Breaking News: Here’s What You Need to Know about Apple’s M3 Chip

Not even Apple expected it: the transition from Intel to Apple Silicon was such a success for the company that it led to a 40% growth in Mac sales during 2022. At this point, all that’s left is to ponder what Apple has planned for the future.

iOS 16 DOWNLOAD

As of today, if you decide to purchase a Mac (whether it’s a MacBook Air, Pro, or Mac Mini), you will see that the most current processors belong to the M2 series. These chipsets offer incredible performance and are suitable for both everyday use and professional tasks. However, what will be Apple’s next step?

If we follow the logic, the next chip that Apple should introduce would be the M3 (similar to the transition from M1 to M2). While we have more questions than answers at this point, there are already some clues about what the future M3 chip might entail.

Great power and lower consumption: everything we didn’t have with the M2

The veil of secrecy surrounding Apple’s actions makes it difficult to predict how they will act. We can only speculate on what might happen. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t know any details.

Some of these details suggest that the jump in power with the M3 will be much more significant than what we saw in the previous generation. Consequently, it is also logical to expect improvements in performance and energy consumption. While the M2 represented a leap in quality compared to the M1, it was not something revolutionary. So basically, the M3 is shaping up to be the improvement we didn’t quite get with the M2. At least, that’s how Mark Gurman describes it for Bloomberg.

Release date and price?

The rumored release of the M3 chip in the speculated new 15-inch MacBook Air has generated much anticipation. However, Apple has not provided any official confirmation regarding the release date or pricing of the M3 chip. Based on rumors and analyst predictions, it is expected that the first Macs with the M3 chip will be unveiled in the fall of 2023. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that production of these chips would begin in the middle of the year.

Additionally, Gurman suggests that the 24-inch iMac may be the first to feature the M3 chip. Currently, the iMac is sold with the M1 chip, and there is no information about the M2 chip. The timing of these releases is uncertain, but Gurman points to late 2023 or early 2024 as a possible timeframe. It’s important to note that these dates are based on speculation and should be taken with caution until official announcements are made by Apple.

As for pricing, current indications suggest that the prices will remain unchanged (unlike the iPhone 15 Pro, for example). However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a slight price increase considering the current economic situation and inflation.

The most significant aspect is that these Mac chips would be the first to be manufactured using TSMC’s 3nm process. Some reports suggest that Apple may skip this process entirely and instead utilize the new N3E process, but only time will tell. If the latter turns out to be true, the power efficiency of the M3 chips would be even greater, resulting in longer battery life for MacBook models.

Regarding performance, some expect the M3 chips to potentially reach up to 40 CPU cores. To put it into perspective, the M2 Max currently has 12 CPU cores, and the M1 Ultra (Apple’s most powerful chip to date) has 20 CPU cores.

iOS 16 DOWNLOAD

Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.