Apple's next-gen M2 chips could roll out in early 2022 | Cult of Mac

Apple’s next-gen M2 chips could roll out in early 2022

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The M2 chip, sequel to the inaugural Apple Silicon processor, will debut in the first half of 2022, says a leaker who previously nailed details about the company’s proprietary chips.

The tipster, known as Dylandkt, has an 81.3% accuracy rating according to Apple Track based on 16 previous rumors. Dylandkt said the M2 chip will be released alongside “the upcoming colorful MacBook Air.”

Apple debuted the M1, its ARM-based system on a chip, at 2020’s Worldwide Developers Conference, before launching the initial M1 Macs at the end of the year. Apple currently uses the M1 to power the 2020 MacBook Air, 2020 Mac mini, 2020 MacBook Pro, 2021 iMac and 2021 iPad Pro. The M2 chip was rumored to debut as soon as this month. But according to Dylandkt, it won’t surface until next year.

Dylandkt doesn’t share any technical details of the next-gen chip. A previous report, from late last year, said Apple is working on “several successors” to the M1 chip. These could “significantly outpace” the performance of the top computers currently running Intel chips. The most powerful of these is said to be a chip design “with as many as 32 high-performance” cores.

If Apple waits until early next year to release its next M-series chip, that would mark a roughly 18-month lifecycle for the Apple Silicon processors. (Depending on when they launch, of course.) That’s slightly longer than the roughly one-year intervals between A-series chips used for the iPhone.

What are you hoping for from the next M-series chip? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.