Second-generation M2 Apple Silicon chip arrives in MacBook Air, MacBook Pro
Apple has used WWDC 2022 to announce its second-generation Apple Silicon chips in the M2 processor with more performance per watt than the M1.
As predicted, Apple has unveiled the M2 processor, with over 20 billion transistors, and starting off a next generation of chips.
"M2 starts the second generation of M-series chips and goes beyond the remarkable features of M1," said Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. "With our relentless focus on power-efficient performance, M2 delivers a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine."
"And along with higher memory bandwidth and new capabilities like ProRes acceleration," he continued, "M2 continues the tremendous pace of innovation in Apple silicon for the Mac."
Apple says that the new 5-nanometer M2 processor contains:
"The performance cores are faster and feature a larger cache," continued Srouji, "efficiency cores have been significantly enhanced for even greater performance gains."
"The 10-core GPU delivers a big boost in graphics performance and two delivers up to 25% higher graphics performance at the same power level as M1," he said. "The GPU in M2 delivers 2.3 times faster performance at the same power level.'
Srouji claims that this means "much higher performance per watt" yet also enables the system "to run cooler with exceptional battery life."
Source: Apple
Apple says that "compared to the latest 12-core PC laptop chip... M2 provides nearly 90 percent of the peak performance of the 12-core chip while using just one-fourth the power."
The company says it bases this figure on performance measuring of the 12-core testing MSI Prestige 14Evo (A12M-011) with Core i7-1260P and 16GB of RAM. Apple also notes that this and similar PCs need "dramatically more power to deliver an increase in performance."
The new M2 also features a next generation of the Secure Enclave, plus an advanced neural engine. It also provides a higher bandwidth video decoder which means M2 can play back multiple streams of 4K and 8K video.
"The fact that we're already starting our next generation of Apple silicon for the Mac is remarkable," said John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering.
Read on AppleInsider
As predicted, Apple has unveiled the M2 processor, with over 20 billion transistors, and starting off a next generation of chips.
"M2 starts the second generation of M-series chips and goes beyond the remarkable features of M1," said Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. "With our relentless focus on power-efficient performance, M2 delivers a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine."
"And along with higher memory bandwidth and new capabilities like ProRes acceleration," he continued, "M2 continues the tremendous pace of innovation in Apple silicon for the Mac."
Apple says that the new 5-nanometer M2 processor contains:
- 20 billion transistors
- 100 gigabytes per second memory controller
- up to 24GB memory LPDDR5
- 18% faster CPU
- 40% faster Neural Engine, processing up to 15.8 trillion operations per second
- 35% more powerful GPU
- Higher-bandwidth video decoder, with 8K H.264 and HEVC video
- Updated Secure Enclave for "best-in-class" security
- New image signal processor for better image noise reduction
"The performance cores are faster and feature a larger cache," continued Srouji, "efficiency cores have been significantly enhanced for even greater performance gains."
"The 10-core GPU delivers a big boost in graphics performance and two delivers up to 25% higher graphics performance at the same power level as M1," he said. "The GPU in M2 delivers 2.3 times faster performance at the same power level.'
Srouji claims that this means "much higher performance per watt" yet also enables the system "to run cooler with exceptional battery life."
Source: Apple
Apple says that "compared to the latest 12-core PC laptop chip... M2 provides nearly 90 percent of the peak performance of the 12-core chip while using just one-fourth the power."
The company says it bases this figure on performance measuring of the 12-core testing MSI Prestige 14Evo (A12M-011) with Core i7-1260P and 16GB of RAM. Apple also notes that this and similar PCs need "dramatically more power to deliver an increase in performance."
The new M2 also features a next generation of the Secure Enclave, plus an advanced neural engine. It also provides a higher bandwidth video decoder which means M2 can play back multiple streams of 4K and 8K video.
"The fact that we're already starting our next generation of Apple silicon for the Mac is remarkable," said John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
MBP 13 is just cruising.
https://www.apple.com/mac-studio/
I think the issue is that the improvements came to components of the SOC other than the performance cores, and some people tend to focus almost exclusively on the performance cores. This clearly demonstrates that there's a lot more to the SOC than just the performance cores.
For entry level devices I think a laptop screen and a single external monitor is enough, same with 24GB RAM.
If you need more you buy a better machine.
The greenest power is the power that you don't use.
Secondly, over 85% of Mac sales are notebook models. We've already seen them create a new desktop product line Mac Studio because the cooling capacity of the Mac mini design was insufficient so in a way your dream is already reality.
It is highly unlikely that Apple is going to make some 400W SoC behemoth. Remember that large dies are far more costly and have much lower yields than smaller dies.
The biggest change in the M2 SoC is the impressive jump in memory bandwidth. They also increased secondary cache sizes and boosted the machine learning cores.
Better start closing off pedestrian access to high bridges and tall buildings from all of the AR/VR fans who were begging to see any signs of life for their dreams and wishes. All I can say is get in line behind all of those who are waiting to take a test drive in an Apple Car.
Autonomous driving technology needs to be heavily tested on public roads. Companies who are developing such technology are required to apply for permits to do so. Apple does have this permit here in California but the program does not have the same vehicle miles as companies like Waymo or Nuro.
For Apple to get California DMV and US DOT approval to market a mass-market autonomous vehicle they will likely need to show tens of millions of miles of successful prototype vehicle tests in a variety of conditions (dense fog, black ice, snowstorms, heavy night rainstorms, high wind), not just leisurely cruising through residential neighborhoods in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View on sunny days.
Apple simply has not logged many miles. There are a few months where there were very few test vehicles and their actual mileage was extremely minimal. You can download the reports from the DMV website.
All of the major auto manufacturers are working on this, plus a bunch of startups. Many of these prototype test vehicles don't advertise their affiliation.
Recently I've seen a Mercedes with the typical array of odd appendages and instrumentations on the road. Realistically there is only one company on this planet who would pick a Mercedes to be a test platform for an autonomous vehicle: Daimler-Benz. I've seen a Toyota with a discreet marking of "Toyota Research Institute" on it. I'm keeping my eyes open for Porsche and BMW. They are probably around and I simply haven't seen them yet.
Over 85% of Macs sold are notebook systems and the Air and entry-level MBP are the top selling models. My guess is that Apple prioritized the redesign of the MBA first (as the top selling Mac) and decided that the path of least resistance to upgrade the entry-level MBP was an SoC bump. This gets the devices out the door for back-to-school sale in July-August.
I myself was hoping for an M2 Mac mini but A.) desktop Macs aren't big unit sellers and B.) the Mac mini sells fewer units than the iMac. I expect the M2 Mac mini to come sometime this autumn though.
People here (and elsewhere) continue to erroneously think of the M-series SoCs as a traditional CPU.
The M2 is a great example of how differently Apple is approaching silicon development.
Much of its improvement over the M1 is due to memory bandwidth increases and superior machine learning capabilities. The nearly useless Geekbench measurement tool won't always capture the former and certainly won't accurately measure the latter.