Mac Trade-In Changes May Indicate New Model to Launch This Month

[kiranmk2]

My guess is that M3 Macs were supposed to come this Autumn (likely MBA, 13" MBP and iMac). It's possible that with TSMC's yield issues on the first gen 3 nm line, all the capacity had to be directed to the A17 Pro and the M3 launch got pushed back to 2024 when the 2nd gen 3 nm line is churning out the chips. If that is the case, Apple may have decided to push a previously unplanned M2 iMac out of the door (and then delay an M3 iMac until the 3 nm supply has stabilised). As pointed out, there is no reason that an M2 iMac couldn't have launched alongside the M2 Mac Mini earlier this year.

 

[trip1ex]

I don’t get the correlation between releasing new Macs and starting to accept trade ins of recently released models.

Can’t it just mean they are going to accept trades of the 15” MBA etc?

 

[BeatCrazy]

The real question, at least for me, is whether the new M3 family of SoC will be manufactured on the N3B or the N3E process. If this clues are true and new M3 Macs are around the corner, then yes, it will be manufactured on the N3B process, most likely. If so, I’ll probably wait until the N3E based M4, but that’s just me.

Maybe neither? Since M3 is expected to be based on the A16, it could actually use 5nm N4 node.

 

[ryeclift]

Waiting for the M3 to upgrade my 2012 Mac mini. I’ll take a laptop or a new mini.

Edit: Not that anyone cares.

Woah, 2012. I've got the itch to upgrade my 2018 mini and move on from intel. Im fairly sure next year the intel machines will not get future OS upgrades.

 

[corinthos]

M3 is the place to be.

 

[match14]

I know this is about Macs but is there any changes to iPhone trade in prices in the pipeline?

 

[SactoGuy18]

I think the M3 24" is coming in a few weeks. Possibly even a new 24" model with the M3 Pro SoC, too.

 

[amarcus]

The real question, at least for me, is whether the new M3 family of SoC will be manufactured on the N3B or the N3E process. If this clues are true and new M3 Macs are around the corner, then yes, it will be manufactured on the N3B process, most likely. If so, I’ll probably wait until the N3E based M4, but that’s just me.

I don’t think N3B has the capacity for the iPhone 15 Pro and a complete family of M3 products (iPad Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and potentially a new iMac). My guess is we‘ll see M3 on N3E next year, and if these leaks are true, expect an M2 iMac update which would also fit with the rumors of color matched USB cables which everyone wrongly assumed was going to be for the new iPhones.

 

[Populus]

Maybe neither? Since M3 is expected to be based on the A16, it could actually use 5nm N4 node.

Indeed, that’s another possibility. And, in that case, we could still see some interesting improvements. We’ll see.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Woah, 2012. I've got the itch to upgrade my 2018 mini and move on from intel. Im fairly sure next year the intel machines will not get future OS upgrades.

We might get one more year of macOS to support the 7,1 Mac Pros, and the last round of 16" Intel MacBook Pros. But everything else Intel (Mac minis, Airs, iMacs) will end with Sonoma.

 

[Kendo]

I still think updating the 13" Air and not the 15" Air would be a bizarre decision on their part (and thus evidence that it's not happening).

Hoping for them to update the 15" Air because I'm waiting for the M3 version. It would be bizarre for them not to upgrade the 15" at the same time it would also be super bizarre if they did upgrade both of them to the M3 since the 15" just came out a few months ago.

 

[0339327]

I would love to see Apple update the following:

M3 iMac with 27-inch display
M3 MacBook Air / Pro
iPad with USB-C

A usable Mac Pro with 1.5 TB of ram, third-party GPU support and with a side-access door like the G5.

 

[IG88]

Maybe neither? Since M3 is expected to be based on the A16, it could actually use 5nm N4 node.

Who expects M3 to not be 3nm?

 

[ryeclift]

I have a lot of Intel Macs from the last decade. They're hot, not very fast for single-threaded tasks and basically fail in comparison to every Mx product for average-user tasks.

"They're hot" is an understatement. The 2018 Intel Mac mini is like an oven. I think I can probably fry an egg on it.

 

[sack_peak]

If a 3nm M3 comes out this month I'd be surprised, amazed and glad to be wrong about its Q1 2024 release.

It would make my day if it is a iMac 30" 5.5K or 32" 6K with M3 ($1,799 to $1,999), M3 Pro ($2,299 to $2,799) M3 Max ($2,499 to $3,199) or M3 Ultra ($4,999 to $7,399).

 

[thadoggfather]

Hoping for them to update the 15" Air because I'm waiting for the M3 version. It would be bizarre for them not to upgrade the 15" at the same time it would also be super bizarre if they did upgrade both of them to the M3 since the 15" just came out a few months ago.

I feel like it will not come out this month.

M2 15" Air just came out 3.5 months ago (June 13th)

 

[Nautilus007]

I don't think they would do a product release for a new laptop processor (m3) without an event....

 

[BeatCrazy]

Who expects M3 to not be 3nm?

Me. 🙂

 

[ccsicecoke]

Is M4 there yet? I want M4

 

[valanchan]

With the push into games, a consumer-targeted Mac would be friendly in a Mac Mini or iMac form.

 

[Benjamin61181]

My Late 2017 iMac is running on its last leg and i‘ve been waiting on the iMac refresh for over a year now. Come on Apple, give me that M3 (Pro) iMac with USB-C accessories.

 

[JensenKA]

In the market for a Mac Mini; guess I should just wait it out for a M3 at this point.

 

[Chuckeee]

So why rush for an October release? To get product on the shelves for Christmas. For Apple, I would think that would be themost consumer oriented products. This probably implies something that is not a high priority for most of the MacRumors’ participants.
AirPods are still fresh so that it is probably not likely.
An iPad Air is a likely candidate.
Possibly an update 24” iMac.
An MacBook Air is probably unlikely since it would probably need to be released with a MacBook Pro
A Mac mini is unlikely since I believe future mac mini updates will be coordinated with Mac mini pro updates

 

[Royksöpp]

The only Mac that is truly deserving of an upgrade is the iMac. That poor computer has been neglected.

 

[tipoo]

I hope that forum discussion was correct and A17 being lacking in a phone but seemingly designed for higher frequency efficiency as a mac would better take advantage of is right, and M3 is a greater gain than A17 vs A16

I hope being on N3E gave it extra time on architecture design work too, and this debuts an even newer CPU core where A17 was sort of midway on N3B and with slim IPC gains to be seen