Apple has begun widespread testing of nine new Macs with M2 chip

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By Joe Wituschek
published

Apple Silicon
Apple Silicon (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple has begun widespread testing of nine new Mac models.
  • All of the new models are reportedly outfitted with the M2 lineup of processors.
  • The company is doing the testing with third-party apps on the App Store.

Apple has begun widespread testing of its next lineup of Apple silicon processors.

As reported by Bloomberg, the company has reportedly begun testing on nine new Macs that feature the next-generation M2 processors, Apple's successor to the M1 lineup. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is already testing the machines with third-party apps on the App Store.

According to the report, the machines could see a release "in the coming months." The new models being tested include:

  • A MacBook Air with an M2 chip, codenamed J413. This Mac will have eight CPU cores, the components that handle the main processing, and 10 cores for graphics. That's up from eight graphics cores in the current MacBook Air.
  • A Mac mini with an M2 chip, codenamed J473. This machine will have the same specifications as the MacBook Air. There's also an "M2 Pro" variation, codenamed J474, in testing.
  • An entry-level MacBook Pro with an M2 chip, codenamed J493. This too will have the same specifications as the MacBook Air.
  • A 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and "M2 Max" chips, codenamed J414. The M2 Max chip has 12 CPU cores and 38 graphics cores, up from 10 CPU cores and 32 graphics cores in the current model, according to the logs. It will also have 64 gigabytes of memory.
  • A 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, codenamed J416. The 16-inch MacBook Pro's M2 Max will have the same specifications as the 14-inch MacBook Pro version.
  • A Mac Pro, codenamed J180. This machine will include a successor to the M1 Ultra chip used in the Mac Studio computer.
  • A Mac mini with an M1 Pro chip, the same processor used in the entry-level 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros today. That machine is codenamed J374. The company has tested an M1 Max version of the Mac mini as well, but the new Mac Studio may make these machines redundant.

Apple is expected to announce a redesign of the MacBook Air as soon as WWDC, but a release isn't expected until the late summer/early fall.

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Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.