What is Apple Silicon and how many M-series chips does Apple offer?

Have you been hearing the phrase "Apple Silicon" and noticed Macs and some iPads now come with M-series processors? That's because Apple is equipping its latest Mac desktops and MacBook laptops and iPad and iPad Pro laptops with chips its engineers designed. Here's everything you need to know about Apple Silicon, M-series chips, and the switch from Intel in Macs and iPad. 

What is Apple Silicon and what are M-series chips?

Apple has been transitioning from Intel chips in Macs and iPad and is now using what's known as "Apple Silicon" - or Arm-based custom chips that are built in-house. They are similar to the long-established A-series chips used throughout many iPhone and iPad ranges. But more recently, Apple has been using the A-series processors in iPhones and low-end iPads, and it's reserving the M-series processors for the latest (and what it calls "most powerful)" Mac desktops and MacBook laptops as well as various mid-to-high-tier iPads. The M-Series consists of the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and M2 processors.

Apple used Intel's chips in its Mac lineup since 2006. But it unveiled the first Apple Silicon-powered Macs in November 2020. The second wave of Apple Silicon-powered Macs arrived in 2021. The fifth-generation iPad Pro, announced in April 2021, features a desktop-class M1 chip, making it the first iPad model to not use an A-series chip. 

How many M-series chips does Apple offer?

Three years ago, Apple began transitioning from Intel processors to its own M-series Apple Silicon chips. Most recently, it introduced an improved chip called the M2 chip. As of January 2023, the M-series consists of the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and M2 processors. And the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, iMac, iPad, and iPad Pro lineups all feature models with M-series chips.

What is unique about M-series Apple Silicon?

On the Mac, M-series chips feature Apple's first "System on a Chip", which integrates several different components including the CPU, GPU, unified memory architecture (RAM), Neural Engine, Secure Enclave, SSD controller, image signal processor, encode/decode engines, Thunderbolt controller with USB 4 support, and more. This all powers the different features of the Mac. Apple has described the ‌M1‌, ‌M1 Pro‌, ‌M1 Max‌, and ‌M1 Ultra‌ chips as the most powerful chips it has Apple has ever created to date, claiming they perform far better than higher-end Intel chips it previously relied upon.

The latest M2 processor is built upon the second-generation 5nm architecture. Apple has still been able to fit 20 billion transistors on the processor, or 4 billion more transistors than the previous Apple M1 chip. But it has the same 8-CPU core count as the M1, comprised of 4 performance cores and 4 enhanced efficiency cores. There is an integrated GPU with an additional 2 GPU cores, taking the total count up to 10. It also features 100GB/S memory bandwidth and up to 24GB of LPDDR5 memory. Here's the basics of Apple's other-based M-series processors it has released in the past three years:

• M1: Features an 8-core CPU with four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores and an 8-core GPU.
• M1 Pro‌: Features a 10-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores along with a 16-core GPU. There is an entry-level version with an 8-core CPU and 14-core GPU.
• M1 Max‌: Features a 10-core CPU (the same as the CPU for the ‌M1 Pro‌) and a 32-core GPU for improved graphics performance. 
• ‌M1 Ultra‌: Features twice the performance of the ‌M1 Max‌ with up to a 20-core CPU and up to a 64-core GPU. 

Which Apple devices have M-series Apple Silicon? 

Apple's first Macs with M-series Apple Silicon chips include:

• MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, M2, 2022)
• Mac Studio (2022)
• MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
• MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
• iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
• Mac mini (M1, 2020)
• MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)

Apple's first iPads with M-series Apple Silicon chips include:

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th-gen, M1, 2022)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (third gen, M1, 2022)
• iPad Air (5th-gen, M1, 2020)

How to tell if your device runs Apple Silicon

Macs

On Mac computers with Apple Silicon, the About This Mac menu will show an item labeled Chip, followed by the name of the chip:

•  To open About This Mac, choose Apple menu> About This Mac.

On Mac computers with an Intel processor, About This Mac shows an item labeled Processor, followed by the name of an Intel processor. A Mac with an Intel processor is also known as an Intel-based Mac.

iPad

Apple has a support page here that will help you determine your iPad model number and whether the tablet comes equipped with an M-series chip. But if you know the generation of your iPad and when it was released, you can also read our guide above to determine if it launched with Apple Silicon. 

Why did Apple switch to M-series Apple Silicon?

Apple is promising superior performance with more powerful Macs and iPads that are also more energy-efficient. It has years of experience with power-efficient chip design thanks to its work on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, all of which feature custom, in-house designed chips developed by Apple engineers. Plus, Apple can more deeply integrate its software with its silicon, making its devices stand out from the competition. For example, Apple's custom chips provide best-in-class security with the Secure Enclave and high-performance graphics capabilities.

Apple Silicon chips are also built with Neural Engines and Machine Learning Accelerators to offer machine learning-backed capabilities.  

Plus, by making its own chips, Apple is now less reliant on third parties and their whims, such as Intel. 

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