Apple is testing M3-powered Mac Mini, says Mark Gurman

The shift to Apple Silicon has proven to be a risky but successful decision for the Cupertino-based tech company as its new Macs have been well received by users. A 15-inch version of the M2 MacBook Air was unveiled at WWDC 2023 in June alongside other products such as M2 Ultra Mac Pro and Mac Studio and with it, Apple has finally transitioned from Intel processors to its proprietary chipsets. As per previous rumors, the company is also developing its next-generation M3 SoC and has started testing it on a new device.

M3-powered Mac Mini under testing

Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman, in his Power On newsletter, recently revealed that Apple is reportedly testing an M3-powered Mac Mini which could be part of the company’s M3 lineup. Gurman noted that the device being tested has an identifier Mac 15,12, and it is indeed a Mac Mini. While it won’t be launched this year, he claimed that it could see a 2024 release, alongside other Macs.

The device, which is currently under testing, is powered by an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, paired with 24GB RAM, and is running on macOS Sonoma 14.1. As per Gurman, the specifications are identical to the M2 Mac Mini except for the RAM size. Moving on to the release date, Gurman highlighted that Apple has seen a double-digit drop in revenues for the Mac in the fourth quarter this year and thus, doesn’t expect any M3-powered device to come out until at least until October.

M3 Macs: Expected launches

According to a previous Gurman newsletter, Apple is planning to introduce the M3 SoC starting with the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. However, the top-end MacBook Pros are not expected to make the jump at this time. The M3 chip could be on its way and we could see the new Macs in October, shortly after Apple’s Fall event.

However, the Mac Studio and Mac Pro are not expected to make the jump to M3 so soon considering they only received the M2 SoC upgrade in June. It is also likely that the iMac could also get a refresh for the first time since 2021.