Apple has just unveiled the new M2 Pro and M2 Max next-generation chips to join the flagship M2 chip. The new top-flight M2 Max features a more powerful CPU and GPU, supporting up to 96GB of unified memory with industry-leading power efficiency.
The newly introduced M2 Pro will feature in both the Mac mini and MacBook Pro, while the M2 Max will debut in the MacBook Pro.
Apple today announced M2 Pro and M2 Max, two next-generation SoCs (systems on a chip) that further pushes the envelopes of power-efficient performance of Apple silicon.
M2 Pro scales up the architecture of M2 to offer an up to 12-core CPU and up to 19-core GPU, together with up to 32GB of fast unified memory.
“Only Apple is building SoCs like M2 Pro and M2 Max. They deliver incredible pro performance along with industry-leading power efficiency. With an even more powerful CPU and GPU, support for a larger unified memory system, and an advanced media engine, M2 Pro and M2 Max represent astonishing advancements in Apple silicon,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.
The M2 Pro features 40 billion transistors and 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth.
M2 Max builds on the capabilities of M2 Pro, including an up to 38-core GPU, double the unified memory bandwidth, and up to 96GB of unified memory.
The M2 Max has 67 billion transistors and 400GB/s of unified memory bandwidth.
Apple boasts that its industry-leading performance per watt makes it the world’s most powerful and power-efficient chip for a pro laptop.
Both chips also feature enhanced custom technologies, including a faster 16-core Neural Engine and Apple’s powerful media engine.
M2 Pro brings pro performance to Mac mini for the first time, while M2 Pro and M2 Max take the performance and capabilities of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro even further.
More details below about the new Apple Silicon from the press release.
M2 Pro: Next-Generation Performance for Pro Workflows
Built using a second-generation 5-nanometre process technology, M2 Pro consists of 40 billion transistors — nearly 20 percent more than M1 Pro, and double the amount in M2.
It features 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth — twice that of M2 — and up to 32GB of low-latency unified memory.
macOS Ventura with M2 Pro and M2 Max
macOS has been designed for Apple silicon, and the combination of macOS Ventura and industry-leading new chips delivers unbeatable performance and productivity for users.
Mac computers powered with Apple silicon have access to more than 15,000 native apps and plug-ins that unlock the full power of M-series chips.
macOS Ventura brings new features including Stage Manager, and new capabilities with Continuity Camera and Handoff in FaceTime.
macOS Ventura also includes big updates to Safari, Mail, Messages, Spotlight, and more, all of which are more responsive and run efficiently on M2 Pro and M2 Max.
The next-generation 10- or 12-core CPU consists of up to eight high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, resulting in multithreaded CPU performance that is up to 20 percent faster than the 10-core CPU in M1 Pro.
Apps like Adobe Photoshop run heavy workloads faster than ever, and compiling in Xcode is up to 2.5x faster than on the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro.
The GPU in M2 Pro can be configured with up to 19 cores — three more than the GPU in M1 Pro — and includes a larger L2 cache. Graphics speeds are up to 30 percent faster than that of M1 Pro, resulting in huge increases in image processing performance and enabling console-quality gaming.
MacBook Pro with M2 Pro is able to process images in Adobe Photoshop up to 40 percent faster than with M1 Pro, and as much as 80 percent faster than MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor.
With its powerful CPU, M2 Pro can compile code up to 25 percent faster than M1 Pro, and up to 2.5x faster than MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor.
M2 Max: The World’s Most Powerful and Efficient Chip for a Pro Laptop
With 67 billion transistors — 10 billion more than M1 Max and more than 3x that of M2 — M2 Max pushes the performance and capabilities of Apple silicon even further.
Its 400GB/s of unified memory bandwidth is twice that of M2 Pro, 4x that of M2, and supports up to 96GB of fast unified memory.
Apple Silicon and the Environment
M2 Pro and M2 Max help the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency.
The power-efficient performance of Apple silicon helps the new MacBook Pro achieve the longest battery life ever in a Mac — up to 22 hours.
This results in less time needing to be plugged in and less energy consumed over its lifetime.
Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to have net-zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles.
This means that every chip Apple creates, from design to manufacturing, will be 100 percent carbon neutral.
So massive files open instantaneously, and working across multiple pro apps is incredibly quick and fluid.
M2 Max features the same next-generation 12-core CPU as M2 Pro.
The GPU is even more powerful with up to 38 cores, and is paired with a larger L2 cache.
Graphics speeds climb up to 30 percent faster than M1 Max. Along with 96GB of memory, the new MacBook Pro with M2 Max can tackle graphics-intensive projects that competing systems can’t even run.
From powering visual effects, to training machine learning models, to stitching together gigapixel images, MacBook Pro with M2 Max brings incredible performance whether plugged in or running on battery power.
M2 Max is the world’s most powerful and efficient chip for a pro laptop.
The power-efficient performance of Apple silicon allows M2 Max to quickly tackle graphics-intensive projects while maintaining excellent battery life.
Extending Capabilities with Custom Technologies
M2 Pro and M2 Max feature updated custom technologies.
- Both M2 Pro and M2 Max include Apple’s next-generation, 16-core Neural Engine, capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second, and up to 40 percent faster than the previous generation.
- M2 Pro has an immensely powerful and efficient media engine, including hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, and ProRes video encode and decode, allowing playback of multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video while using very little power. M2 Max features two video encode engines and two ProRes engines, bringing up to 2x faster video encoding than M2 Pro.
- Apple’s latest image signal processor delivers better noise reduction and, along with the Neural Engine, uses computational video to enhance camera image quality.
- A next-generation Secure Enclave is a critical part of Apple’s best-in-class security.
The custom technologies of M2 Pro and M2 Max include Apple’s next-generation, 16-core Neural Engine and new powerful, efficient media engines with hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, and ProRes video encode and decode.
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