Apple last updated the Mac Pro in 2023 when it was the last Mac to be outfitted with an M-series chip–three years after Apple started to use its own silicon in Macs. At that point the Mac Pro gained an M2 Max or M2 Ultra chip option.
There have been two generations of Apple chips since the launch of the M2 Mac Pro in June 2023: The M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, arrived at the end of 2023, followed by the M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max at the end of 2024. It took until 2025 for Apple to introduce an M3 Ultra, which arrived as an option for the Mac Studio. But the wait continues for the Mac Pro update, for which the unreleased M4 Ultra is surely destined.
In the meantime, we are stuck with the M2 Ultra Mac Pro. But, hopefully, not for much longer. Read on for all the latest leaks, rumors and predictions about when the Mac Pro will launch, the reasons for the delays, and what to expect when the new Mac Pro does finally arrive.
Mac Pro M4 Ultra: Release date
- The Mac Pro update isn’t expected until late 2025.
Mac Pro does tend to have a longer update cycle than the other Macs because it’s an expensive machine with features that address the needs of a niche audience. However, it’s now been more than two years since the M-series Mac Pro launched and in the meantime the Mac Studio, with it’s M3 Ultra and M4 Max option, has usurped its position as the fastest and most powerful Mac.
So what is going on? Why is the M4 Ultra delayed? Why didn’t Apple add an M3 Ultra to the Mac Pro? As the M4 Ultra will combine two M4 Max chips it may be that the power requirements and generated heat is just two high. There have been reports that Apple is changing the processor’s architecture, so we could see higher performance than in previous Ultra chips.
Whatever the reason for the delay, when the M4 Ultra arrives it is certain to be an incredibly powerful chip, perhaps meeting the demands of those running machine learning tasks thanks to its AI capabilities.
The lengthy wait was anticipated: in an April 2024 report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman about Apple’s plans for its AI-enhanced M4 chip, he suggested that Apple would not update the Mac Pro until 2025.
And, in June 2024, Gurman again reported that the Mac release schedule had not changed. The M4 Mac Pro is not expected until the second half of 2025.
On July 3 2025, AppleInsider reported that a new Mac Pro is in development has has been assigned the code name J704.
Mac Pro M4 Ultra: Processor
- M4 Ultra with “enhanced AI capabilities”
In the two years since the launch of the M2 Ultra Mac Pro it has lost its position as the most powerful Mac.
In our Geekbench 6 tests of the M4 Max chip we found it to be faster than the M2 Ultra in the Mac Pro. Read: How Apple’s M4 chips dispelled all my fears about buying a new Mac.
Even faster than the M4 Max is the M3 Ultra, which arrived in the Mac Studio in March 2025. The Mac Studio with M3 Ultra is currently the fastest Mac in Apple’s lineup.
Why hasn’t Apple updated the Mac Pro with an M3 Ultra? If Apple wanted to use the M3 Ultra in the Mac Pro, it would’ve updated that Mac by now. Apple must have something much more powerful planned.
In an April 2024 report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman stated that the Mac Pro is part of Apple’s AI focus and will be upgraded with an M4 with enhanced AI capabilities.
The M4 Ultra, which is what has been reported as the chip for the Mac Pro, is expected to have an improved Neural Engine for AI features.
The M3 Ultra combines two M3 Max chips, so it follows that the M4 Ultra would do that same. There have been reports that Apple will be changing the processor’s architecture, so we could see higher performance than in previous Ultra chips.
The Information reported in December 2024 that in the summer, Apple had canceled a “high-performance chip for Macs” to focus on the development of an AI server chip. As John Gruber pointed out, the timing of that Mac chip project suggests that the canceled chip was likely one that is dubbed an “Extreme” chip that would be faster than an Ultra.
On August 14 2025, Macworld reported that it had seen internal code published by Apple that confirms that the company is still experimenting with a new, high-end Mac Pro powered by an unreleased M4 Ultra chip.
Mac Pro M4 Ultra: Specs
- 512GB memory
- Thunderbolt 5
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also reported that Apple wants to dramatically increase the maximum amount of unified memory in the high-end desktop M4 Macs to 512GB. The current limit on the M2 Ultra Mac Pro is 192GB. So, the M4 Ultra Mac Pro could support more than twice the memory as the current M2 Ultra Mac Pro.
The Mac Pro will be equipped with Thunderbolt 5. When Apple released the M4 Pro/Mac MacBook Pro, it upgraded to Thunderbolt 5, so the Mac Pro will follow suit. Learn more about Thunderbolt 5.
No other reports have been made about the inner workings of the upcoming Mac Pro. Because Apple wants to focus on AI, the Mac Pro could be marketed as an AI development workstation, so Apple could upgrade other components to accommodate these needs.
Mac Pro M4 Ultra: Design
The Mac Pro has had its design since 2019, following Apple’s admission that it had designed itself in to a thermal corner with the so called ‘trash can Mac Pro’ which had the form of a black cylinder and proved impossible to upgrade due to problems with cooling. Having learned that lesson it is unlikely that Apple would change the Mac Pro design in such a way as to reduce cooling and other elements. If Apple changes anything, it is very unlikely to make the Mac Pro smaller as this didn’t work out well last time.
The next Mac Pro upgrade is expected to keep the same design, but the internal components will likely change, with the key one being an M4 Ultra upgrade.
Foundry
Mac Pro M4 Ultra: Price
Here are the prices for the current standard base configurations of the M2 Ultra Mac Pro for reference.
Apple expects customers to configure their orders, so prices will vary from these base specifications.
- $6,999/£7,199/CA$8,999/AU$11,999 Mac Pro Tower: M2 Ultra, 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 64GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD
- $7,499/£7,699/CA$9,599/AU$12,999 Mac Pro Rack: M2 Ultra, 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 64GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD
Pricing for the new Mac Pro has not been reported, though we expect pricing to possibly go up because of the U.S. tariffs situation–the components are made overseas. The price may be adapted to more recent exchange rates elsewhere. We predict that in the U.K., the price will be in line with the U.S., for example, £6,999 rather than £7,199.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.