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Populus

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 24, 2012
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Spain, Europe
Maybe most forum members are already enjoying the M3 SoC on their new macs, or fantasizing with the M4 (I do too), but it happens that my iPad Pro is based on the M2 SoC, which is based on the A15 that my iPhone has, and sometimes I also think about getting an M2 Mac mini on the second hand market for a good price, instead of waiting for a future M3 Mac mini.

So I’d like to open a conversation about the M2, it’s capabilities, the improvements over the M1, if the lacks compared to the M3 are important enough, and most importantly, the lifespan the M2 devices will have.

Originally, I said that the M2 SoC was a stop-gap chip. I still think about it sometimes, but I think they’re actually are big improvements over the M1. One of them, the most noticeable, is the caché memory and the faster RAM. But also more GPU cores and higher clock speeds. I think instructions per clock are also better than M1? But I’m not sure by how much.

Here comes my main question: Do you expect the M2 to have a significantly longer lifespan relative to the M1? Do you think the bigger caché and faster RAM will grant the M2 several years of being the oldest supported SoC? And, if so, do you think it will struggle performance-wise?

I’m not trying to plan my purchases anymore because the A15 powered iPhone SE 3, and the M2 iPad Pro, will probably be the last devices with an LCD display, and that means that I’ll be many, many years stuck with them. But I think the A15 was a great improvement over the A14 and one of the most used chips on Apple’s lineup, which should grant it a good support from both Apple and developers. And because the M2 is based on the A15, I expect it to be equally well supported.

Sometimes I feel like my M2 iPad Pro, while having a good battery life, is not as good as my previous A12X based 2018 iPad Pro. I suspect the M2, while being quite powerful, has a slightly higher consumption when used in certain conditions. And the lack of AV1 decoding (which the M3 finally has integrated into the silicon) is going to be another factor that will impact its battery life over the next years if YouTube starts using the codec more.

I’m aware that I lack the technical knowledge to make affirmations, that’s why I only make assumptions. If you want to point where I am wrong, or want to contribute to the M2 talk, feel free to do so, keeping a respectful tone.
 
I have a general feeling without specific evidence:

That when there is a new release and it’s not associated with a specific technology advancement. It’s mainly associated with bug fixes. Sort of feel that way about M2. If that is the case, then it would encourage the longevity of the M2 product line
 
I have a general feeling without specific evidence:

That when there is a new release and it’s not associated with a specific technology advancement. It’s mainly associated with bug fixes. Sort of feel that way about M2. If that is the case, then it would encourage the longevity of the M2 product line
Yeah @Chuckeee I think I feel similar towards the M2, as an improvement, or polish step after the M1.

I'm not saying in any way the M1 has issues, it is actually one of the biggest (if not the biggest) advancements in Apple Silicon since chips like the A9 or the A12. However, maybe the bigger caches, the faster RAM, and some other tweaks over the M1 that I may be missing, make it a more future-proof SoC? Well, as you said, it is just a feeling.

There is an addition on the M2 that I am aware of: the dedicated Media Engine. However, I think it only has the Pro Res hardware encoder/decoder as an addition compared to the M1, and I personally don't use Pro Res, so for me that's not very important.
 
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the M2 SoC was a stop-gap chip

Inevitably, Populus, every wheel created--after its invention--is a stop-gap ;)

There's always something "coming".

I had to lay-aside my fascination on the prospect that the M3 Mac Studio would add AV1 Decode+Encode functionality, and just dive-into the M2 tech . . .heck, I don't (even) really need AV1, nor do I 'need' Pro Res.

'4Tbps of bi-directional bandwidth at only 10W' boards are coming ;)

M2 is exquisitely sufficient, for the time-being, IMO
 
I think people have unrealistic expectations to what the generational improvements should be. If you compare to other chipmakers and designers the improvements are small except a few exceptional cases.

A computer should never be considered an investment for the future but for the tool you need now. But Apple computers and devices have almost always depreciated slower than other manufacturers devices even when you consider the odd design choices they occasionally make.
 
To me, there is not enough of a performance bump to upgrade from my M2 Max to an M3 Max model, especially given some of the head to head comparisons I've seen comparing M3 to both M3 Pro and M3 Max. The process jump is more of a nice to have rather than any sort of "need", especially given how I'm using this Mac.
 
I think you have to clarify the usage before talking about lifespan. For ordinary office-like tasks, my old late 2013 rMBP was good enough, and I only replaced it because it had a fatal accident. Given a proper configuration, I expect that an M1 based computer is good until the OS goes out of support, and same for M2 / M3.

If you're beating on the machine for heavy duty content creation, or running 4 active VM's along with 500 chrome tabs, or simultaneously transcoding a half-dozen 4k movie streams, or otherwise doing serious work, then I can imagine talking about lifespan in a realistic sense.
 
I think you have to clarify the usage before talking about lifespan. For ordinary office-like tasks, my old late 2013 rMBP was good enough, and I only replaced it because it had a fatal accident. Given a proper configuration, I expect that an M1 based computer is good until the OS goes out of support, and same for M2 / M3.

If you're beating on the machine for heavy duty content creation, or running 4 active VM's along with 500 chrome tabs, or simultaneously transcoding a half-dozen 4k movie streams, or otherwise doing serious work, then I can imagine talking about lifespan in a realistic sense.
I was referring, mainly, to the lifespan offered by Apple, with OS support, performance and features.
 
The M2 Ultra in particular was definitely an upgrade and a “bug fix” if you consider the GPU had better scaling and performance. The M2 Pro Mac Mini is still a buy too imo, considering the M3 Pro isn’t much better.
 
The M2 Pro Mac Mini is still a buy too imo, considering the M3 Pro isn’t much better.
I've had a couple of base model M1/M2 minis since 2021, thinking maybe M3 would be the point where I'd put some extra money into a mac to last me for a few years. As the first M3 imac/MBP came out I thought; maybe not wait, and I bought a M2 Pro mac mini. I'm pretty confident it's a good decision.
 
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I've had a couple of base model M1/M2 minis since 2021, thinking maybe M3 would be the point where I'd put some extra money into a mac to last me for a few years. As the first M3 imac/MBP came out I thought; maybe not wait, and I bought a M2 Pro mac mini. I'm pretty confident it's a good decision.
It's a darn good decision, especially with those specs. Good purchase!

By the way, while I appreciate all sorts of inputs -feel welcome to share them-, the main subject of this thread was initially the base SoC M2.
 
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I think it interesting Bellwether on the longevity of the M2 is what’s going to happen with the 13” MacBook Air. With the upcoming introduction of the 13” M3 MacBook Air which of the existing MacBook Airs (there are both M1 and M2 variants) will be retired? The M1 version? The M2 version? Both?

If the M1 version is retired and the M2 is retained, I think that is a positive sign for the longevity of the M2 product line.
 
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I think it interesting Bellwether on the longevity of the M2 is what’s going to happen with the 13” MacBook Air. With the upcoming introduction of the 13” M3 MacBook Air which of the existing MacBook Airs (there are both M1 and M2 variants) will be retired? The M1 version? The M2 version? Both?

If the M1 version is retired and the M2 is retained, I think that is a positive sign for the longevity of the M2 product line.
Today I learnt a new word! "Bellwether": Something that leads or indicates a trend. In Spanish we just say indicador (indicator).

And yes, I agree, if the M2 stays around means the M1 will lose support earlier (which is the expected outcome). However, if they retire all the M2 machines while they still sell M1s, it may indicate that both SoC losing OS support at the same time is more likely. But still, unlikely in my opinion, as the M2 has some improvements, especially more GPU cores, higher clock speeds overall, a much more capable Neural Engine (40% more powerful), bigger cachés... So I really expect the M2 to have, at least, one or two years more of support than the M1.

Anyways, whenever this happens, I don't expect it to be sooner than 6-7 years away.
 
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