Last week, Apple announced a new Mac mini and new MacBook Pro. This wasn’t much of a surprise as the updates were expected last year at about the same time as the release of the latest Apple TV, refreshed iPad and M2 powered iPad Pro. Most pundits suspect the spread in product releases has to do with supply chain management given the world is still recovering from the disrution created by the pandemic.
Of course, the new systems are more powerful than their predecessors although Apple does use a little bit of sleight of hand in their press release by comparing the M2 processor performance with an Intel Core i7 saying:
When compared to the Mac mini with Intel Core i7,3 Mac mini with M2 offers:
• Up to 22x faster machine learning (ML) image upscaling performance in Pixelmator Pro.
• 9.8x faster complex timeline rendering in Final Cut Pro.
Apple Media Release
The numbers, while still solid, are a little less spectacular when compared to the M1-based systems:
When compared to the previous-generation Mac mini with M1,1 Mac mini with M2 delivers:
• Up to 2.4x faster ProRes transcode in Final Cut Pro.
• Up to 50 per cent faster filter and function performance in Adobe Photoshop.
• Up to 35 per cent faster gameplay in Resident Evil Village.
Apple Media Release
SoC confusion
As we’d expect, Moore’s Law is at play as Apple is able to pack more processing punch into each successive generation of the M-series System on a Chip (SoC) family. However, there is some potential confusion with M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra devices in the market alongside M2, M2 Pro and M2 Max systems. The performance line doesn’t flow directly from the M1 series to the M2. That is, the M2 is not faster than the M1 Max. The two ranges overlap when to comes to performance.
While these benchmarks from 9to5Mac are a little out of date they highlight what I’m saying. The M1 Pro and M1 Max, out perform the M2. This suggests that the Mac mini powered by an M2 Pro is probably still outperformed by the Mac Studio equipped with an M1 Ultra.
I suspect that the M2 Ultra, when it’s announced will be inside Apple’s forgotten child, the Mac Pro.
What we can say with certainty is that and M2 is faster than an M1, M2 Pro is faster than M1 Pro and M2 Max beats the M1 Max.
All of this creates something of a conundrum for someone looking for a new desktop Mac. The iMac is still back with M1 processors. But the Mac mini, which was originally envisaged as a low-cost entry point for those looking to buy their first Mac, is now one of Apple’s best performing systems, potentially outperforming some configurations of the Mac Studio. But the Mac mini lacks the same number of external ports as the Mac Studio.
Apple’s laptops are much clearer
Apple seems to have settled on two main laptop lines: the MacBook Air (consumer) and MacBook Pro (professional). This reflects Steve Jobs’ philosophy when he simplified Apple’s product range when he returned to the company in the 1990s. At the time, he rationalised Apple’s products (this was before the iPod, iPhone and iPad) using a simple matrix.
Instead, Apple has rationalised the laptop lines as per Job’s vision but has moved to a continuum for the desktop systems.
Of course, the Mac Pro doesn’t exist yet and is several months later than what Tim Cook promised a couple of years ago when Apple started the shift towards Apple Silicon. But when it does, we can expect to see it with nothing less than an M2 Ultra.
Apple’s SoC architecture is a big deal
One of Apple’s big advantages is that it is no longer trying to simply pack more transistors into the same silicon wafer. The M-series architecture enables Apple to effectively interconnect multiple M series chips. For example, an M1 Max is really multiple M1 SoC units fused together. That’s quite a simplification (making processors is incredibly complex). But Apple has found a way to modularise its chips.
One of the reasons a core of users want a Mac Pro is because it will (hopefully) be extensible and customisable to meet specific workload needs. Because Apple has designed the M-series SoCs in a modular way, this may give rise to the ability to allow users to design systems with specific (within limits) hardware with the user able to determine how many processing and graphical cores they want, greater memory configurations and other options.
Of course, this will have a price premium – the development cost of such an architecture will be substantial. But Apple knows there are a core group of users that will pay a premium for customisation and performance.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.