This M6 Pro benchmark wasn't supposed to exist—here's what the numbers show
We compared the leaked M6 Pro Geekbench result from the "Mac18,6" with results for the M6 in the Mac mini ("Mac18,5") and the current M5 Pro ("Mac17,8"). Both comparisons point to the same conclusion: this looks like new silicon that shares the base M6's core design rather than a relabeled M5 Pro.
Vs. the base M6: Both chips run at 4.78 GHz and share identical cache configurations: 160 KB of L1 instruction cache, 96 KB of L1 data cache, and 8 MB of L2 cache. The M6 Pro scales up from the base M6's 12-core, single-cluster layout to an 18-core layout split into six Super and 12 Performance cores, with memory capacity rising from 32 GB to 48 GB. The multi-core score jumps from 22,783 to 37,565 (+65%) with the additional cores, while the single-core scores remain close at 4,071 and 4,150, respectively, which is consistent with a shared core design running at the same clock speed.
Vs. the M5 Pro: Here, the differences become apparent. The M5 Pro has 128 KB of L1 instruction cache and 64 KB of L1 data cache and runs at a 4.60 GHz base clock; the M6 Pro carries over the base M6's larger 160 KB/96 KB L1 caches and runs at 4.78 GHz, with both chips featuring 18 cores and 48 GB of memory. The clock bump is a modest 3.9%, but single-core performance climbs 12.5% (from 3,688 to 4,150), and multi-core performance rises 8.6% (from 34,582 to 37,565), both exceeding what that clock difference alone would explain. That gap, plus the larger L1 caches carried over from the base M6, points to a new die with a new Super core rather than the same M5 Pro die simply being reclocked. (Geekbench's cache reporting can be unreliable at times, so this should not be considered definitive on its own.)
This complicates the reporting so far. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said in mid-2026 that Apple would skip the M6 Pro and M6 Max entirely, holding off on high-end silicon until the M7 Pro and M7 Max in late 2027, with the interim MacBook Pro lineup expected to keep using the M5 Pro/Max. A later Commercial Times supply-chain report suggested Apple had not fully closed the door on a high-end M6 series. The cache and performance-per-clock data here now support that second account.
One caveat remains: no Pro/Max-specific device IDs or drivers have yet surfaced in macOS, unlike those for the base M6. That could mean this is a rebadge after all, or simply that the current macOS build has not caught up with the unreleased hardware. Apple has not confirmed an M6 Pro or M6 Max, and this listing should be treated as provisional until it does.
Source(s)
Geekbench, own research
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