We're gonna wait for the M3 MBA for a long, LONG, time

[Kendo]

Look at the history from Pro iPhone and iPads to the non-Pro:

iPhone 15 Pro = A17 Pro
iPhone 15 = A16 (previous year chip)

iPad Pro = M2
iPad Air = M1 (previous year chip)

My guess is since the regular M3 is in the MacBook Pro, they will differentiate Macs similar to the way the regular iPhone and iPads have the last generation chip. This is pretty glaring in the iPad comparison. M2 will be in the Air for some time to come (especially considering 15" just came out in June with the M2 chip). M3 will stay with the MBP. When M4 hits the MBP, then the M3 will transition to the MBA a year from now.

 

[phillytim]

Probably.

 

[thadoggfather]

I think summer time, maybe late spring

 

[Saturn007]

Interesting prediction, but two years or two changes is not enough to establish a trend.

If anything, one could also make the case that Apple will want to juice lagging sales by bringing the M3 to the MBA line next year.

They've also managed awkward lineups for many years, with shake one's head, illogical overlaps in product specs and pricing, so why not continue the practice?!

Also worth noting that they brought the M1 and M2 to the MBA line first (save the 13” MBP), so this breaks that two change trend!

We'll see what happens next spring or summer.

 

[svish]

Expecting M3 Air between April and June 2024

 

[kiranmk2]

I would expect it around the time of year we got the M2 Pro/Max MBPs this year (late Jan or early Feb) and it will be via a press release (all the glossy presentations around M3 have been done and the MBA design won't change). Now the M3 is in the wild, Apple will want to update the MBA as soon as M3 chip yields/stocks allow to avoid the Osbourne effect, as a lot of potential buyers will likely hold off until the MBA has the current chip.

 

[James Godfrey]

Look at the history from Pro iPhone and iPads to the non-Pro:

iPhone 15 Pro = A17 Pro
iPhone 15 = A16 (previous year chip)

iPad Pro = M2
iPad Air = M1 (previous year chip)

My guess is since the regular M3 is in the MacBook Pro, they will differentiate Macs similar to the way the regular iPhone and iPads have the last generation chip. This is pretty glaring in the iPad comparison. M2 will be in the Air for some time to come (especially considering 15" just came out in June with the M2 chip). M3 will stay with the MBP. When M4 hits the MBP, then the M3 will transition to the MBA a year from now.

I have been saying this time and time again in this forum, Apple quite clearly have a new stance on what chip goes in what and all evidence point to their cheaper base line products running on older silicon for longer, the only line up that wasn’t doing that was their Mac line up.

We have to remember the first quarter of 2024 will be heavily focused on the M2 powered Vision Pro. They are not going to dampen that by releasing an M3 product around the same time.

If Apple really wanted M3 in the Air line up they would have waited until October and launched the M3 alongside the Pro’s, but they didn’t. It also explains why the Spooky event was weirdly only 30 minutes long also…

Something tells me that Apple purposely kept the Airs lagging, and I expect the M3 Airs to launch at WWDC or possibly even later.

 

[1BadManVan]

Very curious as to what their plan is for the air now that the m3 is available in the newer pro chassis. Still a market for the ultra light and portable laptop, so hopefully it still comes. May be slightly down clocked to still work being passively cooled, got a pretty big clock speed boost

 

[arcite]

Guys ... The base M3 is just not that much better than a base M2. It's marginal improvements! So... as ever, buy the mac you need today. Six months from now, there will be new macs, upgraded macs.

 

[1BadManVan]

Guys ... The base M3 is just not that much better than a base M2. It's marginal improvements! So... as ever, buy the mac you need today. Six months from now, there will be new macs, upgraded macs.

Yup, unless there is something specific that the current models can't do for you, there's no point to keep chasing the latest and greatest, these current Macs will still be good for several years as is!

 

[Deanster]

It’s also worth noting that the M2 MBA is arguably overqualified as an ‘Air’. It’s more than good enough to be most people’s only computer, and fast enough to be a workable laptop even for non-super-pro creatives, though it’s not going to knock their socks off.

There’s plenty of people who want more power than an M2 MBA offers, but a much smaller group that both needs MBP power levels and are willing to pay MBP pricing.

I assume the pattern will become as others have suggested, which will leave the MBA with M2’s for quite a while, they’ll maybe get M3 sometime mid-2024, with MBP’s presumably moving to M4 in late 2024 or early 2025.

 

[Jamacfer]

It’s also worth noting that the M2 MBA is arguably overqualified as an ‘Air’. It’s more than good enough to be most people’s only computer, and fast enough to be a workable laptop even for non-super-pro creatives, though it’s not going to knock their socks off.

There’s plenty of people who want more power than an M2 MBA offers, but a much smaller group that both needs MBP power levels and are willing to pay MBP pricing.

I assume the pattern will become as others have suggested, which will leave the MBA with M2’s for quite a while, they’ll maybe get M3 sometime mid-2024, with MBP’s presumably moving to M4 in late 2024 or early 2025.

I don't think so. It certainly won't take more than 2 years to update Apple's best-selling Mac...My guess is it will be updated in June at worst.