An alleged M6 Pro benchmark has appeared on Geekbench, casting doubt on earlier claims that Apple would trim the M6 generation of Apple Silicon, skipping the Pro and Max variants in a rush towards M7.
Ahead of the M6 Mac mini launch, speculation had suggested that Apple intended to shorten the M6 cycle and transition to the next generation more quickly. The newly surfaced result points towards a broader M6 line-up than previously anticipated, indicating that Pro-tier chips may still form part of the roadmap.
What the Geekbench listing shows
A Geekbench 7 score identified as “Mac18,6” and dated 18 September 2026 is said to run on an Apple M6 Pro. The entry describes a single processor with 18 cores in total.
According to the listing, the core count is divided into two clusters, one of six cores and one of 12 cores. These groupings may correspond to performance and efficiency core allocations, with the six-core cluster potentially reflecting a set of higher-tier performance cores.
Implications for the MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro has yet to make the move to M6, and a Pro-class chip appearing in benchmark databases is often an early sign that development is progressing. The presence of an M6 Pro result suggests the variant remains in the pipeline rather than being dropped in favour of an accelerated shift to M7.
The benchmark listing carries a date of 18 September 2026 and lists the device identifier as Mac18,6, running the alleged M6 Pro configuration with 18 cores.
Source
Image: appleinsider.com
