Apple industry analyst Mong-Chi Kup says Apple’s next-generation M3 chip will go into mass production during the second half of 2023. In a tweet from earlier today, Kuo said M3 chip production will begin “slightly ahead” of the M3 Pro and M3 Max.
We’ll likely see the M3 chip used in future models of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, 13-inch MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 24-inch iMac. Meanwhile, the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips are likely to power the next generation of Apple’s 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, which are expected by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman hit shelves during the first half of 2024.
[Prediction update and revision]
1. The new 15" MacBook model should be named MacBook Air.
2. To reiterate, the upcoming 15" MacBook Air will feature the M2 series and offer two processor spec options. However, two options are more likely to be M2 with different cores (similar… https://t.co/Co4YJhbXO3— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) April 20, 2023
The M3 chip is expected to be fabricated by Apple chipmaking partner TSMC, using its latest 3nm process. The current M2 chip is fabricated using a 5nm process. The M3’s 3nm fabrication process should allow the chip to offer both performance and power usage improvements.
Kuo also tweeted today that Apple’s upcoming 15-inch MacBook Air will offer configurations that include two variants of the M2 chip. However, it will not offer a configuration option with the M2 Pro chip. The tweet was a revision of Kuo’s June 2022 forecast, in which he predicted that the much-rumored 15-inch MacBook Pro would be available with either the M2 or M2 Pro chip.
As for the M2 Ultra chip that is still expected to be on its way, it is rumored to power Apple’s upcoming Mac Pro desktop tower.
