M2 Platform Wish List and Predictions

[playtech1]

Now we have seen all(?) of the M1 Macs I am wondering what the improvements will be so that Tim Cook can tell us that the M2 Macs are the best Macs ever made.

I think these are nailed on:

- faster single threaded performance, to match/beat Raptor Lake (via a combination of higher clocks and tweaked architecture)
- faster GPU cores
- faster neural engine
- faster media engine
- centre stage on MacBook Pros
- slightly longer 'wireless web' battery life (but shorter battery life under load)

I think these are more likely than not:

- changed core configuration (e.g. convert two efficiency cores to performance cores on base M2, add extra cores to M2 Pro/Max/Ultra)
- 16GB RAM as standard
- Wi-Fi 6e
- HDMI 2.1 output
- Faster SD Card reader

And I wish we would get these, but doubt we will see them yet:

- 3x3 Wi-Fi
- cheaper SSDs / larger base SSDs
- FaceID on the Pro M2 laptops
- wider range of media engine acceleration
- more flexible neural engine use

What does everyone else think is coming and what do you all want to see?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Honestly, I think you’re dreaming. Obviously there will be iterative changes to the chip layout, but we should not go into each generation expecting big improvements in so many areas.

Beyond slightly better single core performance, I think it’s a given that we’ll see some extra cores… and that might be it. Not that this is a bad thing - M1 is already wuite remarkable.

 

[magikow]

I'd love to see hardware accelerated ray tracing

 

[robco74]

Some items on the wish list will depend upon when supply chain issues are sorted. Apple needs to be able to secure components in bulk. They don't want to be in the position of halting laptop production because they can't source a single component in adequate volume.

 

[playtech1]

Honestly, I think you’re dreaming. Obviously there will be iterative changes to the chip layout, but we should not go into each generation expecting big improvements in so many areas.

Beyond slightly better single core performance, I think it’s a given that we’ll see some extra cores… and that might be it. Not that this is a bad thing - M1 is already wuite remarkable.

I might be!

But I think the A15 improvements on the A14 are surely going to carry across, which accounts for a lot of the CPU speed improvements and battery.

Centre stage is basically software and working on the Mac in the Studio Display so seems likely to come across in some fashion.

The rest isn't as sure, but if M2 has a bit more IO then HDMI 2.1 and a faster SD Card reader seem like fairly likely upgrades that can be made as a result.

M1 is remarkable, but the single threaded performance that was amazing in 2020 isn't as good in early 2022. I think that's the main area I want to see gains.

 

[mcnallym]

Will be interesting to see if ProRes encoding makes it into the base M2 or if remains a Pro and higher feature.
With the iPhones being able to capture in ProRes then would seem like a possibility.

A 32Gb RAM limit and ProRes media engine probably push a lot of people into M2 territory as opposed to higher Pro models

 

[Boil]

- faster single threaded performance
- faster neural engine
- faster media engine

Yes, yes, and yes...

- changed core configuration
- 16GB RAM as standard
- Wi-Fi 6e
- HDMI 2.1 output
- Faster SD Card reader

Yes, means a price hike, yes, yes, don't care...

- 3x3 Wi-Fi
- cheaper SSDs / larger base SSDs
- FaceID on the Pro M2 laptops
- wider range of media engine acceleration
- more flexible neural engine use

Yes, don't we all wish / means a price hike, sure, AV1...?, yes...

I'd love to see hardware accelerated ray tracing

Would go well with the reveal of the ASi Mac Pro...!

Will be interesting to see if ProRes encoding makes it into the base M2 or if remains a Pro and higher feature.
With the iPhones being able to capture in ProRes then would seem like a possibility.

ProRes for all ASi Mac SoCs would be nice...

A 32Gb RAM limit and ProRes media engine probably push a lot of people into M2 territory as opposed to higher Pro models

A 32GB upper limit for the Mn SoCs would be welcomed by many who need the RAM but do not need the extra CPU/GPU cores of the Pro SoCs...

 

[satcomer]

More and more devoters make at least Universal or Silicon versions of their major audio/video world!

 

[pshufd]

24 GB RAM option, support for three displays instead of two.

 

[Chancha]

Faster single core
More performance cores, but maintain the same number of efficiency cores
Slightly more graphic cores
AV1 hardware en/decoders
Native support of 1+ display at least
HDMI 2.1

These are not to do with the M2 but on the machines:
WiFi antenna 3x3 MIMO (6e or not)
Has MagSafe while still keep two TB ports

 

[Populus]

Faster single core
More performance cores, but maintain the same number of efficiency cores
Slightly more graphic cores
AV1 hardware en/decoders
Native support of 1+ display at least
HDMI 2.1

Some of this changes will come, but I don’t think it will be on the base M2, as the process node is very similar to the 5nm one.

If you want to see more cores and faster cores, you’ll have to wait until the first 3nm lithography, which will probably come in 2023-2024 with the M3 generation. The next big jump in performance.

Hopefully, for the M2 we’ll have at least dedicated hardware video encoders/decoders, such as the AV1

 

[AppleTO]

Pretty good list, but I don’t think we will see 16GB of RAM as standard quite yet.

 

[ahurst]

Based on trends from other second-gen Apple products and the limitations of the current M1, I’d say the improvements I’m expecting the most are:

- Bump single-core to A15/A16 levels
- Better handling of external displays (more displays at once, less weird issues with specific displays)
- DDR5 RAM w/ faster bandwidth (at least 100GB/s, if not matching the M1 Pro’s 200GB/s). I remember the Anandtech review of the chips that mentioned RAM bandwidth was a bit of a bottleneck for the M1 cores (or something like that), seems like something a 2nd gen would address.

Other than that I’m not making any bets. I will say that Center Stage in a MacBook is *highly* unlikely, though: laptop displays are much thinner than an iPad or iPhone, meaning there’s a lot less depth there to fit a good, wide-angle, high-resolution camera. They can barely fit a reasonably-good 1080p webcam in the 14”/16” MBPs, a Center Stage webcam would be a whole new level of technical challenge.

 

[Mcckoe]

HDMI 2.1
more Bandwidth
Direct to Chip Fiber connection(New thunderbolt standard) 80-120Gbps speeds

 

[JPack]

Just look to A15 for hints about M2 performance.

Center Stage isn't coming to MacBook anytime soon for obvious reasons. If you need a hint, think about how Studio Display is used. Count the number of cameras on iPad. It's not some software upgrade, the lens is different.

Wi-Fi 6E SoC from Broadcom was launched last year, so Apple will finally adopt it this year.

 

[ian87w]

All I want is 16GB RAM as one of the pre-configured base model.

 

[DrCC]

USB speed improvements will happen for sure, the M1 speed over USB sucks compared to Intel chips.
You get faster speeds by plugging a USB-C device in a Thunderbolt hub/dock than plugging it directly in the Mac USB-C ports.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

HDMI2.1
Hardware AV1 encode/decode
Hardware Raytracing
Faster cores, especially for the GPU
Lower prices

 

[Chancha]

Do we know for sure the M2 is based on A15 though? If the first M2 Macs roll out late this year then the time frame is quite close to the iPhone 14 Pros which should have an A16?

 

[Howard2k]

I hope 16GB doesn’t become the base. I’ll buy 16GB on my next MacBook, but hopefully the longer Apple sells 8GB as standard the more effort they will put into memory optimization.

 

[Bearygoodfries1]

Excuse my ignorance, but if you needed a Mac, would all of you rather wait and see what the M2 offers or just get a Mac Studio now for your own individual needs?

 

[leman]

My expectations are:

- single-core GB5 around 2000
- LPDDR5
- up to 10-core GPU with performance equivalent to RTX 3050 (at least for lower TDP variants)
- more external displays, improved support
- bump in internal coprocessors (NPU, AMX)
- maybe SVE2

Don’t expect any other changes.

 

[bevel]

Excuse my ignorance, but if you needed a Mac, would all of you rather wait and see what the M2 offers or just get a Mac Studio now for your own individual needs?

For Macs I always wait for a new one to be released. I have a current Mac so there is no need to rush. But when a new Mac arrives and I realise it can make a difference to my work life, I buy it.

Sure if I had never had a Mac I wouldn’t consider waiting, but I’ve had one since the 80s. On the odd occasion one broke the. I used the previous until the new gen is released.

It’s so ingrained in me now I think I would feel negatively towards doing anything else. If it was released more than say 4 months ago, I imagine I’d feel resentful that I was using old tech and had missed a trick.

Macs are expensive enough and I don’t want to feel like my money could have bought a newer generation.

 

[Fomalhaut]

Excuse my ignorance, but if you needed a Mac, would all of you rather wait and see what the M2 offers or just get a Mac Studio now for your own individual needs?

Depends if they are waiting for the expected M2 MacBook Air or base MBP model, rather than a desktop.

I suspect that the M2 Mac Mini and iMac 24 will not appear until next year, to allow the new laptops to have the limelight for a few months.

In any case a base M2 will still be much slower than an entry level M1 Max Studio in almost every metric except single-core performance. I don't think these two categories are competing at all. We won't see an M2 Pro/Max/Ultra until well into 2023.

 

[Populus]

Do we know for sure the M2 is based on A15 though? If the first M2 Macs roll out late this year then the time frame is quite close to the iPhone 14 Pros which should have an A16?

At this point in time, I’m pretty sure that M2s will be based on A16. That’s because the jump from A14 to A15 was pretty mild and focused, mainly, on efficiency gains