Apple’s M3 Mac roadmap gets clearer–and a bit more confusing
3 min readApple’s M-series Mac processors are based on the iPhone’s A-series chips, so now that the 3nm A17 Pro is here in the iPhone 15 Pro, it seems like it’s only a matter of time for M3 Macs to start shipping. So we’re seeing more reports on when those new Macs could arrive.
The latest comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter, Gurman states that Apple has new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that are in the design validation test (DVT) phase, which “means the machines are nearing mass production.” These laptops have the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, which replace the M2 Max and Pro chips currently in the MacBook Pro. Apple could announce “between early and spring 2024,” a year or so after the M2 Pro and Max MacBook Pros were released.
But wait, the base M3 chip and the Macs that use it aren’t out yet, and Apple wouldn’t ship the M3 Pro and Max without releasing the base M3 first, would they? Back in August, Gurman reported that Apple could release M3-based Mac this month–since the month is halfway through, they should be coming soon unless Apple decides on an early November release.
The M3 will be in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac mini–which Apple has been testing with macOS Sonoma 14.1, so that could mean that Apple will release the base M3 Macs around the same time as the company releases macOS Sonoma 14.1 to the public (14.1 is currently in beta testing).
If Apple does release an M3 Mac mini, it could keep the M2 Pro Mac mini in the lineup. As we’ve seen with past benchmarks, a new base M-series chip doesn’t outperform the Pro and Max chips that preceded it. That could still be the case when comparing the M3 to the M2 Pro, which is in the $1,299 Mac mini–the M3 Pro upgrade could come when the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro are released.
What about the MacBook Air and iMac?
That August Power On newsletter also stated that the iMac and 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air were involved with the base M3 testing, but Gurman now says that “those waiting for a new MacBook Air will likely need to hold on a bit longer.” Those two laptops are in the engineering verification test (EVT) phase, which precedes the DVT phase. Gurman thinks that a MacBook Air update would happen “between spring and summer of next year at the earliest.”
Though Gurman doesn’t say so, moving the MacBook Air ship date away from the Mac mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro could be Apple’s way to get the Air models’ ship dates in sync, since they use the same chip. While the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air went for sale back July 2022, the 15-inch model with the same chip was released just this past June.
As for the iMac, Gurman hasn’t provided an update since that August mention of M3 expectations in Power On. Mac Otakara reported last week that a new iMac with an M2 and M2 Pro could be released, but the blog does not cite sources, only that shipments for the current M1 iMac are delayed. Mark Gurman, who is a much more reliable source than Mac Otakara, reported in April that the iMac will skip the M2 chip and be refreshed with an M3.
Gurman didn’t mention M3 updates for the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. Since those machines were updated at WWDC this past June, it may be a while before they are upgraded.
