Apple M2 Chip: When Could The Release Date Be?

Apple's flagship M1 chip was heralded as Apple's most powerful chip when it was released in November, but when will its successor - the M2 - launch?

Apple's MacBooks and iMacs have been successful for some time now. The company recently decided to shift towards the creation of its own chips with the M1- a move now somewhat mirrored by Google with the upcoming release of the Google Tensor, recently featured in the Google Pixel 6.

However, with the M1 chip raising the bar alongside the brand new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, the M2 may see Apple's laptops break into the best business laptops list. An iPad Pro with the M2 will also surely be among the best tablets.

Here's everything you need to know about the 'M2' chip.

Apple M2 Chip Release Date

Early rumours from Nikkei Asia in April suggested the M2 had already entered production.

According to the site, the M2 and could ship "as early as July for use in MacBooks" scheduled to go on sale later this year.

However, as of November, Apple has yet to reveal the M2, or release any products featuring the chip. It is rumoured that the M2 chip will feature in the new MacBook Pro 2022 and MacBook Air 2022, but nothing is confirmed just yet.

One rumour last year, from leaker DylanDKT (in a now-deleted Tweet) suggested the M2 chip may release in Q1 2022. This would coincide with the launch of an alleged MacBook Air 2022.

Read More: Should You Wait For The MacBook Air?

Similarly, prolific Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noted that the MacBook Air 2022 - which may feature the M2 chip - will launch in mid-2022.

Of course, while Dylan has previously been correct about the M1 chip, it's still worth tempering expectations given previous M2 release date rumours have fallen short. This is especially true now as component shortages and gas contamination may impact Apple's production.

We'll wait until Apple releases concrete details about its alleged M2 chip.

Apple M2 Chip Specs

According to the latest leaks, the M2 chip will feature a 4nm node and feature 16 power cores and four efficiency cores in its CPU (via Bloomberg).

As for the GPU, Bloomberg's report suggest high-end laptops/mid-range desktops may feature 16-or-32-cores. Apple is also testing 62 and 128 core variants for higher machines, the report states.

Read More: Should You Wait For The MacBook Pro 2022?

Given this wide range of core disparity, it's impossible to know for sure what the graphical processing power will actually be of the M2, so we'll take this with a pinch of salt for now.

Apple M2 Chip Devices And Products

The M1 chip is still a relatively new piece of tech, having only been released in November 2020.

The Apple MacBook Pro 2021 doesn't feature the M2 chip and instead utilises either the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip.

With a 2022 release date, it may be the 2022 version of the MacBooks and iPad Air 5 that first receive the M2 chip. The MacBook Air 2022 is the most likely contender for the first M2 product.

We'd expect the M2 chip to at least feature in Apple products until late-2023. TSMC will release its first 3nm chips in 2023, although according to Nikkei Asia these will first be adopted by Apple for use in new iPads, rather than MacBooks.