According to reports, Apple is working on the M2 chipset for next year, which will be the M1’s direct successor. Fortunately, the company is working on direct successors to the M1 Pro and M1 Max, which were designed for the new MacBook Pro line. They are expected to be called the M2 Pro and M2 Max.

According to Commercial Times, the M2 Pro and M2 Max will not be released in the same year as the M2. While the M2 is expected to arrive in the second half of 2022, the M2 Pro and M2 Max are expected to arrive in the first half of 2023, with the higher-end models codenamed Rhodes. The two upcoming custom silicon chips, like the M2, will be mass-produced on TSMC’s 4nm architecture, which will result in improved performance and power efficiency.

Unfortunately, there is no indication on how many CPU and GPU cores Apple plans to include on the M2 Pro and M2 Max at this moment, so we’ll have to wait for more information. Also, before 2023, an iMac Pro said to be available in M1 Pro and M1 Max varieties for 2022, as well as the likelihood of an iPad Pro, refresh with the same chipset options, could be expected. In other words, there could be a lot of announcements before the M2 Pro and M2 Max are released.

We’ve already discussed how Apple aims to update its proprietary silicon every 18 months, so the M2 Pro and M2 Max might come in H2 2023. Following that, Apple is expected to switch to TSMC’s N3 architecture to reveal the M2 Pro and M2 Max successors, which might be dubbed the M3 Pro and M3 Max, but we are unlikely to see them until Q4 2024.