After “revolutionizing” its computer segment with the M1 chip line developed by Apple Silicon itself, Apple continues to stimulate interest with the high-end M2 Pro and M2 Max series of the M2 chip line.
According to GizChina, Apple has just officially introduced the M2 Pro and M2 Max chip duo with the arrival of the 2023 MacBook Pro models. While the regular Apple M2 is a big improvement over the Apple M1, they are far worse than the Apple M2s. with the M1 Pro and M1 Max – which Apple provides for products that require much higher performance. This is thanks to the fact that the M2 Pro and M2 Max add more cores for high performance and more graphics power. The new chips are present on the MacBook Pro 2023 and Mac mini models that Apple just announced.
Apple M2 Pro is developed on the second generation 5nm process with 40 billion transistors. It also offers up to 32 GB of unified memory with a bandwidth of 200 GB/s. The new chip comes in two configurations with 10 or 12 CPU cores, including 6 or 8 high-performance cores combined with 4 energy-saving cores. When it comes to graphics, the new chip has up to 19 GPU cores and a larger L2 cache. Compared to the Apple M1 Pro, the M2 Pro CPU is 20% faster, while the GPU is 30% more efficient.
In terms of architecture, both Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max have similar hardware. They have the same 16 NPUs with up to 15.8 TOPS, which is 40% faster than their respective predecessors of the M1 series. Furthermore, the new SoCs also bring video encode/decode tools and the ProRes engine. They can therefore handle multiple 4K and 8K video streams using ProRes, HEVC, and H.264.
With all that brings, Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max chip duo will clearly be a big challenge for Intel and AMD – two companies that are still leaders in the PC processor market.