Here's Why Apple is Reportedly Skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max Chips - MacRumors
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Here's Why Apple is Reportedly Skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max Chips

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According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will be releasing a regular M6 chip, but it has no plans to offer higher-end M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the reason for this break in tradition is AI.

M6 Pro M6 Max Mockup
"Apple had been planning major neural-processing upgrades for the M7 family and ultimately decided those improvements were important enough to justify accelerating the next generation rather than completing the M6 lineup," he explained.

There won't be an M6 Ultra chip either, he said.

A new 14-inch MacBook Pro with a base M6 chip will be released later this year, and then Apple plans to move on to releasing the base M7 chip in the first half of 2027, M7 Pro and M7 Max chips in late 2027, and an M7 Ultra chip in 2028.

He said the M7 Ultra chip in particular "dramatically upgrades AI performance," and that it may power Apple Intelligence servers starting in 2029.

"AI is no longer just another feature Apple's chips need to support," said Gurman. "It is now shaping how those products are designed and when they are shipped."

The current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips launched in March, and Gurman still expects an M5 Ultra chip to debut in the Mac Studio as early as this year.

A summary:

  • M5 chip: October 2025
  • M5 Pro and M5 Max chips: March 2026
  • M5 Ultra chip: Late 2026
  • M6 chip: Late 2026
  • M7 chip: First half of 2027
  • M7 Pro and M7 Max chips: Second half of 2027
  • M7 Ultra chip: 2028
Related Roundups: Mac Studio, MacBook Pro
Tags: Apple Silicon Guide, Mark Gurman
Buyer's Guide: Mac Studio (Buy Now), MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forums: Mac Studio, MacBook Pro

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Top Rated Comments

Cheruman Avatar
Cheruman
6 weeks ago

What does The “M” stand for?
Money
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
attila Avatar
attila
6 weeks ago
Soon on MacRumors:

12 Reasons to wait for the m8 Ultra
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
ChrisMac47
6 weeks ago
This stuff is for the birds!

Forget M6 and M7, where is an M5 iMac or MacMini?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
Gorlammi
6 weeks ago
Why the hell can't we get an M5 Pro update to the mini? Or M5 Max in a Studio? Come on Apple. This is ridiculous.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StevieD100 Avatar
StevieD100
6 weeks ago
As long as I can nuke all AI functions, then I'll be happy. The current thing we call AI is neither Artificial nor Intelligent.
I don't want odd things happening because some LLM decides that I should do something; then the AI designer can go and rot in Hell for infinity.
What we call AI has a place, but none of those places is in my workflow. If I can't shut it off, then I'll be mightily pissed off. We have existed for millennia without AI Slop getting involved, and we can exist without it for a lot longer.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
Biro
6 weeks ago

It does not make sense to release base M6 only for base M7 to supersede it months later. I would think it is more likely that M6 will be a family that article is referring as M7, with base model released early next year.

Or Apple might separate base and performance CPUs, keeping M for base and having other letter for performance models.
I can see an M6 working well in a number of Apple devices that might not be the first choice for those who want to work with on-device LLMs. If the M6 is still a a solid 2nm upgrade over the base M5 (even the 10-core version), then I would probably have no issue with it being onboard a MacBook Air, base MacBook Pro, base Mac Mini and iMac. The last two devices have yet to see any M5 offered with them. They’re the ones that can use an M6 the most.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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