Apple’s M2 chips and the computers they will power are detailed in a new leak

Apple is reportedly working on nine new Macs with the upcoming M2 processors. corresponding Bloombergis Mark Gurman. These rumors are hot on Apple’s heels Release of the Mac Studioand his announcement that the the M1 Ultra would be the last chip in its current generation.

Bloomberg isn’t yet forecasting a replacement for the Studio, but reports say most other Mac models will get an upgrade. Gurman says he’s seen evidence of an M2-powered MacBook Air with a 10-core GPU — as opposed to previous forecasts that a redesigned Air would still have an M1—as well as an entry-level M2 MacBook Pro with the same specs. The 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are also making an appearance, along with a new Mac Mini and Mac Pro, all rocking next-gen Apple silicon.

A Mac Mini with the current-gen M1 Pro also made an appearance, although it’s hard to imagine it launching now that the Mac Studio exists.

The higher-end machines will reportedly feature M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, with the Max having 12 CPU cores and 38 graphics cores (two CPU and six GPU cores on top compared to the current M1 max). Bloomberg does not include details on the breakdown of efficiency and performance cores. The M2 Pro is also offered as an option for the Mac Mini, and Gurman predicts that the Mac Pro will have a “successor to the M1 Ultra”.

(By the way, if you’re trying to figure out how that translates to nine computers, like I did initially, it’s a MacBook Air, an entry-level Pro, two models of the Mini, two models each of the 14- and 16-inch MBP – with Pro and Max chips – and the Desktop Pro.)

It’s intriguing that the entry-level MacBook Pro might stick around and still be around hardly differentiated from the air. When I discuss laptops with my colleagues, they usually predict that Apple will quietly discontinue the 13-inch model as it seems like an unfortunate middle ground between the Air and the 14-inch Pro. It’s also a bit of an outlier with its Touch Bar, but it’s an open question whether the successor will have one – the Bloomberg report says no.

In particular, any type of iMac is absent from the list of computers. There is no mention of a successor to the M1-powered 24-inch all-in-oneor a substitute for that recently discontinued 27 inch iMac.

Gurman says this wealth of information comes from developer logs, which are believed to have surfaced because Apple was testing its new computers with third-party apps. While it wasn’t hard to predict that Apple would be working on the next generation of chips, it’s exciting to see evidence of their existence in the wild and to get early details.

It may not be long before at least some of these computers are officially announced – Bloomberg reports that “at least two Macs” could hit the market “around mid-year.” And wouldn’t you know, WWDC is in the calendar for 6.6.