current m1 is supposedly 16b transistors at 5nm, a scant 116mm^2. compare to current 7n graphics chips such as an amd 6900 which is 26b transistors & >500mm^2. also notable, the 8 cores on the m1 are only 1/3 of the chip size. it's gpu is bigger. suffice it to say, adding another 50% more cores is not gonna be a problem nor affect yields a lot. if apple wanted to, for whatever reason, dedicate more of that core space to cpu, & chop off that cpu, well, that'd be something.

that said, yeah, a multi-socket m[x] chip might not be in the cards for 2021. or maybe it is. anyhow the rumor mill has been floating the ideas of an "m2x" and "m2z" follow up being launched this year; this is just further "suggestion"/priming that we may see one, or two follow ups.

[1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/Next-gen-Macs-set-to-feature-1...