Apple scrapped 2 high-end chips for Mac Pro
What's the story
Apple developed two new chips, the M2 Extreme and M3 Extreme, for its now-discontinued Mac Pro line-up. However, the company decided not to launch these processors. The information comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter. The chips were expected to have double the CPU and GPU cores of Apple's Ultra processors.
Chip details
Extreme chip was expected to offer double the Ultra's cores
The M2 Extreme and M3 Extreme chips were part of Apple's plan to offer more processing power in its Mac Pro line.
Gurman explained, "The idea was to offer twice as many graphics and main processing cores as that chip."
He had previously referred to this proposed processor as the "Extreme" chip, calling it the most logical marketing name for something above Ultra.
Market factors
Production costs and low demand led to the decision
Apple's decision to scrap the M2 Extreme and M3 Extreme chips was largely driven by high production costs and low demand for the Mac Pro.
The company didn't just ditch the Extreme chip project, but also pulled the plug on the Mac Pro earlier this year. This marked an end of nearly two decades for the product line-up.
Product history
Last major redesign of Mac Pro launched in 2019
The last major redesign of the Mac Pro was launched in 2019 alongside the Pro Display XDR.
It originally came with Intel processors, but was later updated with an M2 Ultra chip in June 2023.
Despite no further hardware updates after that, the Mac Pro continued to be sold at a starting price of $6,999 even as Apple launched more powerful chips like the M3 Ultra in the Mac Studio last year.
Market challenges
Global chip shortage and US-Iran war impacted Apple's decisions
The decision to retire the Mac Pro line-up could also be due to rising component prices amid a global chip shortage and geopolitical tensions stemming from the US-Iran conflict.
These factors have made it increasingly difficult for tech companies like Apple to maintain their product lines.
The move may have also bolstered the Mac Studio's position as Apple's flagship high-performance desktop.