Apple has reportedly begun testing a new Mac model with the yet-to-be-announced M3 chip running an upcoming software update to macOS Sonoma. The Mac under testing is likely to be a refreshed Mac mini, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter.
The purported machine under testing is equipped with what is likely a higher-end configuration of the upcoming M3 chip, Gurman reports. Its specs comprise eight CPU cores with four efficiency cores and four performance cores, 10 GPU cores, and 24 GB of unified memory. The Mac in question is reportedly also running macOS Sonoma 14.1, indicating that Apple is already ramping up development on point updates for the upcoming major macOS software release.
Other M3 Macs In Testing
The information was revealed as part of developer logs shared with Gurman, who speculates that the Mac being tested is an upcoming refresh for the Mac mini. According to Gurman, this brings the total number of known Macs being tested inside Apple with an M3-based chip to five different models, including new MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, iMac, and Mac mini:
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- 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with codenames Mac 15,1 and Mac 15,2
- 13-inch MacBook Pro with codename Mac 15,3
- iMac with codename Mac 15,4
- 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with codenames Mac 15,7 Mac 15,8
- Mac mini with codename Mac 15,12
Gurman is doubling down on his prediction that the first Macs with the M3 chip won’t be unveiled before the end of the year, likely during a special event held in October or November. It’s also plausible that the 24-inch iMac will be one of the first new Macs with the M3 chip to be announced to the public, especially as the current all-in-one model is still equipped with the M1 chip and has been left untouched since its announcement in April 2021.
Given that the purported Mac mini with the M3 chip is running macOS Sonoma 14.1, it’s entirely possible that Apple could be planning to launch the new mini desktop slightly after the first crop of M3-equipped machines. As a result, Apple could announce the refreshed Mac mini as early as January 2024, something it already did this year with the M2 Pro and M2 Max-equipped 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro alongside Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro.
