Apple’s M3-powered 15-inch MacBook Air under development; know what to expect

The new 15-inch MacBook Air could get yet another upgrade as Apple is reportedly planning to launch an M3 version next year.

Watch Video

Apple introduced a new 15-inch, M2-powered MacBook Air at WWDC 2023, and another one could be on its way too. (Representative Image) (Unsplash)

Apple's WWDC 2023 was a Mac-fest with as many as 3 Macs being announced. The Cupertino-based tech giant launched a highly demanded 15-inch M2 MacBook Air along with M2 Ultra-powered Mac Pro and Mac Studio. However, many were left disappointed as the latest Apple Silicon chip, M3, was absent from the announcements. In his recent Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed that 3 new Macs powered by M3 SoC could arrive in October, including a 13-inch MacBook Air and iMac.

But where does that leave the 15-inch MacBook Air?

A week after Apple unveiled its new 15-inch MacBook Air, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman revealed important details about an M3 version of the same. In his Power On newsletter which came out on July 11, Gurman revealed that despite the 2023 MacBook Air being powered by M2 SoC, Apple is already developing an M3 variant and it could come out in 2024.

But how will it be different? While Apple Silicon's M2 chips are manufactured on a 5nm process, the M3 chips will be built on TSMC's 3nm process. This is not only expected to bring a performance boost to the 15-inch MacBook Air, but it would also improve the power efficiency. Gurman further claimed that the M3 Macs could have a similar number of GPUs and CPUs as the M2 SoC.

Not sure which
laptop to buy?

As of now, there have been no hints at the pricing of the M3 MacBook Air, but considering that the M2 version was introduced at $1299 in June, the M3 variant would be priced similarly, if not higher.

What about the iMac?

Talking about the iMac, Gurman reiterated that an M3 version could launch later this year, and it will have a similar design to the 2021 iMac. This has been corroborated in his latest newsletter that came out on July 16 which revealed that Apple is planning to introduce the M3 SoC starting with the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro in October, shortly after Apple's Fall event when the new iPhones will debut.