Apple could be preparing a return to the server market with a new rack-mounted machine built around its future M8 Ultra chips and, surprisingly, Nvidia technology.
According to a report from The Information, Apple is considering a server product designed for wider distribution, rather than keeping its server hardware limited to its own infrastructure. The plans are still reportedly several years away, with nothing expected to reach the market before 2029.
The proposed machines could come in two configurations: one with two M8 Ultra chips and another with four. Apple is also said to be assessing Nvidia’s NVLink Fusion, a high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnect that lets companies connect their own processors and AI accelerators to Nvidia’s data-centre infrastructure. Nvidia recently opened the technology to other companies through licensing.
That would be an interesting change for Apple, which has largely kept its server hardware behind the scenes. Though Apple has used cloud capacity from Google and Amazon, the company already builds servers in Houston for its own use, while its Private Cloud Compute hardware isn’t available for outside access.
The potential Xserve successor could be aimed at AI developers, businesses and governments, according to the report. Those customers would presumably need deep pockets, though, as the hardware is expected to be extremely expensive.
It would also mark a notable shift from Apple’s long-standing relationship with Nvidia. The two companies have had a complicated history, with Apple moving away from Nvidia graphics hardware and eventually ending Mac support for Nvidia GPUs in 2019. More recently, however, Apple reportedly purchased around $1 billion worth of Nvidia hardware for research, including 250 Nvidia NVL72 servers, each reportedly costing between $3.7 million and $4 million.
The project is said to have emerged inside Apple around a year ago and reportedly has the backing of new CEO John Ternus. That’s important given the scale of the investment and the amount of expensive hardware Apple would need to source well before launch.
For anyone old enough to remember the original Xserve, this would be quite the comeback. Apple discontinued its rack-mounted server line in 2011, but a modern version built around Apple Silicon and Nvidia’s interconnect technology would look very different from those PowerPC and Intel-era machines.
For now though, this remains a reported project rather than a confirmed Apple product, and 2029 is still a long way off.
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