The latest MacBooks might not be the one place we see Apple’s new M2 chip make an look. Hearsay has it that this would be the brains behind Apple’s much-rumored mixed-reality headset.
We started listening to that the headset can be powered by some type of Apple Silicon early final yr; across the identical time, it grew to become obvious that Apple was engaged on a high-end premium gadget for the first-generation mannequin. Suppose “Mac Professional” greater than “MacBook Professional.”
This info was first shared by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, and some months later, one other extremely dependable analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, backed up these stories, suggesting that Apple was engaged on a chip that may be “much like the M1” — however much more highly effective.
On the time, many assumed that Apple was designing a customized chip for its mixed-reality headset, however now plainly this “extra highly effective” chip sources have been pointing to might have simply been Apple’s subsequent technology of M1 silicon; that’s, the M2 chip that’s simply been unveiled as a part of Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Professional and redesigned MacBook Air.
In his newest Energy On e-newsletter, Gurman says he’s been advised that the present working prototypes of the headset are utilizing the usual M2 chip with a 16GB reminiscence configuration.
Outdoors of the Mac and iPad Professional, there’s one other place I anticipate the M2 to look: Apple’s mixed-reality headset. I’m advised the most recent inside incarnations of the gadget run the bottom M2 chip together with 16 gigabytes of RAM. Mark Gurman
If true, that’s fairly spectacular because it means that the brand new headset can be each bit as highly effective by itself as Apple’s entry-level Macs.
Nonetheless, this additionally exhibits Apple’s need to stay to a single household of chips throughout most of its product lineup. We noticed the primary trace of this when the M1 chip got here to the iPad Professional final yr, adopted by the iPad Air earlier this yr. The mixed-reality headset can be subsequent to affix the household, but it surely leaves us questioning how lengthy will probably be till M-series chips discover their method into a few of Apple’s different merchandise.
The iPhone will seemingly persist with A-series chips for the foreseeable future. Not like the iPad, which Apple is slowly reworking right into a laptop-class gadget, an iPhone doesn’t want the facility to drive exterior shows, join high-speed Thunderbolt units, or render advanced graphics workflows.
When Is Apple’s Headset Coming?
Regardless of this extra peek into the headset’s internals, we seemingly received’t hear something official from Apple till subsequent yr.
If Apple deliberate to launch the headset later this yr, it seemingly would have given us at the very least a sneak peek at its Worldwide Developer Convention (WWDC) earlier this month. Nonetheless, whereas loads of hints pointed to the “realityOS” software program that’s anticipated to energy the headset, Apple was lifeless quiet about any new merchandise in that house.
Our sources have prompt Apple might maintain a particular occasion in January 2023 to announce the AR/VR headset, though when it goes in the marketplace remains to be an open query. It’s unlikely to hit cabinets till someday after WWDC 2023, and it’s nonetheless anticipated to be a premium product, priced between $2,000 and $3,000.
It’s not even a certain factor but that the present M2 chip will energy the headset. Gurman solely says that’s what the “newest inside incarnations” are utilizing, however Apple might select to maneuver to an much more highly effective model like an M2 Professional earlier than the design is finalized.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]