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Apple Reportedly Worked on Two 'Extreme' Chips

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Apple once developed "M2 Extreme" and "M3 Extreme" chips for the Mac Pro, but it decided not to release them, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He first reported on this topic in 2022, and he touched on it again in his Power On newsletter today.

mac pro m2 extreme canceled
"Extreme" chips would have had twice as many CPU and GPU cores as Apple's "Ultra" chips.

"The idea was to offer twice as many graphics and main processing cores as that chip," he said. "In the past, I've called this proposed processor the 'Extreme' chip, which to me is the most sensible Apple marketing name for something above Ultra."

Apple decided not to release the chips due to concerns over higher production costs and limited demand for the Mac Pro, according to Gurman.

Not only did Apple ultimately scrap the "Extreme" chips, but it discontinued the Mac Pro entirely this year following a 20-year run.

Tag: Mark Gurman
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Top Rated Comments

Madhatter32 Avatar
Madhatter32
2 weeks ago
Is this how it goes now?

Base < Pro < Max < Ultra < Extreme < Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
N
Nik
2 weeks ago
These could have gotten the MacPro over $100,000, finally. /s
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
DavidSchaub
2 weeks ago

The fact that Apple went so far as to develop these chips and then not release them is a massive bummer. They simply didn’t see a market for them, even after all the R&D.
Well, we don't know how well they actually performed and scaled. It is possible that they also offered nowhere near 2x the performance of the Ultras.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H
hieranonymous
2 weeks ago
The fact that Apple went so far as to develop these chips and then not release them is a massive bummer. They simply didn’t see a market for them, even after all the R&D.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
I7guy
2 weeks ago
This goes to show how scalable apples’ silicon is.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H
HVDynamo
2 weeks ago

It makes sense not to release it since that’s only one thing people wanted the Mac Pro for. They removed every other reason to get one.
Yeah, they shot themselves in the foot with the Mac Pro. Having upgradable RAM/Storage and expansion slots was the main seller. I wanted one when they talked about the 2019, but once they released it at those prices I noped out. They made it too expensive for a consumer that just wanted an upgradable machine. I understand having the higher tiers for real professionals, but the price for the base model was outrageous for what you got. Then Apple Silicon came along and they squandered it even further.

The Apple Silicon Mac Pro should have had a Modular CPU board, and allowed extra RAM be upgraded by the user beyond the unified memory. You pay for the fixed unified memory on the CPU board, then you can add more that's slower that gets used when the unified memory fills up. Then having plenty of storage bays, and adding support for aftermarket GPU's from AMD/Nvidia would have made the Mac Pro more worth it. The starting price would have been OK, with the modularity allowing you to replace the CPU board separately down the road without having to replace everything else. I would have paid the steep entry price if it meant 4 years later I could upgrade the CPU board from an M2Max to an M5 Max/Ultra, or even bought second hand upgrades from other people upgrading.

I know all that is a pipe dream that never would have happened. But I can dream.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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