With all M2 Macs announced, Apple is now preparing to reveal the first batch of M3 Macs. Later this year, the company is expected to unveil new MacBoook Air and MacBook Pro models with the M3 chip, as well as a new iteration of the 24-inch iMac.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman says Apple is testing another Mac with the M3 chip. It includes eight CPU cores, 10 graphic processor cores, and 24GB of memory. This machine runs macOS Sonoma 14.1, and Gurman believes it’s the next-generation Mac mini.
Codenamed Mac 15,12, this computer could be released by the holidays or the beginning of the year, depending on Apple’s plans regarding the macOS Sonoma update cycle. That said, although Apple is testing this M3 Mac mini with macOS Sonoma 14.1, I don’t think the company plans to unveil this machine that soon.
If you compare the previous Apple silicon releases, Apple first announced entry-level models, and a few months later, it unveiled a high-end MacBook Pro version with the MX Pro and MX Max processors. Since the company updated the 2023 Mac mini with both M2 and M2 Pro chips, it’s very unlikely that the firm will introduce an M3 Mac mini before announcing high-end MacBook Pro models.
That said, people shouldn’t expect this product before spring or summer during the WWDC 2024 keynote.
Currently, Gurman says Apple is working on six different Macs:
- M3 13-inch MacBook Air (codenamed Mac 15,1 and J513/J613)
- M3 15-inch MacBook Air (codenamed Mac 15,2 and J515/J615)
- M3 13-inch MacBook Pro (codenamed Mac 15,3 and J504)
- M3 iMac (codenamed Mac 15,4, Mac 15,5, J433 and J434)
- M3 Pro and M3 Max 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros (codenamed Mac 15,7, Mac 15,8, J514 and J516)
- Possible M3 Mac mini (codenamed Mac 15,12)
He expects the M3 Pro processor to reach 12 CPU cores and 18 graphics cores, while the M3 Max could reach 14 CPU cores and over 40 graphics cores. It’s unclear how powerful these chips will be, and even if Apple could be planning a new M3 Ultra or, who knows, the canceled M Extreme processor that could be available with a revamped Mac Pro.
BGR will keep following the latest rumors about future Mac updates, including the M3 Mac mini.
