Maybe most forum members are already enjoying the M3 SoC on their new macs, or fantasizing with the M4 (I do too), but it happens that my iPad Pro is based on the M2 SoC, which is based on the A15 that my iPhone has, and sometimes I also think about getting an M2 Mac mini on the second hand market for a good price, instead of waiting for a future M3 Mac mini.
So I’d like to open a conversation about the M2, it’s capabilities, the improvements over the M1, if the lacks compared to the M3 are important enough, and most importantly, the lifespan the M2 devices will have.
Originally, I said that the M2 SoC was a stop-gap chip. I still think about it sometimes, but I think they’re actually are big improvements over the M1. One of them, the most noticeable, is the caché memory and the faster RAM. But also more GPU cores and higher clock speeds. I think instructions per clock are also better than M1? But I’m not sure by how much.
Here comes my main question: Do you expect the M2 to have a significantly longer lifespan relative to the M1? Do you think the bigger caché and faster RAM will grant the M2 several years of being the oldest supported SoC? And, if so, do you think it will struggle performance-wise?
I’m not trying to plan my purchases anymore because the A15 powered iPhone SE 3, and the M2 iPad Pro, will probably be the last devices with an LCD display, and that means that I’ll be many, many years stuck with them. But I think the A15 was a great improvement over the A14 and one of the most used chips on Apple’s lineup, which should grant it a good support from both Apple and developers. And because the M2 is based on the A15, I expect it to be equally well supported.
Sometimes I feel like my M2 iPad Pro, while having a good battery life, is not as good as my previous A12X based 2018 iPad Pro. I suspect the M2, while being quite powerful, has a slightly higher consumption when used in certain conditions. And the lack of AV1 decoding (which the M3 finally has integrated into the silicon) is going to be another factor that will impact its battery life over the next years if YouTube starts using the codec more.
I’m aware that I lack the technical knowledge to make affirmations, that’s why I only make assumptions. If you want to point where I am wrong, or want to contribute to the M2 talk, feel free to do so, keeping a respectful tone.
So I’d like to open a conversation about the M2, it’s capabilities, the improvements over the M1, if the lacks compared to the M3 are important enough, and most importantly, the lifespan the M2 devices will have.
Originally, I said that the M2 SoC was a stop-gap chip. I still think about it sometimes, but I think they’re actually are big improvements over the M1. One of them, the most noticeable, is the caché memory and the faster RAM. But also more GPU cores and higher clock speeds. I think instructions per clock are also better than M1? But I’m not sure by how much.
Here comes my main question: Do you expect the M2 to have a significantly longer lifespan relative to the M1? Do you think the bigger caché and faster RAM will grant the M2 several years of being the oldest supported SoC? And, if so, do you think it will struggle performance-wise?
I’m not trying to plan my purchases anymore because the A15 powered iPhone SE 3, and the M2 iPad Pro, will probably be the last devices with an LCD display, and that means that I’ll be many, many years stuck with them. But I think the A15 was a great improvement over the A14 and one of the most used chips on Apple’s lineup, which should grant it a good support from both Apple and developers. And because the M2 is based on the A15, I expect it to be equally well supported.
Sometimes I feel like my M2 iPad Pro, while having a good battery life, is not as good as my previous A12X based 2018 iPad Pro. I suspect the M2, while being quite powerful, has a slightly higher consumption when used in certain conditions. And the lack of AV1 decoding (which the M3 finally has integrated into the silicon) is going to be another factor that will impact its battery life over the next years if YouTube starts using the codec more.
I’m aware that I lack the technical knowledge to make affirmations, that’s why I only make assumptions. If you want to point where I am wrong, or want to contribute to the M2 talk, feel free to do so, keeping a respectful tone.
