In a new report today, Bloomberg offered information on what’s next for the Mac with the advent of M4 processors. The details about Apple’s plans for the future of the Mac Pro and Mac Studio specifically stood out to me. Here are the takeaways.
The next Mac Pro
Apple is developing the M4 family of chips with “at least three main varieties.” There will be an entry-level version (code-named Donan), a more powerful version (code-named Brava), and a top-end chip (code-named Hidra).
Bloomberg reports that a new Mac Pro is expected to debut “later in 2025” with an M4 chip inside. While the report doesn’t offer specific information on which chip the Mac Pro will use, it will presumably be the top-end Hidra version – or at least some variant of it. There’s no indication that Apple is testing or planning an M3-powered Mac Pro.
Another change for a future Mac Pro: more RAM. The report says that the next-generation Mac Pro could feature support for up to 512GB of Unified Memory, increased from the current 192GB ceiling. This is still a far cry from the previous-generation Intel Mac Pro, which supported up to 1.5TB of RAM.
The Mac Pro was last updated in June 2023 and is powered by the M2 Ultra processor. Bloomberg’s report notes that the Mac Pro sells in fewer quantities than Apple’s other Macs, but “has a vocal fan base.” In response to complaints from that Mac Pro fan base, Apple “looking to beef up that machine next year.”
The next Mac Studio
As for the Mac Studio, things are a little bit more murky. The Mac Studio was last updated in June 2023 and is available with either the M2 Max or M2 Ultra processor. It has not been updated with an M3 chip yet.
Unlike the Mac Pro, however, Apple is reportedly still testing a Mac Studio with an M3 chip. The company is testing two different Mac Studio versions right now: one with a “still-unreleased M3-era chip” and one with a “variation of the M4 Brava processor.”
Whether Apple ultimately releases a new Mac Studio with an “M3-era chip” remains to be seen. At the very least, we can expect to see a new M4 version around the middle of 2025.
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