{"id":2040156,"date":"2026-07-12T18:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2040156"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:56:12","slug":"2028-could-bring-the-most-mind-bendingly-expensive-apple-product-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2040156","title":{"rendered":"2028 Could Bring the Most Mind-Bendingly Expensive Apple Product of All Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mac-pro-1200×675.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s been previously reported that Apple will be skipping expected variants of its M6 chip and speeding up production of the M7. But the writing on the wall suggests very, very<\/i> expensive M7 Ultra-powered desktop Macs coming in 2028\u2014and the reason may (not) shock you.<\/p>\n

Anonymous sources are apparently continuing to inform Bloomberg\u2019s scoop-getter Mark Gurman about Apple disrupting its traditional chip rollout process. M6-powered Apple products don\u2019t even exist yet\u2014though they are expected later this year\u2014and that whole generation of chip is already basically obsolete as far as Apple is concerned, according to Gurman.<\/p>\n

But you\u2019re never going to guess what Gurman now claims the reason is. Haha yes you are because it\u2019s AI:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe takeaway is that AI is no longer just another feature Apple\u2019s chips need to support. It is now shaping how those products are designed and when they are shipped. That\u2019s a shift from the days when the main concerns were things like processing speeds, graphics, battery life and thinner designs.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s a little depressing because I happen to like things like processing speeds, graphics, and battery life. Hell, thinness is even pretty cool compared to AI.<\/p>\n

But anyway, Gurman says we shouldn\u2019t expect M6 Pro, Max, or Ultra products. Finalization of the M7 started just six months after the M6 was finalized. Which suggests a weird product timeline: We\u2019ll basically say hello and goodbye to the M6 at the same time at the end of this year, and the first M7 products will materialize at the start of next year. Then things will be relatively normal as M7 Pro, and M7 Max arrive at the end of 2027. Then M7 Ultra products will come along in 2028.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re saving your pennies for a high-end desktop, that M7 Ultra is something to keep in mind. Gurman writes:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe new Ultra is designed to support as much as 1.5 terabytes of memory \u2014 roughly double the capacity planned for the M5 Ultra \u2014 though whether Apple ultimately offers that configuration will depend on the state of the industry. Widespread memory-chip shortages have made the component harder to find and more expensive.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, it\u2019s worth pausing here to really mull over the pricing implications a bit. There are no M5 Ultras yet, but rumors suggest a high-performance desktop release in the form of the Mac Studio. Last month, when Apple famously raised the price of products like the MacBook Neo, which went from $600 to $700, it also raised the price of the base Mac Studio by $500 to $2500. But the price of the higher-end 96GB Mac Studio climbed $1,300 to $5,299. Are you sweating yet?<\/p>\n

It gets a lot worse. Last time Apple shipped a Mac with 1.5TB of RAM was in 2019. At the time that much RAM cost $25,000\u2014just for the RAM. You could conceivably pay $53,000 for your entire computer. And that was seven years ago. Before historic inflation. And an all-out crisis in the price of memory.<\/p>\n

And remember, the M7 Ultra is reportedly built for AI. Gurman claims that it will approach \u201cthe class of dedicated AI accelerators such as Nvidia Corp.\u2019s Blackwell.\u201d And how much does it actually cost to buy an Nvidia Blackwell? Currently the cheapest Blackwell I can find on Newegg dot com is priced at $12,499.99. Just for the processor.<\/p>\n

Obviously you can\u2019t buy this imaginary Mac right now, and the consumer market will shift in predictable and unpredictable ways over the next couple of years. But if we imagine it\u2019s 2028 and you\u2019re thinking about buying a maxed-out M7 Ultra-powered Mac Studio (or whichever model is the top of the line in almost two years), then presumably you just\u2014and I mean this literally\u2014took out\u00a0<\/span>a second mortgage on your house.\u00a0<\/i>This truly could be a computer at a real-estate-level price point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

It\u2019s been previously reported that Apple will be skipping expected variants of its M6 chip and speeding up production of the M7. But the writing on the wall suggests very, very<\/i> expensive M7 Ultra-powered desktop Macs coming in 2028\u2014and the reason may (not) shock you.<\/p>\n

Anonymous sources are apparently continuing to inform Bloomberg\u2019s scoop-getter Mark Gurman about Apple disrupting its traditional chip rollout process. M6-powered Apple products don\u2019t even exist yet\u2014though they are expected later this year\u2014and that whole generation of chip is already basically obsolete as far as Apple is concerned, according to Gurman.<\/p>\n

But you\u2019re never going to guess what Gurman now claims the reason is. Haha yes you are because it\u2019s AI:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe takeaway is that AI is no longer just another feature Apple\u2019s chips need to support. It is now shaping how those products are designed and when they are shipped. That\u2019s a shift from the days when the main concerns were things like processing speeds, graphics, battery life and thinner designs.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s a little depressing because I happen to like things like processing speeds, graphics, and battery life. Hell, thinness is even pretty cool compared to AI.<\/p>\n

But anyway, Gurman says we shouldn\u2019t expect M6 Pro, Max, or Ultra products. Finalization of the M7 started just six months after the M6 was finalized. Which suggests a weird product timeline: We\u2019ll basically say hello and goodbye to the M6 at the same time at the end of this year, and the first M7 products will materialize at the start of next year. Then things will be relatively normal as M7 Pro, and M7 Max arrive at the end of 2027. Then M7 Ultra products will come along in 2028.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re saving your pennies for a high-end desktop, that M7 Ultra is something to keep in mind. Gurman writes:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe new Ultra is designed to support as much as 1.5 terabytes of memory \u2014 roughly double the capacity planned for the M5 Ultra \u2014 though whether Apple ultimately offers that configuration will depend on the state of the industry. Widespread memory-chip shortages have made the component harder to find and more expensive.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, it\u2019s worth pausing here to really mull over the pricing implications a bit. There are no M5 Ultras yet, but rumors suggest a high-performance desktop release in the form of the Mac Studio. Last month, when Apple famously raised the price of products like the MacBook Neo, which went from $600 to $700, it also raised the price of the base Mac Studio by $500 to $2500. But the price of the higher-end 96GB Mac Studio climbed $1,300 to $5,299. Are you sweating yet?<\/p>\n

It gets a lot worse. Last time Apple shipped a Mac with 1.5TB of RAM was in 2019. At the time that much RAM cost $25,000\u2014just for the RAM. You could conceivably pay $53,000 for your entire computer. And that was seven years ago. Before historic inflation. And an all-out crisis in the price of memory.<\/p>\n

And remember, the M7 Ultra is reportedly built for AI. Gurman claims that it will approach \u201cthe class of dedicated AI accelerators such as Nvidia Corp.\u2019s Blackwell.\u201d And how much does it actually cost to buy an Nvidia Blackwell? Currently the cheapest Blackwell I can find on Newegg dot com is priced at $12,499.99. Just for the processor.<\/p>\n

Obviously you can\u2019t buy this imaginary Mac right now, and the consumer market will shift in predictable and unpredictable ways over the next couple of years. But if we imagine it\u2019s 2028 and you\u2019re thinking about buying a maxed-out M7 Ultra-powered Mac Studio (or whichever model is the top of the line in almost two years), then presumably you just\u2014and I mean this literally\u2014took out\u00a0<\/span>a second mortgage on your house.\u00a0<\/i>This truly could be a computer at a real-estate-level price point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mac-pro-1200×675.jpg”] It\u2019s been previously reported that Apple will be skipping expected variants of its M6 chip and speeding up production of the M7. But the writing on the wall suggests very, very expensive M7 Ultra-powered desktop Macs coming in 2028\u2014and the reason may (not) shock you. Anonymous sources are apparently continuing to inform […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-2040156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2040156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2040156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2040156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2040156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}