The chip generation that finally finished the Mac’s move off Intel — Mac Pro included. Simple to expert, every number links to its source.
M2 is the chip generation that finally completed the Mac’s transition off Intel — M2 Ultra’s June 2023 launch brought the last holdout, Mac Pro, to Apple silicon 1.
Apple’s own framing of that moment: the Mac Pro release states the new Mac Pro has “Apple’s most powerful 24-core CPU, an up to 76-core GPU,” completing what Apple calls “the Mac transition to Apple silicon” 1 — nearly three years after M1 started it.
M2 Pro is also the chip that first brought genuine pro-level performance to the Mac mini — a machine that had never before offered a Pro-tier chip option.
Apple’s own words: “M2 Pro brings pro-level performance to Mac mini for the first time” 2 — an explicit Apple “first” claim, unlike the M1 Ultra two-die framing on the M1 page, which is this page’s own inference rather than an Apple quote.
M2: 8-core CPU, 8- or 10-core GPU. M2 Pro: 10- or 12-core CPU, 16- or 19-core GPU. M2 Max: 12-core CPU, 30- or 38-core GPU. M2 Ultra: 24-core CPU, 60- or 76-core GPU 3456.
Transistor counts, all Apple-stated: M2 “20 billion — 25% more than M1” 7; M2 Pro “40 billion transistors — nearly 20 percent more than M1 Pro, and double the amount in M2” 8; M2 Max “67 billion transistors — 10 billion more than M1 Max and more than 3x that of M2” 8; M2 Ultra “134 billion transistors — 20 billion more than M1 Ultra” 9. All four use the same refined node as M1, worded slightly differently across Apple’s own releases: M2 uses “enhanced, second-generation 5-nanometer technology” 7, M2 Pro and M2 Max use “second-generation 5-nanometer process technology” 8, and M2 Ultra uses “a second-generation 5-nanometer process” 9 — the same underlying node, not a new one, each stated in Apple’s own exact words rather than bundled into a single quote.
CPU cores run 8 (M2) to 24 (M2 Ultra); memory bandwidth runs 100GB/s (M2) to 800GB/s (M2 Ultra); max unified memory runs 24GB (M2) to 192GB (M2 Ultra) 36.
| Spec | M2 | M2 Pro | M2 Max | M2 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU cores | 8 (4P+4E) | 10 or 12 | 12 | 24 (16P+8E) |
| GPU cores | 8 or 10 | 16 or 19 | 30 or 38 | 60 or 76 |
| Neural Engine | 16-core, 15.8 TOPS | 16-core, 15.8 TOPS | 16-core, 15.8 TOPS | 32-core, 31.6 TOPS |
| Max unified memory | 24GB | 32GB | 96GB | 192GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 100GB/s | 200GB/s | 400GB/s | 800GB/s |
| Transistors | 20 billion | 40 billion | 67 billion | 134 billion |
| Process node | Second-generation 5-nanometer | |||
Figures per Apple’s own Newsroom launch releases for each chip 789 and matching tech-specs pages 3456.
Apple states all four M2-family chips use second-generation 5-nanometer process technology. No manufacturer is named.
Apple’s exact words for M2 Pro: “Built using a second-generation 5-nanometer process technology, M2 Pro consists of 40 billion transistors” 8; M2, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra use the same underlying node, worded slightly differently in each chip’s own release (see the architecture section above for each exact quote). No official Apple or TSMC source names a foundry for this generation.
M2: MacBook Air (2022), 13-inch MacBook Pro (2022), Mac mini (2023), 15-inch MacBook Air (2023). M2 Pro/Max: 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023), Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023), Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023). M2 Ultra: Mac Studio and Mac Pro (2023) 1021.
M2 Ultra’s Mac Pro is notable as the device that completed Apple’s multi-year Mac transition — the last Intel-based Mac model to receive an Apple-silicon successor.
Not applicable. No M2-family chip has ever been sold as a separate, priced component.
No official Apple source lists a standalone chip price for M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, or M2 Ultra.
M2 vs. M1: CPU 18% faster, GPU 35% more powerful, Neural Engine 40% faster 7. M2 Ultra vs. M1 Ultra: CPU 20% faster, GPU up to 30% faster 9.
M2 Pro vs. M1 Pro: multithreaded CPU “up to 20 percent faster,” graphics “up to 30 percent faster,” Xcode compiling “up to 2.5x faster than on the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro” 8. M2 Max vs. M1 Max: graphics “up to 30 percent faster” 8. All company-published comparisons against the immediate M1-family predecessor at each tier.
Came before: the M1 family. Came after: the M3 family, starting October 2023.
M2 Ultra’s Mac Pro launch closed the loop M1 opened in November 2020 — every Mac model line now had an Apple-silicon option, ending Intel’s 15-year run inside the Mac entirely.
10 sources, checked September 2026. Where NVIDIA or another maker has not published a figure, this page says so rather than estimate it.