My toddler decided it was time to end my old MPBs life so I had just ordered a refurbished M2 16 inch to replace it earlier this week before the event announcement. Arrives today!
Will be interesting to see the difference in the performance/price to see if it’s worth returning my purchase and ordering new…
Darn I was really hoping for updated MacBook Airs before the holiday. I dont necessarily need it right now as it’s just a want. I am debating on trading in my iMac for the M3 variant but again, it’s not a necessity it’s really just a want.
“The division represents about 10% of annual sales, making it bigger than the iPad and around the same size as Apple’s wearables lineup.”
And yet the most meaningful updates to macOS since Mojave have been macOS Tinsel (BigSur), macOS Confetti (Monterey), and macOS Glitz (Ventura) and the latest macOS Glam (Sonoma).
Having M3 chips powering macOS is like having Formula 1 car with 1000 horse power that’s limited to 30mph, a fixed 45 degree turning angle, tied to a trailer, and control switches that no longer do what you expect.
What a waste.
Well it seems I will have to wait a whole year before purchasing AirPods Max
If only they also update magic mouse with wireless charging 🙃
Time to upgrade from M1 Pro 32 gb to the m3 pro 64gb if possible.
Am hoping for new colours - unlikely but I dare to dream. Space grey was awesome in 2016 but it’s just so bland now
Super annoying. They release 2 iterations of these pros in 1 year, but we won’t have seen an updated 13” since 2022.
The talk of the different configs of the M3 pro/max chips is what intrigues me. One version of the M3 Pro chips with a 6+6 cpu with 18 gpu cores; another with a 10+4 cpu with 30 gpu cores. The most powerful Max chips with a 12+4 cpu with 40 freakin gpu cores!
Is Apple actually serious enough about its newfound gaming vision to make ARM-based hardware conducive to attracting PC gamers with notable titles, even if not AAA titles?
Are they really going to announce M3 Pro/Max products before or together with baseline M3 ones?
Together.
It says M3 Pro and Max Macbook Pros and a base variant M3 iMac.
I think iMacs aren’t expected to ever get the Pro or Max variants. They will rather upsell people to a Mac Mini/Mac Studio + Studio Display/Pro Display XDR.
Yeah, they really have said FU to professionals who like working on iMacs, and I won’t ever be buying an Apple display after using my i7 mini with a 70” tv (okay maybe I will one day when I’m not so poor)
I still can’t believe it’s only been 9 months since they released the M2 Pro. Madness.
Hope that we can get that 27” iMac pro with M3 Max, entry level/budget Macbook that uses that slim chassis that the M1 Air had. New APM with usb-c connection and updated case. I also wish we would get the Apple Cloth Pro in Space Gray for $29.99.
iMac ProTouch, with Apple MotionWrite (aka the pencil+) should be early 2024
Wasn’t it revealed SnapDragon chip is going to be better than Apple’s?
So, ‘Scary Fast, But Not as Fast as Snap Dragon.’
I’ve had a pair of Sony XM3 headphones since 2018. I love these headphones. 5 years later, the battery is shot. They used to have a 30 hour battery life. I’d estimate they have about 10 now. I was thinking of getting some AirPod Max headphones but I think I can drag these out another year.
My AirPods Max are less than two years old and are in pretty rough shape.
Meaning?
Oh that’s not good. These XM3’s have gotten almost daily use since I bought them. Especially since I started working from home from 2020 - I wear them the entire working day.
For those behind the paywall!
Here is everything that can be expected on Monday:
MacBook Pro:
High-end MacBook Pros codenamed J514 and J516. The machines will look nearly identical to current models, but will probably include speedier new M3 Pro and M3 Max processors.
The company has been testing multiple different versions of the M3 Pro processor. One baseline version in the works has 12 main processor cores, made up of six high-performance blocks and six high-efficiency cores. Generally speaking, the more cores you have, the more powerful the chip. The product also has 18 cores for processing graphics. That would be an increase of two main processing cores — known as CPU cores — and two graphics cores over the current model. Another M3 Pro chip seen in testing by developers has 14 main processing cores, including 10 for high performance and four for efficiency, and 30 graphics cores.
There are multiple versions of the M3 Max in testing, including a top-end version with 16 main processing cores — 12 for high performance and four for efficiency — and 40 graphics cores.
Apple has also tested updated configurations for memory, or RAM, including new 24-gigabyte and 48-gigabyte options.
While it’s unclear which chip configurations will ultimately ship, the components are likely to include improved gaming capabilities — similar to the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 chip.
iMac:
An updated iMac for the first time in more than 900 days — an unusually long stretch. But don’t expect a bold new design. Like the MacBook Pros, the iMacs will look nearly identical to the existing versions. The current iMac design was announced in April 2021 when the company shifted to the M1 chip.
The new 24-inch iMac — codenamed J433 and J434 — includes internal design changes and a revamped stand. The company has tested the machine in similar colors as the current models, but Apple could still change up the options at the unveiling.
Apple developed this new iMac with the M3 chip. In testing, the company has used versions with the same number of main processing cores as the M2: four for high performance and four for efficiency. But it has tried new graphics configurations, including a chip with 10 graphics cores.
As part of a broader shift to USB-C connectors, the company will likely roll out updated versions of accessories — including its trackpad, mouse and keyboard — that ditch the old Lightning ports.
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the iMac, which was one of the first products Steve Jobs introduced after returning to Apple in the late 1990s. The very first Mac, then called the Macintosh, debuted in early 1984.
Coming Later:
While the company has been working on a low-end MacBook Pro codenamed J504 with a base version of the M3 chip, that machine likely won’t appear Monday.
New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs with M3 chips — codenamed J613 and J615 — are also in development, but those aren’t scheduled for release until the first half of 2024.
Though Apple typically introduces updated iPads around the same time as Macs, the company isn’t planning to debut new tablets until the spring. It’s working on an iPad Pro with an M3 chip, in addition to refreshed versions of the iPad Air, iPad mini and entry-level iPad. The company also announced a cheaper Apple Pencil earlier this month.
AirPods won’t be updated again until next year. The company is working on new low-end models and AirPods Max headphones for late 2024. The AirPods Pro will get updated in 2025.
Legend 🔝
Thanks very much for this, much obliged.
Why should a MacBook Pro have better M3’s than the iMac? The fact that laptops are the powerhouses of Mac’s consumer level machines is annoying af… iMacs are my favorite devices ever :(
An M3 Ultra 32" iMac. I hope I win the lottery !!!
I like iMac too. I really want the colored 24” but with HDR and 120hz. Like a “Pro” but still the regular colors and shape…not the “Pro means no color” thing.
I’ve been waiting like 2 years for an iMac update. I guess I should have just bought the M1 but I hesitated.
Even before I only remember seeing iMacs on schools.
And I bet most schools aren’t updating their hardware so often. Students rarely take on projects you’d consider ambitious and big at schools that require powerful iMacs so it’s more of a learning tool.
This purely market-driven approach post-Jobs is lame. It goes hand in hand with the iOSification of macOS and the general incremental nature of their product line updates
Apple plays it safe, lets the industry innovate around it, etc. they have the best product ecosystem and if it weren’t for that and my complete lack of excitement for Windows, I’d be switching. And I still might, form factor/design innovation is what brought me to them in the first place
it always been the design for many, their OS and hardware simply destroys the competition.
TLDR and some extra stuff I added:
Monday:
-MacBook Pro 14"/16" with M3 Pro and M3 Max
-24" iMac with M3, new accessories that use USB-C rather than Lightining (hopefully not the same magic mouse design, please, Apple).
Later on:
-MacBook Pro 13" with M3, I would hope it’s not the same as the M2/M1 Pro? I like the touch bar but the design is being dragged on.
-MacBook Air 13"/15" with M3, 2024
-
New iPads, Spring 2024 at the earliest. iPad Pro with M3, refreshed Air (probably with M2), refreshed Mini (My guess, either with A16 or the rumored basic A18 in the iPhone 16/16 Plus)
-
New AirPods, Max in 2024, Pro in 2025.
The first iMac occurred 25 years ago back in August.
It makes me laugh how Apple totally forgot about the Mac Mini even though it was last released alongside the MacBook Pros
I mean they gave it the M2 Pro, it’s also the best value Mac and one of the best valued computers imo. I just think they aren’t in a rush to update it yet. They probably will with the next Studio and maybe the next Pro later in 2024/early 2025 if I had to guess.
I just bought an m2 pro mac mini last week and it’s within the return window, so I had my fingers crossed for an m3 pro refresh.
Yeah, I feel like the Mac Mini is not in dire need of an update. It’s on the latest Apple Silicon (M2). Even if M3 releases tomorrow, I don’t think the M2 will actually be outdated any time soon.
Thanks! Take my poor man’s award🏅🆙
TLDR: M3
Do we know anything about associated price drops on the existing models?
At this point the iMac is the only device with M1 still sold by Apple, and it’s customary for them to take high-end models out of the store when the successor is unveiled. They will all be taken out of sale.
Cheaper Pros would be awesome. The screen of the Pro with the slimness of the air is all I want. The pros are wayyyy too thick and heavy
So Apple is going to release an M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro and M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pro in the same year?
When was the last time Apple released the top end sku first? At least with the M chips they have always started with the base and released the Pro/Max chips later.
As someone who owns the M2 Pro MBP as of the last month…I’m a little upset
It’ll likely be incremental
I’d more expect the M3 iMac to be shown off first, and maybe even released first. Then the M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pros shown second at the event.
So technically they’re still showing the base sku first, but they’re all coming out at the same time this generation, which is new. M3 Ultra will probably be out mid/late 2024 though, if they’re doing another one.
Still seems strange to me. But will be interesting to see what M chips they continue to sell if this is the case.
Will they continue to sell M1 devices and if we see any price reduction on M2.
Or maybe they’ll drop M2 and sell M1 as the cheap version and M3 as the current model.
I think status quo will be kept until the rumored 12"/13" MacBooks that’ll replace the M1 Air. At most, insignificant price reductions of M2 Max and M2 Ultra models due to lower demand.
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but Apple could still change up the options at the unveiling
I find that line hilarious.
As if it wasn’t set in stone months before and all it took was Tim Apple to decide on launch day, let’s edit the video and add some new colors.
Bingo! This is classic tutti fruitti, phoney baloney, plastic banana, good time rock n roll Apple PR hype. These decisions have been locked-in for months but Apple PR has to pretend that Apple is SO bleeding edge that they are LITERALLY making these decisions up to the moment they press “Play.” Apple learned their lesson with the original HomePod - you need to have a clear, iterative upgrade path.
What Apple PR? This is Bloomberg, sharing rumors and half-made up theories, edited to sound more appealing and exciting and attract more readers and clicks.
They get much of their information from Apple PR and report it as “leaks.” Some people have to play their little games.
Who thinks the MacBook Pro 13 makes no sense ?
Apple has also tested updated configurations for memory, or RAM, including new 24-gigabyte and 48-gigabyte options.
I wonder if they’re finally upping the base RAM configs. M3 start at 16GB then upgrade to 32GB, M3 Pro 24GB then upgrade to 48GB.
I owned the original iMac in tangerine color. Maybe I should get one of these 25yr anniversary ones in tangerine. My current Mac mini is getting old.
With a base M3 I feel so slighted.
Why is it that apple silicon doesn’t have desktop and mobile chips in separate classes?
