Mac fans have many reasons to be excited about the M3 chip, which is said to bring better speed acceleration and longer battery life compared to the M2. But according to a new report, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see what the new chip can do.
According to Revegnus () on Twitter, the M3 chip for the iPad Pro and next-gen Macs won’t arrive until next year. Apparently, TSMC, which manufactures the chips, is currently unable to meet Apple’s request “due to performance issues”.
Revegnus is a “Tech Enthusiast, Semiconductor Geeks [stet]according to their Twitter bio, and disclosed other reports in the past that failed. Revegnus recently tweeted that Apple is working on a 14-inch iPad Pro with an M3 Pro chip for release in 2024.
In February, DigiTimes reported that Apple had ordered TSMC’s entire 3nm supply. Apple’s A17 Bionic chip, which will be used in the new iPhone 15 Pro, is said to be a 3nm chip, and since Apple’s iPhone cycle hits every fall quarter, Apple and TSMC are likely prioritizing manufacturing A17 Bionic compared to the M3.
The delay helps clarify the possible Mac release lineup for next year. A 15-inch MacBook Air has been announced, so it seems more likely to have an M2 or maybe an M2 Pro. The M2 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro were released nearly a year ago and will remain in the lineup until the M3 is released in 2024. The M2 Mac mini was just released in January and doesn’t need an immediate upgrade. The iMac M1, however, is in dire need of an upgrade – it will be almost three years old by the time the M3 is released.
As for the iPad, Apple upgraded the iPad Pro with the M2 in October 2022. It could be updated in 2024 not just with an M3, but a lineup shakeup and the introduction of the iPad Pro. 14-inch iPad Pro that Revegnus and others have reported.
Apple’s M3 could be the first chip in a personal computer to be made using the 3nm manufacturing process. The move to 3nm increases transistor density and is an improvement over the current enhanced 5nm process used with the M2. The M3 will offer more processing while having a lower power demand, which could result in performance increases beyond the typical year-over-year increase.
