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

Blue Nova said:
The “M” stands for Mac — it’s Apple’s branding for its own custom silicon chips designed for the Mac lineup (as opposed to the “A” series used in iPhones and iPads).

I looked it up using Claude, ChatGPT did not know?
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There are iPads (iPad Air and iPad Pro) that use the M chip. Not to mention the Vision Pro.

iPhones also had M chips (motion coprocessors).

Also, A series chips are found in the Apple TV, so it's not just used in the iPhone and iPad.

If M stands for Mac and A stands for Apple or Arm (as I've seen some claim), does the H for the H chips found in AirPods stand for Hearing? Headphones? Can't be Headphones because the first AirPods to use H chips were earphones, and earlier AirPods use the W chip.

What about the S for the S chips found in the Apple Watch. Does it stand for Smartwatch? Oh, how about Sundial?
 
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Unless Apple can figure out a way to meaningfully bring down the price on memory, they will relegate the Studio to the same fate as the Pro. My M1 Ultra with 128GB of ram is still very capable. I'd love to upgrade to an M7 Ultra with significantly more ram, but at this pace we're going to be looking at a cost comparable to a compact car.
 
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Blue Nova said:
The “M” stands for Mac — it’s Apple’s branding for its own custom silicon chips designed for the Mac lineup (as opposed to the “A” series used in iPhones and iPads).

I looked it up using Claude, ChatGPT did not know?
Click to expand...
The M doesn’t officially stand for anything, just like the S in iPhone generations never stood for anything except for the 3GS when Phil explicitly said that it was for speed.
 
While they skip the M6 Pro and Max chips, it presents a wonderful opportunity to sit back, save money, and skip buying.

An opportunity to take a wait and see approach while watching just what they have up their sleeve going forward. Just how high will they push premium prices?

For long term customers of the Cupertino company knowing their history, these are interesting times.
 
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Biro said:
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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It would work well, but for me it does not make sense to have it as a separate base model and then introduce another base model months later.
 
The way this is presented, especially the part about Apple running Apple Intelligence on M7 Ultras, I'm left thinking the M7 Ultra won't come in a Studio form factor and will be "server sized" and likely rack mountable. I could be wrong...
 
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Ok, no problem...
What these recent price increases mean for me is that my M1Max Studio 64/4 will last me a whole lot longer than originally thought. It runs everything I use just fine, equal or similar to 4 years ago.
I will extend AC+ for as long as I can, reduce my storage needs (mostly photos), revisit my app needs (LRC/PS) and possibly "downgrade" to a mini Pro with less RAM and storage.
time will tell
 
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I have put money away for the past two years to buy the rumored M6 Macbook Ultra.

Now that rumors point to them using an M5 chip, I am going to wait it out another year for the second-generation Ultra MacBook.

I already have an M5 MacBook Pro. Don't want the same chip in the Ultra.
 
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sw1tcher said:
There are iPads (iPad Air and iPad Pro) that use the M chip. Not to mention the Vision Pro.

iPhones also had M chips (motion coprocessors).

Also, A series chips are found in the Apple TV, so it's not just used in the iPhone and iPad.

If M stands for Mac and A stands for Apple or Arm (as I've seen some claim), does the H for the H chips found in AirPods stand for Hearing? Headphones? Can't be Headphones because the first AirPods to use H chips were earphones, and earlier AirPods use the W chip.

What about the S for the S chips found in the Apple Watch. Does it stand for Smartwatch? Oh, how about Sundial?
Click to expand...

“M1 is Apple’s first chip designed specifically for the Mac”

www.apple.com

Apple unleashes M1

Apple today announced the biggest leap forward for the Mac with M1, the first system on a chip designed specifically for the Mac.
www.apple.com

Just because they’re using M chips in iPad doesn’t mean it wasn’t designed for Mac first. Same with A series in Mac or iPad or Apple TV.

H for headphones is more inclusive than E for earphones.

S is likely for SiP.
 
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So for the majority who don't use Macs for Ai it's a case of screw you? You will be paying a premium for things you won't use to get the maximum performance from the things you will?

As I always said Apple IS one of the main perpetrators in Ai helping to drive up component costs massively.
 
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Pezimak said:
So for the majority who don't use Macs for Ai it's a case of screw you? You will be paying a premium for things you won't use to get the maximum performance from the things you will?

As I always said Apple IS one of the main perpetrators in Ai helping to drive up component costs massively.
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People who avoid AI are already an inconsequential part of Apple's user base, and even less consequential for revenue. The M7 is going to make it much clearer why the Apple CEO transition happened now, and why Ternus is the man for Apple.
 
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The M6 will probably be released on the base MBP and iPad Pro at the same time, then 6 months later on the MBA.
 
Pezimak said:
So for the majority who don't use Macs for Ai it's a case of screw you? You will be paying a premium for things you won't use to get the maximum performance from the things you will?

As I always said Apple IS one of the main perpetrators in Ai helping to drive up component costs massively.
Click to expand...
Or, how about this: The M6 is a huge improvement on the M5 and the base M7 chips is capable of everything the M5 Pros or Maxes are capable of now. Meaning only AI fans even need to consider the M7 Pro and M7 Max.

svish said:
Don't know when the next mini or iMac will come. If it launches in October of this year, it could ship with the new M6 chip.
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That would certainly make sense, wouldn’t it? If I were in the market for either device, I don’t know that I would even consider an M5 chip at this point. Already, I’ve written off bothering with an M5 Max Mac Studio.
 
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Kaos22 said:
People who avoid AI are already an inconsequential part of Apple's user base, and even less consequential for revenue. The M7 is going to make it much clearer why the Apple CEO transition happened now, and why Ternus is the man for Apple.
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Haha boy are you arrogantly misguided. Hate to break it to you but the majority of Apple Mac users are NOT working in the Ai sector. And your wild thought process would only lead to drop in sales and lower profits.
 
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Biro said:
Or, how about this: The M6 is a huge improvement on the M5 and the base M7 chips is capable of everything the M5 Pros or Maxes are capable of now. Meaning only AI fans even need to consider the M7 Pro and M7 Max.


That would certainly make sense, wouldn’t it? If I were in the market for either device, I don’t know that I would even consider an M5 chip at this point. Already, I’ve written off bothering with an M5 Max Mac Studio.
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Right right and so how exactly does there impact the majority of users, who are NOT in the Ai sector, and want to buy new Macs when the M7 is out in ALL the models? Well maybe they could get a Studio as Apple seems to like keeping that a generation or two behind....
 
Why they take so long to release the Mac Studios always? The M5 chips are there… I’m on a Mac Studio M1 64GB 2TB, it’s fantastic (although some macOS updates make it chug, definitely on purpose or bad code) but I would have jumped on an M5 Max months ago.
No need to wait for the Ultra to release for those that won’t buy an Ultra ever. Same for M6 Max/Ultra (if they don’t skip it) or M7 Max/Ultra.
 
Pezimak said:
Right right and so how exactly does there impact the majority of users, who are NOT in the Ai sector, and want to buy new Macs when the M7 is out in ALL the models? Well maybe they could get a Studio as Apple seems to like keeping that a generation or two behind....
Click to expand...
I’m sure there’ll be a base M7 as well. But an M6 in the Mac Mini and/or iMac would still be a good choice for a year or so.
 
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