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

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

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. 

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: 

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.