60%
Plausible
The proliferation of AI has certainly caused a long-term crisis in the computing landscape, but if there’s one positive to gain from all of this, it’s that companies are aggressively pushing towards designing chips of superior capabilities to tackle the competition at a fiercer pace. Unsurprisingly, one of those companies is Apple, which reportedly taped out the M7 just six months after the same process was completed for the M6. This would explain why the M6 Pro and M6 Max won’t arrive at all, as they will instead be replaced by the M7 Pro and M7 Max.
The M7 will offer a massive unified memory upgrade over the M5, as Apple prioritizes on-device AI prowess for its upcoming SoCs
The M7 is expected to arrive in the first half of 2027 and will likely power a redesigned MacBook Pro with a vapor chamber upgrade. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in the latest edition of ‘Power On,’ the faster and significantly capable M7 Pro and M7 Max are scheduled to arrive by the end of 2027, followed by the M7 Ultra in 2028. We’ve previously reported that the new workstation-class silicon will not only be found in an internally redesigned Mac Studio but will also feature up to 1.5TB of unified memory.
“For the first time, though, the company is skipping the high-end chips for a new generation. Instead of completing the M6 family with Pro, Max and Ultra variants, Apple is moving directly to M7. In fact, Apple started taping out the M7 — the stage where it finalizes a chip’s design — just six months after undertaking that process for the M6. That means that the M7 should arrive in the first half of 2027, followed by the M7 Pro and M7 Max at the end of 2027 and an M7 Ultra in 2028.”
Gurman mentions that Apple is breaking the cycle with its SoC releases starting with the M6 because it wants the AI-focused upgrades to arrive sooner, hence why the M7 lineup is launching earlier than expected. For instance, the base chipset is said to support a unified memory bandwidth of 240GB/s, making it 56 percent higher than the 153GB/s limit on the M5. In short, Apple is adamant about bringing much-needed on-device AI improvements.
“The reason for this break with tradition: AI. 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. Those changes go into high gear with the M7 Ultra. I’m told the processor dramatically upgrades AI performance, bringing it closer to the class of dedicated AI accelerators such as Nvidia Corp.’s Blackwell.”
This isn’t the only time that AI has forced Apple to accelerate its silicon launch plans. The M8 is also said to be in development, with the Cupertino firm reportedly sticking with TSMC’s 2nm process for only two generations before it moves to the 1.4nm node because the existing supply will quickly be swept up by AI chip manufacturers. The silver lining in all of this is that consumers will get a taste of Apple’s finest work in just a few months, leading to a higher upgrade frequency, despite the rising memory prices.
News Source: Bloomberg
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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