Apple’s successor to its M1 Apple chip could arrive in MacBook computers by the last half of this year, consistent with a report from Nikkei. Tentatively referred to as M2, the processor has reportedly gone into production and will start shipping by July 2021.
The chipsets will be produced by fab giant TSMC using its latest technology, referred to as 5-nanometer plus (N5P). Production of the chipsets will reportedly take a minimum of three months. As before, the M2 would be an entire system-on-a-chip, with CPU, GPU, and AI processors all integrated.
Apple now produces MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and 24-inch iMac computers using M1 chipsets. However, the bulk of models, including 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs, 13- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, the iMac Pro, and therefore the Mac Pro, still run on Intel CPUs. Its original plan was to end Intel chipsets within two years, which might be around the end of 2022.
The next models rumored to arrive will be 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros — expected in Q2 or Q3 of 2021. Apple can also release a smaller Mac Pro with its silicon sometime in 2021 or 2022, consistent with Bloomberg.
