Apple is working on MacBook Air and iMac with 3nm M3 chip

As reported by Apple Insider Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple is already working on the new generation of MacBook Air and iMac, which should receive the Apple M3 processor, built on a 3-nanometer process. And while it’s not yet clear when these two updated devices might hit the market, Gurman expects the M3 chip to arrive late this year or early next year.

Gurman first hinted at this last June when he noted that Apple was working on a 13-inch MacBook Air, a 15-inch MacBook Air, and a new iMac equipped with the M3. Then he added that the M3 chip could appear already this year, but so far this has not happened.

Instead, Apple added the new M2 Pro and M2 Max processors to the MacBook Pro line it announced earlier this month, as well as the M2 Pro chip in the Mac mini. These processors are based on the second-generation 5nm process, which is an improvement over the standard 5nm process in the M1 chips.

The upcoming M3 processor is expected to take it one step further. According to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which produces chips for Apple, the 3nm process can increase speed by 15% and reduce power consumption by 30% compared to the 5nm process. TSMC began mass production of 3nm chips at its factories in Taiwan last year, but the technology won’t appear at the manufacturer’s new Arizona plant until 2026.

The MacBook Air and iMac aren’t the only devices that could soon receive the M3 update. On the same day that Apple announced the new MacBook Pros, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the company may release another series of MacBook Pro models with the new 3nm M3 Pro and M3 Max processors in the first half of 2024. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see if these rumors come true, as well as Gurman’s prediction that Apple may release a touch-screen Mac in 2025.