Apple unveils more powerful chips for new MacBook Pro, Mac mini

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - American technology company Apple unveiled Tuesday new MacBook Pro laptops, Mac mini small form factor desktops, and two new powerful chips.

The next-generation chips, M2 Pro and M2 Max, feature a more powerful CPU and GPU, and up to 96GB of unified memory, Apple said in a statement.

As both chips feature a faster 16-core neural engine, the company said M2 Max is the world’s most powerful and power-efficient chip for a pro laptop.

While M2 Pro brings professional performance to Mac mini for the first time, the company said both chips take performance and capabilities of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro even further.

"They deliver incredible pro performance along with industry-leading power efficiency," said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.

The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops can be configured with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, which offer up to six times faster performance than the fastest Intel-based counterpart.

Battery life on MacBook Pro is now up to 22 hours, the longest battery life ever in a Mac, according to Apple that said "Creators can work on scenes so large that PC laptops can’t even run them."

The new MacBook Pro supports Wi-Fi 6E that is up to twice as fast as the previous generation, and advanced HDMI that supports 8K displays for the first time.

"MacBook Pro with Apple silicon has been a game changer, empowering pros to push the limits of their workflows while on the go and do things they never thought possible on a laptop," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

The new Mac mini can be configured with M2 and M2 Pro chips, supporting up to two displays on the former model, and up to three displays on the latter.

Compared to Mac mini with Intel Core i7, which Apple no longer offers. The new Mac mini M2 offers up to 22 times faster machine learning, according to the company.

While the new Mac mini ranges from $599 to $1,299, the new MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 and can go as high as $3,499. Customers can begin to order the new devices online on Tuesday, and they will be available from Jan. 24 onwards.