Apple’s M2 Chip Introduces New Levels of Power-Efficient Performance

Apple has just unveiled its new M2 chip that introduces the next generation of Apple silicon designed specifically for the Mac. Built using next-gen 5nm technology, M2 takes the performance per watt of M1 even further with an 18% faster CPU, a 35% more powerful GPU, and a 40% faster Neural Engine.

“M2 starts the second generation of M-series chips and goes beyond the remarkable features of M1,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “Along with higher memory bandwidth and new capabilities like ProRes acceleration, M2 continues the tremendous pace of innovation in Apple silicon for the Mac.”

The new CPU features faster performance cores paired with a larger cache, while the efficiency cores have been significantly enhanced for even greater performance gains.

Compared with the latest 10-core PC laptop chip, the CPU in M2 provides nearly twice the performance at the same power level. And, M2 delivers the peak performance of the PC chip while using just a quarter of the power.

M2 also features Apple’s next-generation GPU with up to 10 cores, two more than M1. Combined with a larger cache and higher memory bandwidth, the 10-core GPU delivers a big boost in graphics performance, bringing up to 25% higher graphics performance than M1 at the same power level, and up to 35% better performance at its max power.

M2 brings Apple’s latest custom technologies to the Mac, enabling new capabilities, better security, and more:

• The Neural Engine can process up to 15.8 trillion operations per second — over 40 percent more than M1.
• The media engine includes a higher-bandwidth video decoder, supporting 8K H.264 and HEVC video.
• Apple’s powerful ProRes video engine enables playback of multiple streams of both 4K and 8K video.
• Apple’s latest Secure Enclave provides best-in-class security.
• A new image signal processor (ISP) delivers better image noise reduction.

The power-efficient performance of M2 helps the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro meet Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency.

macOS Ventura, coming this fall, will also take full advantage of M2, bringing new features including Stage Manager, and powerful new capabilities with Continuity Camera and Handoff in FaceTime.