Apple’s next Mac Pro could feature an M2 chip with up to 48 CPU cores

Among the new computers Apple plans to announce in the coming months is an M2 variant of the Mac Pro, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reports the company has been testing a version of its high-end desktop that features a chipset with a 24-core CPU and 76-core GPU, as well as 192GB of memory. He predicts Apple will ultimately let customers choose between two different chipsets when configuring the Mac Pro. For the moment, Gurman has taken to calling those the “M2 Ultra” and “M2 Extreme.”

“My belief is that the Mac Pro will be offered with options for 24 and 48 CPU cores and 76 and 152 graphics cores — along with up to 256 gigabytes of memory,” he writes. Gurman adds those chips will be “at least twice or four times as powerful as the M2 Max,” a processor Apple has yet to announce. To put those core counts in perspective, the base M2 features 8 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. Meanwhile, the unannounced M2 Max is expected to feature 12 CPU cores and 38 GPU cores.

Before the new Mac Pro arrives, Gurman expects Apple to announce updated versions of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, as well as a new Mac mini. According to him, Apple’s latest high-end laptops will feature the company’s new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, while the Mac mini will ship with the same M2 silicon found in its 2022 MacBook Air. Gurman notes Apple has also internally tested an M2 Pro variant of the Mac mini, though he doesn’t mention if the company plans to release that version of the computer. Those devices should arrive sometime in the coming months.

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