Earlier this week, Mark Gurman reported that the next generation of MacBook Pros could use the same M5 chips as seen in the current lineup.
Apple is expected to significantly revamp its higher-end Mac laptops later this year, with a new design and improved OLED touchscreen displays.
A new report from Mark Gurman, as reported via 9to5Mac, suggests that these high-end models may still use the current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as the company has shelved plans for a high-end M6 lineup to make way for the M7 generation of "AI focused" chips.
These changes suggest that we could see a M6 base model MacBook Pro using the current design, followed by the redesigned high end models using the M5 generation of chips late this year or early 2027.
Why is Apple Using Old Chips?
The company is believed to be working on the M7 generation of chips, that is said to be built for AI.
This may link to the recent Siri AI announcement and advancements in Apple Intelligence where more requests will be sent to the cloud in macOS 27 for faster responses and more knowledge on topics.
By building silicon for AI, this may help the company keep more Siri requests on device, for better privacy and security.
Apple's decision to pour more resources into this generation, could mean that the company can release this newer silicon to customers sooner than initially planned.
The redesigned hardware for MacBook Pro coming late this year also allows the company to use the same silicon already found in the device, as the unique selling point (USP) this cycle will be the hardware itself, rather than its specs.
M5 Ultra
Whilst Apple may be jumping forward to M7, the company is still working on its M5 generation of chips with one more addition expected by the end of the year.
M5 Ultra is set to replace M3 Ultra as the company's most powerful silicon and could make its debut in a refreshed Mac Studio this year.
MacRumors reports that Apple has "tested support for up to 768GB of unified memory" but that "supply constraints" could mean this variant won't launch.
