracing.

 

[MacLawyer]

That's great but where is my iMac Pro??? 🧐

 

[asdfjkl;]

It doesn't have any sense to have different production processes within the M2 silicon family.

I agree. Either this "rumor" is garbage or this is supply chain induced craziness.

 

[terminator-jq]

That's great but where is my iMac Pro??? 🧐

I bet you it’s coming next year. The Mac Studio was a great new addition (kind of like a Mac Pro jr.) but it didn’t quite scratch the iMac Pro itch for a lot of people.

The question is how Apple will spec it out… Do they keep it on the low end by offering the choice of an M2 Pro or M2 Max? Or do they come in at the high end and offer the choice of M2 Ultra and maybe a low config version of the Mac Pro chip (iMac Studio)? I could see it going either way. Especially if Apple wants to avoid making the iMac Pro compete with the Mac Studio.

 

[tis100]

I'm not sure I believe this rumor. Apple has been quite consistent with their release cadence baring any delays from TSMC. "A" processors on 12 month cycles and "M" processors on 18 month cycles. I don't see them speed running the process nodes because they will hit the wall more quickly in terms of TSMC's capabilities. 2nm is already having delays with mass production late 2025 / 2026. And who knows what issues will crop up with even smaller nodes. It's better to sell a consistent 20% per year performance improvement rather than 40% one year and then 0% the next.

Here are my predictions for Apple Silicon:

A14 - Late 2020 - TSMC N5 (Process)
A15 - Late 2021 - TSMC N5P (Optimize)
A16 - Late 2022 - TSMC N4 (Optimize+) (Rumored intermediate node because of delays with N3)
A17 - Late 2023 - TSMC N3 (Process)
A18 - Late 2024 - TSMC N3P (Optimize)
A19 - Late 2025 - TSMC N3? (Optimize+) (There will probably be an intermediate node here from delays with N2)
A20 - Late 2026 - TSMC N2 (Process)

M1 - Late 2020 - TSMC N5 (Process)
M2 - Mid 2022 - TSMC N5P (Optimize)
M3 - Late 2023 - TSMC N3 (Process) (Rumored 15" Macbook Air)
M4 - Mid 2025 - TSMC N3P (Optimize)
M5 - Late 2026 - TSMC N2 (Process)

M1 Pro/Max - Late 2021 - TSMC N5 (Process)
M2 Pro/Max - Mid 2023 - TSMC N5P (Optimize)
M3 Pro/Max - Late 2024 - TSMC N3 (Process) (I expect some form of design refresh here since the MacBook Pro Retina and Touch Bar were around 3 years before their refresh. The rumored OLED screen is possible.)
M4 Pro/Max - Mid 2026 - TSMC N3P (Optimize)
M5 Pro/Max - Late 2027 - TSMC N2 (Process) (Again, probably some form of design refresh)

 

[ttyRazor]

I’m guessing between this and only the iPhone 14 Pro series getting new CPUs, there’s not enough capacity on 3 nm to get everything on it.