San Francisco, Dec 23 (IANS): Despite the undeniable success of the M1 Max and M1 Pro chips, a new report has suggested that Apple still has one last Intel-powered Mac in its pipeline, which is expected to launch next year.

According to MacRumors, for Intel-based Mac Pro, one can expect the desktop to feature Intel's Xeon Scalable processor, which Intel says has "advanced performance, security, efficiency, and built-in AI acceleration to handle IoT workloads and more powerful AI."

Currently, there are three Macs that Apple sells that run Intel chips: the 2020 27-inch iMac, the 2019 Mac Pro, and the 2018 Mac mini. Apart from them, all other Macs run Apple's silicon.

Apple may continue with Intel for the Mac Pro is the fact that the firm might not be confident about its in-house silicon when it comes to desktop-class computing tasks.

For those who are unaware, Apple silicon chips run on an entirely different architecture than Intel-based Macs. On Apple silicon Macs, Apple uses Rosetta 2 to automatically and seamlessly translate apps built for Intel computers to run on Apple silicon.

Apple is also reportedly planning to launch a new MacBook Air next year that will use a next-generation M2 chip, a follow up to the M1.

It is not expected to be as powerful as the 'M1 Pro' and 'M1 Max' as it will be aimed at lower-power devices.

The upcoming MacBook Air models will have a design that's "quite similar" to the new MacBook Pros, but with a thinner body, off-white bezels, and no wedge shape. It will come in colour options that are similar to the 24-inch iMac.