Reports say the company is planning to launch the new models at the upcoming WWDC 2023.
A report from Bloomberg this week revealed that Apple is currently conducting tests on two new top-of-the-line Mac computers and their corresponding M2 processors in preparation for its upcoming WWDC event.
WWDC is Apple’s annual get-together with the app makers who build the software on iPhones, Macs and other Apple devices. According to the report, one of the desktop computers undergoing testing is equipped with an M2 Max processor. This includes eight high-performance cores for handling intensive tasks, along with four efficiency cores and 30 graphics cores. These specifications are the same as those found in the MacBook Pro featuring the M2 Max. This unit also has a memory capacity of 96 gigabytes and operates on macOS 13.4. This is the latest version of the Mac operating system released earlier this month.
Introducing M2 Ultra
The other – more interesting – Mac reportedly in testing right now is using an M2 Ultra chip. This chip features 24 processing cores and offers twice the performance compared to the M2 Max model. It boasts 16 high-performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and 60 graphics cores. Apple is allegedly testing this machine with different configurations, with 64GB, 128GB, and 192GB of memory.
According to the Bloomberg article, the M2 Ultra chip undergoing the testing phase will be a highly performant version, and may offer up to 76 graphics cores. Such a spec would essentially double the maximum capacity of the existing M2 Max chip (38-core).
A new Mac Studio
The reports say that these new Mac models have Mac14,3 and Mac14,4 model identifiers, while the Mac Pro that Apple is testing internally has been assigned the label Mac 14,8. This new designation would indicate that the new desktops being tested are distinct machines, and could represent new iterations of the Mac Studio. The Mac Studio is currently available in M1 Max and M1 Ultra configurations. This all makes sense, as there have already been reports circulating that Apple could launch a new Mac Studio at WWDC 2023.