Apple once developed M2 Extreme and M3 Extreme chips for the Mac Pro, but it decided not to release them, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. He first reported on this in 2022 and revisited the topic in his Power On newsletter today.

The “Extreme” chips would have had twice as many CPU and GPU cores as Apple’s “Ultra” chips. “The idea was to offer twice as many graphics and main processing cores as that chip,” Gurman said, calling the processor the most sensible marketing name for something above Ultra.

Apple chose to scrap the chips because of higher production costs and limited demand for the Mac Pro. The company also discontinued the Mac Pro this year after a 20‑year run. Gurman noted that Apple plans to release around 20 products across 2026‑27, but the Extreme chips will not be among them.

In short, the Extreme chips were architected to push Apple silicon further, but practical constraints and market realities led to their cancellation.