Apple Tapes Out M7, Plans M7 Ultra With 1.5TB RAM
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- Apple is taping out the M7 chip with major NPU upgrades, plans an M7 Ultra with 1.5TB RAM, and has an M8 slated for 2028, per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
- Apple will launch new Apple Pencils next spring—including an Apple Pencil Pro and a low-end USB-C model—debuting alongside the next iPad Pro lineup.
- The M7 Ultra's 1.5TB memory target would match the 2019 Mac Pro and double the capacity planned for the M5 Ultra, though Gurman cautions the configuration depends on industry conditions.
- Apple is skipping the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips to accelerate AI-focused silicon, with the M7 design finalized just six months after M6, per Wccftech.
- The Verge reports the M7 Ultra's silicon lineage traces to Apple's canceled self-driving car program, framing it as a legacy of that effort.
- EU regulations could force an Apple Pencil upgrade with user-replaceable batteries in early 2027, per AppleInsider.
- Digital Trends notes the M7 Ultra's 1.5TB configuration could position it against Nvidia's Blackwell-class hardware.
Why it matters: Apple is collapsing mid-cycle chip tiers—skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max—and front-loading NPU upgrades to keep pace with AI workloads, with M7 taped out just six months after M6. The M7 Ultra's 1.5TB RAM target would match Apple's 2019 Mac Pro at the high end and position Apple against Nvidia Blackwell, while the Apple Pencil line gets its first redesign push since 2018 under EU right-to-repair pressure.
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