Apple may not release an updated Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chip due to its similarity to the upcoming Mac Pro

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says that a new Mac Studio model with the “M2 Ultra” chip is unlikely to come out anytime soon.

Gurman explained in the most recent issue of his newsletter, “Power On,” that because the upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro is “very similar in functionality to the Mac Studio,” Apple may either wait until the release of M3- or M4-series chips to update the device, or it may simply never update the device at all:

“I wouldn’t anticipate the introduction of a Mac Studio in the near future. The upcoming Mac Pro is very similar in functionality to the Mac Studio — and adds the M2 Ultra chip rather than the M1 Ultra. So it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to offer an M2 Ultra Mac Studio and M2 Ultra Mac Pro at the same time. It’s more likely that Apple either never updates the Mac Studio or holds off until the M3 or M4 generation. At that point, the company may be able to better differentiate the Mac Studio from the Mac Pro.”

Since there have been few rumors about the next-generation Mac Studio, Gurman’s latest comments are the most definitive sign yet that the machine won’t be getting a new version anytime soon.

The “M2 Extreme” chip, non-user-upgradable memory, and the same design as the 2019 model were said to have been dropped from Apple’s plans for the first Apple silicon Mac Pro last month. It is now anticipated that the device will only offer the M2 Ultra, a chip that would have logically been included in the next-generation Mac Studio.

The recently introduced M2 Max chip, which is currently only available in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, will almost certainly be doubled by the M2 Ultra chip. Apple’s decision to delay updating the hardware of the Mac Studio until it can devise a more effective strategy for the machine’s positioning in the future may make sense in light of the reduced modularity and comparable performance of the forthcoming Mac Pro.