After the October M3 chip reveal with the MacBook Pro and iMac, Apple is now preparing to put the latest in-house chip in the company’s highest-volume computer, according to a new report by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman writes that the company is gearing up to launch the M3 MacBook Air in the next few months. Beyond the processor bump, the devices are not expected to have many more noteworthy changes.
The product is being developed under the codenames J613 and J615. Multiple codenames like this, along with the last two digits of said codenames, could indicate both 13-inch and 15-inch models in development. Gurman does not confirm or deny that both sizes are in development, and if they are, it is also unclear whether they’ll launch concurrently, unlike the M2 MacBook Air devices.
Gurman expects Apple to market the notebooks toward Intel-based Mac or M1 MacBook Air owners due to the most recent M2 MacBook Air’s release in June. Owners of these devices are still on the previous design language without the curved Liquid Retina display, and Intel Mac owners would see the biggest performance bump switching to Apple silicon for the first time. Gurman predicts the M1 MacBook Air will be discontinued after the M3 model’s launch, which could leave the current M2 model as the low-end option.
Gurman concluded with a roadmap for the remaining M3 Macs, predicting the Mac Studio and Mac Pro will receive chips from the M3 family at the end of 2024 at the earliest but possibly as late as 2025. Gurman does not include the Mac mini in this list; it is unclear if this was an oversight or if he believes the product will get passed over. Gurman previously reported that a device likely to be a Mac mini with an M3 chip was seen on developer logs in testing.
The last reports of the M3 MacBook Air from Gurman came before the October event where M3 was announced alongside the updated MacBook Pro and iMac. Gurman predicted M3 MacBook Air development was slightly behind that of the MacBook Pro, and slated its release “between spring and summer 2024.” At the time, he slated the M3 MacBook Pro’s launch for early 2024.
This week’s Power On newsletter also detailed plans for the next entry-level iPad, an updated iPad Air with M2 chip and bigger model, and more.
