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When do you think M3 MacBook Airs will be out?
- Thread starter Bel Marduk
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I’m not sure I understand. Apple generally doesn’t stockpile parts. Why would they stockpile M2s for future products? They know when new M2 products are going to be released. They would time the manufacture of new M2s with those needs taking the lead-time for chip manufacturing into account.
They likely have bought in excess to get a better deal (cost per chip) on top of that Mac sales have dropped significantly since the pandemic so it’s likely they will have surplus due to that, plus we have had chip shortages which gives reason for Apple to ensure they have too many rather than too little in order to keep stock levels at an acceptable level.
I don't think they will wait until WWDC to release the new MacBook Airs. I'd expect them during the first quarter of 2024, approximately nine months after the release of the 15-inch M2. The 13-inch in particular is long overdue an update, so I don't expect Apple to go two years between MBA upgrades.
They're definitely not gonna offer 16gb and one up the now base 14" MacBook Pro 8gb config.
512 maybe.. but I'd prefer more ram if they were to choose to only bump up one.
I expect the M3 Air line up will retain the 8/256 config at base. They definitely won’t bump the RAM, now the pro still has 8GB, they may increase the memory to 512 but I really doubt it without a substantial price bump and I doubt Apple will want to increase the current attractive starting prices.
Voted for both March and WWDC because I suspect the reveal will be in between those, in April.
MBAs can make good graduation presents for kids going off to college. So give the kid an MBA at graduation in May/June, gives them a couple of months with it before they head off to college.
MBAs can make good graduation presents for kids going off to college. So give the kid an MBA at graduation in May/June, gives them a couple of months with it before they head off to college.
Didn't realize that the 8/512 was a standard retail offering.
Last month, I thought I spotted the 16/1 config at both BB and CC in all the colors. They were selling for $1650 at BB. I'm pretty sure I was even able to select a Starlight in a 16/1. (Alas, the Wayback Machine, archive.org, doesn’t include BB to check.) Now, however, I wonder if what I saw were the colors choices, but with certain RAM & SSD choices greyed out.
Best Buy is still selling the 16/1 config but, as you noted, only in Midnight. Makes me wonder if that color is selling more poorly than others (fingerprint & scratches) and Apple is providing it to retailers to clear excess inventory.
Thanks, in any case, for the gracious correction!
Glad you like it. I never understood the point of the thing. Bring back the 12" MacBook with two ports, M3 and a better keyboard.. and I'll be so happy.
I agree. I myself decided to stick with my intel 16" MBP a little longer even though I love the size of the 15" MBA and its enough computing power for my needs. I would love to replace my current machine but I decided to wait for the M3 MBA to do so.
I still have my little 12 laying around.. I loved that little machine. Unfortunately the screen got cracked and it wasn't worth it to replace it... But I've found use for it connected to a monitor in my son's room. He's only 9 so its perfect for his needs which is mostly homework in google classroom and roblox.
And, you'd be right according to most of the reports that have come out!
Their similarity in speed and Apple's assertion they have identical battery life for browsing have been enough to make many of us happy to buy an M2 now rather than wait for the M3 and many others even more content with their current M2s.
They need to update the Air quickly. A decent chunk of potential customers will now be waiting for the M3 versions after the MBP launches and another decent chunk of potential customers will ask their techie friend and be told to wait for the M3 versions. I suspect the only thing holding back a lunch is the lack of M3 chips. My guess is that the M3 chips for the Air come from the newer 3 nm process N3E at TSMC (with higher yields). I believe high volume manufacture of that process was scheduled for last quarter, meaning new products in Q1 of 2024 are likely.
Also, no way this gets an event to itself. If it hitches a ride with the Vision Pro then maybe, otherwise I predict a press release: the design and M3 chip details have already been presented (same for the next Mac Mini). The only Mac event left this generation is likely to be the Mac Studio/Pro and M3 Ultra chip. Potentially I can also see the M3 MBPs getting a bump at WWDC (e.g. M3 chips using the N3E process with additional CPU/GPU cores due to improved yields / less binned chips).
Also, no way this gets an event to itself. If it hitches a ride with the Vision Pro then maybe, otherwise I predict a press release: the design and M3 chip details have already been presented (same for the next Mac Mini). The only Mac event left this generation is likely to be the Mac Studio/Pro and M3 Ultra chip. Potentially I can also see the M3 MBPs getting a bump at WWDC (e.g. M3 chips using the N3E process with additional CPU/GPU cores due to improved yields / less binned chips).
Not read anywhere, just applying common sense!
Apple's introduction of the new black color “Space Black” for its MacBook Pro laptops — and touting their fingerprint resistant coating — means they are NOT likely to continue using the roundly criticized Midnight finish on any new MacBook Air.
Add in the reality that Apple is making custom configurations (e.g., 16GB-1TB) of the MacBook Air available to third party retailers for Black Friday, but only in Midnight, suggests they have excess inventory and are trying to unload them.
They, thus, recognize the disaster the Midnight finish was in the market, have developed a solution, and will want to apply it going forward, especially with any future models.
Note: This doesn’t mean that many have no issues with Midnight — still like the color, aren't bothered by fingerprints, or don’t have or aren’t bothered by the port scratch problem. I'm not trying to resurrect that debate.
My point isn’t about how bad or irrelevant that problem was, but Apple's response and its developing the new Space Black color and finish and touting its resistance to fingerprints.
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P.S. In posting in another thread, I realized there is a possibility that Apple could start applying its new anti-fingerprint coating to the Midnight color. That is, if they are compatible. So, there is that! (Glad I could point out this obvious objection before anyone else did! 😁)
My suspicion, though, is that Apple would still rather avoid the controversy or confusion that would come with continuing Midnight. OTOH, look at how long they kept the butterfly keyboard!
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I'm thinking WWDC. So they can get it out in time for "back to school" campaigns. Sure, it could come earlier, but the main problem seem to be that the M3 chip is expensive to produce and have in a laptop that needs to start close to the current $1099 mark. The longer they wait the better this situation probably becomes.
N3B designs are not compatible with N3E so that would mean additional R&D being spent moving to that node, negating some of the benefit. N3P would be a better choice but is further away. It's possible that N3B with time just gets good enough yields to get down the costs of the M3 to an OK level.
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