Given the scant time the iMac received at Apple’s Scary Fast presentation it’s highly probable that a MacBook Air with M3 will be announced via press release some Tuesday after mid-January 2024.
Meanwhile an Apple event in the spring seems more likely dedicated to iPads (and probably Vision Pro). MacBooks have made apparances in past spring events like the 12” MacBook. But in 2024 Apple might be rejiggering its iPad line up.
The iPad Air may come with M3 instead of M2. My rationale for this is the lack of iPad updates all year, rumors about the iPad Pros, and the recent release of M3. This same type of hunch in 2022 led me to believe we’d see a space black MacBook Pro in 2023. Looking back it seems really obvious holding the announcement in the evening was a cue for space black. The simultaneous announcement of the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max helped nix the 13" MacBook Pro M2. This seemed even more obvious! Oh the clues!!
So for iPads it seems like Apple is creating a line-up that resembles its approach to iPhones & MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro...
The next iPad Pro is supposedly getting an OLED display & will therefore be more expensive. It's also supposedly getting a more Macbook-like keyboard. Rumors have swirled recently about an iPad Air coming in 2 sizes. For these reasons my hunch is that the new Magic Keyboard is being designed to work on both the next iPad Air & iPad Pro models only. The choice will be similar to deciding between an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Plus or iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Following the iPads, WWDC will probably be the place for new high-end Mac gear: Mac Studio M3 Max & Ultra along with the Mac Pro. What are those rumored compute modules for anyway? 🤔 Something to chat with developers about...
Meanwhile an Apple event in the spring seems more likely dedicated to iPads (and probably Vision Pro). MacBooks have made apparances in past spring events like the 12” MacBook. But in 2024 Apple might be rejiggering its iPad line up.
The iPad Air may come with M3 instead of M2. My rationale for this is the lack of iPad updates all year, rumors about the iPad Pros, and the recent release of M3. This same type of hunch in 2022 led me to believe we’d see a space black MacBook Pro in 2023. Looking back it seems really obvious holding the announcement in the evening was a cue for space black. The simultaneous announcement of the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max helped nix the 13" MacBook Pro M2. This seemed even more obvious! Oh the clues!!
So for iPads it seems like Apple is creating a line-up that resembles its approach to iPhones & MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro...
| iPad Air | iPad Pro |
| M3 in same colors | M3 in silver or space black |
| 60Hz LED display now in 2 sizes: 11" & 12.9" | Slightly larger models with 120Hz Promotion OLED display |
| No HDR | HDR |
| 2 speakers | 4 speakers |
| USB 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| Max storage of 512 GB | Up to 2TB of storage |
| More RAM? |
The next iPad Pro is supposedly getting an OLED display & will therefore be more expensive. It's also supposedly getting a more Macbook-like keyboard. Rumors have swirled recently about an iPad Air coming in 2 sizes. For these reasons my hunch is that the new Magic Keyboard is being designed to work on both the next iPad Air & iPad Pro models only. The choice will be similar to deciding between an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Plus or iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Following the iPads, WWDC will probably be the place for new high-end Mac gear: Mac Studio M3 Max & Ultra along with the Mac Pro. What are those rumored compute modules for anyway? 🤔 Something to chat with developers about...