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Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

bloomberg.com

41–50 of 396 posts

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#41
post #31

Given that M6 will be on TSMC smaller 2nm node and the first smaller node size in 3-years, it seems like the oddest of all years for the high-end Macs to skip.

my 2 cents is that a new tech node is harder to produce variants on. it's easier to make new flavors of a mature tech node

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This means there won't be a redesigned MBP this year since there won't be M6 Pro/Max chips. They can release a redesigned MBP with the base M6 chip.

They can, it wouldn't make sense from a marketing and optics perspective. They don't want to tell the world how the new redesigned MBP is the best laptop in the world but it's slower than the older MBPs.

The optics and marketing is already fucked, the MBP goes to M5 Max, the Mini has the M4, the Studio has M2 or M3, the iMac apparently has two different kinds of M4s, it's all fucked.

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#43
Former AnandTech editor Gavin Bonshor had reports that the M7 would be manufactured on Intel's 18A node.

https://bontechlabs.com/news/apple-is-reportedly-using-intel...

Given the risks involved in establishing Apple Silicon designs with a new fab, I would expect early M7 parts to be in test production right now.

The fundamental M7 design is already set in stone.

Mark Gurman's Bloomberg article does not mention fabrication partners or processes.

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#45
post #7

The article says base M7 memory bandwidth is targeted at 240GB/s. M1 had 70 GB/s, M1 Pro: 200, M1 Max 400, M1 Ultra 800. Modern RTX 6000: ~1,600 or so. If we get a 1,200-1,500 GB/s bandwidth M7 variant in late 2027 with 512GB of RAM, that will be a very interesting chip. Tracking LLM size and performance improvements, I can imagine that being a sort of inflection point for local inference. I wonder what the power bud…

A hypothetical M7 Ultra with LPDDR6 14.4Gbps memory would be 1.85 Tb/s. You're look at about 100 tokens/s for a 1T MoE 37B active 4bit model. It'd probably cost $30k or more I'm guessing if memory prices do not come down. Even at $30k, it could still be a relative bargain since an RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell 96GB card costs $12k today. The M3 Ultra with 512GB was around $8k before Apple discontinued it. I expect an M7 Ult…

> Assume a 55% profit margins, and $1200 ASP, you're looking at $28,160 in profit from making iPhones instead. No wonder Apple discontinued the M3 Ultra 512GB.

How would that work? They purchase 512GB from Samsung and then it doesn't matter if that's like 128x 4GB or 4x 128GB?

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#46
post #7

The article says base M7 memory bandwidth is targeted at 240GB/s. M1 had 70 GB/s, M1 Pro: 200, M1 Max 400, M1 Ultra 800. Modern RTX 6000: ~1,600 or so. If we get a 1,200-1,500 GB/s bandwidth M7 variant in late 2027 with 512GB of RAM, that will be a very interesting chip. Tracking LLM size and performance improvements, I can imagine that being a sort of inflection point for local inference. I wonder what the power bud…

A hypothetical M7 Ultra with LPDDR6 14.4Gbps memory would be 1.85 Tb/s. You're look at about 100 tokens/s for a 1T MoE 37B active 4bit model. It'd probably cost $30k or more I'm guessing if memory prices do not come down. Even at $30k, it could still be a relative bargain since an RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell 96GB card costs $12k today. The M3 Ultra with 512GB was around $8k before Apple discontinued it. I expect an M7 Ult…

I’d assume by next year the open weights models will be outlawed the way things are going nowadays :/

Edit: for those of you downvoting I don’t celebrate this prospect. I’m merely realistic about where things are going given the rapid vibe shift from the administration on AI since the start of June.

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#47
Well this kind of sucks. I've been waiting for the M6 MBPs because they're rumored (strong rumors, though) to finally remove the notch that has been a historic self-own. But it sounds like I might as well wait longer for the M7 lineup. Or maybe get a Framework Pro instead.

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#48
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A hypothetical M7 Ultra with LPDDR6 14.4Gbps memory would be 1.85 Tb/s. You're look at about 100 tokens/s for a 1T MoE 37B active 4bit model. It'd probably cost $30k or more I'm guessing if memory prices do not come down. Even at $30k, it could still be a relative bargain since an RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell 96GB card costs $12k today. The M3 Ultra with 512GB was around $8k before Apple discontinued it. I expect an M7 Ult…

> Assume a 55% profit margins, and $1200 ASP, you're looking at $28,160 in profit from making iPhones instead. No wonder Apple discontinued the M3 Ultra 512GB. How would that work? They purchase 512GB from Samsung and then it doesn't matter if that's like 128x 4GB or 4x 128GB?

It's likely the capacity they have reserved can be in different combinations.

Re: Apple to skip high-end M6 Mac chips in favor of AI-focused M7 line

#50

The M7 Pro and M7 Max are scheduled for as early as the end of 2027, while the M7 Ultra is on track for 2028. This means there won't be a redesigned MBP this year since there won't be M6 Pro/Max chips. People were expecting a redesigned slimmer MBP with OLED display later this year, myself included. I was holding out for one until I decided to switch from an M1 Pro 16" MBP to an M5 Air 15" due to the expected price i…

It seems likely the MB Ultra will ship with the M5 Ultra.
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