Gurman: Apple’s Upcoming M6 Chip to Skip Pro, Max, and Ultra Variants

Apple is reportedly shaking up the development of its new M-Series chips for future Mac models. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting that the upcoming M6 chip that will make its debut on a new 14-inch MacBook Pro won’t be declined into more powerful Pro, Max, and Ultra variants. Those will have to wait for the M7 chip, which will make its debut in 2027.

“The company is taking this unusual step in order to fast-track technologies that it originally planned to release later,” Gurman wrote, citing people familiar with the company’s plans. “The change should help meet growing demand for on-device AI capabilities and more graphics-intensive software.”

According to Gurman, the upcoming M6 chip that will launch on a new 14-inch MacBook Pro later this year will offer around 200 GB/s of memory bandwidth (up from 153 GB/s on the M5), and better graphics capabilities with up to 12 GPU cores. The reporter also mentioned an improved neural engine, which should help to speed up AI workloads.

Apple’s M7 chip, which Gurman expect to be ready in the first half of 2027, will reportedly offer up 240 GB/s of memory bandwidth. “The M7 line is designed primarily around major advancements to on-device AI processing,” Gurman said, adding that the more powerful M7 Pro and M7 Max could come in late 2027.

An even more powerful M7 Ultra version is reportedly on track for 2028, but it will be preceded by an M5 Ultra chip possibly coming later this year with a refreshed version of the Mac Studio. The M5 Ultra is expected to have around 36 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores, and the amount of unified memory could go well beyond the 96GB that Apple is currently offering with the M3 Ultra Mac Studio.

Due to the current memory crisis, Apple’s M3 Ultra Mac Studio just saw its base price increase from $3,999 to $5,299, and this will likely force Apple to decrease its ambitions for the M5 Ultra. “Apple has also tested support for up to 768 gigabytes of memory in the M5 Ultra Mac Studio, though the component constraints could complicate its debut,” Gurman said today.