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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.jpg

"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

Article Link: Here's Why Apple is Reportedly Skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max Chips
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/12/why-apple-is-skipping-m6-pro-m6-max-chips/
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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.
 
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tutubibi said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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tutubibi said:
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.
Click to expand...
Apple's done that sort of thing before between M3 and M4, albeit in different product categories (M3 chip and Macs released in Oct 2023, M4 iPad Pro comes seven months later while Macs waited another five months to get M4)
 
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Heard so start saving now to replace my m1 ultra with an m7 ultra in 2 years. It will only cost $6000 by then 🙄
 
I was going to upgrade and wait for the M5 Studio, but given the price hikes and how late into the cycle we are (and the next rounds are variants of the new 2nm process), I am going to wait for the M7 lineup.

I'm sorry I just didn't unite my two devices this time around and upgrade before the price hikes. I thought about, but foolishly didn't think at the high end it would go up as much as it did. I'm lookin at a minimum of 64gb and 4TB.
 
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Decisions, decisions.... Get the M5 Max Studio if it's released later this year, or wait yet another year for the M7 Max, at which point Apple will announce the M8 Max? Planned obsolescence gets expensive.....
 
tutubibi said:
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.
Click to expand...
I think the M6 will likely fit into the current design, while the M7 will be the starting setup for the 14-inch MacBook Ultra. That means both models will be available for a while, with a difference in price.
 
jayducharme said:
Decisions, decisions.... Get the M5 Max Studio if it's released later this year, or wait yet another year for the M7 Max, at which point Apple will announce the M8 Max? Planned obsolescence gets expensive.....
Click to expand...
So expensive that it may stop me from upgrading at all. I pretty much upgraded my Apple gear to M5 status (or same-generation A-chips) this year. My M2 Max Mac Studio was the final piece due for replacement. It now looks like that’s not going to happen. And, at these prices, is likely to never happen.

I’ve said for a while that this might be the final purchase cycle in which I’m buying “Pro” level Apple gear. My Mac Studio is likely to become a Mac Mini or iMac a couple of years down the road. Or perhaps I simply will never replace it, choosing to use my MacBook Pro as my primary computer. Likewise I’m likely to get by with far fewer Apple devices as each reaches the end of its useful life for me.
 
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jayducharme said:
Decisions, decisions.... Get the M5 Max Studio if it's released later this year, or wait yet another year for the M7 Max, at which point Apple will announce the M8 Max? Planned obsolescence gets expensive.....
Click to expand...
Apple can't even put one of these on the shelf right now. The planned obsolescence fantasy embarrasses itself when mentioned.
 
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.
 
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