Apple recently launched the refreshed iPad Pro and the new iMac sporting the M1 chipset. When we take a look at the past, one can see a major difference in performance in comparison to the previous intel chips.
It seems, however, that whilst all this was going on in the front, things behind the curtains are heating up, as it seems Apple has started working on the second generation of the M1 chip, which as of now seems to be dubbed M2.
How Do We Know About The M2?
You might be wondering about how we are talking about the M2 when the M1 has just been equally distributed in the company’s portfolio. Well, according to a report by Nikkei Asia, the M2 chips have gone into production earlier this month.
Additional information mentions that the processor will take around three months to get produced, with shippings rumoured to commence from July alongside the new MacBook lineup.
As for the M2 chip itself, it is being produced by TSMC, the manufacturer that has previously been responsible for working on the M1 chip. One would assume that this chip would make use of the same 5nm process.
This might beg the question of how much of a difference the chip might offer in contrast to the M1, which during its debut seemingly obliterated its predecessor from intel.
For those of you unaware, the M1 chip features an 8-core CPU with up to an 8-core GPU as well as a 16-core Neural Engine paired with a unified memory architecture. During the launch, Apple also mentioned the details regarding the performance.
As per Apple, the M1 chip offered 3.5x faster system performance, up to 15x faster machine learning (ML), up to 6x faster graphics performance and 2x longer battery performance when compared to the intel chipsets.
Do not expect the M2 to be available just yet, since it is rumoured that more devices are supposed to receive the M1 chip prior to the M2 chip, which will probably be provided for the higher-end variants. This is evident from Apple’s two-year mission to replace intel chips.
When it comes to which device might sport the M2 chip, Apple might launch the chip with the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, both sporting a newer form factor as well as redesigned 27-inch iMac and a smaller Mac Pro.
