New MacBook Airs and 13-Inch MacBook Pro Will Reportedly Feature M3 Chip

[bradman83]

So the M2 SoCs will have a very short life(span). It's okayish, I guess.

I think the more accurate statement is that the M1 had an abnormally long lifespan due to pandemic-related supply chain issues and TSMC’s challenges with 3nm. Prior to the M1 Apple updated most of its models on an annual basis (namely the MBPs and iMacs). Intel and AMD both release new generations of chips yearly. If Apple wants the M-series to remain competitive then they should be releasing new models on an annual basis as well, even if it only amounts to an incremental update.

 

[azentropy]

My thought is that in order to secure 3nm production that Apple made a deal to purchase a certain number in the Xth year. Makes sense to put them in probably the most high volume product (MBA).

 

[scouser75]

Turn that 16” into your desktop laptop.

I wish. Unfortunately, I can't justify keeping both 😥

 

[scouser75]

Get a smaller charger for travel. You don't need enough power while traveling to stay at 100% while using the laptop. You just need a charger that will refill your laptop overnight while you sleep. You can buy a tiny cheap cube sized charger from Anker that isn't much bigger than the original iPhone 5W charger and that will cover your needs. Or you could buy a $50 or slightly more expensive charger and that will definitely give you all the juice you need.

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to have a look at these chargers. I thought the large one was needed due to it being an MBP.

 

[scouser75]

Why not the 14” MBP - you get the same internals with a smaller form factor. I use it with Anker‘s super small GaN multiport charger and it’s great for travel.

I'd need to compare the sizes between the 15 MBA and 14 MBP. With hindsight, I wish I'd gone for the 14 MBP in the first place as I have an Apple Cinema Display which I could have hooked it up to.

The plus side though is that I managed to get a 16" 1tb MBP M2 for a steal at £1,400 as my M1 was faulty. The company didn't have any M1's so swapped the faulty one for an M2.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

So in this scenario, Apple is going to spend all this capital to sit on millions in state of the art chips for 6+ months to make sure they dont have shortages of a laptop at launch? While also allowing the tech to become less impressive as competition has more time to catch up?

The competition has no time to catch up, because Apple purchased the entire inventory of 3 nm chips for 2023.
And most of those are going to the iPhone, not the Mac.
So why would Apple stock pile tons of 3 nm processors?
Probably for the 50 to 100,000,000 iPhone 15 pros their going to sell this year.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

If I understand correctly, the M2 series was delayed because TSMC 3nm was behind schedule, so Apple had to (at the 11th hour) run M2 on 5nm.

Anyhow, 3nm is here, production began in Dec 2022, and Apple isn't going to benefit by sitting on it all the way to October.

That is not how Apple works, they don’t create new cpus at the 11th hour.
Reminds me of when people thought there was going to be a flat Apple Watch, and then when it came out and it was even more curved than it was before people were like “but no, but no, within the last week Apple changed their mind, it was supposed to be flat, but then the day before the announcement …”
That’s just simply not how these things work.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I think Apple launches the M3 chips with the new OLED MacBook Air (Ross and Gurman and Kuo all said new OLED macs & iPads in 2024) and iPad Pro’s in 2024. Imagine the power savings/battery life with buttery smooth 120hz pro motion OLED and 3nm Technology. Gonna be amazing next year technology wise!

Don’t get carried away, there was absolutely nothing in those reports about the Macbook Air getting 120 Hz pro motion.
That’s as likely as Apple going back to replaceable ram and SSDs.

 

[Billrey]

Bad news: M3 is based on A16.

How do you know? If it's 3nm then that seems unlikely.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to have a look at these chargers. I thought the large one was needed due to it being an MBP.

To fast charge through MagSafe, yes. But it will charge with a smaller one, albeit more slowly. One of the new GaN chargers in 60W is less than half the size and will charge it enough to keep it steady while using it, and to charge it overnight.

 

[dandyryan]

No, that’s passively cooled.

you only mentioned touch bar. if you want passive cooling with no touchbar it's called the macbook pro 14"

 

[SW3029]

If you check my posting history, I've been clamoring for a 15 inch MBA for years. However, if it ships with the M2, I'll wait for the M3 variant (as badly as I want a 15MBA right now). M3's 3nm process just has so many advantages over M2's 5nm – particularly in battery life and power consumption.

I suspect that if Apple introduces a 15MBA with M2 it will update it with M3 by early next year, if not this winter.

 

[James Godfrey]

One thing we have to ask ourselves is if the MBA 15” comes with M3… firstly that would warrant an event, secondly what chip they going to slam in the Mac Pro… M3 Ultra?

 

[James Godfrey]

If you check my posting history, I've been clamoring for a 15 inch MBA for years. However, if it ships with the M2, I'll wait for the M3 variant (as badly as I want a 15MBA right now). M3's 3nm process just has so many advantages over M2's 5nm – particularly in battery life and power consumption.

I suspect that if Apple introduces a 15MBA with M2 it will update it with M3 by early next year, if not this winter.

Yeah I 100% believe we will get an M2 MBA this month or next, an M2 Ultra Mac Pro between now and WWDC… then come late this year they will launch M3 in the iMac and quite possibly the 13” MacBook Pro (who knows it may even get a redesign), then come spring next year we will see the iPad Pro, and both MacBook Airs refreshed with M3 with the MacBook Pros probably coming along around WWDC 2024 with the M3 Pro and Max chipsets

 

[progx]

TSMC’s 3nm process is only 20% faster than 5NP at the same power consumption so let’s not expect Intel -> M1 level performance gains with each generation.

Not expecting seismic shifts every year from M-series. Didn’t even mention anything on performance. Commenting on a rumor, that was posted here, Apple moved the naming scheme around due to the manufacturing issues.

 

[compwiz1202]

1. Copy and Paste paste article.
2. Replace M2 with M3.

🤣 I wish my job was this easy! 🤣

Plus this is like the millionth time they've changed the date April> Summer>April>Summer.....Which is it already?!

 

[compwiz1202]

Or what they could do is sit on 3nm chips, release a device which has been wanted by their customers for years, which they know will sell like hot cakes regardless of the chip, launch it with M2 in order to cut costs and maximise profits, then a year later launch it with a far superior chip and continue bringing in the revenue off their hardware… it’s simple business sense.

Think about it… these chips are going to be used in a lot of devices… iPad Pro, iMac, Mac mini, iPad Air, MacBook Pro 13”, MacBook Air 13 and 15”, these chips certainly won’t be going to waste.

And like I said in a previous post, if this launches with M3 say this month or next… the iPad Pro would almost certainly have to have M4 in spring 2024… because by that point we would pretty much be at the end of the M2 cycle and the all new iPad Pro would have quite a dated chipset.

Yea they can get more sales if they spread the pricing. If they go M3 off the bat putting it in Pro pricing territory, they will still not get the sales from the ones who just want a bigger Macbook at a reasonable price.

 

[driven01]

Spring, Summer
M2, M3

Ozzy asks: "How many bloody Ms are there?"

 

[PauloSera]

So it seems like M2 was a stop gap and Apple is all about M3, which is why we didn't get M2-everything. Makes sense, since M3 built on 3nm process will be a really big deal and a huge performance increase over M1.

 

[mielie]

Really wish they’d drop the Pro in the 13-inch model and just call it a MacBook. Whether it’s pro or not, it would still be a popular middle tier model family.

Isn’t the M2 really M1.5? There were rumors that Apple decided to move the naming scheme around due to the 3nm issues from the chip shortage.

I don't really care what they call it, absolutely not bothered about having a laptop with the word 'pro' on it. But I am pleased at the thought of this form factor, with the marmite Touch Bar and USB-C only ports, continuing so that I can replace my M1 with an M3.

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

I don't really care what they call it, absolutely not bothered about having a laptop with the word 'pro' on it. But I am pleased at the thought of this form factor, with the marmite Touch Bar and USB-C only ports, continuing so that I can replace my M1 with an M3.Marmite? I had to think about that one. Love it or hate it!

Marmite? I had to think about that one. Love it or hate it!

 

[JPack]

How do you know? If it's 3nm then that seems unlikely.

The timing. If it’s coming at WWDC, then it seems extremely unlikely Apple completed design of A17 cores so early and had the time to do an M3.

Apple can move A16 cores to 3nm. Given the timing, this will only be the base 3nm process, or N3B, meaning the performance and power efficiency gains over 4nm are only in the single digits.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I've just got a 16" MBP M2 1TB. Find the screen great but the weight is off putting to travel with, especially with that brick of a charger.

If the Air is an M3 and performance is good, worth considering a swappsy?

Heck, I will buy you an M3 MBA if you want to swap the low end MBA for a high end M2 MBP. Sure, performance if an MBA is good as long as you like the lesser display, the lesser audio, less ports, less RAM and do not need to drive 3 external displays.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Can I get an M3 Max in a new Mac studio while we’re making random guesses, Kuo?

Heck, I will settle for an M2 Max in a Studio and buy right now!

 

[cmChimera]

Yes I do, apple are likely trying to combat supply chain issues by starting mass production earlier than usual.

The roll out of the M1 line up took 16 months to complete, remember M2 is literally only 9 months old at this point.

By the time this comes out, it will have been a year. Do you find it odd that Apple releases an iPhone every year? Why is Mac any different?