Apple

Apple Announced The New M2 Processor

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M2 Processor

Apple announced the all-new M2 chip at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). After the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips, Apple is now ready to move on to a more powerful M2 chip, with big promises of performance improvements.

It is like the original M1 chip, the new M2 uses Apple’s custom Arm silicon, and it’s made on a 5nm process finished with 20 billion transistors — 25 percent more than the original M1. All of these transistors should boost performance, and Apple is promising an 18 percent faster CPU, and 35 percent quicker GPU inside the M2 when you compare it to the original M1.

That performance is 1.9x faster than the “latest 10-core PC laptop chip,” according to Apple. To get better performance over the M1, Apple is using new performance and efficiency cores on the M2, alongside 100Gbps of memory bandwidth and 24GB of unified memory — that’s 50 percent more bandwidth than the M1. Apple is using four high-performance cores, with four high-efficiency cores on the M2, with a shared 16MB cache on the performance cores, and a shared 4MB cache on the efficiency ones.

Apple’s M2 also features a next-generation secure enclave and neural engine, and an updated media engine that supports 8K H.264 and HEVC video. In reality, this means systems that run M2 chips will be able to play multiple streams of 4K and 8K video simultaneously.

Apple’s new M2 processor features.
 Image: Apple

On the GPU side, Apple is enhancing things once again with the M2. There are now up to 10 cores, two more than the original M1. A larger cache and higher memory bandwidth should boost graphics performance, and Apple is promising up to 35 percent higher performance at the M2’s max power compared to the original M1.

The first Mac to get the M2 chip is one of Apple’s most famous laptops, the MacBook Air. The wedge shape of the MacBook Air has been switched up for a thinner profile this time, and the M2-equipped laptop also comes with MagSafe charging. The new MacBook Air also ships with a bigger 13.6-inch display, a better camera, and promises of an 18-hour battery life.

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