Apple is already making an M3 chip, though the M2 is still very new to the silicon block, according to a new rumor.
Given that this is a surprisingly early time to hear about the M3, be skeptical of this one, although that said, it comes from one of the most trusted Apple leakers out there; Mark Gurman.
In Gurman’s latest newsletter (published in Bloomberg (opens in new tab)), he mentions that Apple is working on the M3, which theoretically should be finalized and inside Macs as early as next year. Apparently, the M3 is destined to be the engine for an updated 13-inch MacBook Air, as well as a 15-inch MacBook Air, along with a new all-in-one iMac (it doesn’t specify model size), all which are reportedly scheduled to be released in 2023.
There’s also mention of a 12-inch MacBook (also recent rumors, as you may remember), but it’s much more tentative as the laptop is reportedly still very early on in the development schedule. Of course, this is all speculation, so we should be careful about how much weight to lend to any of these potential new Macs.
creative block (opens in new tab) adds to this report pointing to more rumors of the rumor that an M3 chip is in development that will use TSMC’s 3nm process (N3), shifting a 5nm gear (as used by the new M2 and original M1 for that matter) .
We know that TSMC is scheduled to ramp up volume production of 3nm chips in the last quarter of 2022, so this is in line with the 2023 deadline for the M3 to be ready and shipped to new Macs.
The theory from some time ago – see The Information (opens in new tab) – is that Apple is working on a trio of M3 chips, which will be the base SoC, in addition to the Pro and Max (or equivalent) versions, with the processors potentially having up to 40 cores (not the vanilla M3, of course, but the potatoes spicy fries).
Analysis: How likely is an M3 SoC to arrive anytime soon?
It looks like the new M3 could be seriously powerful and, being built in 3nm, it will offer some key advantages in terms of substantially improving not only performance but power efficiency as well. Exciting stuff, no doubt, when playing the guessing game of how much power the M2’s successor might boast.
So what can we expect from Apple as the next step towards its own silicon? After the M2, there will presumably be the M2 Pro and M2 Max (assuming the standard of M1 releases is adhered to), and so we can guess that these chips will be released in late 2022. Apple plans to release a bunch of Macs – models MacBooks, Mac Mini and Mac Pro – with the M2 chip driving them).
For the M3 to come out in 2023, we’re obviously looking at Apple leaving the M2 in just a year.
Could this happen? It seems early to hear about the M3 and expectations that the SoC will be ready to debut on multiple Macs next year. Even if this is Apple’s plan – and we’d be careful to put too much stock on this idea at this point – the company could still hit gremlins and delays, whether that’s with producing chips or actually making the actual devices come to fruition.
We would do well to remember all the hiccups that have recently plagued Apple in terms of lockdowns in China and MacBook production. And let’s not forget that the just-released MacBook Air (M2, 2022) was supposed to come out late last year – or at least, the Vine certainly believes it was Apple’s intention to trigger this redesign considerably sooner than it actually did.
Despite petty doubts, we certainly wouldn’t rule out the M3 for next year. And if Apple’s plan is to debut a new generation of its own silicon each year, this pace of development and successively faster processors will certainly not hurt sales of the Macs these SoCs are hitting. heart of.
Through Gizmodo (opens in new tab)