Apple will offer M2 Pro and M2 Max for MacBook Pro
At the second new product launch last fall, Apple launched a new generation of 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros for professional users, equipped with M1 Pro or M1 Max chips. Then, on the new Mac Studio this year, M1 Ultra was equipped, making its M1 series self-developed chip product line more complete.
According to Bloomberg reports, updated versions of Apple’s 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros will feature improved M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The codename for the new 14-inch MacBook Pro is J414, while the codename for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro is J416. The development log shows that the M2 Max chip has 12 CPU cores and 38 GPU cores, which is two more CPU cores compared to the M1 Max chip, the number of GPU cores has been increased by six, but it is unclear for the time being the exact number of performance cores and energy efficiency cores in the M2 Max chip.
It is understood that the updated versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are consistent with the current 2021 models in terms of memory, with a maximum capacity of 64GB, which is sufficient for most users. Apple is likely to choose TSMC’s 4nm process as the process for the M2 series chips. This is based on the existing N5 process to optimize, further expand the use of EUV lithography tools and equipment, can provide more PPA (power, performance, area) advantages, simultaneously reduce mask count, process steps, risk, and cost while maintaining the same design rules, design infrastructure, SPICE simulation program and IP.
Apple has yet to launch a self-developed chip for Mac Pro, which is the last bastion of the x86 processor on the road of Apple’s self-developed chip, indicating that compared with Intel’s Xeon processor for workstations, the overall performance of the M1 series chips is still insufficient. Previously, it was reported that the Mac Studio was equipped with M1 Ultra, and the layout of the M1 series of self-developed chips has been completed in the future.
