Apple’s M3 Ultra chip is coming, but it’s yet to start broad testing

Last week, Apple Unveiled the new M3 iMac and MacBook Pro featuring the first three chips in the M3 silicon family – the M3, the M3 Pro, and the M3 Max. 

While we are happy that, for the first time, Apple has introduced three of its latest silicon variants simultaneously, we couldn’t help but notice the M3 Ultra variant is conveniently absent from the lineup – wondering what happened to it? 

Thanks to Mark Gurman and his latest Power On newsletter, we don’t have to wonder anymore. 

The revered journalist has revealed that the M3 Ultra variant is still in the cards, but Apple is yet to start broad testing of the M3 Ultra. 

Apple may have pushed back the M3 Ultra due to limited 3nm capacity 

Gurman has stated that Apple has begun the M3 transition with only three variants of the M3 silicon for the MacBook Pro and the iMac as the number of 3nm processors is currently limited.

And let’s not forget about Apple’s most popular product, the iPhone. The latest iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max were launched with the new A17 Bionic chip, employing the same 3nm fabrication process. 

With most of the demand going toward the iPhone, Apple probably had nothing to spare, which led to the delay in full-fledged testing. Also, the M2 Ultra is still very, very new. So, there was no M3 Ultra announcement in October. 

Apple is likely planning to debut the M3 Ultra with the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro, which are lower-volume machines even compared to the iMac and MacBook Pro, and thus on a less frequent upgrade cycle.

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