Apple is breaking its own playbook. It will skip the high-end versions of its M6 chip and leap to an AI-focused M7 line. Apple M7 chips, not the M6, will power its best Macs from 2027.
Apple has changed how it rolls out Mac chips, and the shift is bigger than it sounds. The company will release a base M6 processor as early as this year for entry-level Macs. For the first time, though, it will not make Pro or Max versions of that chip.
Those higher-end parts will instead arrive in 2027 as part of a new M7 generation, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the plans. Apple, currently on its M5 series, declined to comment.
The change matters because it breaks a pattern Apple has held since 2020. Every family from M1 to M5 shipped with Pro and Max variants. The M1, M2 and M3 even gained a top-tier Ultra. An M-series generation with only a base chip is a first.
The split matters because of which machines use which chip. Apple’s Pro and Max parts drive its high-end Mac minis, Mac Studios and MacBook Pros. The base chips power entry-level MacBook Pros, cheaper Mac minis and iMacs, plus some iPad Pro and iPad Air models. Skipping the high-end M6, then, holds back Apple’s most demanding computers, not its cheapest.
