Apple refreshes Mac mini, Mac Studio lineups with new chips
Apple Inc. today debuted four custom processors that will power a new generation of Mac computers.
The company is bringing to market a new Mac mini miniature desktop and Mac Studio workstation that are both available in two editions. Each edition features a different processor. All the chips include a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit and a standalone artificial intelligence accelerator.
The most advanced processor that Apple introduced today, the M6, will ship with the Mac mini. It’s the first from the company to use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s latest two-nanometer node. The process embeds tiny batteries called SHPMIM capacitors in chips to improve their reliability.
A processor’s energy consumption fluctuates so rapidly that its power delivery components often struggle to keep up. When that happens, transistors don’t receive enough electricity to complete calculations, which decreases their performance and causes errors. SHPMIM capacitors make up the energy shortfall by releasing their accumulated electricity at opportune moments. Furthermore, they can absorb excess chip energy to avoid reliability issues.
