Apple is reportedly skipping the high-end M6 Pro and Max chips, instead fast-tracking M7 with major AI advancements, meaning the most powerful Macs may not see upgrades until late 2027 or 2028.
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<img alt="The M5 Macbook pro" data-caption="Apple is reportedly skipping the M6 Pro, Max, and Ultra variants in favour of jumping to its M7 chip lineup. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/268395_Apple_MacBook_Pro_16_M5_Max_ADiBenedetto_0005.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />
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Apple is reportedly skipping the M6 Pro, Max, and Ultra variants in favour of jumping to its M7 chip lineup. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge </figcaption>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Apple is expected to shake up its usual Mac silicon release strategy, with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-25/apple-to-skip-high-end-m6-mac-chips-to-launch-m7-pro-m7-max-m7-ultra-instead?leadSource=uverify%20wall"><em>Bloomberg</em></a>'s Mark Gurman reporting that there won't be Pro or Max versions of the upcoming M6 chip. Instead, Apple wants to "fast-track technologies that it originally planned to release later" with the M7 launch next year.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Cupertino company will reportedly only release a base model M6 chip "as early as this year," with the base M7 chip set to launch sometime in the first half of 2027. The M7 Pro and M7 Max are then expected to follow "as early as the end of 2027." That could leave the most powerful Macs in a lurch since Apple's base chips are typically aimed at e …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/957561/apple-m6-m7-ai-chip-release-timeline-gurman">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# Apple’s most powerful Macs might be waiting until 2027 for big processor upgrades
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/957561/apple-m6-m7-ai-chip-release-timeline-gurman](https://www.theverge.com/tech/957561/apple-m6-m7-ai-chip-release-timeline-gurman)
[](https://www.theverge.com/authors/jess-weatherbed)
Jess Weatherbed
is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture\. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews\.
Apple is expected to shake up its usual Mac silicon release strategy, with[*Bloomberg*](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-25/apple-to-skip-high-end-m6-mac-chips-to-launch-m7-pro-m7-max-m7-ultra-instead?leadSource=uverify%20wall)’s Mark Gurman reporting that there won’t be Pro or Max versions of the upcoming M6 chip\. Instead, Apple wants to “fast\-track technologies that it originally planned to release later” with the M7 launch next year\.
The Cupertino company will reportedly only release a base model M6 chip “as early as this year,” with the base M7 chip set to launch sometime in the first half of 2027\. The M7 Pro and M7 Max are then expected to follow “as early as the end of 2027\.” That could leave the most powerful Macs in a lurch since Apple’s base chips are typically aimed at entry\-level MacBook, Mac minis, and iMacs\. The upcoming M5 Ultra will likely be the only near\-term upgrade opportunity for Apple’s higher\-end devices\.
This would mark the first time that Apple hasn’t released Pro and Max variants of its silicon processors, which, until now, had accompanied every new version[since the M1](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/18/22726444/apple-m1-pro-max-chip-processor-arm-macbook-fastest)\. Apple is still wrapping up its M5 lineup — the[M5 Pro/Max](https://www.theverge.com/tech/888090/apple-m5-pro-max-processors)were released in March, and the flagship M5 Ultra chip is slated to launch “as early as this year,” according to*Bloomberg*’s Mark Gurman, as part of a new Mac Studio\.
The M7 lineup, which is reportedly designed around “major advancements to on\-device AI processing,” would be the next series to include Pro, Max, and Ultra variations that power Apple’s most powerful devices\. The M7 Ultra is on track to release sometime in 2028,*Bloomberg*reports\.
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- Jess Weatherbed
Apple plans to skip M6 Pro/Max chip variants to accelerate development of M7 chips for enhanced on-device AI, aiming for a 2027 release. The move responds to competition from Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm in AI processing.
Apple announced its new M6 chip, the first 2nm chip with enhanced performance and AI compute, along with the M5 Ultra for high-end tasks. The chips will power new Mac Mini and Mac Studio models, available for preorder soon.
Apple is reportedly developing an AI server using its M-series Ultra chips, expected to launch in 2029, to capitalize on the growing demand for AI hardware among developers.
Apple launches new Mac Studios with M5 Ultra chip, claimed to be the most powerful chip ever with up to 4.3x faster AI compute, starting at $5,499 and launching with macOS 27 Golden Gate.