The 14 -inch and 16 -inch MacBook Pro models can be equipped with Apple M4 Max as their most powerful configuration, with the much more powerful Mac studio. From the start, it was always obvious that the thermal constraints prevented the Cupertino giant from using a chipset with the nickname ‘Ultra’. However, a possibility existed when Apple could have introduced its workstation class chipset to its portable macs, because the technology giant would have tested this material, at least according to the evidence found in iOS 18.
The software executed on an iPhone 16 prototype found iOS 18 references linked to the M3 Ultra tested on the 14 -inch and 16 inch MacBook Pro models
An article published on Bilibili which was spotted by Macrumors Says that there is code discovered on an internal iOS 18 construction operating on an iPhone 16 prototype, providing evidence that the M3 Ultra has been tested on 14 -inch and 16 -inch MacBook Pro models. The code names of these machines, J514D and J516D, were found in a file present in the ‘ / Apple Sinternal / Diags /’ folder.
For readers with an Eagle Eye, the real code names of the Apple MacBook Pro models with the M3 Pro and M3 Max are J514 and J516. The presence of the letter “D” indicates that the first two code names are probably belonging to the variants tested with the M3 Ultra because the Mac studio equipped with the same Apple silicon is identified with the code name J575D. This discovery proves that if the stars were aligned in our favor, we would have witnessed the very first MacBook Pro M3 M3 M3 range.
To remind readers, the M3 Ultra is the most powerful personalized silicon in Apple, with a 32-core processor, an 80-Coeur GPU and 512 GB of unified RAM. It is likely that thermal limitations have played a massive role in preventing the company from bringing this equipment to the MacBook Pro range. In addition, the M3 Ultra has a much larger matrix than the M3 Max or M4 Max, forcing Apple to modify the entire layout of the motherboard to accommodate this SOC, not to mention the thickness to add the improved cooler.
Another reason not to launch the MacBook Pro models with the M3 Ultra is that this decision can most likely Mac Studio and Future Mac Pro Sales, and at its appearance, Apple Macs will probably be limited to the M5 Max, which should arrive later this year.
