Hannah Hopkins 
Dec 08, 2023
In a surprising move this year, Apple revamped its MacBook Pro lineup with the M3 variant, leaving MacBook Air enthusiasts yearning for a similar upgrade.
Fortunately, experts of the more budget-friendly Apple laptops won't need to wait too long into 2024 for an M3-powered MacBook Air, as indicated by a recent Bloomberg report.
Bringing M3 power to the masses
While the MacBook Pro range welcomed a new and more affordable M3 model earlier this year, affordability remains a subjective term in the MacBook Pro universe, starting at $1,599. For financially conscious consumers seeking Apple laptops without the need for extra power or the whirring of a fan, the wait for an M3-equipped option has been inevitable.
Though official confirmation awaits an announcement by Tim Cook and the Apple team, this leak stems from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, often considered the next best source after Apple itself. Gurman forecasts the launch by the end of March. Apple usually hosts a March event, but this year saw none, and the 2022 March event showcased no laptops. Unlike the predictability of the September arrival of the iPhone 16, Apple's MacBook schedule tends to be more unpredictable.
Despite the uncertainty, the timing aligns well with the late October debut of the MacBook Pro M3 models. Maintaining a roughly 6-month gap between the launches of the two lines, if Apple misses the March event, a probable delay to WWDC 2024 in June seems overly extended.
As per Gurman, substantial alterations aren't anticipated in the MacBook Air M3, suggesting a continuation of the 13.6-inch and 15.3-inch display options. The M3 delivered an approximate 20% boost to CPU performance and 15% to GPU compared to its predecessors, a trajectory we expect for the new Air models.
While the MacBook Air 13 M2 is overdue for an update (having launched in July 2022), this announcement may be a tad untimely for MacBook Air 15 M2 purchasers from June 2023. Nonetheless, considering the MacBook Air M1's resilience against several current Windows laptops, recent buyers of the Air 15 need not fret, it will undoubtedly remain an exceptional laptop for the foreseeable future.
