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Apple M3 processor soon available for MacBooks and iPads
The Apple M3 chip hasn't been officially announced yet, but sources claim it could be available as early as late 2023 or early next. The (unofficial) data revealed so far suggests that the M3 chip will bring a big leap in power and efficiency to future Apple computers. But since Apple hasn't said anything publicly yet, it's best to take everything we've heard with a grain of salt.
It was initially suggested that Apple's devices with the M3 chip could be seen as early as October, namely the 13-inch MacBook Air and the similarly sized MacBook Pro. This prediction immediately seemed very optimistic, and now the rumors are leaning more towards a release date towards the end of the year. The reason for postponing the release of the new chip and devices is said to be of external origin. TSMC, a Taiwanese chipmaker with which Apple works closely, is said to be unable to produce large enough quantities of the new M3 chip for Apple to go into mass sale.
However, Apple has long been reported to be testing third-party software on Macs with the M3 chip to ensure software compatibility with the company's ecosystem. The M3 chip is said to operate on TSMC's 3nm architecture and is the first of its kind in the world. In theory, this should mean a concrete leap in capacity and, above all, efficiency compared to predecessors and competition, which is currently based on 5nm architecture.
Unofficial sources claim that Apple has tested a version of the M3 Pro chip with 12 processor cores, 18 graphics cores and 36GB of system memory. The processor is said to have 6 powerful and 6 energy-efficient cores. In all likelihood, this is the chip that will be inserted into the MacBook Pro notebooks with the also announced macOS 14. For comparison: the M2 Pro has 10 processor cores, 16 graphics cores and 16 GB of system memory (RAM).
They are also testing the M3 Max with a 16-core processor core, including 12 high-performance cores. An Ultra version is also said to be in preparation, namely with as many as 80 graphics cores (the predecessor has 64 GPU cores).
Apple's devices with M2 chips have brought decent upgrades over the M1. The biggest leap was when Apple broke off its collaboration with Intel. In all likelihood, the M3 won't make the same class leap, but the upgrade will be noticeable. Will it be noticeable enough to improve sales of Apple devices? In the last quarter, the company experienced a 30 % drop in sales.
