The Apple M2 is an ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple. Senior VP Johny Srouji introduced it on June 6 at the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference, where Senior VP John Ternus also introduced the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, which would be the first Macs to incorporate the M2.[2][3] The new 13-inch MacBook Pro became available for pre-order on June 17 with general availability scheduled by June 24.[4] Support for the M2 was added in build 21F2092 of macOS 12.4 (Monterey), which was released on June 16, 2022.[5]
Specifications[]
The M2 is manufactured by TSMC to Apple's design specifications. The die contains 20 billion transistors that are fabricated through a 2nd-generation 5 nm process (N5P).[6] Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is built onto the package and is shared through Apple's unified memory architecture (UMA) to eliminate the need to copy data from the CPU to GPU, which are both part of the package.[7]
The 8-core CPU contains four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, similiar to the ARM big.LITTLE architecture used by the Apple M1 and other mobile devices for power efficiency. The GPU contains 10 cores for graphics, though only 8 may be activated in entry-level MacBook Air models, indicating the practice of binning. The improved bandwidth of the Media Engine can enable real-time playback of multiple 8K video streams.[7][8]
Performance[]
The processor die of the Apple M2 (at right) has 20% more transistors than the Apple M1 chip.
Apple claimed that the M2's CPU performance was increased by up to 18%, and GPU performance was increased by up to 35% over that of the Apple M1 at comparably efficient power comsumption levels. While containing the same number of cores, the updated Neural Engine can deliver up to 15.8 trillion operations per second, over 40% more than the M1. The memory controller also operates at 100GB/s, about 50% faster than the M1.[6][7]
Limitations[]
DRAM must be ordered in advance in 8, 16, or 24 GB configurations as they are part of the M2's SoC package.[7][8]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Apple M2 smokes the $6,000 Mac Pro and M1 MacBook Pro, leaked benchmark shows by Monica J. White, Digital Trends. 2022-06-17.
- ↑ WWDC 2022 - June 6 by Apple, YouTube. 2022-06-06.
- ↑ Apple unveils all-new MacBook Air, supercharged by the new M2 chip, Apple Inc. 2022-06-06.
- ↑ 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 available to order starting Friday, June 17, Apple Inc. 2022-06-14.
- ↑ Apple Releases New Build of macOS Monterey 12.4 for M2 Macs Ahead of 13-Inch MacBook Pro Launch by Juli Clover, MacRumors. 2022-06-16.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Apple Announces M2 SoC: Apple Silicon for Macs Updated For 2022 by Ryan Smith, AnandTech. 2022-06-06.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Apple unveils M2, taking the breakthrough performance and capabilities of M1 even further, Apple Inc. 2022-06-06.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Choose your new MacBook Air., Apple Inc. Accessed 2022-06-06.
External links[]
- Apple M2 specs at GadgetVersus
- Apple M2 at NotebookCheck
- Apple M2 at WikiMóvel
- Apple M2 at Wikipedia
Articles[]
- Apple's M2 MacBook Air Exposed in World's First Teardown by Brandon Hill at Tom's Hardware (2022-07-15)
- M1 vs. M2 Chip Buyer's Guide: How Much Better Really Is M2? by Hartley Charlton at MacRumors (2022-06-23)
- Apple M2 chip — New feature, specs and everything we know so far by Alex Wawro at Tom's Guide (2022-06-07)