What to Expect From Apple's M4 Ultra Chip Next Year
Apple last week debuted its latest M4 Pro and M4 Max chips in the Mac mini and MacBook Pro, and the highest-end M4 Ultra chip should follow next year.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the M4 Ultra chip in the next Mac Pro will "probably" have up to a 32-core CPU and up to an 80-core GPU, which would be double the M4 Max's up to 16-core CPU and up to 40-core GPU. That would be unsurprising, as the M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra chips both have up to double the number of CPU and GPU cores compared to the M1 Max and M2 Max chips, respectively.
Not all patterns at Apple carry on forever, so it is still noteworthy that the M4 Ultra chip will likely follow the same doubling scheme as usual.
When will the M4 Ultra chip be available? In a report last month, Gurman said the next Mac Studio will likely "debut between March and June" next year, and higher-end configurations of that computer should be available with the M4 Ultra chip. He expects a new Mac Pro desktop tower with the M4 Ultra chip to follow in the second half of next year.
Given the Mac Studio and Mac Pro were never updated with M3 series chips, the M4 Ultra chip would give these computers an improved Neural Engine for Apple Intelligence and ray tracing for improved graphics rendering for the first time.
A few years ago, Gurman said that Apple had tested a so-called "M2 Extreme" chip that would have offered even greater performance than the M2 Ultra chip, but he later said that the chip's release was canceled. Apple could choose to revisit an "Extreme" chip for the Mac Pro in the future, but there are no "M4 Extreme" chip rumors as of now.
Popular Stories
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects Apple to release new AirPods Pro this year, and he said the earbuds will have a key new feature: heart rate monitoring.
From his Power On newsletter today, with emphasis added:As for Apple's other devices, there's a lot in the fall pipeline — though many of the new products are only incremental upgrades.
There will be Apple Watch updates, faster Vision...
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max should be unveiled in a few more weeks, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman corroborated a rumor that iPhone 17 Pro models will be "available in an orange color."
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are...
Apple will offer the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max in a new orange color, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman made the claim in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, adding that the new iPhone 17 Air – replacing the iPhone 16 Plus – will come in a new light blue color.
We've heard multiple rumors about a new iPhone 17 Pro color being a shade of orange. The ...
Apple has "considered" releasing a bumper case for the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Similar to the bumper case that Apple introduced for the iPhone 4 in 2010, Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air version of the case would cover the edges of the device, but not the back of it. Those bumper cases were made of rubber.
Given that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to have ...
We're only weeks away from Apple's annual iPhone event – rumored to take place on September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023.
By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for enhancements,...
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through what to expect from the Apple Watch SE 3, Series 11, and Ultra 3, and whether it's worth holding off on an upgrade until next year.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos
The third-generation Apple Watch SE is rumored to feature a larger display (perhaps like the Apple Watch Series 7), the S11 chip, and...
