Apple skips high-end M6 chips, prioritizes AI-focused M7 line

Apple is making a notable detour in its chip development playbook. Rather than rolling out the full suite of high-end M6 processors, the company plans to channel its resources toward an AI-focused M7 chip line, effectively skipping the top-tier M6 variants that would typically power its most demanding machines.

What we know about the M6 and M7 roadmap

The M6 chip, codenamed “Komodo” internally, has been in development with a projected release window of late 2026 or early 2027. These chips were originally slated to refresh MacBook Pro models, potentially alongside upgrades like OLED displays and design overhauls. That timeline would have coincided neatly with the MacBook’s 20th anniversary.

Bloomberg’s reporting indicates that Apple is also developing the M7 line, internally known as “Borneo,” expected to debut in 2027.

Future chip configurations in this lineage may scale up to 256 CPU cores, according to reports from Bloomberg’s May 2025 coverage. For context, the current M4 Ultra tops out at 32 CPU cores.

The manufacturing wildcard: Intel’s 18A process

Industry sources have suggested the M7 may be the first Apple chip produced at Intel Foundry using its advanced 18A process node. Apple has relied almost exclusively on TSMC to fabricate its custom silicon since ditching Intel’s x86 processors in 2020.

The M5 chip, which Apple announced on March 3, 2026 inside the latest MacBook Air, features a Neural Accelerator embedded in each GPU core, blurring the line between graphics processing and machine learning inference.

Beyond laptops: smart glasses and server chips

Apple is reportedly developing specialized low-power chips for smart glasses, alongside advanced server processors designed for AI applications.

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