Apple is reportedly designing a new series of Mac chips to outperform Intel's best, including a 32-core processor for a half-size Mac Pro

• Apple is already designing a new series of Mac processors, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg.
• The news comes just a month after Apple launched its M1 silicon chip.
• The first new processor could be launched as early as the spring, the report said.
• The tech giant is designing the new chips to outperform Intel's best, the report said. Apple wants to transition from Intel chips by 2022.
• Apple is testing a variety of new chips for various Mac devices, including a chip with up to 32 power cores that it will use for a new half-sized Mac Pro, slated for release in 2022, the sources said.

Apple is making a new series of Mac processors designed to be faster than Intel's best, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing sources close to the matter.

The first of the new chips could be launched as early as spring 2021, the report said.

In November, Apple debuted the M1, its first Mac main processor, and engineers are already working on multiple follow-ups, the sources said, including a chip with as many as 32 power cores for a new half-sized Mac Pro.

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The chips will be used across new versions of the MacBook Pro, iMac desktops, and an upcoming Mac Pro workstation, the sources told Bloomberg.

It would mark a key milestone in Apple's move away from Intel, which has traditionally supplied the processors for Apple Macs. Apple expects to stop using Intel components by mid-2022.

Less than 10% of Intel's revenue comes from supplying Mac chips, but the rest of its business could be threatened if Apple is able to make chips that perform better.

Read more: Developers love the MacBook Pro, but some may stay away from the new model for a while until the software they use every day can run on Apple's powerful new chips

The smartphone-like M1 chip, which the company deployed in its new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, uses four high-performance processing cores alongside four power-saving cores, while Apple's most expensive Mac Pro desktop uses an Intel chip with as many as 28 cores.

For its upcoming chip for MacBook Pro and iMacs, Apple is looking at designs featuring up to 16 power cores and four efficiency cores, the sources said.

But before this version is released, Apple may launch other chips that are mid-way between the two versions, with eight or 12 power cores, they said, depending on how the manufacturing process goes.

The company is also testing a chip using as many as 32 power cores that would power higher-end desktop computers and a new half-sized Mac Pro, slated for 2022.

It is also developing graphics processors that would be several times faster than the Nvidia and AMD processors Apple currently uses in its Intel-powered hardware, the sources said.

Apple didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.