M3 MacBook Air update due in March, M3 Mac Pro in late 2024

MacBook Air

Apple's next batch of M3 Mac launches may occur in March with New MacBook Air models, but there could be a long wait until M3-equipped versions of the Mac Studio and Mac Pro surface.

Apple introduced the M3 versions of the 24-inch iMac, 14-inch MacBook Pro, and 16-inch MacBook Pro in late October, starting the M3 generation strong with the debut of three chip variants. Now, attention turns to the rest of the range, and when it will all move over to the current chip generation.

In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman believes the next launches will include new MacBook Air models. Codenamed J613 and J615, the updated versions will not have much in the way of changes, except for it being a spec-bump update.

Expected around March, the launches of 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M3 will be marketed towards owners of M1 and Intel Macs rather than M2 owners. With the 15-inch MacBook Air M2 out since June, that may be too quick an upgrade cycle for those customers.

The M3 Air could also give Apple an opportunity to phase out the M1 MacBook Air from its catalog, and instead make the M2 version the new low-end model.

The last area of the Mac ecosystem to see an update will be the high-end models, specifically the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. However they "probably won't get upgraded to the end of 2024 at the earliest, if not 2025," writes Gurman.

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11 Comments

wood1208

About 4 months ago

For M3 Macbook Air, hope it comes equipped with future proof WiFi 7. If not then no big deal. Still will be good upgrade.

charlesn

About 4 months ago

Of course. Apple has to do this upgrade but... as we're seeing with the M3 iMacs, the new base M3 chip alone still doesn't offer an especially compelling upgrade even over the M1 chip, to say nothing of the M2 chips currently in the Airs. And since this is the first gen of the new MBA design, that's certainly not changing. Bluetooth in the current Airs is already the latest 5.3 standard. So about the only change I foresee, other than M3, is a spec bump to WiFi 6e vs the current 6. 7 would be nice, but Apple is never a leader when it comes to adopting new wifi protocols. The best part of this upgrade may be the reduced prices on M2 Airs to clear out the inventory--a nearly equal laptop for a whole lot less money.

keithw

About 4 months ago

It's disappointing if Apple doesn't release the M3 Mini and Studio by June. They could release the standard, Pro, and Max versions right now, but they're probably waiting until they can build up an inventory of Ultra chips so they can release all of the models at the same time

chasm

About 4 months ago

charlesn said:

Of course. Apple has to do this upgrade but... as we're seeing with the M3 iMacs, the new base M3 chip alone still doesn't offer an especially compelling upgrade even over the M1 chip, to say nothing of the M2 chips currently in the Airs.

In point of fact, the M3 is a double-digit increase over the M1. You’re correct that it’s not a compelling upgrade if you recently bought an M2, but who does that other than the ultra-rich or reviewers?

As mentioned in the actual article, the M2 and M3 are aimed at the HUGE percentage of Mac owners who haven’t upgraded since the late Intel era, and didn’t want to jump on a“first gen” chip, and I include myself in that number. Macs tend to operate well for quite a number of years with normal use — I routinely see clients that have Macs that are 6+ years old and still perfectly happy with them for their general-use needs.

My Core i9 MBP still does everything I want it to do quickly, but of course since I’m not a general-purpose user I expect to be upgrading in the near future. Ironically, I am tempted to “downgrade” from the MBP to the M2 or M3 Air, since I believe it will handle everything I’m currently doing without too much stress.

If they hadn’t come up with that 14-inch Space Black MBP … damn you Apple! :smiley:

danox

About 4 months ago

I think the Apple Vision Pro will introduced and released right after WWDC 2024 and the high end Apple devices will come after WWDC. But the MacBooks/Mini/iPad Pro's will come first sometime in the early part of next year.

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