Apple's First M3-Powered Macs Likely to Launch in October

[iHorseHead]

That would be great. I could finally upgrade. I hope it'll be great.
I'm planning to upgrade my MacBook Air M1 in 2024.

 

[senttoschool]

If it launches in October, then it's likely to be using N3B - not the newer N3E. The A17 is using N3B as well.

 

[Warped9]

My suspicions, and some sense of optimism, expected we would see the M3 iMac by the end of the year. It looks like it’s going to happen.

So by the end of the year means a new iMac and a new iPhone for me.

 

[sherwinzadeh]

M3 is going to be for Vision Pro. That's the main product that will benefit from the 3nm Apple Silicon which is rumored to bring 35% more power efficiency. I think they just couldn't announce it yet as M2 Macs were just announced.

 

[PsykX]

Fingers crossed for a new Mac mini…

Not this year. They've almost just released an M2 Pro Mac Mini. I ended up buying it (refurbished), and it's awesome. Best computer I've ever owned.

 

[SoldOnApple]

I’d buy a 13 inch MBP M3 Max if it had Touchbar.

 

[Schmitti81]

Once again rumor mills hype people up on the future processor, while not all devices got the M2 yet!
And the headset launches with M2 in January.

Isn't it reasonable, that Apple will maybe use 3 nano meter for the next iPhone Pro and then show M3 in spring 2024 for some devices and then deliver M3 Pro/Ultra in fall 2024?

 

[Populus]

Hm, will they be 3nm then? I thought I read here that TSMC was struggling with this apple specific version of 3nm so it was going to be a limited run? Doesn’t sound like a chop you’d want to build lots of variations of.

This is exactly what I was thinking about. I would be happy with an N3B manufactured M3 but I read that there was a low yield and low supply, so I was expecting the M3 to come manufactured in the N3E process. However, the N3E won’t be massively available until 2024.

The only thing I hope is they don’t use the 4nm (5nm++) process of the A16 on the M3. We’ll see, maybe many of us will have to wait for the M4 to have a true jump in performance/efficiency and a new architecture.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Given that Apple launched new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in January, and more recently new 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro models in June, Gurman believes the first beneficiaries of the new M3 chip will be the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.

It would be kind of silly to upgrade the MacBook Air 13" and _not_ the 15" at the same time, wouldn't it?

 

[gank41]

I’d buy a 13 inch MBP M3 Max if it had Touchbar.

My M1 MBP is the first Mac I’ve ever owned with a Touchbar and I like it! I can see how the older ones with no Escape Key would be frustrating. But after using it for however many years now, I enjoy it (Along with BetterTouchTool).

 

[holisticrunner]

Amazing how the Vision Pro is launching with an M2... it'll be nearly 2 years old by the time it releases.

It takes time to integrate everything and iron out the bugs. You can't just put the latest chip on a platform and expect everything to work.

VisionPro probably didn't align with the M3 timeline hence there was an internal dispute within the management to push back the release date of VisionPro.

Ultimately, VisionPro needs to be released to create a big gap between competitors and Apple.

Apple looks like they have a 5yr head start on the competition based on the technology they released.

 

[asiga]

Real-time ray tracing is basically just for gaming, that isn't much of a thing on Macs, even on PC gaming is a possible and relevant option in very few cases, and it requires powerful GPUs (Macs have great integrated GPUs but only the high-end models can compete with recent Nvidia and AMD dedicated ones).
And I frankly believe that ray tracing is a brute-force solution to get good graphics that is still so vastly less efficient than traditional tricks that it'll take another decade to become a standard.

If I had to make a (very speculative) prediction, I'd go with raw power and say that Apple may consider that when their low-end chips are about as powerful as the weakest GPU where Nvidia put ray tracing, the 2060. Which according to benchmarks is about three times as powerful as an M2 processor. If the generational increment stays the same as M1 to M2, that may happen with the M5 or M6...

I thought gaming on the Mac was one of the important topics in the last WWDC presentation. Said that, my interest is more on the API side that on performance. The raytracing API on Metal is quite primitive compared to OpenGL or Vulkan, because true hardware raytracing is not supported by Apple Silicon yet. Thus my wish in hardware raytracing coming to Macs, not actually for performance, but for getting a better raytracing API.

And yes, if they are serious about what they said on gaming at the WWDC, they need to improve raytracing.

 

[CaspianKing]

Apple's first M3-powered Macs could arrive as early as October, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said sources tell him an October event will follow Apple's iPhone 15 series announcement in September, and the state of Apple's current product lineup suggests it will focus on new Macs with M3 chips.

Given that Apple launched new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in January, and more recently new 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro models in June, Gurman believes the first beneficiaries of the new M3 chip will be the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Looking further ahead, new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 chips are expected to arrive in early 2024, featuring M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, according to Gurman in a previous report.

The M3 chip is expected to be built on chipmaking partner TSMC's 3nm process, resulting in significant performance and power efficiency improvements over the 5nm-based M2 chip that Apple's most recent Mac models are based on. TSMC kicked off mass production of 3nm chips in late December.

Article Link: Apple's First M3-Powered Macs Likely to Launch in October

Looking forward to M3. Waiting for an upgrade for my 16" MBP. M2 was a letdown.

 

[ThailandToo]

Amazing how the Vision Pro is launching with an M2... it'll be nearly 2 years old by the time it releases.

There is no way it launches with an M2. That was Apple marketing not allowing the M3 to be stated so people don’t stop buying other devices with M2 chips now knowing an M3 is destined by the start of next year. I would gladly put money on it. The Vision Pro launches with M3 and takes big advantage of the more efficient SoC.

 

[MrCrowbar]

I’m still convinced it’ll get the M3 and they’ll announce this as part of the October event

They'll announce the Vision Pro Max with the M3 and the Vision Pro Max Ultra with an M3 Ultra.

 

[Lioness~]

M3 13" MacBook Air it is, but will it be Starlight, Midnight or some new color.
The fingerprinting Midnight might got a newer less fingerprinting finish?
If not, Starlight it will probably be, unless some new finish are on the horizon - we’ll see in a few months.

 

[ELman]

Maybe the iPad Pro.

 

[Ceecephous]

so the base m3 will be as fast as m1 pro on the "new" air ?

 

[applesith]

Apple's lineup seems so messy again. The Air should have the same core specs between 13" and 15". I wonder why they do not update all the standard M1/M2 to M3, then the Pro, Max, etc. Perhaps it's to spread out buying but it's a weird experience.

 

[JonEC]

It's weird that they updated almost the whole Mac product line in the WWDC with enhanced M2s because the M3 was not ready, and that they are now ready to release M3 Macs in October... why the rush this WWDC? There have been WWDCs in the past with no new Mac announcements, I don't get the need for the rush this year.

I think the answer is pretty clear: awful MacBook sales figures. Everyone knows the M2 was a lousy stopgap compromise (because of the abovementioned TSMC shortages). So Apple are probably hoping to spark serious interest in their new GENUINELY higher spec machines - to reverse the disturbing trend.

 

[phillytim]

I've been patiently awaiting the M3, hoping that I can still hold out for an Air or Pro release at this point.

I never like buying the first version of hardware (or software), and it's too much of a stretch to consider M2 to be a true rev of M1.

 

[MacLawyer]

M2 Studio owners in July, 2023: "Ha! Got me the M2 Studio so I'm future-proofed for years!"

Same owners next December: "Well............"

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Bring 'em on!!!

As soon as new, better, faster tech is ready, bring it to market. What really makes no sense is having superior tech ready and then holding it back for some arbitrary period of time because "they just rolled out a prior generation in June... or Spring... or last Fall." If the armchair marketing committee gets to call a launch date, they will not agree (as each will want whatever they happen to own to have a longer "state of the art" reign) and those able to step above self-interest will not be able to determine a time frame that makes equal sense to others like themselves.

When it's ready, launch it. If M3s hit in October and M4 is ready in January, roll out M4 in January. In tech, march forward as fast as you reliably can. This "wait" and "hold back" mentality only gives competitors willing to move forward as fast as THEY can more time to "catch up" and/or "get further ahead" (depending on which spin one takes as fact).

I look forward to M3 ASAP. And M4 ASAP after that. And M++ as quickly as Apple can reliably deliver. I hope there is never any "hold back" mentality becoming a driver of selecting dates at Apple. No need letting latest & greatest stagnate on some shelf because existing tech needs more time as "king" to make "everyone" happy. Nobody- even Apple- can make everyone happy.

In all of tech history, there are those who buy "latest & greatest" tiers LATE in their reign to then have the next generation launch "too soon." That's just poor timing of individual purchases if one is fixated on "latest & greatest" in their own tech hardware. Anyone and everyone hanging around here should know that M3 is impending (there was high speculation that something M3 might roll out at WWDC). If you just purchased M2 anyway, enjoy the terrific Mac you just bought. It will still work fine once the M3 version of the same becomes the new "king." And all those ready to pounce on M3 on day 1 should know that M4 is in development and, when it launches, the M3 Macs will still be terrific, functional Macs too.

 

[MarkNY]

If an M3 24" iMac drops, I'll be buying it. I've given up hope there will ever be any reasonably priced options to get a retina quality screen to replace my 2015 27 inch iMac.

 

[cwwilson]

So I'm certainly in the mood for a new Mac. The 15" Air would meet many of my needs but the M2....... I just don't know, I'm sure it's a nice chip but how much better would that computer be if they just would have waited until the M3 was ready and launched with that? I mean my M1 MBA already feels pretty spiffy as is and to build one to spec like my Air would put me really close to MBP territory.

So I was put in a situation that I originally agreed to a week or so ago. A buddy of mine was actually wanting to trade me his 2019 16" MBP for my MBA and $300 in cash. His MBP had 32GB RAM, 2.6 i7, 8GB 5500M, 1TB SSD and a new battery but the knock was that the touchID was broken due to a refurb process I guess using 3rd party parts? Anyway I was very tempted and initially agreed but then I backed out because I couldn't look past the broken touchID lol.

So now I wait to see if these M3 Macs are going to be the real deal. I'm really conflicted. I really thought I was going to jump on the 15" Air and who knows I still might but is it THAT big of an upgrade over what I have now? The M3 might be, not sure about the M2.