Likelihood of M3 MBA at WWDC? Or buy M2 now

[DomMil]

I am in the market for a MacBook Air. My iPad Air 3 has a swollen battery, hope to get a replacement battery but the time has come to upgrade as I no longer have a laptop.

I want a device for my daily driver as well as capacity for amateur music production.

I’m seeing rumours of new MBAs with the M3 chip being announced at WWDC. If this is the case and my iPad isn’t completely broken - I would be happy to wait. I am hearing the M3 will be a substantial jump from M2?

Thanks for any advice

 

[floral]

I am in the market for a MacBook Air. My iPad Air 3 has a swollen battery, hope to get a replacement battery but the time has come to upgrade as I no longer have a laptop.

I want a device for my daily driver as well as capacity for amateur music production.

I’m seeing rumours of new MBAs with the M3 chip being announced at WWDC. If this is the case and my iPad isn’t completely broken - I would be happy to wait. I am hearing the M3 will be a substantial jump from M2?

Thanks for any advice

Most M chips are a mild bump over the past generation of equal tier (around 15-30% increase). For casual users, you likely wouldn't notice it, but advanced users would probably be better off with the latest

Judging by your use cases ... I would say wait. It's your daily driver, so make sure it's a good one. Get a MacBook Pro if you have the money since those got refreshed very recently. Otherwise, the M3 Air (when it happens) will probably be perfect for you!

Also, please replace the Air 3's battery as soon as possible, or ditch it completely. Swollen batteries can and will combust, which could be a safety hazard. o_o;;

 

[Bodhitree]

It’s not that likely that M3 will be ready by WWDC’23. It would be a full year since the launch of the M2 but there are still M1 products in the pipeline, the iMac hasn’t moved to M2, and the Mac Pro is still using Intel chips. Apple has bigger fish to fry, I think. Personally I’m betting on M3 for sometime in the fall.

Also the MacRumors buying guide has it on a “neutral” product status, not “caution” or “updates soon”.

 

[satcomer]

WWDC most likely just be showing off a New operating Mac OS to be release in late Fall and hear is new way to make your applications for the new Mac OS! Maybe the new beta test to developers in late July!

 

[1BadManVan]

Doubtful the M3 is coming by then. Apple has a no questions asked 14 day return policy i would encourage you to try out. The M2 Airs are very powerful devices with fantastic battery life and im sure is more than enough for what you need it for.

 

[platinumaqua]

Very unlikely as the M chips are on an 18 month cycle

 

[dmccloud]

WWDC most likely just be showing off a New operating Mac OS to be release in late Fall and hear is new way to make your applications for the new Mac OS! Maybe the new beta test to developers in late July!

If the last decade-plus is any indication, developer betas for both the next Mac OS and iOS will be posted to the developer site no later than mid afternoon on the day of the keynote.

Very unlikely as the M chips are on an 18 month cycle

We don't know that they are on an 18-month cycle. Hard to establish a cycle on just two generations of Apple Silicon, especially when it was well-known that supply chain issues delayed the release of multiple M2-based products.

 

[Zest28]

If the last decade-plus is any indication, developer betas for both the next Mac OS and iOS will be posted to the developer site no later than mid afternoon on the day of the keynote.



We don't know that they are on an 18-month cycle. Hard to establish a cycle on just two generations of Apple Silicon, especially when it was well-known that supply chain issues delayed the release of multiple M2-based products.

The M1/M2/M3 are iPad chips, so we got alot of history with these. So it is very unlikely that the M3 aka A16X will arrive at WWDC.

 

[phillytim]

Most M chips are a mild bump over the past generation of equal tier (around 15-30% increase). For casual users, you likely wouldn't notice it, but advanced users would probably be better off with the latest

Going from M2-to-M3 (5nm-to-3nm) is going to be much more significant than M1-to-M2 (5nm-to-5Enm, which really is a bump).

We don't have much historical data yet to judge how significant M2-to-M3 will be; M1-to-M2 really was just a stopgap due to 3nm not being ready.

 

[kiranmk2]

Most M chips are a mild bump over the past generation of equal tier (around 15-30% increase). For casual users, you likely wouldn't notice it, but advanced users would probably be better off with the latest

Not sure how you can say "most" when we have a single data point (M1 to M2 transition). It the M3 is based on a 3 nm process then it offers a lot of headroom for increased clockspeed and more cores due to the decreased size and power consumption afforded by the smaller node (plus whatever improvements are in the underlying M3 architecture).

It’s not that likely that M3 will be ready by WWDC’23. It would be a full year since the launch of the M2 but there are still M1 products in the pipeline, the iMac hasn’t moved to M2, and the Mac Pro is still using Intel chips. Apple has bigger fish to fry, I think. Personally I’m betting on M3 for sometime in the fall.

Also the MacRumors buying guide has it on a “neutral” product status, not “caution” or “updates soon”.

I don't think every Mac will get every generation of M chip. I can see the workhorses (MBA, MBP, maybe the Mini) getting yearly updates while desktops like the iMac, Studio and MacPro only get alternating Chip generations.

Very unlikely as the M chips are on an 18 month cycle

Again, not sure how you can say this based on a single data point.

 

[floral]

Going from M2-to-M3 (5nm-to-3nm) is going to be much more significant than M1-to-M2 (5nm-to-5Enm, which really is a bump).

We don't have much historical data yet to judge how significant M2-to-M3 will be; M1-to-M2 really was just a stopgap due to 3nm not being ready.

Oh! I see ;P