According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is preparing a new batch of Macs for release “between late spring and summer.”
The most significant of the three will be the 15-inch MacBook Air, but the new Mac Pro update will complete the Mac’s transition from Intel processors and AMD GPUs to Apple Silicon, and there could also be a new 13-inch MacBook Air. Apple is also reportedly planning a new 24-inch iMac that could be the first of its Macs to use the next generation M3 chip.
The 15-inch MacBook Air will be a new product category for Apple: a large-screen laptop that costs less than a MacBook Pro. Apple’s consumer-facing laptops, from the old PowerPC iBook to the first Intel MacBooks and the current MacBook Air, range in size from 11 to 13 inches. The 15″to 17″PowerBook and MacBook Pro models have always required higher CPU and GPU power, driving up the price; the cheapest MacBook Air deals start at $999, while the cheapest 16-inch MacBook Pro is $2,499.
There’s plenty of room in Apple’s lineup for a model between these two extremes for people who want to fit more on the screen at the same time, or who need text and images to be larger so they’re easier to see.
Gurman’s report provides few details about the new 13-inch MacBook Air other than the fact that it exists. It could have been a new model with an M3 chip, although the M2 only came out in July and the gap between the M1 and M2 Air was closer to a year and a half. It could also be a $999 M2-flavoured upgrade to the non-cutout MacBook Air in the vein of the M2 version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
But Gurman seems more confident that the new iMac will include the M3, given that “Apple developed the next iMac at the same time as the M3 chip.”This new iMac will look the same as the current M1 model, from the 24-inch screen to the available color options, but “some of its internals”will be “relocated and redesigned.”
The new iMac is “at an advanced stage of development”and will likely launch in the second half of 2023. Those still waiting for a replacement for their long gone 27-inch iMac will have to wait; Gurman has previously said that Apple is still working on a larger iMac, but this report only mentions the 24-inch model.
As for the Mac Pro, there are no new details other than a possible spring/summer release schedule. Apple has already missed the two-year transition deadline set for the Apple Silicon Mac back in 2020, but plans for the new Mac Pro have reportedly changed as it was developed. It was originally supposed to have Apple’s unique, ultra-high performance Silicon chip, but those plans have been scrapped and Gurman says the version we’ll likely get will be based on the M2 Ultra, the successor to the M1 Ultra. on your Mac Studio desktop.
While the new Mac Pro is said to include user-upgradable storage space, Apple’s tightly integrated Silicon chip design makes the use of external graphics cards and upgradeable RAM far less likely. Apple may be skipping the M2 update for Mac Studio to give the new Mac Pro more reason to exist.