While we first expected the new M3 Macs to be unveiled in October, it seems not only Apple won’t hold another event this year, but it has delayed new product announcements for 2024.
In a Medium post, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple won’t introduce new products in 4Q23, which means rumored iPad and Mac models are still a few months away from being announced.
Kuo says that the lack of new Macs for the holiday season will make shipment momentum become significantly lower than in past peak seasons, and “the key to no new products is that Apple needs to clear inventory and reformulate new product and marketing strategies for 2024.”
The analyst says Apple faces a few challenges with its MacBook products due to “declining work-from-home demand and the potential waning consumer appeal of Apple’s silicon and miniLED.”
For the 15-inch MacBook Air, Kuo reports that the demand dropped significantly after the back-to-school period, with shipment forecasts revised downward by about 20% or more this year. In addition, MacBook shipments are expected to decline by approximately 30% YoY to about 17 million units in 2023.
Kuo says that Apple hopes the M3 processor will help boost MacBook shipments in 2024, but it depends on the strategy behind these releases. Recently, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman suggested that Apple might release high-end MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips before the base-model M3 Macs, as new MacBook Air models are late in development compared to these other computers.
That said, Apple is expected to unveil several new Macs in 2024, including a refresh to the 2021 iMac, in addition to Mac mini, Mac Studio, and other MacBook models.
BGR will keep following Apple’s latest rumors on new products.
