The Mac Pro was close to featuring an M3 Extreme chip, which is twice as powerful as the M3 Ultra.

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      High production costs likely derailed Apple’s plans for the M3 Extreme.

      Apple phased out the Mac Pro earlier this year, concluding a two-decade legacy for a machine that epitomized the pinnacle of the company’s desktop offerings. Nonetheless, Apple was reportedly considering more ambitious plans for the device before substituting it with the Mac Studio.

      As per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple was working on an M3 Extreme chip that could provide double the number of CPU and GPU cores compared to the M3 Ultra. This processor was meant to surpass the Ultra tier and could have finally offered the Mac Pro the performance edge it sorely needed. However, Apple ultimately scrapped the chip due to high production costs and a limited market for such a pricey machine.

      Apple had been developing an Extreme chip for several years.

      Speculation surrounding an Extreme-tier Apple chip emerged in 2022 when Gurman revealed that the company was creating an M2 Extreme for its initial Apple silicon Mac Pro. This processor was projected to include up to 48 CPU cores and 152 GPU cores, double the anticipated M2 Ultra configuration. However, manufacturing it would have been exceptionally costly, with Gurman estimating that an M2 Extreme Mac Pro might start at $10,000 before any upgrades, rendering it a highly specialized product.

      Engineering difficulties were also believed to have contributed to this decision. Apple concluded that the development and production expenses were hard to justify for a computer expected to be sold in relatively low volumes. Gurman’s recent report indicates that Apple subsequently designed an M3 Extreme before discontinuing that project for similar reasons.

      The chip could have justified the Mac Pro's existence.

      In 2023, Apple introduced its first Apple silicon Mac Pro featuring the same M2 Ultra chip as the Mac Studio. Despite offering PCIe expansion, the Mac Pro was priced at double while providing almost identical CPU and GPU performance. An M3 Extreme could have altered that dynamic. Gurman mentions that the chip was created to have twice as many CPU and GPU cores as the M3 Ultra, which reaches a maximum of a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU.

      Additionally, Apple is reported to have developed an M3 Ultra Mac Pro that never made it to market. The Mac Pro remained tied to its 2023 chip until Apple discontinued it in March, and its return is not anticipated in the near future.

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