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The Apple M2 has been confirmed as the first second-generation processor in the Apple Silicon range for Mac.

The new M2 chip is built upon the new second-generation 5nm architecture, with Apple claiming it will see an 18% CPU performance increase on the existing M1 processor.

Despite the performance increase, Apple has confirmed the M2 chip will only have 8-core CPU, which is the exact same as the preceding M1 chip. This means the M2 will not be as powerful as the likes of the M1 Pro and M1 Max, and will instead be used to power entry-level Macs such as the MacBook Air M2 and 13-inch MacBook Pro M2.

Keep reading on for everything you need to know about the new M2 chip.

Release date

The Apple M2 chip will debut inside both the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, both of which have been penned in for a July 2022 release.

Apple hasn’t confirmed the exact date that these laptops will become available to buy just yet, but we’ll make sure to update this article as soon as we hear more.

Price

At launch, the cheapest device with the M2 will be the MacBook Air at $1199/£1249 – and at that price, you only get an 8-core GPU. You’ll need to pay an extra £100 if you want the 10-core GPU.

For comparison, the M1-powered MacBook Air is still available for $999/£999, and is so a few hundred quid cheaper.

The M2 chip will also be available inside the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a starting price of $1299/£1349.

Specs

The new Apple M2 chip is built upon the second-generation 5nm architecture. Despite using a similar 5nm node as the M1 architecture, Apple has still been able to fit 20 billion transistors on the processor – that’s 4 billion more transistors than the previous Apple M1 chip.

Generally speaking, a larger number of transistors will result in a faster performance. This enables Apple to provide a better performance without needing to add additional cores to the chip.

Speaking of which, Apple has confirmed the M2 processor will feature 8 CPU cores, comprised of 4 performance cores and 4 enhanced efficiency cores. That’s the exact same core count as the M1, with Apple relying on the improvements to the architecture for a performance boost.

As for the GPU, Apple has added an additional 2 cores to the M2 chip, resulting in a 10-core GPU. This makes the M2 considerably more powerful for graphics-intensive workloads compared to the standard M1.

The M2 chip will also feature 100GB/S memory bandwidth and up to 24GB of LPDDR5 memory.

Performance

We haven’t been able to test the Apple M2 chip just yet, but Apple has provided some of its own performance findings. Of course, it’s worth taking everything with a pinch of salt for now.

Apple claims the M2 provides an 18% CPU performance boost compared to the M1 processor. This means the M2 isn’t as fast as the M1 Pro (which is supposedly 70% faster than the standard M1) but that’s no surprise considering the M1 Pro is available inside more expensive hardware.

Thanks to the extra GPU cores, Apple suggests the M2 has seen a 35% graphics performance boost compared to the M2 chip. That’s an impressive uplift, but once again can’t match the power of the M1 Pro GPU which is apparently 200% speedier than the M1.

Once we get our hands on a M2-powered device, we’ll be sure to provide our own performance and benchmark findings.

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