The delay in the M3 Ultra launch would always cast a shadow of doubt on the M4 Ultra, minimizing the chances that we will ever see Apple Silicon debut on the company’s high-end Macs. The company highlighted a reason why this chipset may never materialize, as the M4 Max lacks an UltraFusion connector necessary to form the workstation-grade SoC.
This difference suggests that the M4 Ultra would need to be a monolithic die, which would bring its own share of complications highlighted in a new report. Apparently, Apple believes that the development problems, coupled with the high costs, are reasons why this launch may never happen.
The low shipment volume of the Mac Pro and Mac Studio will also discourage the development of the M4 Ultra, irrespective of the edge it delivers over the competition
The estimated cost to develop and fabricate a single, fully functional M4 Ultra has not been mentioned in the latest report, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman mentions the Herculean process, making it unviable from a commercial standpoint. As reported by MacRumors, Apple is reluctant to kick off production due to various challenges, with high cost being one of the roadblocks.
However, even if the journey to develop a single unit is costly, it will matter little if there are ample shipments to offset that number. The only problem is that Apple hardly sells enough units to justify pursuing the development of the M4 Ultra. Gurman previously mentioned that despite the upgrades introduced to the company’s M4 iPad Pro series, the less expensive tablets contributed more to the company’s 15 percent growth in this category.
Similarly, Apple likely witnesses traction from its less pricey Macs, and we anticipated that the M3 Ultra-powered Mac Studio would contribute significantly less to that total. What the Cupertino firm can do is push forward with a release by skipping one generation, meaning that it can focus on the M5 Ultra launch. This plan would hint that the M5 Max would need to feature an UltraFusion connector, but that will be a discussion for another time, so stay tuned for more updates.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
