The rumor mill’s buzzing with word of a new MacBook Air for a while, and according to a Bloomberg report on Sunday, updates to Apple’s ultralight notebook are “imminent” and that at least one of the new models would have the M3 chip.
According to sources close to the story, the new 13-inch MacBook Air (codenamed “J513”) is already in the works with an M3 chip. It will be announced along with a brand-new 15-inch version (codenamed “J515”), which will also have the M3 chip.
In the past, noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that Apple could release its 15-inch MacBook Air powered by the M2 and M2 Pro chips in “early April.” Updated news from the sources has indicated that the 15-inch model will get the same entry-level M3 chip as the new 13-inch MacBook Air. The chip will have an 8-core CPU just like M1 and M2.
While there’s no evidence that any of the new MacBook Air variants will be equipped with the more powerful versions of the M3 chip, such as the M3 Pro, Apple is also said to be working on a 13-inch MacBook Pro with its newest Apple Silicon chip. The chip, codenamed “J504,” will offer the new entry-level MacBook Pro the same 8-core M3 chip as the new MacBook Air.
It’s also been rumored that Apple might skip the M2 chip for the iMac, and offer an updated model this year with the M3 chip.
It’s unknown as to exactly when Apple plans to introduce these new Macs, although Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has suggested that at least the new MacBook Air will be introduced in June at WWDC. Given both the 13-inch and 15-inch models will feature the M3 chip, it seems unlikely that Apple will announce new MacBooks before its developer conference.
Even so, the M2 chip was announced at WWDC 2022 along with the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, so Apple may repeat the cycle again.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.