Technologies

Apple M2 Pro and Max Chips Repeat a Successful Upgrade Strategy

First the M2. Now we’ve got the M2 Pro and M2 Max. Maybe we’ll see an M2 Ultra processor powering Apple Mac Pro computers in the coming months.

With its M2 Pro and M2 Max processors, Apple is repeating a strategy that worked well for its earlier M1 designs. By grafting some extra circuitry onto an efficient chip foundation, Apple can offer a significant upgrade to its new M2-based MacBook Pro laptops without a full chip overhaul.

Apple introduced its first in-house Mac processor, the M1, for MacBook Air laptops that arrived in 2020. The M1 already took advantage of chip design work for the iPhone’s A-series chips, but Apple beefed up the M1 with more processing cores to make the M1 Pro and M1 Max in late 2021 for higher-end MacBook Pro laptops. Then, in 2022, it glued two M1 Max chips together into the top-end M1 Ultra.

Now, Apple is headed the same route with the M2, which debuted in 2022 and now is joined by the M2 Pro and M2 Max for new MacBook Pro models. If history continues to repeat itself, we could see a Mac Pro based on a hulking M2 Ultra processor in the coming months.

The chips’ speed boost over M1 equivalents that debuted 15 months ago is significant — 20% at least by Apple’s measurements. Owners of year-old M1-generation MacBook Pro laptops to upgrade. But for those using older Macs based on the older Intel chips Apple ejected from its product line, the speed boost and better battery life could be much more compelling.

“These new Macs should help entice moving off Intel to M series in 23,” Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin said in a tweet Tuesday. His firm estimates 42% of Mac owners in the US are still using Intel-based models, and the fraction is probably higher worldwide.

Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment. Intel declined to comment.

How did Apple speed up the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips?

The M2 Pro and Max chips are faster thanks to new designs for the chip’s central processing unit cores for general computation and graphics processing unit cores for handling graphics tasks and some other jobs that work on GPUs. The new designs also have more CPUs, GPUs and another core type for accelerating artificial intelligence tasks, which Apple calls its Neural Engine.

The M1 Pro has eight or 10 CPU cores, depending on configuration, and the M1 Max has 10. The M2 Pro has 10 or 12, and the M2 Max has 12. The M2 generation is 20% faster, Apple said, citing unspecified but industry standard speed tests.

CPU performance is the foundation of everything a processor does, and all the M-series Pro and Max models employ four power-efficient CPU cores for better battery life. The remaining CPU cores offer higher performance cores for more important work. Intel also has adopted this approach, pioneered for smartphones.

For GPUs, used for tasks like playing games and editing photos and videos, the M1 Pro came with 14 or 16 cores and the M1 Max with 16 to 32 cores. The M2 Pro boosts that to 16 or 19 GPU cores, and the M2 Max to 30 or 38. The M2 GPU performance is 30% faster, though part of the speed boost comes from better cache memory on the chip, Apple said.

The neural engine has 16 cores on both M1 and M2 generations, but Apple boasts its AI performance is 40% faster with the new chips. AI software is just getting started, but it’s used in important jobs like some Adobe Photoshop image editing, and you can expect that AI performance to become more and more important as more developers figure it out.

Speed boosts compared to Intel-based Macs, which use years-old Intel chips, are more notable. The M2 Pro is 2.5 times faster at compiling software and 80% faster at Photoshop image editing compared with an older 16-inch MacBook with an Intel i9 processor, Apple said. As for the M2 Max, it’s twice fast at video color adjustments and six times faster at Da Vinci Resolve video editing.

Some of the speed boost on the M2 Max comes from faster memory transfer, doubling to 400 megabytes per second, which helps with data-heavy chores like video editing and 3D modeling. The M2 Max new models also accommodate up to 96GB of memory, up from 64GB on the M1 Max.

We won’t see third-party speed tests until MacBook Pro reviews with the M2 Pro and Max processors arrive. CNET editor Dan Ackerman gave the M2-based MacBook Air an editor’s choice accolade, citing its “excellent performance and battery life.”

That model came with a $200 price increase over its predecessor, though, and the M2-generation MacBook Pro laptops aren’t cheap, either. The model with a 14-inch screen and lowest-end 10-core M2 Pro costs $1,999; with a 12-core M2 Max and other improvements, the price increases to $3,099. The 16-inch models start at $2,499 but rise to $3,499 with an M2 Max processor and more storage capacity.

How are the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips built?

As with all Apple-designed processors for the last few years, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) builds the chips.

As with the M2, the M2 Pro and Max are built with a second-generation 5-nanometer manufacturing process. (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and chip manufacturing processes with lower nanometers refer to more advanced manufacturing processes. However, for years now, the numbers have been mere labels of convenience, not actual measurements signifying actual miniaturization progress.)

New manufacturing processes shrink chips’ fundamental electronic elements, called transistors, although that miniaturization is harder these days. That permits more circuitry on a chip. The transistor tally increased from 33.7 billion in the M1 Pro to 40 billion in the M2 Pro; the Max models increased from 57 billion to 67 billion.

TSMC has begun mass product manufacturing on a newer 3 nanometer (3nm) process. Expect that to be used for future iPhone, iPad and Mac processors, a move that should permit even more transistors.

Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”