June was a very good calendar month for the Mac . Not only did we get to see thenext reading of macOS in Sonoma , but we also got a new15 - in MacBook Air that ’ll be a hit , aMac Studio update , the M2 Ultra microprocessor chip , and to top it all off , we in the end acquire anew Apple Si Mac Pro .
That ’s a whole lot of Mac goodness , which is great because they might need to hold us over for a while . Based on projected chip production schedules and the current Department of State of the Mac card , it ’s very possible that the only Mac news we ’re fit to get between now and the first few months of 2024 is the release of macOS Sonoma .
That think of no more Mac hardware , likely for the next six to eight month and possible even longer . But there ’s a mint to look forrard to , a change that could start another great undulation of Mac liberation .
The 24-inch iMac is more than two years old but it’s not expected to get an update until the M3 processor arrives.
The M3 cometh
Apple ’s Ultra flake in its M - series is the company ’s top - of - the - line processor , and the latest Ultra was just released as the M2 Ultra in the Mac Studio and Mac Pro . TheM2lineup is now set as Apple is n’t expected to let go of an M2 chip intimately than the Ultra .
The next contemporaries of M - series chips commence with the M3 , and reports have said that theM3 could have a big impingement on the Mac . The M3 will be made using the 3 - millimicron manufacturing process , which is a change from the current enhanced 5 nm mental process used with the M2 series and the stock 5 nm process in theM1 . The 3 nanometer process allow for a higher transistor denseness in the chip and that means a boost in performance and efficiency .
In 2020 , we were all muff away by the amphetamine increment that we pick up when Apple first released the M1 in the13 - inch MacBook Air,13 - inch MacBook Pro , andMac mini . In some benchmarks , we saw improvements between 50 and 90 percentage over the Intel processors they replaced . And on the laptops , the battery life improved not just by several proceedings , but by several hours .
The 24-inch iMac is more than two years old but it’s not expected to get an update until the M3 processor arrives.
We almost certainly wo n’t see carrying out hike that are as big as they were in 2020 , but they could be more than the 25 percent we often see in generational turns . It can also mean better power efficiency , which means even better stamp battery spirit .
How long do we have to wait?
TSMC , the company that manufacture Apple ’s chips , reportedly wasunable to meet Apple ’s output demands for the M3and wo n’t be capable to provide it until 2024 . output anteriority goes to theA17 Bionic , which is rumored to be Apple ’s very first 3 nm chip and will be used in theiPhone 15 Prothis fall . With that in judgment , plus somerecent reporting by Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman , we can figure out when Apple will release the M3 serial of Macs .
The 24 - in iMac is more than two twelvemonth quondam but it ’s not wait to get an update until the M3 C.P.U. arrives .
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
The Mac mini only recently got its M2 update, so it’s unlikely to get another refresh until 2024 at the earliest.
Thecurrent iMacis one of two Macs that still have the M1 , and it will be nearly three year old by the first quarter of 2024 . It ’s overdue for an update . allot to Gurman , Apple isplanning to do more than just update the iMac with an M3 . Apple is working on an iMac with a screen large than 30 inches – other specs for this machine are n’t allow . If Apple updates the 24 - in iMac with an M3 , the ship’s company could apply an M3 Pro in the larger good example and call it the new iMac Pro . Gurman say Apple will update the iMac lineup in later 2023 or other 2024 with an M3 splintering , thus making it the only Mac to skip the M2 entirely .
The MacBook Air could get update in other 2024 , as well . The13 - inch modelwill be well-nigh two year sometime by then , and while the 15 - column inch model was just released , it ’s not unheard of for Apple to upgrade a Mac less than a twelvemonth after its launching . Apple will want to put its marketing emphasis on the extended shelling lifetime of the M3 . Apple also currently extend a $ 999 M1 MacBook Air , but since it fills the part as the sub-$1,000 model in the Mac card it ’ll either remain or be supplant with the M2 exemplar , which currently be $ 1,099 .
Then there ’s the 13 - column inch MacBook Pro . We assumed it would go aside now that the 15 - inch MacBook Pro is here , but Gurman describe that Apple has an M3 rise in the whole kit . If Apple does decide to go through with this laptop , it will likely send at the same this as the M3 MacBook Air .
The Mac mini only late got its M2 update , so it ’s unlikely to get another refresh until 2024 at the earliest .
After the M3 is introduce , we ’ll fall down into the upgrade cycle again , with M3 Pro / Max updates to the 14- and 16 - inch MacBook Pro fall out in the 2d one-half of 2024 . Perhaps the Mac Studio update to the M3 Max and Ultra and an M3 Ultra Mac Pro update wo n’t chance until early 2025 .
Whatever Apple does , we ’re in for a letup before another wave of Mac developments . So if you ’re sitting there in the latter part of this year , toddling around with macOS Sonoma and wondering what ’s the batch with Mac hardware , just think back that good times are ahead .
