New chips are reportedly around the corner.
Even before Apple’s M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBooks hit the market, rumblings of future Apple silicon were already hitting the wire. Dubbed the M2, this chip is the likely successor to the M1 that powers the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and the 24-inch iMac. According to reports, it will arrive in the first half of 2022.
And look at the calendar—2022 is just around the corner. So if you’re wondering whether you should wait for the M2 instead of investing in an M1 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro, we’re here to help.
M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max
Apple’s first three Mac chips are all built on the same architecture but they’re quite different:
| M1 | M1 Pro | M1 Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Cores (performance) | 4 | 6/8 | 8 |
| CPU Cores (efficiency) | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| GPU Cores | 7/8 | 16 | 24/32 |
| NPU Cores | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Memory | 8GB/16GB | 16GB/32GB | 32GB/64GB |
As you can see, the chips are quite different. While they’re all built on the same 5nm die process, the M1 Pro has much more power, especially when using apps that take advantage of more than one core. The M1 is a very good chip, but the M1 Pro is a great one with mind-blowing speeds and excellent upgrade options. As you can see in the CPU benchmarks below, the extra cores go a long way and that’s before you take graphics and RAM into account. Apple has delivered a chip that’s great for pros but might be too fast for casual users.
Read more at MacWorld.com