The next big chapter in the ongoing story of Apple silicon is expected to be the launch of the M2 chip – and if a new Bloomberg report is to be believed, the tech giant could be well-immersed in internal testing of multiple new Mac models housing the next-generation processor.
In fact, developer logs supposedly seen by Bloomberg are said to indicate that Apple has been testing no fewer than nine new Macs, with four different M2-based chips used between them.
Included among the nine Mac models being tested are reportedly:
- A MacBook Air with an M2 chip and the codename J413
- A Mac mini with an M2 chip and the codename J473
- A Mac mini with an M2 Pro chip and the codename J474
- An entry-level MacBook Pro with an M2 chip and the codename J493
- A 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and “M2 Max” chips, and the codename J414
- A 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and “M2 Max” chips, and the codename J416
- A Mac Pro with a processor described as a “successor to the M1 Ultra chip”, and the codename J180
Apple is also said to be testing a Mac mini housing an M1 Pro chip, which is the same processor as can be found in today’s entry-level 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros; the codename for this machine is J374. For reference, the Mac mini presently available to buyers as of April 2022 comes with an M1 chip.
And as if all the above wasn’t enough, Apple has also apparently tested an M1 Max variant of the Mac mini, although one wonders whether these devices may have been rendered redundant by the launch of the new Mac Studio.
Sure enough, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman was careful to note that “even though testing is far along in some cases, there are no guarantees that all the models will ultimately be released.”