Source: https://www.perplexity.ai/discover/you/apple-s-m7-ultra-chip-designed-cVh31bNJTKyYUdiTrqXPiw
Apple M7 Ultra Chip Designed to Support 1.5TB Memory — Gurman Report
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is designing its next M7 Ultra chip to support up to 1.5 terabytes of unified memory, which would be the first time in Apple silicon history to reach the same level as the maximum RAM configuration of the 2019 Mac Pro.
This information was revealed by Gurman in his 'Power On' newsletter published on July 12th. In it, he detailed Apple's chip roadmap extending through the M8 generation. The M7 Ultra's 1.5TB capacity is roughly twice the maximum capacity of 768GB for the M5 Ultra expected to be included in new Mac Studio models later this year.
A New Benchmark for Unified Memory
The 2019 Mac Pro — Apple's last Intel-based tower workstation — supported up to 1.5TB of DDR4 ECC memory across 12 DIMM slots, but this was only possible with the most expensive 24-core and 28-core configurations. Since transitioning to its own silicon in 2020, Apple has steadily increased unified memory capacity, but it hasn't yet reached that benchmark. The current top specification is 192GB for the M4 Max-based Mac Studio launched in early 2025.
The M5 Ultra (M5 Ultra), expected to launch around October 2026, has reportedly been tested with up to 768GB of unified memory. However, Gurman noted that component supply constraints could lead to changes in the final specifications.
AI Ambitions Driving the Roadmap
"Andros," the code name for the M7 family, is designed with a focus on advancements in on-device AI processing. The Neural Engine (NPU) will receive a significant upgrade. Apple is skipping high-performance M6 Pro and M6 Max models and plans to launch the base M6 chip by late 2026, followed by a rapid transition to the M7 lineup starting early 2027. The M7 Pro and M7 Max are expected to arrive in late 2027, with the M7 Ultra launching in 2028.
Gurman also mentioned that Apple has already begun development on the M8 chip, which is projected to further enhance AI capabilities. This aggressive schedule reflects Apple's efforts to meet the growing memory demands of AI workloads, such as large language models (LLMs) and those requiring massive high-speed unified memory. It also highlights the structural advantages of Apple's system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture compared to traditional discrete designs.
▶ Source: https://www.perplexity.ai/page/apple-s-m7-ultra-chip-designed-cVh31bNJTKyYUdiTrqXPiw
