Apple is reportedly considering a return to the server market, where the company was once active with its Xserve rack technology. According to The Information, Apple is developing AI-focused M-series chips, which could incorporate several NVIDIA components, including the NVLink Fusion portfolio of technologies and IP. This includes the possibility of interconnecting two or four Apple M8 Ultra chips using NVIDIA NVLink for socket-to-socket communication, while NVIDIA NVLink-C2C manages die-to-die interconnection. Currently planned for launch in 2029, this product would mark Apple's first entry into the server space since debuting Xserve in 2002 and discontinuing it in 2011. Nearly two decades later, Apple's server offering might be making a comeback, building on the success that the Mac mini and Mac Studio are experiencing among AI developers.
For instance, Apple's Mac lineup achieved a record $10.4 billion in sales last quarter, with strong demand from the AI community. Enterprises are even constructing custom racks, mounting multiple Mac Studios to set up local AI inferencing efforts. For the new server design, Apple would delegate every interconnect question to NVIDIA NVLink Fusion, while it focuses on the actual system-on-chip as before. The new rack design would target enterprises and governments, who may already be running Mac clusters locally.