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The 8-core CPU has six high performance cores and two high efficiency cores.
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The M1 Pro officially has 10 CPU cores, including two efficiency cores and eight high performance cores, but there is a low-end variant that has just 8 cores that's used in the base-level MacBook Pro. Like the M1, the M1 Pro is built on a 5-nanometer process, but it has 33.7 billion transistors, twice as many transistors as the M1. Traditional Intel-based Macs used multiple chips for the CPU, GPU, I/O, and security, but integrating multiple components onto one chip allows Apple silicon chips to operate faster and more efficiently than Intel chips. The M1 Pro is Apple's second System on a Chip (SoC) developed for use in Macs, and it marks Apple's continued transition away from the Intel chips that have been used in Macs since 2006.Īs a "System on a Chip," the M1 Pro 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, all of which power the different features in the Mac. The M1 Pro is an improvement the M1, but it is not quite as powerful as the M1 Max. Apple in October 2021 introduced its second-generation Apple silicon chips, the M1 Pro and the M1 Max, which follow the M1 and are available in the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
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