Apple appears to be preparing an unusual departure from its recent chip-release pattern: according to Bloomberg, the company might not produce M6 Pro, M6 Max and M6 Ultra variants, concentrating development resources on the M7 family instead. Under this plan, an entry-level M6 could still ship this year in lower-cost MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac models, but the high-end M6 models would be omitted from the generation.
That would be unprecedented in the Apple Silicon era: since M1, each generation typically arrived as a full lineup — base, Pro, Max and in some cycles Ultra. Bloomberg reports that Apple would effectively skip a whole high-end generation to accelerate progress in artificial intelligence.
Why the change?
Sources say the shift is driven by the competitive pressure around artificial intelligence. Apple has lagged behind Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Meta in recent years, and the rollout of its Apple Intelligence system has proceeded more slowly than expected. While the M6 may represent a meaningful upgrade, Apple concluded it is not worthwhile to develop separate Pro and Max variants for that platform.
Instead the company plans to direct its efforts to the M7 generation, designed from the ground up to support on-device AI models, generative AI and applications with rapidly growing computational demands.
Timeline and technical priorities
Current plans call for a base M7 processor to arrive in the first half of 2027. M7 Pro and M7 Max models would follow toward the end of that year, and an M7 Ultra is expected in 2028. One of the most important technical goals for the new family is increased memory bandwidth: targets could approach 240 gigabytes per second, a key metric for running large language models and other AI workloads efficiently.
Apple’s objective is to enable as many AI tasks as possible to run locally on devices without an internet connection. That promises both faster responsiveness and improved privacy because user data would not need to be sent to external servers.
Current generation and supply constraints
The shift does not mean all current development stops. Apple still plans to introduce an M5 Ultra processor, which Bloomberg indicates could appear this year in a new Mac Studio.
Supply-chain dynamics also factor into the strategy. Memory and chip shortages in the semiconductor industry have raised component costs and complicated supply for many companies, including Apple. These pressures have contributed to longer delivery times, higher costs, recent global price increases for Macs and iPads, and delays to some product launches. The revised chip schedule is partly intended to help Apple manage both component scarcity and the acceleration of AI work, even if that requires omitting an entire high-end chip generation.
Risks and possible outcomes
Apple Silicon has been one of Apple’s most successful initiatives, reducing reliance on external suppliers while delivering strong performance and energy efficiency gains. The current strategy, however, is risky: if the M7 brings the anticipated AI advances, skipping the M6 high-end models may pay off in the long run. If on-device AI development fails to meet expectations, Apple could have unnecessarily passed on a full high-end generation while competitors continue to ship new hardware and AI services.
The details above are based on Bloomberg’s reporting; Apple has not provided a comprehensive public statement confirming the schedule and decisions described.
