Apple has announced two new chips designed for its 2021 MacBook Pro models: the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
The tech giant promises that M1 Pro-powered MacBooks will promise 70 percent better CPU performance and double the graphical performance than the year-old M1 chip. The mid-level chip includes a 10-core CPU with eight performance cores and two efficiency cores with a 16-core GPU. Support for RAM has also increased, with the M1 Pro supporting up to 32GB with 200 GB/s of memory bandwidth.
Although the M1 Max offers the same CPU configuration as the M1 Pro, the higher-end chip doubles the memory bandwidth and the capabilities compared to the Pro variant, with the flagship chip supporting up to 64GB of RAM with a memory bandwidth of 400GB/s and a 32-core GPU. Because of the additional power included in the M1 Max, Apple says this new chip can connect up to four external displays on a single device that includes the chip.
As far as performance goes, Apple claims that both the M1 Pro and M1 Max "delivers up to 1.7 times" the CPU performance compared to "the latest four-core and eight-core PC laptop chips." Unfortunately, Apple did not specify as to which laptops it was referring to, nor did it dive into how well these new chips can perform from a gaming standpoint.
The M1 Pro and M1 Max announcement come at an interesting time for Apple as the company is closing in on year one of its two-ear transition as more of its products become powered by its own silicon. The transition began late last year following the release of the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, while earlier this year, the in-house chip made its way to Apple's flagship tablet, the iPad Pro.
The M1 Pro and M1 Max will be available as part of the 2021 redesigns of the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro that were also announced today. For more information on everything announced during today's event, check out our roundup of everything announced during Apple's second fall hardware event.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
