Rumors have surfaced that the second generation of Apple silicon is already in production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Nikkei Asia claims insiders familiar with the situation say the first allotments could ship as early as July. This timeline makes sense considering Apple has indicated that it wants to complete its transition away from Intel chips by the end of 2022.
The MacBook Pro (13-inch), MacBook Air, and Mac Mini made the swap last year, and last week, Apple introduced a completely redesigned 24-inch M1 iMac. However, that still leaves three other models of iMac (21.5-inch, 27-inch, and Pro), the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac Pro that still need to make the transition from Intel silicon. With the new SoC, tentatively called “M2,” arriving this summer, Apple could see its next big step in the phasing out the x86 architecture, with M2 MacBooks coming in the second half of 2021. These could possibly be the redesigns that REvil leaked schematics of in its ransomware attack on Quanta last week.
Apple’s M1 chips only came out by the end of last year. If the M2 chips are expected to be released towards the second half of 2021 as the sources predict, it means Apple didn’t take long at all to develop a follow-up to its already impressive processor.
Now that Apple’s new line of iPad Pro models comes equipped with M1 chips, this could signal the transition of iPad models adopting M1 and MacBook models using M2 instead.
Nikkei Asia has previously reported that Apple took a big hit from the global chip shortage, potentially delaying Apple’s new iPad and MacBook models. However, with new chips apparently entering mass production, along with the new iPad Pro now coming out this May, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
As always, take this information with a pinch of salt. Still, the idea that Apple will be topping its speedy M1 processor just a year after its release is something we’re excited to see.
