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M1 vs. M2 Chip Buyer's Guide: How Much Better Really Is M2?

The biggest ding on the M1 so far has come when comparing graphics performance on the higher end configurations to that of some discrete competitors. Not that the performance is necessarily bad — still need to see what the Ultra does. But relative to the outstanding benchmarks achieved by CPU, GPU performance appeared a bit underwhelming. In that sense, the upgrade could be significant when the M2 scales up, in that (one hopes) it brings Apple's pro-level SoCs more on par with the machines they intends to replace. Ideally, you want your new 4,000 investment to outclass other machines in every metric.
 
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falkon-engine said:
According to Anandtech and others, TSMC's first 3 nm-class node is called N3 and is on track to start high volume manufacturing in the second half of this year. Actual chips are set to be delivered to customers in early 2023.

The question is, did TSMC already start risk production for 3nm and will apple use that for iPhone? It’s possible we’ll just have to wait and see.
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There's a 4nm process that's ready now in the meantime which the A16 has been rumored to be based on but from a performance perspective it doesn't offer much improvement over the 5NP node. Depending on timeline to launch the M3 it wouldn't surprise me if it skips the A16 core design and goes with whatever weather phenomenon-codenamed cores are in the A17. If we're on an 18 month update cadence then that would put the M3 in late 2023/early 2024 so the timing works.
 
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bradman83 said:
There's a 4nm process that's ready now in the meantime which the A16 has been rumored to be based on but from a performance perspective it doesn't offer much improvement over the 5NP node. Depending on timeline to launch the M3 it wouldn't surprise me if it skips the A16 core design and goes with whatever weather phenomenon-codenamed cores are in the A17. If we're on an 18 month update cadence then that would put the M3 in late 2023/early 2024 so the timing works.
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We'll see what happens.
 
Ha senso acquistare ora un Mac Mini M1 con 16 GB di RAM o dovrei aspettare qualche mese in più e ottenere il Mac Mini M2? Sempre, se il mio iMac da 27" di metà 2010 regge ancora.
 
fragnssim said:
Ha senso acquistare ora un Mac Mini M1 con 16 GB di RAM o dovrei aspettare qualche mese in più e ottenere il Mac Mini M2? Sempre, se il mio iMac da 27" di metà 2010 regge ancora.
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Aspetterei fino a ottobre. Per allora sono previsti Mac Pro. In teoria sono previsti anche Mac Mini e MacBook Pro.

È anche possibile che Mac Mini possa essere aggiornato a marzo. Quindi, è un'attesa
 
We share 3 Macs: a 2014 Mini, a 2015 MacBook Pro, and a 2017 iMac Pro (all Intel of course). We’re patently waiting for HDMI 2.1 for 2 Minis, and just watching what Apple does with their new Apple Silicon. The only real issue is Apple is no longer optimizing their OS for Intel anymore, which is leading to unnecessary bumps and slowdowns on our iMac Pro.
 
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jav6454 said:
Unsure if serious or just plain joking.
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I'm mostly joking... mostly 😉

In seriousness though, the fact that you're not sure if I'm joking tells you quite a lot about how the M2 MBP and M2 MBA aren't that different - which makes you wonder what truly makes the Pro "pro."

It does have a fan, which allows longer sustained heavy loads. It does have extra features like the Touch Bar which no non-Pro machine has had, but some MBPs have *not* had the Touch Bar, so clearly the Touch Bar may be a Pro-only feature, it's not a Pro-defining feature. Battery is larger than the Air's, but older MBPs have had equal or smaller batteries than other non-Pro laptops so battery size isn't a contributing factor to the "pro" designation.

I think it honestly really does come down to the fan, and slightly Touch Bar's exclusivity, as compared to the Air.
 
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I understand the comparison that the original article is making it, and I it very informative. But many people are responding with the suggestion that getting this M2 isn’t worth it for reasons A or B. With the new MacBook Air at least it isn’t simply about the performance. There are lots of things to consider and the new MBA sports a lot of flashy and performance features. I am not sure that anyone (Apple included) is suggesting that the move from M1 to M2 is necessary, but for those new customers… or those looking to upgrade for their reasons, they are getting excellent performance.
 
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falkon-engine said:
According to Anandtech and others, TSMC's first 3 nm-class node is called N3 and is on track to start high volume manufacturing in the second half of this year. Actual chips are set to be delivered to customers in early 2023.

The question is, did TSMC already start risk production for 3nm and will apple use that for iPhone? It’s possible we’ll just have to wait and see.
Click to expand...
falkon-engine said:
According to Anandtech and others, TSMC's first 3 nm-class node is called N3 and is on track to start high volume manufacturing in the second half of this year. Actual chips are set to be delivered to customers in early 2023.

The question is, did TSMC already start risk production for 3nm and will apple use that for iPhone? It’s possible we’ll just have to wait and see.
Click to expand...
I’m sure I saw an article that said end of the year, but 3-6 months either way is an acceptable wiggle room in this day and age. I am still think A16 will be based on the enhanced 5nm process as there is very little margin for error for Apple and TSMC at this point. I’m happy to be proven wrong though.
 
Zdigital2015 said:
I’m sure I saw an article that said end of the year, but 3-6 months either way is an acceptable wiggle room in this day and age. I am still think A16 will be based on the enhanced 5nm process as there is very little margin for error for Apple and TSMC at this point. I’m happy to be proven wrong though.
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The thing is, 3nm is approaching atomic levels and getting the desired yields per wafer proves difficult. It's been incredible TSMC has been able to maintain their node reduction when giants as Intel have failed to drop from 14nm.
 
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starbird2005 said:
The bit which is intriguing me is that its six times faster than the MacBook Pro 2017 I have. Which means it might be fast enough to cope with Teams video call, safari, and Office being open at the same time!
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I'd comment I run that same collection of apps and a couple other all the time on my MBP 2015 without any significant problem (I hear teams mentioned alot but not an issue for me) so maybe you have a software issue on your system or maybe it is a RAM issue. My system is a Dual core i7 with 16GB..I did have some issues when my very small 256GB SSD got too full but after I got free space back to 30+ GB I haven't had any issue. All that said I am eyeballing an MBA M2, or the next 14 inch Pro assuming the M1Pro is updated in the next 6-9 months.
 
jav6454 said:
The thing is, 3nm is approaching atomic levels and getting the desired yields per wafer proves difficult. It's been incredible TSMC has been able to maintain their node reduction when giants as Intel have failed to drop from 14nm.
Click to expand...
To me it seems like Apple should move the M series to the newest process...there are many fewer needed compared to what the iPhones need and frankly the A series are still ahead of most of the competitive phone processors... This approach would help keep the Ms at the cutting edge where they need to be to keep out ahead or competitive with the x86 and the GPU pressures from others. Basically make the M the leader and the A the follower being scaled back M which maybe also lags in the process size too.
Also obviously puts the reliable high yield process on the part where they need the most volume...
 
I'm just waiting for Apple to put an M processor in a box I can use. The M1 Mini and iMac are too little, and the Mac Studio is too much. I'm waiting for an M2 Mini with ports, dammit.
 
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