We’ve been hearing rumors of a new MacBook Air for a while, but some details about it remain unclear. 9to5Mac has just learned from independent sources that Apple is indeed working on a new generation of MacBook Air in two different sizes: 13 inches and 15 inches.
More than that, the company also plans to introduce an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro. What do these laptops have in common? They will be powered by the M3 chip.
New MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M3 chip
The news follows a Bloomberg Sunday report that MacBook Air updates are “imminent” and that at least one of the new models would have the M3 chip.
According 9to5Mac’s sources, the new 13-inch MacBook Air (codename J513) is already in the works with an M3 chip. It will be announced with an all-new 15-inch version (codenamed J515), which will also have the M3 chip.
In the past, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple may release 15-inch MacBook Air powered by M2 and M2 Pro chips early April.” However, our sources claim that the 15-inch model will receive the same entry-level M3 chip as the new 13-inch MacBook Air. The chip will have an 8-core processor, just like M1 and M2.
There is no evidence that versions of the new MacBook Air will be equipped with more powerful versions of the M3 chip, such as M3 Pro. But these aren’t the only new MacBooks Apple is working on.
9to5Mac learned that, just like last year, Apple also plans to refresh the 13-inch MacBook Pro with its latest Apple Silicon chip. Codenamed J504, the new entry-level MacBook Pro will also get the same 8-core M3 chip as the new MacBook Air. Last year, Apple even considered removing the “Pro” branding from this model, but the company seems to have abandoned that idea.
In 2022, both Bloomberg And 9to5Mac also reported that Apple would skip the M2 chip for the iMac. The company’s all-in-one desktop is expected to receive an updated model this year with the M3 chip.
When will the new Macs be announced?
It’s unclear at this point exactly when Apple plans to introduce all of these new Macs. However, Marc Gurman suggested that at least the new MacBook Air will be shown in June at WWDC. And since the 13-inch and 15-inch models will feature the M3 chip, it seems unlikely that Apple will announce new MacBooks in the first half of the year.
It’s worth noting that the M2 chip was announced at WWDC 2022 along with the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, so it won’t be surprising if Apple repeats the same formula this year.
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