After rumours of a shock announcement hit the online yesterday, Apple has formally unveiled the next-gen 14in and 16in MacBook Professional alongside the primary Apple Silicon-based Mac Mini.
Headline options of the brand new MacBook Professional vary embrace as much as 96GB of unified reminiscence, assist for 8K exterior shows through HDMI, upgraded Wi-Fi 6E assist and, in fact, the model new M2 Professional and M2 Max chipsets – the primary of any Apple tech to function the SoCs.
Let’s begin with the lower-powered (however nonetheless ridiculously highly effective) Apple M2 Professional chipset.
In keeping with Apple, the chipset is available in two variants with both a 10- or 12-core CPU and boasts as much as 20% higher efficiency than final yr’s M1 Professional chipset. Coupled with the CPU is as much as a 19-core GPU that Apple claims is 30% extra highly effective than the earlier chipset, and as much as 32GB of unified reminiscence.
There’s additionally a lift to AI efficiency with a 40% improve to Apple’s Neural Engine, which ought to see processes like AI-based picture choice in Photoshop turn into even sooner.
It additionally boasts an upgraded media engine with hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC and ProRes video encode that enables playback of a number of 4K and 8K ProRes video with out utilizing a lot energy.
Mixed, the M2 Professional presents a not-insignificant improve on the Apple M1 Professional, making it a tempting possibility for on-the-go creatives that doesn’t sacrifice energy effectivity.
Apple
These in search of the very best cell efficiency potential can go for the M2 Max chipset, boasting a 12-core CPU with eight high-performance chips and 4 high-efficiency cores that ship a 20% increase to efficiency in comparison with the M1 Max chipset. That’s paired with as much as 96GB of unified reminiscence, up from the 64GB of the M1 Max.
That’s coupled with a GPU with as much as 38 cores that provide a 30% increase to efficiency and, just like the M2 Professional, the M2 Max boasts a 40% enchancment to its Neural Engine. The M2 Max additionally boasts two separate video encode engines and two ProRes engines that enable for as much as 2x sooner video encoding than the already-capable M2 Professional, making it the most suitable choice for video editors of the 2.
No matter which you go for, you’ll stand up to 8TB of SSD storage – although that’ll come at fairly a premium.
Chipset apart, the brand new vary is available in the identical up to date 14- and 16in designs that debuted in late 2021, sporting 120Hz ProRes tech, a swathe of USB-C and Thunderbolt ports, a devoted reminiscence card reader and a full-size HDMI port for simple connectivity. There’s additionally the well-known notch cutout, although, just like the older mannequin, it nonetheless doesn’t provide Face ID connectivity.
Clients can order the brand new 14- and 16in MacBook Professional with M2 Professional and M2 Max from the Apple Retailer beginning as we speak, with supply starting in per week’s time on 24 January 2023. Pricing begins at $1,999/£2,149 for the 14in mannequin and $2,499/£3,349 for the 16in mannequin.