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Exposing Apple’s major chip strategy adjustment! Cut off the M6 high-end chip for AI and directly promote the M7
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Source: zhidx.com
Zhidong Compiler | Eggplant Editor | Cheng Qian Zhidong reported on July 13 that according to a report by Mark Gurman, a well-known Bloomberg reporter, on July 12, after releasing new products such as MacBook Neo in March this year, Apple is considering re-adjusting the Mac chip route in the next few years, planning to skip high-end versions of chips such as M6 Pro, M6 Max and M6 Ultra, and directly promote the M7 series of chips. According to Gurman, the M7 chip is expected to be launched in the first half of 2027, M7 Pro and M7 Max will be released at the end of 2027, and the most high-end M7 Ultra is expected to debut in 2028. According to reports, Apple originally planned to continue to improve the M6 series product line, but due to the increasing demand for AI computing power, the M6 series chips have been unable to meet the requirements. The M7 series will bring important upgrades in neural network processing capabilities, making Apple believe that directly promoting the next generation of chips is more valuable than completing the M6 product line. Therefore, Apple may adjust its original route, skip high-end versions such as M6 Pro, M6 Max and M6 Ultra, and directly accelerate the promotion of the M7 chip. According to Gurman, M7 Ultra will become an important chip for Apple's AI computing power upgrade. It will significantly improve AI performance and bring it closer to the level of dedicated accelerators for AI computing such as NVIDIA Blackwell. In addition, Gurman also revealed that Apple is already developing M8 series chips including the chip code-named "Soko" and a high-end Mac chip code-named "Cardinal". These chips are expected to be launched in 2028 and will use the 1.4nm process. 1. Apple was revealed to have skipped the complete M6 high-end version of the chip due to AI computing power requirements. Apple’s chip route in the past few years has mainly focused on performance, energy efficiency and product experience upgrades. Since the launch of the M1 chip in 2020, Apple has continued to strengthen its self-developed chip capabilities and gradually improved the M series product line. With the rapid development of AI applications, computing needs are changing the direction of chip design. According to Apple’s past chip iteration rhythm, the M series