According to the latest report, although the personal computer (PC) market demand is sluggish, Apple will still launch a number of new devices in the next few months. Apple is also accelerating the second generation of Apple Silicon’s M2 processor research and development.
According to industry news, Apple’s M2 processor will fight the core battle and may launch the highest-end M2 Extreme equipped with 48 cores to attack high-end PC and workstation applications. The foundry leader TSMC is expected to take it all.
Join us on Telegram
Moreover, Apple’s recently launched M2 processor uses TSMC’s second-generation 5nm process, with an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. Compared with the previous-generation M1 processor, the CPU speed and GPU performance are significantly improved.
According to reports, due to the impact of global inflation, PC demand was lacking in the second half of the year, but sales of the new MacBook Air and new 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 processors were better than expected. Apple plans to launch a new MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac in the next few months.
The report also said that according to industry sources, Apple’s subsequent M2 processor will fight the core battle, increase the number of processor cores to increase computing performance, and demonstrate the low power consumption advantage of Arm architecture processors. Among them, the M2 Pro processor codenamed Rhodes Chop is equipped with a 10-core CPU and a 20-core GPU and is produced by TSMC at 3 nanometers.
Like last year’s M1 series processors, Apple will also launch the M2 Max processor code-named Rhodes 1C, equipped with a 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU, and will launch the M2 Ultra processor, code-named Rhodes 2C, with CPU and GPU cores The numbers are doubled compared to the M2 Max.
Due to the maturity of the chipset design and the smooth advancement of TSMC’s advanced packaging technology, it is rumored that Apple may launch an M2 Extreme processor that integrates two M2 Max next year, equipped with a 48-core CPU and a 152-core GPU.
The industry pointed out that Apple’s M2 Pro/Max/Extreme and other series processors are mass-produced with TSMC’s 3nm process, and if the M2 Extreme news is true, next year Apple’s PC processor performance will catch up with Intel’s footsteps and become the dominant Arm-based processor market.
TSMC has not commented on this, but the company pointed out in the briefing of the legal person a few days ago that it has observed that many customers have participated in 3nm, and the number of design decisions in the first two years of mass production will be more than twice that of 5nm.
Furthermore, TSMC is working with machine tools. Suppliers work closely to meet the challenges of machine delivery and prepare more capacity for the 3nm process to support strong customer demand in 2023, 2024, and beyond, confident that the 3nm family will become another large-scale process node with long-term needs.
