I want to get a new MacBook Air 13 inch. Mine is from 2018. The current one for sale is from last year (2022) and I would rather wait to buy a 2023 or 2024 MacBook Air 13 inch IF it's a possibility it would come out anytime soon. What do you all think? Historically, how often do MacBook Airs release?
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New 13 inch release with m3?
- Thread starter yogagirl10
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Historically, they've been refreshed every year to every eighteen months. The last releases have been in March, 2020 (last Intel release), November 2020 (M1), and June 2022 (M2). I personally expect the 13 with M3 to be released either as part of the first batch of M3 Macs this fall (along with the 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, and potentially the Mac mini), or as part of a second release in early 2024 (including the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and potentially the Mac mini). If your current machine can serve your needs until October or November, I'd wait until then. Elsewise, the M2 on a discount is a capable machine (even though I prefer a 16/512 config).
Super helpful! Thank you! Are MacBooks usually launched in September? I haven’t seen any “rumors” about them being launched this Fall.
There is, in fact, a rumor that a 13” M3 MBA is coming this fall.
See
https://me.mashable.com/tech/30273/apple-m3-macs-coming-this-fall-everything-you-need-to-know
and
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/07/22/top-stories-m3-macs-and-more/
(Same source for both stories.)
Given that possibility, and that you aren't in a rush, I think your're smart to hold off buying. You — and many others — could be happily surprised in just 6 to 10 weeks.
Yet, if not this Fall, most signs and people point to a Spring 2024 release of the M3 13” MBA. (March through June time frame.)
See
https://me.mashable.com/tech/30273/apple-m3-macs-coming-this-fall-everything-you-need-to-know
and
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/07/22/top-stories-m3-macs-and-more/
(Same source for both stories.)
Given that possibility, and that you aren't in a rush, I think your're smart to hold off buying. You — and many others — could be happily surprised in just 6 to 10 weeks.
Yet, if not this Fall, most signs and people point to a Spring 2024 release of the M3 13” MBA. (March through June time frame.)
You're welcome. They are traditionally launched as part of a Mac- and iPad-focused October event (or November, as was the case in 2020). September is reserved for iPhone and Apple Watch updates.
The 15" MBA kinda through a wrench in the schedule I think. It really depends if Apple is ok with either releasing a M3 13" MBA without upgrading the 15" MBA at the same time, or upgrading both this Fall to M3 and alienating the early 15" MBA adopters or just waiting until next year. Another wrench is the reports that the 15" MBA isn't selling as well as expected, so is that going to make them upgrade that earlier or not.
Yeah, I'm not really leaning towards either timing due to the release of the 15-inch. I totally agree with your arguments, releasing the 15-inch this late in the M2 product cycle feels kind of weird (then again, the Mac Studio was released in March of 2022, 15 months after the release of the first M1 Macs, and three months before the M2 was unveiled). I think it really depends on Apple's release strategy (not sure about the impact on this by the reportedly lacklustre sales of the 15-inch M2). It's clear that the M2, along with the A16, faced setbacks during their development in 2021-2022, having performance increase linearly with core count and clock frequency increases, but not really beyond that. Maybe M3 will mark a faster chip refresh schedule across the entire product line.