Apple’s chip roadmap is about to take an unprecedented turn. For the first time since the M1 launched in 2020, the company is reportedly skipping an entire tier of its own silicon lineup — and the reasoning behind it says a lot about where Apple’s priorities are heading.
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What’s Being Skipped, and Why It’s Unusual
According to a Bloomberg report cited by Smartprix, Apple plans to skip the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips entirely, jumping straight to a full M7 generation for its higher-end Macs. Apple has released a Pro and Max variant alongside every base chip since the M1 debuted, making this the first true gap in that six-year pattern.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Skipped chips | M6 Pro, M6 Max |
| Base M6 chip | Still on track (codename: Komodo) |
| Next generation | M7 family (codename: Andros) |
| M7 base | Expected H1 2027 |
| M7 Pro & Max | Expected by end of 2027 |
| M7 Ultra | Expected 2028 |
What the Base M6 Chip Still Brings
While the Pro and Max variants are getting skipped, the standard M6 remains on schedule and is reportedly being tested in a refreshed entry-level MacBook Pro (codenamed J804).
| Spec | M6 (Komodo) | M5 (Previous Gen) |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Cores | Up to 12 | 10 |
| Memory Bandwidth | ~200GB/s | 153GB/s |
| Neural Engine | Faster, AI-focused | Standard |
| Media Engine | Upgraded encode/decode | Standard |
The base M6 is expected to power entry-level Macs like the baseline MacBook Air launching in 2027, along with future iPad Pro and iPad Air models.
Why Apple Would Skip an Entire Tier
The report frames this as Apple fast-tracking an AI-focused M7 generation rather than spending a development cycle on incremental M6 Pro/Max refreshes. It’s a notable strategic bet — essentially betting that getting to next-gen AI-capable silicon faster matters more than maintaining the usual cadence across every tier.
This decision also lands amid a broader memory chip shortage, which has been pushing component costs up across the industry — a pressure we’ve covered in our reporting on Apple’s recent price hikes across iPads, Macs, and other hardware.
The M5 Ultra Is Still Coming, With a Catch
Interestingly, the M5 Ultra hasn’t disappeared from the roadmap — it’s reportedly still in the pipeline for a future Mac Studio, with testing configurations showing around 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores, and support for up to 768GB of unified memory. However, the same component shortage and rising memory prices could force Apple to adjust its final specs before launch.
For more Apple silicon coverage and Mac roadmap updates, check out our Apple and laptops section on TechnoSports.
The Bottom Line
Skipping the M6 Pro and Max entirely is a genuinely rare move for Apple, and it signals the company is prioritizing a faster jump to AI-capable M7 silicon over sticking to its usual yearly cadence. With the M7 Pro and Max not expected until late 2027, MacBook Pro and Mac Studio buyers looking for a meaningful chip upgrade may have a longer wait ahead than usual.
