New MacBook Pros With M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips Now 'Well Into Development'

[MacRumors]

Apple's next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips are "well into development and testing," and there is still a chance the notebooks will be released later this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In his "Power On" newsletter today, Gurman said Apple plans to release the new MacBook Pro models "as early as this fall," but as usual, he said there is a chance the timeframe is pushed back due to supply chain disruptions or other factors. Mass production of the notebooks will begin in the fourth quarter, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

While some reports suggested that the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips may be Apple's first 3nm chips, it looks increasingly likely that the chips will remain 5nm. The chips would still have performance improvements over the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in the current 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, as Apple is expected to move from TSMC's standard 5nm process "N5" to its more advanced 5nm process known as "N5P."

Like the standard M2 chip, the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips would likely also have increased GPU core counts and RAM compared to their M1 equivalents.

No major design changes have been rumored for the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is unsurprising given that the notebooks launched with an all-new design in October 2021. The redesigned included the return of ports like MagSafe and HDMI, while a notch was added to the display for an upgraded 1080p camera and thinner bezels.

Rumors suggest a new Mac mini with an M2 Pro chip might be released this year as well, along with a new Mac Pro tower with M2 Ultra and "M2 Extreme" chips.

Article Link: New MacBook Pros With M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips Now 'Well Into Development'

 

[MayaUser]

If 3nm is ready by summer next year...please Apple stop...we dont want a new 5nm Mbp , we can wait for 6 months instead of waiting for more than a year
But i guess if the new Mbp are already in development and testing is too late....so we get 5nm in the fall/winter and next 3nm change in late 2023 or spring 2024....

 

[4743913]

Excited to see the design I will ignore because I have an awesome Midnight M2 Air.

 

[Nicole1980]

And yet still no imminent sign of an M2/M2Pro mac mini. I would have thought that would have come out by now for sure.

 

[contacos]

True powerhouses. I upgraded from a late 2012 MBP to a M1 Pro and I hardly notice a difference with what I mean doing. Let’s see if it will last me as long as the old MBP did (it’s still running fine actually! I only upgraded because I wanted the redesigned Mac 😅). Shows what a great machine that Mac was

 

[MacBird]

My 16'' MBP M1 Max is so fast that I can easily wait for a substantial upgrade. Running AI software for a particular task on my 2017 MBP took 5 minutes, with the M1 it takes 12 seconds.

 

[MayaUser]

Excited to see the design I will ignore because I have an awesome Midnight M2 Air.

what design? It will be the same design until 2024 at least

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

If there is not going to be a re-design 💻 at least bring back the 17” MacBook Pro in Mid-Night, please 😭

 

[Nicole1980]

If 3nm is ready by summer next year...please Apple stop...we dont want a new 5nm Mbp , we can wait for 6 months instead of waiting for more than a year
But i guess if the new Mbp are already in development and testing is too late....so we get 5nm in the fall/winter and next 3nm change in late 2023 or spring 2024....

Any M2pro/Max 5mm macbook pro would be great, just like the M1pro/max macbook pros are already great. It's not like the 3mm chip is going to change things THAT much - certainly not nearly as much as the jump from Intel to M1

 

[gpat]

If 3nm is ready by summer next year...please Apple stop...we dont want a new 5nm Mbp , we can wait for 6 months instead of waiting for more than a year
But i guess if the new Mbp are already in development and testing is too late....so we get 5nm in the fall/winter and next 3nm change in late 2023 or spring 2024....

We're gonna get 3nm M3 Pro/Max MBPs for end of 2023 either way, might as well take this minor speed bump in the form of M2 Pro/Max

 

[gpat]

Any M2pro/Max 5mm macbook pro would be great, just like the M1pro/max macbook pros are already great. It's not like the 3mm chip is going to change things that much - certainly not nearly as much as the jump from Intel to M1

M3 3nm is going to have a major difference.
It's probably going to be the first with the new ARMv9 architecture. Major leap.

 

[Nicole1980]

M3 3nm is going to have a major difference.
It's probably going to be the first with the new ARMv9 architecture. Major leap.

Which will come in handy for what software exactly? And what kind of percentage increase in performance are you expecting?

 

[gpat]

Which will come in handy for what software exactly? And what kind of percentage increase in performance are you expecting?

Hard to tell.
Either way, M3 is going to be a big leap compared to either M1 and M2, and also after M3 i expect a few years of stagnation.
So it would be a meaningful generation anyway you look at it.

 

[jumpcutking]

I’m moving to an alternate universe where the Touch Bar returns to the Mac Pro larger models. 😂

 

[Nicole1980]

Hard to tell.
Either way, M3 is going to be a big leap compared to either M1 and M2, and also after M3 i expect a few years of stagnation.
So it would be a meaningful generation anyway you look at it.

All I can say is my M1 pro already does everything I want it to do. You use the term 'leap'. I would consider a 2x performance increase to be a 'leap'. At best, it sounds like the increase in performance would be 20-30%. Not bad, but I wouldn't call that a 'leap', that's more like an incremental increase.

 

[chucker23n1]

It's probably going to be the first with the new ARMv9 architecture.

ARMv9 doesn’t have much interesting stuff. Apple might skip it altogether.

 

[gpat]

All I can say is my M1 pro already does everything I want it to do. You use the term 'leap'. I would consider a 2x performance increase to be a 'leap'. At best, it sounds like the increase in performance would be 20-30%. Not bad, but I wouldn't call that a 'leap', that's more like an incremental increase.

20-30% could be expected from an M2 Pro with same process.
If you compare M1 Pro to M3 Pro, I suppose could expect 2x in certain workflows.
But it's all vaporware for now, we're talking about a chip to be delivered in 14 months from now maybe.
I'll enjoy my M1P 16" as well until then

 

[Nepenthe]

This is great and all but TBH the last thing I want in a Mac Pro tower is a chip which focuses on power efficiency. Please crank up the power and give us something with higher core speeds for intensive audio processing since the M-series Media Engines are largely unused during CPU-intensive tasks such as music production and spatial audio mixing.

 

[chucker23n1]

20-30% could be expected from an M2 Pro with same process.
If you compare M1 Pro to M3 Pro, I suppose could expect 2x in certain workflows.

That seems unlikely.

The M2 is just a 10% bump; 18% for multi-core. Expect something similar for the M2 Pro.

Recent Apple A generations went up 37%, 26%, 22%, 18%, 20%, 8%. You’d have to go further back to the A9, which went up 73%. If we go all the way back to Geekbench 3 results, the A6 went up 226%, and the A7 another 100%. But that’s long ago. The M3 is very unlikely to give a massive improvement like that. Even if Apple could do that, they’d have no incentive to; it makes more sense to spread such changes over multiple generations, especially as long as the competition is lagging.

 

[terminator-jq]

The M2 generation will be a great entry point for people that wanted to skip the first generation M1 family. 5np should give a solid 18-25% performance increase and there’s rumors that the M2 Pro/Max will see some nice gains in graphics.

M3 probably won’t show up until Fall 2023 at the earliest with M3 Pro/Max chips not coming until Spring-Fall of 2024. The move to 3nm will be the first major change for Apple Silicon. Maybe we even get a slight mid-generation design update before the jump to OLED. What I’m really hoping for is GPU ray tracing. The M3 generation will be an important step since by then, there’s a chance that more competitors will have entered the ARM arena. Apple needs to keep their lead and widen it.

 

[MayaUser]

Any M2pro/Max 5mm macbook pro would be great, just like the M1pro/max macbook pros are already great. It's not like the 3mm chip is going to change things THAT much - certainly not nearly as much as the jump from Intel to M1

is not about that...still going from M1 pro/max 5nm to pro/max 3nm would be even greater, armv9 etc...is about timing
If they release in November/December another 5nm that means we have to wait for the 3nm for another full year instead of waiting a bit and be among the first to introduce the 3nm laptop into the market in the summer. Think about M1 Mba how it was way ahead in 2020 to any other laptops. So i would prefer to wait longer, from December to June for a new 3nm die than wait till December 2023 for it

 

[MayaUser]

We're gonna get 3nm M3 Pro/Max MBPs for end of 2023 either way, might as well take this minor speed bump in the form of M2 Pro/Max

i think if Apple postpone we could have 3nm by June 2023

 

[Nismo73]

I like how now all these prognosticators can cover themselves if they get a release time wrong by saying “it was a supply chain issue”.

 

[MayaUser]

M3 3nm is going to have a major difference.
It's probably going to be the first with the new ARMv9 architecture. Major leap.

exactly , 3nm is a big jump if they wait for it, no need for anything else
Even for marketing purpose...if they wait then they can show even greater gain compared to the M1pro/max

 

[reallynotnick]

is not about that...still going from M1 pro/max 5nm to M2 pro.max 3nm would be even greater...is about timing
If they release in November/December another 5nm that means we have to wait for the 3nm for another full year instead of waiting a bit and be among the first to introduce the 3nm laptop into the market in the summer. Think about M1 Mba how it was way ahead in 2020 to any other laptops. So i would prefer to wait longer, from December to June for a new 3nm die than wait till December 2023 for it

You're acting like a short generation isn't possible, there is no rule Apple can't update a machine that's been out for less than 12 months.