Apple’s scrapped plans for Mac Pro reportedly included a new Intel model

In March, Apple announced was discontinuing the Mac Pro and confirmed that it had no plans to offer Mac Pro hardware in the future.

A new report from Bloomberg today offers more context on Apple’s Mac Pro strategy, with a surprising tidbit about something Apple was working on…

Inside Apple’s scrapped Mac Pro plans

In the latest edition of his On fact sheetMark Gurman explains that getting rid of the Mac Pro “wasn’t always the plan” within Apple. Gurman reiterates a point already mentioned above: Apple’s initial idea was to place a chip called “Extreme” on top of the “Ultra” chip.

“I was told that Apple had developed M2 Extreme and M3 Extreme chips before closing those projects due to cost and demand concerns,” the report explains.

In terms of specific Mac Pro hardware that was in development, Gurman says that Apple had two models in development (codenamed J170 and J190) that were never released.

Perhaps the most interesting fact in the report is that one of them ran on Intel:

As for the new Mac Pro hardware, there were two additional models developed by Apple that never saw the light of day: J170 and J190. The first was a new Mac Pro from Intel Corp. (yes, even when Apple was making its own silicon) to address certain uses. The latter was an M3 Ultra version that was supposed to launch alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio in early 2025. As for the future, I don’t anticipate Apple bringing back the Mac Pro anytime soon, if ever. Meanwhile, the new Mac Studios with M5 Ultra chips will arrive early this fall.

Apple ultimately disrupted Mac Pro in March, removing it from its website and directing buyers to the Mac Studio. The writing had been on the wall for a while, but it was still a sad end to an era for Mac Pro hardware fans.

What do you think of Apple’s decision to close the Mac Pro line instead of moving forward with “Extreme” chips in the Apple Silicon era? Let us know in the comments.

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