Apple introduced its new M4 chips in October, but the lineup notably lacks any high-performance variants. Recent reports suggest this won’t change, as Apple has reportedly scrapped plans for an “Extreme” version of the chip designed for AI servers, which was rumored to feature up to 64 cores.
According to The Information, Apple has canceled the project, although the reasons behind this decision remain unclear. If it had been released, the M4 Extreme would have been Apple’s most powerful processor yet, boasting 64 CPU cores and 160 GPU cores.
The chip was expected to be built by combining four M4 Max chips into a single package. Each M4 Max features a 16-core CPU and 40 GPU cores, so scaling up would have resulted in impressive specs: 64 processing cores, 160 GPU cores, and potentially record-breaking performance.
The M4 Max already offers significant memory bandwidth, exceeding 500 GB/s, a capability currently surpassed only by Apple’s Ultra variants. This suggests that the M4 Extreme could have gone even further, particularly in AI applications where high memory bandwidth is crucial.
Apple M4 Ultra should arrive in 2025
The Apple M2 series was also rumored to include an Extreme variant, but Apple reportedly abandoned those plans.
As for the M4 Ultra, it is currently in development and is expected to launch in the second half of 2025, according to speculation. The canceled Extreme chip was envisioned to power high-performance PCs, such as the Mac Pro, providing unmatched processing capabilities.
With the M4 Ultra in the works, it appears Apple is shifting focus, though it’s too early to confirm how this will impact the company’s product lineup or performance goals. The Ultra chip seems set to take the lead as Apple’s next powerhouse processor.
