With the transition of Macs to Apple Silicon, Apple’s computers have gotten much attention. Apple fans were thrilled with the performance and overall capabilities, translated into great sales. 

At the same time, the Cupertino company hit a great time. The world was plagued by the global pandemic of Covid-19, which left people in need of quality devices to work from home. 

And that’s where Apple’s Silicon Macs dominated, with not only great performance but also energy efficiency. Now, however, the situation has relatively turned around. 

The latest reports show that the numbers have dropped significantly, by as much as 40%, which is even worse than some competing brands. The only clear thing from this is that Mac sales are simply falling. 

But salvation may be literally around the corner. There has been talking about a new generation of Apple Silicon chipsets, which could significantly shake up popularity again.

M3 is an important step for Macs

As we have already hinted above, new Macs powered by M3 series chipsets should be around the corner and by all accounts, we have something to look forward to. Before we get to them, though, mentioning one critical piece of information is essential. 

Because as time went on, the current M2 chips were most likely to look completely different. However, since the Cupertino company didn’t quite go according to plan, it had to push the chipset out and fill its place — that’s how the M2 series came to be, and while it did get a slight improvement, the truth is that fans were expecting something more. 

So the original M2 chip concept has been pushed back and will eventually be called the M3. This brings us to the most important part. Apple is planning major improvements that could take the entire Apple portfolio several steps forward. 

That major change is the deployment of a 3nm manufacturing process, which could have a noticeable impact on performance and overall efficiency. The current Apple Silicon family chipsets are built on a 5nm manufacturing process. 

This is where the fundamental change is supposed to lie. A smaller manufacturing process means significantly more transistors can fit on the board, affecting performance and efficiency. 

These fundamental advantages were supposed to come with the M2 Macs, but as we mentioned above, Apple had to move the original concept to the final stages.

Gurman: Upcoming 15″ MacBook Air gets a year-old processor

That Apple is preparing to unveil its biggest MacBook Air to date to the world at this year’s WWDC has been no secret for a few months. What is a secret, however, is the chip that will power the new machine, as analysts and lackeys alike can’t yet agree on whether it will be the year-old M2 or the brand new entry-level Apple SIlicon in the form of the M3, which will outperform last year’s generation. 

However, according to new information from Bloomberg’s very knowledgeable reporter Mark Gurman, it looks like the former, the M2. In his latest report, Gurman reported that the new MacBook Air has started appearing in App Store logs, making it a de facto confirmation from Apple.

The logs then list a chip with the same specifications as the M2, so it will likely be just that, or at most a slightly modified version without the changed number of CPU and GPU cores. Regarding core counts, deploying the M3 is very unlikely, as Apple is used to increasing core counts. 

As for the other details that have emerged in the logs, we know, for example, that Apple refers to the new Macbook with the identifier Mac15.3 or that it runs macOS 14, however, we’ll probably find out everything in half a month at the WWDC opening keynote.

Apple wants to unveil its next-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro soon

The design of Macbooks generally doesn’t change much. However, in the case of the 13″ MacBook Pro, Apple hasn’t intervened in the design since 2016, which has led many to speculate that the Apple company is no longer counting on it in its portfolio for the future. 

However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently stated that this laptop would not only remain a part of Apple’s lineup but that we can expect the arrival of an updated model along with other new Macs. For now, no details are known about the next 13″ MacBook Pro, so it remains to be seen whether the machine will see any external design changes or remain the last Mac Apple sells with Touch Bar. 

The Cupertino giant last updated this laptop at WWDC last June, when it got a new M2 chip and support for high-impedance headphones. Previous information suggested that Apple’s M3 chip would power the next 13″ MacBook Pro, but the company hasn’t announced that yet. 

So at the moment, it’s unclear when the laptop could hit the market, but it can be assumed that it could happen later this year. Gurman also said that Apple is working on a larger 15″ MacBook Air equipped with a processor matching the M2 chip, a new version of the 13″ MacBook Air, a new 24″ iMac and the long-awaited Mac Pro.

This is the last one that doesn’t feature any of Apple’s chips yet, and as the flagship among Apple’s computers, it certainly deserves it. Shortly, Gurman expects to see 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, which could launch in the first half of 2024.

Conclusion

According to the latest leaks, I understand what will happen, i.e., the MacBook Air 15″ will come with a year-old chipset. It’s necessary to ensure Apple doesn’t completely kill the Macs and MacBook Pro series sales, as it likely happened with the previous Apple Mac Studio train. 

Overall, leaks have been very wild lately, and it seems to me like Apple’s intention when they evaluate based on information gained from observing their potential users’ reactions to leaks. I don’t dare to say anymore when what will be introduced because Apple has burned everyone’s pond this year.

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