Apple unveils M2 Pro and M2 Max: next-generation chips for next-level workflows

January 17, 2023

PRESS RELEASE

Apple unveils M2 Pro and M2 Max: next-generation chips for next-level workflows

Supercharging MacBook Pro and Mac mini, M2 Pro and M2 Max feature a more powerful CPU and GPU, up to 96 GB of combined memory and industry-leading energy efficiency

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced the M2 Pro and M2 Max, two next-generation SoCs (systems on a chip) that take Apple’s revolutionary power-efficient silicon performance to new heights. The M2 Pro scales the M2 architecture to deliver up to a 12-core CPU and up to a 19-core GPU, along with up to 32GB of fast unified memory. The M2 Max builds on the capabilities of the M2 Pro, including up to a 38-core GPU, double the unified memory bandwidth, and up to 96GB of unified memory. Its industry-leading performance per watt makes it the world’s most powerful and energy-efficient chip for a professional laptop. Both chips also feature improved custom technologies, including a faster 16-core Neural Engine and Apple’s powerful media engine. The M2 Pro delivers professional performance Mac mini for the first time, while the M2 Pro and M2 Max take the game-changing performance and capabilities of 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro even further.

“Only Apple builds SoCs like the M2 Pro and M2 Max. They deliver incredible professional performance along with industry-leading energy efficiency,” said Johnny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technology. “With an even more powerful CPU and GPU, support for a larger unified memory system and an advanced media engine, the M2 Pro and M2 Max represent an astonishing advance in Apple’s silicon.”

M2 Pro: Next-generation efficiency for professional workflows

Built using second-generation 5-nanometer technology, the M2 Pro is comprised of 40 billion transistors – nearly 20 percent more than the M1 Pro and twice as many as the M2. It features 200GB/s unified memory bandwidth—twice the M2—and up to 32GB of unified low-latency memory. The next-generation 10- or 12-core processor consists of up to eight high-performance cores and four high-performance cores, resulting in multi-threaded processor performance that is up to 20 percent faster than the 10-core processor in the M1 Pro. Applications like Adobe Photoshop run heavy workloads faster than ever, and compiling in Xcode is up to 2.5 times faster than on the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro.¹

The GPU in the M2 Pro can be configured with up to 19 cores – three more than the GPU in the M1 Pro – and includes a larger L2 cache. Graphics speeds are up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Pro, resulting in massive increases in image processing performance and enabling console-quality gaming.

M2 Max: The world’s most powerful and efficient chip for a professional laptop

With 67 billion transistors — 10 billion more than the M1 Max and more than 3 times more than the M2 — the M2 Max elevates the performance and capabilities of Apple’s silicon even further. Its 400GB/s unified memory bandwidth is twice that of the M2 Pro, 4 times that of the M2, and supports up to 96GB of fast unified memory. Such huge files open instantly and working in multiple professional applications is incredibly fast and smooth.

The M2 Max features the same next-generation 12-core processor as the M2 Pro. The GPU is even more powerful with up to 38 cores and is paired with a larger L2 cache. Graphics speeds up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Max. Along with 96GB of memory, the new MacBook Pro with M2 Max can handle graphics-intensive projects that competing systems can’t even handle.² From powering visual effects, to training machine learning models, to bridging gigapixel images, MacBook Pro with M2 Max delivers incredible performance whether it’s plugged in or running on battery power. The M2 Max is the world’s most powerful and efficient chip for a professional laptop.

Empowering with personalized technologies

M2 Pro and M2 Max include updated custom technologies:

• Both the M2 Pro and M2 Max feature Apple’s next-generation, 16-core Neural Engine capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second and up to 40 percent faster than the previous generation.
• The M2 Pro has an extremely powerful and efficient media engine, including hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, and ProRes video encoding and decoding, enabling playback of multiple streams of 4K and 8K ProRes video while using very little power. The M2 Max features two video encoders and two ProRes engines, providing up to 2x faster video encoding than the M2 Pro.
• Apple’s latest image signal processor provides better noise reduction and, together with the Neural Engine, uses computational video to improve image quality from the camera.
• The next-generation Secure Enclave is a critical part of Apple’s best-in-class security.

macOS Ventura with M2 Pro and M2 Max

macOS is designed for Apple silicon, and the combination of macOS Ventura and industry-leading new chips delivers unmatched performance and productivity for users. Macs powered by Apple’s silicon have access to more than 15,000 native applications and plug-ins that unlock the full power of the M Series chips.

macOS Ventura offers new features, including Stage Manager, and new capabilities with Continuity Camera and Handoff in FaceTime. macOS Ventura also includes major updates to Safari, Mail, Messages, Spotlight and more, all of which are more responsive and work efficiently on the M2 Pro and M2 Max.

Apple Silicon and the Environment

The M2 Pro and M2 Max help the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency. The energy-efficient performance of Apple’s silicon helps the new MacBook Pro achieve the longest battery life in a Mac—up to 22 hours.³ This results in less switch-on time and less energy consumed throughout its life.

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations and by 2030 plans to have a net zero climate impact across its entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles. This means that every chip Apple creates, from design to manufacturing, will be 100 percent carbon neutral.

About Apple
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms—iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS—provide a seamless experience across all Apple devices and empower people with revolutionary services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. More than 100,000 Apple employees are dedicated to creating the best products on earth and leaving the world a better place than we found it.

1. The results are compared to 2.4 GHz 8-core 16-inch MacBook Pro systems based on Intel Core i9 with Radeon Pro 5600M graphics with 8 GB HBM2, 64 GB RAM and 8 TB SSD.
2. Testing was conducted by Apple in November and December 2022 using pre-production 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with an Apple M2 Max, 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU, 96GB RAM and 8TB SSD, as well as a stock Intel Core i9 – based computer system with NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 graphics with 24GB GDDR6 and the latest version of Windows 11 Pro available at the time of testing and production Intel Core i9 based computer system with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics with 16GB GDDR6 and the latest the new version of Windows 11 Home available during testing. OTOY Octane X 2022.1 on pre-production 16-inch MacBook Pro systems and OTOY OctaneRender 2022.1 on Windows systems were tested using a scene that required over 40 GB of graphics memory when rendering. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of the MacBook Pro.
3. Testing was conducted by Apple in November and December 2022 using pre-production 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with an Apple M2 Pro, 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD. The Apple TV app movie playback test measures battery life by playing HD 1080p content with display brightness set to eight clicks below. Battery life varies by usage and configuration. look apple.com/batteries For more information.

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