'M4 Extreme' Chip Unlikely After Apple 'Cancels' High-Performance Chip [Updated]

[pier]

Apple maybe realized there's not enough demand for an Extreme chip to justify the cost of design and production.

Hopefully they didn't reach to that conclusion from the M2 Mac Pro sales. For most people it just wasn't worth the cost only to get PCI over the M2 Ultra Mac Studio. I've been waiting for an Extreme chip to get a Mac Pro.

 

[Algr]

It was really going to be called Extreme?

Probably not. Marketing terms tend to come near introduction.

 

[TigerNike23]

Bluntly, don’t release an M4 Mac Pro then. The M2 Mac Pro is a worthless product when you can get 99% of workflows done with a Studio and Thunderbolt.

 

[guzhogi]

The Apple Silicon architecture may not be designed for multi-processor operations so performance would not scale and you may hit issues with memory access and cache coherency.

This sounds like what is happening with these "Extreme" SoCs - the Ultra is not twice as good as the Max even though it is two Max connected directly. Two Ultras talking to each other across an external connection on a motherboard would be even worse.

Too bad I don't know more about CPU design. Really wish there was a reasonable way to have a common design that scales well between iPhones to high powered, multi CPU Mac Pros/high performance servers. Keep the basic instruction set, but scale it to the demands of the user. I was disappointed to see the last Intel Mac Pro go from having up to 1.5 TB RAM + several GB of VRAM to only 192(?) GB unified RAM. Now I'm not the type who needs that much memory, but I empathize with those that do.

 

[WilliApple]

Oh good!!!
The M4 Extreme is getting replaced by more lackluster Apple Intelligence features...

 

[aaronhead14]

Dang. I was really hoping to buy an M4 Extreme Mac Pro next year.

 

[Algr]

Apple maybe realized there's not enough demand for an Extreme chip to justify the cost of design and production.

The low demand springs from the high price, and history of neglect from Apple. People will fear Apple if they think their needs might outpace what can be done on a mac.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple maybe realized there's not enough demand for an Extreme chip to justify the cost of design and production.

Potential buyers of Extreme chip machines simply can't trust Apple to support them and their needs.

They've rug pulled these users over and over, and the vast majority have moved on with no interest in coming back to this sort of "relationship"

The onus is on Apple to ever show the world it can stay focused and committed to long term support that truly high end pro users demand and need.

 

[dz5b609]

Cancelled because it made comments about transistors?

 

[JippaLippa]

One one hand, it would be cool to differenciate the Pro from the studio, further.
On the other hand, I think the M4 Ultra will be quite spectacular.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

They may have "canceled" for a specific release due to reprioritizing their AI chip designs, but they will continue with future M revisions.

 

[PsykX]

Without a different chip, the Mac Pro is dead to me :

The Mac Pro (base model) is 63% more expensive than Mac Studio.
The Mac Pro is 4.7X heavier than Mac Studio.
The Mac Pro is 14.4X bigger than Mac Studio.

The Mac Pro is exactly as powerful as Mac Studio.

I mean, it was already a niche computer before, now it's a niche of a niche.

 

[rp2011]

Not to cast sunshine on your rainy parade, but the article does suggest that the extreme could return with a future M series.

Don't take it too seriously. Just poking a bit of fun at the whiners here who love to complain about advanced chips and engineering that don't line up with their Youtube channel video editing needs.

 

[TigerNike23]

The Mac Pro should be the best of the best. The most powerful Mac by a mile. The M2 was… a gloried Studio in a tower chassis. If you can’t make a difference in a chip, and it’s just gonna be another M2 tower with all of the same compromises, just scrap it and wait for the M5 Extreme, or if it doesn’t happen, scrap the entire Mac Pro line.

 

[bringbackthe17]

Apple this "past summer" canceled the development of a high-performance Mac chip that would have consisted of four smaller chips stitched together, in order to free up engineering resources for a planned AI server chip, according to The Information.

Based on the report's description of the chip, it sounds like Apple has canceled a previously-rumored "Extreme" chip for the Mac. It was previously reported that an "M2 Extreme" chip was scrapped a few years ago, but perhaps Apple had revisited the idea since then. In any case, it now sounds like an "M4 Extreme" chip is also unlikely.

Apple likely would have introduced the "M4 Extreme" in its high-end Mac Pro tower. The chip would have offered even faster performance than the M4 Ultra chip that is expected to launch in new Mac Studio and Mac Pro models later next year.

If the "M4 Extreme" were to have been a quadrupled version of the M4 Max chip that debuted in the MacBook Pro a few months ago, it would have had massive specifications, including up to a 64-core CPU and up to a 160-core GPU.

While the "Extreme" chip may be off the table once again, it seems like Apple has repeatedly shown interest in developing such a chip, so perhaps it will eventually materialize as part of the M5 series or later. For now, though, the wait continues.

Article Link: 'M4 Extreme' Chip Unlikely After Apple 'Cancels' High-Performance Chip

M1 through M4 were not entirely successful. If the M5 is to be "extreme," I suggest refraining from wearing a red shirt anywhere in the vicinity.

 

[BigJohno]

Just bring out the M4 Max/ultra studio, please!

View attachment 2461058

Seriously. I'm kinda pissed they do this staggered launch schedule. Really would like to update my M1 Max Studio to a m4 ultra...

 

[theluggage]

It's a great day for all the commentators here who long for the days of yore and insist Apple stop making their chips faster and devices even smaller and thinner. Big big win for team mediocrity.

Er... from the article:

Apple this "past summer" canceled the development of a high-performance Mac chip that would have consisted of four smaller chips stitched together, in order to free up engineering resources for a planned AI server chip,

...I mean, I'm skeptical about "AI" but it is certainly where the money is now, and it sounds more ambitious than limiting themselves by trying to glue together 4 laptop chips that they made earlier.

From the M3 they've already pushed ahead by making the M3 Max and Pro distinct designs, rather than the Pro effectively being a Mac with half the GPU left off.

This is a bummer but the Mac Pro simply isn’t a high-volume enough product for the current behemoth incarnation of Apple to devote many resources to it.

This. The current M2 Ultra Mac Pro already seems to be designed for a very small niche who still need a Mac with PCIe slots for specialist I/O cards or internal storage (but not GPUs). Even the second die of the M2 Ultra seems to be mainly there as a very expensive way of getting more RAM controllers plus another 8 PCIe lanes from the unused storage controller. Even the M4 Max - with more, faster CPU cores than the old Max and faster PCIe support via TB5 - is going to take a bite out of the Mac Pro market. Frankly, if you want a Big Box 'o' slots and silly amounts of RAM, a Threadripper (or whatever AMD's latest shiny is) is probably the best tool for the job.

A chip actually designed for an AI server might make a better Mac Pro - while even a M4 Max Studio is going to be a reasonable beast for FCPx etc. work.

It will be interesting to see (a) if there's even going to be a M4 Ultra Mac Pro or (b) any M4 Ultra.

 

[johnnyenv]

Clearly because of hindering future sales when a chip is several years capable.

 

[DaveEcc]

This is a bummer but the Mac Pro simply isn’t a high-volume enough product for the current behemoth incarnation of Apple to devote many resources to it.

Mac Pro isn't high volume because there's not much to differentiate it. If you need PCI slots, you get it, otherwise you save your money and get a Studio Ultra. This could have been a differentiating factor to push more people towards the Pro.

 

[Rychiar]

Who even needs that much. The M4 base chip is impressive as hell. The cost versus benefit would not be there.

 

[9081094]

Looks like the Mac Pro is a hobby after all. Apple lost their video hegemony years ago with Final Cut Pro X to adobe.

Apple also neglected their Mac Pro for too long. In the meantime Adobe and HP showed off their products.

I really think Apple has lost the pro market all together now. It showed time and time again it’s not a future proof platform.

Sad. They should be more transparent with roadmaps for the pro-sumers.

 

[soyazul]

Dang. I was really hoping to buy an M4 Extreme Mac Pro next year.

Don´t lose the hope.

 

[RedWeasel]

If you're in the market for a Mac Pro with M4 Extreme you likely could also reasonably consider getting 2 Mac Pros with M4 Ultra. I'm sure the final invoices wouldn't be too different.

Yeah, if you need a truck with 450 HP, why not just get three cars with 150 HP instead?

 

[soyazul]

Cancelled because it made comments about transistors?

I am with you.

 

[Chuckeee]

Apple this "past summer" canceled the development of a high-performance Mac chip that would have consisted of four smaller chips stitched together, in order to free up engineering resources for a planned AI server chip, according to The Information.

What would you NEED an M4 Extreme chip for that would not be satisfied by using this “planned AI server chip” instead?