Apple has quietly tried to correct the specifications of its new Mac Studio, removing references to PCIe 6.0 from its promotional material.
During the launch of its new products, Apple typically includes references to bleeding-edge technologies and the device's bleeding-edge specifications. For the new Mac Studio, it's correcting a mistaken spec.
Spotted by MacGeneration, references to PCIe Gen 6 have been removed from press releases relating to the new M5 Ultra Mac Studio. While it previously mentioned the use of PCIe 6.0 powering its fast storage, the releases now say it has a "next-generation SSD architecture."
While the correction has made it into the English version of the press release, the French variant still mentions "PCIe Gen 6."
Apple hasn't explicitly said what PCIe spec is used with the device, but it could be PCIe 5.0, as used in the M5 Max MacBook Pro.
Though some observers may theorize Apple is covering up tech it didn't want to disclose using, it doesn't seem to be the case here. There's no real issue in Apple saying it's using PCIe 6.0, aside from it being inaccurate.
It's most likely someone writing the PR copy being given the wrong detail, or at least a typo somewhere along the line.
The PCIe 6.0 dream
The PCIe 6.0 standard was announced back in June 2019, months after PCIe 5.0 was ratified. The standard was described as being capable of 64 "gigatransfers" per second, double that of PCIe 5.0 and four times that of PCIe 4.0.
Apple does try to use new technologies where possible, but it has yet to actually do so with PCIe 6.0.
The 2023 Mac Pro included support for fourth-generation PCIe cards, Apple's documentation confirms.
The M5 Max MacBook Pro has fast transfer speeds, believed to be due to the use of PCIe 5.0. However, Apple itself hasn't confirmed the use of that standard in that model.
