Apple M2 chip reportedly appears in 9 new Macs — what you need to know

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Apple reportedly testing “at least nine” new Mac models offering a first look at the M2 chip

MacBook Pro 2021 (16-inch) on a patio table
(Image credit: Future)

We’re nearly a third of the way through 2022, and so far Apple has only graced us with one new Mac — the Mac Studio, announced back at the company’s Spring event.

We’re expecting many more Apple laptop and desktop computers over the next eight months, however, and now we have some hard evidence that the company is putting the unreleased hardware through its final paces.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is testing “at least nine” new Macs with four different configurations of the upcoming M2 chip. 

The evidence comes in the form of developer logs from third-party apps on the App Store, which have been good predictors of imminent hardware in the past, and suggests Apple is actively testing its upcoming computers against real-world software. Bloomberg adds that this has been “corroborated by people familiar with the matter.”

Bloomberg doesn’t provide specifics for the M2 Pro, but the M2 Max appears to have 12 CPU cores and 38 graphics cores, which is up from ten and 32 in the current version. It will also reportedly pack 64GB of memory.

Wrapping up the M2-powered Macs is a Mac Pro 2022 with the codename of J180. This appears to pack the M2 enhanced follow up to the M1 Ultra which debuted in the Mac Studio. 

Finally, Bloomberg mentions that Apple is testing yet another Mac mini with the current-generation M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. We’ve heard similar before, but it was widely assumed that the Mac Studio might have made such models redundant — although the firmware of the Studio Display seems to reference new models, so perhaps not.

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.