Apple skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max chips
Apple reportedly plans to release only a base M6 chip, skipping Pro and Max variants, and will revive the full lineup with M7.
Snapshot · Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Apple Raises Prices on Everything!
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Jul 3, 2026
Where this was said
Apple Silicon Roadmap: Skipping M6 Pro and Max, Waiting for M7 Ultra
At 25:22 · chapter starts 21:00
David raises the news that the long-anticipated MacBook Ultra laptop — a design with a new form factor and improved screen — may be delayed until Apple's M7 chip generation. Bloomberg-sourced reporting cited on 9to5Mac indicates Apple will release only a base M6 chip, skipping M6 Pro and Max entirely, before restarting the full Pro/Max/Ultra cycle with M7. [1] — Marques Brownlee "Bloomberg sources say Apple will skip the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips entirely, releasing only a base M6 before restarting the full lineup with…" 24:27 Marques notes grimly that he's been waiting for an Ultra chip update in the Mac lineup since M3 Ultra — M4 had no Ultra, M5 has no Ultra, and now M6 will have no Ultra, meaning M7 Ultra is the next hope. The group estimates a MacBook Ultra starting at $6,000–$6,500 base, easily cracking $10,000 with RAM upgrades. David's conspiracy theory arrives here: OpenAI and Anthropic may benefit from expensive RAM because it prevents consumers from running local open-source AI models cheaply on Mac hardware, forcing reliance on paid cloud AI services. [2] — David Imel "David Imel floated a conspiracy theory: OpenAI and Anthropic may have deliberately caused the RAM crisis to make running local, open-source…" 27:09
Apple Skipping M6 Pro and Max: What It Means for the MacBook Ultra
Bloomberg sources say Apple will skip the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips entirely, releasing only a base M6 before restarting the full lineup with M7. That means the long-awaited MacBook Ultra won't arrive until the M7 generation — and by then, starting prices could hit $6,500 or more.
The RAM Crisis Conspiracy: Did OpenAI and Anthropic Engineer the Shortage?
David Imel floated a conspiracy theory: OpenAI and Anthropic may have deliberately caused the RAM crisis to make running local, open-source AI models prohibitively expensive, forcing users to stay on cloud-based paid AI services. It's tongue-in-cheek, but the economic incentive is real.
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