Apple is developing new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air models with M3 chips, with a refreshed MacBook Pro also in the works, according to the 9to5Mac report.
A Bloomberg report suggested the imminent release of new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M3 chip. According to 9to5Mac’s sources, the new 13-inch MacBook Air (codenamed J513) and a 15-inch version (codenamed J515) will both have the M3 chip.
Upcoming MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M3 chip
Ming-Chi Kuo predicted the 15-inch model would be released in “early April” with M2/M2 Pro chips, but sources say the 15-inch model will have the same entry-level M3 chip as the 13-inch. The chip will feature an 8-core CPU like the M1 and M2.
The M3 Pro chip won’t be featured in the new MacBook Air. However, Apple has other plans for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which will receive the 8-core M3 chip, codenamed J504. Apple considered dropping the “Pro” title last year, but seems to have abandoned the idea.
Expected release date
In 2022, Apple was reported to be skipping the M2 chip for their iMac desktop. This year, they are expected to launch an updated model with the M3 chip. It’s unclear when Apple will introduce the new Macs, but Mark Gurman suggests that the new MacBook Air could be announced in June at WWDC.
Given that both the 13-inch and 15-inch models will have the M3 chip, it is likely that Apple will introduce the new MacBooks at the developer conference. Recalling that the M2 chip was announced at WWDC 2022 for the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, it wouldn’t be surprising if Apple follows the same pattern this year.