Apple Reportedly Worked on Two 'Extreme' Chips

Apple developed but scrapped plans for 'M2 Extreme' and 'M3 Extreme' chips for the Mac Pro due to high production costs and limited demand, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The chips would have doubled the CPU and GPU cores of Apple's 'Ultra' chips. Apple also discontinued the Mac Pro entirely in 2026 after a 20-year run.

Apple once developed "M2 Extreme" and "M3 Extreme" chips for the Mac Pro, but it decided not to release them, according to https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-07-19/why-apple-s-openai-lawsuit-doesn-t-mention-jony-ive-ai-recording-at-genius-bar-mrrv4mix Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman. He first reported on this topic in 2022 https://www.macrumors.com/2022/12/18/mac-pro-m2-extreme-chip-likely-scrapped/ , and he touched on it again in his Power On newsletter today. "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 https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/26/apple-discontinues-mac-pro/ entirely this year following a 20-year run https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/27/reflecting-on-20-years-of-mac-pro/ . This article, " Apple Reportedly Worked on Two 'Extreme' Chips https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/19/apple-worked-on-two-extreme-chips/ " first appeared on MacRumors.com https://www.macrumors.com Discuss this article https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-reportedly-worked-on-two-extreme-chips.2485613/ in our forums