Apple is making one of its biggest Mac silicon strategy shifts yet.
According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to launch a base M6 chip as early as this year, but skip the usual M6 Pro and M6 Max variants entirely.
Instead, the company is reportedly moving its next high-end Mac chips directly to the M7 generation in 2027.
The reason: Apple wants to fast-track more advanced on-device AI and graphics capabilities.
The M6 is expected to bring higher memory bandwidth, an upgraded Neural Engine, improved CPU cores, better video encoding and decoding, and a redesigned GPU with up to 12 graphics cores.
Memory bandwidth is becoming one of the key specs for AI workloads. The M6 is reportedly targeting around 200 GB/s, up from about 153 GB/s on M5. The base M7 could push that to around 240 GB/s.
Apple is also still planning an M5 Ultra for a new Mac Studio, with around 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores, and support tested for up to 768 GB of memory.
Apple seems to be reorganizing its Mac silicon strategy around a very clear assumption:
on-device AI will require much more memory bandwidth, stronger local inference, and better graphics performance than the current Mac roadmap was originally built for.
really excited for the m7 chips. My assumption: primarily because the new CEO John Ternus was the significant reason for Apple's shift towards its own M-chips and is now placing an even stronger focus on them.
