Apple Silicon Chips for Upcoming Mac Models, AI Servers Reportedly in Development

Apple Silicon was first unveiled by the company in 2020, and the company transitioned to its in-house chips from Intel over a two-year period that ended in mid-2023. While the company is expected to launch new Mac computers with its next-generation M5 chip later this year, details of its processors — expected to arrive in 2026 and 2027 — have surfaced online. The company is also said to be working on chips for its AI servers, to process AI requests in the cloud.

Apple Silicon Chip Codenames for M5, M6 and AI Servers Leaked

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple is working on its M6 chip, which is expected to power its Mac computers that will debut in 2026. This processor is codenamed Komodo, and it is likely to arrive a year after this year's M5 chip arrives on Apple's next generation MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models.

Apple is also developing its seventh generation M7 chip, which is internally referred to as Borneo, according to the report. If the company's previous release schedule is any indication, Apple could launch updated Mac computers equipped with M7 chips in 2027.

The report also refers to another chip in development, which is codenamed 'Sotra'. It is said to be an "advanced Mac chip" but there's no additional information on how it will differ from the other Apple Silicon processors or when it is likely to be unveiled.

Apple is also developing in-house chips for its AI servers, as per the report. While several Apple Intelligence features are designed to run on a user's device, the company will also offload some AI requests and process them remotely on its servers. These servers are expected to switch to dedicated chips, instead of using Apple's Mac chips.

The biggest advantage of these new AI server ships will reportedly be the number of CPU and GPU cores — up to eight times the number of cores available on the top-of-the-line M3 Ultra chip. This project is referred to as 'Baltra' at the Cupertino company, and could be completed over the next couple of years.