Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

M3 15-inch MacBook Air launching in October – and this proves it

Literally all this proves is that these M3 Macs will most likely release sometime during the Sonoma software cycle.
That means anywhere from October 2023 to October 2024, an entire year.
In fact, this is from the Bloomberg article:
“This machine is running macOS Sonoma 14.1, the first point update to the upcoming new Mac software release.”
That means this machine certainly won’t be releasing with 14.0 in October.
And following the patterns of the last several years, 14.1 probably won’t be out until at least early December.
And just because it’s being tested with 14.1 doesn’t mean it’ll actually ship with 14.1.
My guess is if we get anything in the fall, it’ll be the iMac and/or the 13 inch MacBook Pro. These products are popular enough to still attract attention, but not so popular to overload the 3NM production.
 
lol....no. The $200 increase is just as crazy as a new version being released 3 months later. Apple is heavily discounting the 15" MacBook Air M2 right now as the sales have been much worse than expected and people are not buying it. It makes no sense to increase the price for the M3.
 
bingow said:
Much ado about nothing. My 15" M2 in hand is worth a covey of M3's in the ether.
Click to expand...
Very true. The 15” Air is a great deal, now and for several many years.

The update-culture surrounding all tech has become embarrassingly irrational.

-This isn’t 2007 anymore. The next iteration of the thing you want and will wait months or years for isn’t going to multiply performance in key areas.

And the iteration you can get to day will not even be close to being obsolete in 5 years.

There are also so many assumptions about the specs and performance of the M3 machines that are just not realistic.

Apple could also double down on its awful “upgrade the SoC, downgrade the SSD” strategy for the M3 to cut costs, and downgrade even more components in the baseline configurations or expand the downgrades to more of the expensive configurations/models too.

All this M3 hype can only end in disappointment. Expectations are simply too high.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimmy_uk and Apple.Fanatic
ApplesAreSweet&Sour said:
The update-culture surrounding all tech has become embarrassingly irrational.

-This isn’t 2007 anymore. The next iteration of the thing you want and will wait months or years for isn’t going to multiply performance in key areas.

And the iteration you can get to day will not even be close to being obsolete in 5 years.

There are also so many assumptions about the specs and performance of the M3 machines that are just not realistic.

Apple could also double down on its awful “upgrade the SoC, downgrade the SSD” strategy for the M3 to cut costs, and downgrade even more components in the baseline configurations or expand the downgrades to more of the expensive configurations/models too.

All this M3 hype can only end in disappointment. Expectations are simply too high.
Click to expand...
You are correct - if you can't wait then don't wait and buy now. But some of us are stuck in the middleground.

My m1 Air will hit 3 years end of this year, it has 79% battery life, got long in the tooth and I am looking to upgrade it to 15 inch. The dilemma is that M3 15 Air sounds like the next best thing, as by that moment my M1 can be retired upon 3.5 years of service with $200 annual depreciation. The more I wait the less I get trade-in - thus I am not really looking forward to hold this device for 10 years as I did with my 2 previous laptops.

My Air was getting 15-16hr battery with the external screen now I get only 7-9 hrs. Maybe 10 if lucky.
 
SW3029 said:
Haha. We shall see! But I also did predict that Apple would put the M1 chip in the iPad Pro and everyone here told me I was insane. Then it happened.
Click to expand...
There were logical reasons to support the M1 chip going into the iPad Pro (particularly the lack of an A14X/Z and the M1 effectively being an A14X/Z). There aren't any logical reasons to suggest that there will be an M3 MacBook Air release this calendar year whereas there are plenty of logical reasons to suggest the opposite.
 
I think Apple will update the 15 inch Air to M3 at the same time as the 13 inch Air, because it will want to synchronise the Air update cycles asap and, far more importantly, 15 inch Air sales will have been hobbled by using last year's chip - both because it didn't represent an upgrade for existing M2 (or even M1) Air users and because new owners may be put off when the new chip is around the corner.

The tears of M2 15 inch owners is of very little concern to Apple.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SW3029
vanc said:
Possible, but highly unlikely. The M2 15" MBA was made available on June 15. Refreshing after merely 3 months? That would be a new record for Apple.
Click to expand...
Agreed, I don’t see a M3 15” Air coming out this fall either.
 
If the 15" Air is being updated to M3 in the fall, then what was the point of releasing the M2 Air at WWDC? Why release a new Mac if it's just going to be obsolete within three months? Why not just delay the 15" Air until M3? Did they so desperately need a new Air at WWDC that it was worth not waiting for it? This timeline just doesn't make sense for so many reasons...
 
  • Like
Reactions: phillytim
KaiFiMacFan said:
If the 15" Air is being updated to M3 in the fall, then what was the point of releasing the M2 Air at WWDC? Why release a new Mac if it's just going to be obsolete within three months? Why not just delay the 15" Air until M3? Did they so desperately need a new Air at WWDC that it was worth not waiting for it? This timeline just doesn't make sense for so many reasons...
Click to expand...
My theory: they launched the M2 15MBA because they wanted to get it out there in time for the back-to-school summer shopping season. Also, if they do announce the M3 15MBA in October, the M2 version won't be obsolete. They will still probably sell both the M2 and M3 versions, but the M3 will likely start a few hundred dollars more.

What doesn't make sense to me is that rumors from Bloomberg suggest Apple will launch only the M3 13-inch MBA this October. If they only launch the M3 13MBA it's going to kill sales of the M2 15MBA because customers are going to wonder why the smaller version is the only one with the better chipset and also it will make customers think the 15MBA M3 update is just around the corner, killing sales of that one.

I mean, if they only announce an M3 13MBA in October, is anyone going to continue to buy the M2 15MBA after that? Would you? I wouldn't because it would make me realize that Apple could then update the 15MBA at any time to M3, so I just better wait to buy until it does.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KaiFiMacFan
they have to stop selling the m1 macbook air

the m2 macbook air will take its place at 899

the macbook air m3 will start at 1099 or even more maybe 512 ssd standard
 
  • Like
Reactions: HappyInCalgary
KaiFiMacFan said:
If the 15" Air is being updated to M3 in the fall, then what was the point of releasing the M2 Air at WWDC? Why release a new Mac if it's just going to be obsolete within three months? Why not just delay the 15" Air until M3? Did they so desperately need a new Air at WWDC that it was worth not waiting for it? This timeline just doesn't make sense for so many reasons...
Click to expand...
Correct.

And above all, it comes down to return in investment: Apple has invested millions in the M2 15” Air, all the way from market research and r&d to the resulting production of several many thousands of units and the June 2023 launch.

You don’t invest millions in capital and labor for a product that you aim to sell for at least $1299 only to outdo yourself some three months later with the sequel to this product.

About 8-14 months between product launches is what we’ve seen for 13” Air and MacBooks Pro in the last 5 years, give and take. So expecting a new 15” Air sooner than Q2 2024 is illogical.

However, the M2 13” Air is currently in its 13th month since launch. So an M3 13” Air dropping in Q4 2023 is not too far fetched.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KaiFiMacFan
I suspect we’ll see the m3 in just the iMac this year due to the 3nm process being primarily used for the iPhone and iPads.

The iMac needs an update - the M1 launched in mid 2021.

It now seems to be one of apple’s lowest selling entry level computers and will not be getting even a pro chip anytime soon.

All of which which makes it the prime candidate to be first in line for the M3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: phillytim
JPack said:
Pretty sure people wanted an M3 Air, not a $1,599 product with M3.
Click to expand...
To me, the fact that they rolled out M3 is a small win no matter what device and price point.
This just tells me that in spring 2024, m3 Air 15 will drop and M2 air was current only for 9-11 months before being superseded thus showing that we hold on tight to M1 for good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mac mini power user and jdb8167
ctjack said:
To me, the fact that they rolled out M3 is a small win no matter what device and price point.
This just tells me that in spring 2024, m3 Air 15 will drop and M2 air was current only for 9-11 months before being superseded thus showing that we hold on tight to M1 for good.
Click to expand...
Do you think there will be (in Spring or Summer) only one (13") model of MacBook Air?
 
There is no incentive to release an M3 Air right now in either size

They wanna make their min $1599+ off the M3 base and let those sales gain traction for a while

The 15" came out in June. Even if there's been lots of sales, we don't know that sales have been poor for it that's speculative. Especially with the sale prices, sales are probably just fine
 
  • Like
Reactions: iLuddite
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back