Apple M2 Pro: M2 successor likely to be manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm process node
Based on the limited data provided by Apple, the M2 seems like an incremental upgrade the M1 launched in 2020. So far, only one MacBook Air and one MacBook Pro model run the SoC, but more SKUs will likely follow suit in the coming months. A report from 9to5Mac now says that the M2's successor, the M2 Pro, is slated to bring remarkable improvements over its predecessor.
The M2 Pro will reportedly be fabricated on TSMC's cutting-edge 3 nm process node, according to industry analyst Jeff Pu. Earlier reports suggested that the node has yield issues, but they've since been resolved. Volume production is expected to kick off sometime in Q4, 2022, and one can expect to see the final products shortly after.
The M2 Pro, on the other hand, is unlikely to be unveiled until mid-to-late 2023. Little is known about the M2 Pro's innards for now, other than the fact that it has eight performance and four efficiency CPU cores. Other improvements could include a beefier GPU, higher transistor count and an upgraded neural engine. The chip will debut alongside a new Mac Mini; an M2 Pro powered iPad is in the pipeline, too. If last year's release cycle is anything to go by, the beefier M2 Max could also make its debut alongside the M2 Pro, presumably inside an updated MacBook Pro model.
The lack of third-party benchmarks makes it difficult to comment on the Apple M2's performance. Apple's in-house figures paint a somewhat rosy picture, but it's best to take those with a grain of salt. The superior manufacturing node, combined with a higher CPU/GPU core count, has the potential to propel the M2 Pro miles ahead of the vanilla M2, effectively making it the true M1 successor and potentially leave a sour taste in the mouth of early M2 adopters.
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