Apple only just released its new iMacs featuring the acclaimed M1 ARM-based processor, but according to a report from Nikkei, the company plans to launch M2 as soon as July.
Nikkei’s sources suggest M2 could launch this summer “for use in MacBooks that are scheduled to go on sale in the second half of this year.” Notably, Apple is hosting WWDC from June 7 to 11, so the timing could work out such that Apple announces the new chipset and laptops at its developer conference, with shipments beginning the month thereafter.
Only the MacBook is mentioned, however — no word on whether it might be available as an upgrade for the new iMac or if M2 will show up on any other Apple devices.
M2 will reportedly be built on a 5 nanometer ‘plus’ process by Apple fave TSMC. M1 already uses a 5 nm process, but manufacturers will often refine production before moving onto smaller transistors altogether — hence the ‘plus.’
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Unfortunately, we have no idea what to expect in terms of performance, other than that it should obviously be faster than the M1.
It’s reasonable to guess M2 might make its debut on the new 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros, with which Apple will likely be aiming to improve on the current CPU and GPU performance of the existing Intel and AMD components, respectively. Earlier reports had suggested Apple planned on launching its new MacBook Pros around the middle of 2021, so it all seems to pan out.
That’s all well and good, and I’m sure the new MacBooks will push the limits of the performance we’ve seen from ARM-based chipsets. But personally, I just really want to see what an ARM-powered Mac Prowill be like. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.
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