Until now, it was heavily rumored that Apple’s redesigned highest-end MacBook models, which have been destined to be called “MacBook Ultra“, would feature the supposedly next-generation higher-end M-series chips, namely the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, as previously reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. However, a recent report from Gurman has indicated that there’s now a change of plan for the roadmap of Apple silicon.
According to Mark Gurman, he expects that the new flagship laptop from Apple should launch “between late this year and early next year,” and they’ll feature the existing, current generation M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Instead, Apple is planning to introduce just the standard M6 chip as the only chip in the next generation of Apple silicon, skipping both the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips entirely to focus on developing the future M7 family of chips, whose main focus will be substantially improved AI performance. This future family of chips will include the M7 Pro and M7 Max.
Similar to the MacBook Pro, this “MacBook Ultra” will also come in both 14- and 16-inch display sizes, code-named “K114” and “K116”. The “MacBook Ultra” is expected to feature tandem OLED touchscreens as well as an iPhone-style Dynamic Island, which could be the new home for Siri AI for that machine.
Needless to say, with the significant breakthroughs in technology the “MacBook Ultra” will offer, it will certainly not be affordable as it will be priced higher than the MacBook Pro, which now starts at $1,999 with Apple’s price hikes going into effect. This would be kinda similar to the MacBook Pro lineup back in the summer of 2012, when Apple introduced the first MacBook Pro models with Retina Display (15-inch in June 2012 and 13-inch in October 2012), they featured a thinner, all-new design and an all-flash SSD architecture, but they were initially priced higher, so Apple continued to sell the older “unibody” MacBook Pro models at the same price alongside the higher-priced Retina models for a while until the Retina models became more more affordable and mainstreamed.
For Apple’s future roadmap for the Mac, the company is developing a successor to the “MacBook Ultra” featuring M7 Pro and M7 Max chips, which are planned to launch by the end of 2027, as well as a future Mac Studio with the M7 Max and M7 Ultra chips in 2028.
