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M3 Apple Silicon Chip: What We Know So Far?

Updated on Wednesday, January 3, 2024

iBoysoft author Vain Rowe

Written by

Vain Rowe
Professional tech editor

Approved by

Jessica Shee

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M3 Apple Silicon Chip: What New Features Come With?

Summary: Apple has released the M1 and M2 lineup of Macs that are equipped sufficiently and now it forges ahead to develop the next iteration chip -- M3 Apple Silicon Chip. Feel interested in it? Read this article immediately!

M3 Apple Silicon Chip

As a big jump from Intel-based processors, Apple makes great effort in the development and research of Apple Silicon Chips. Not depressing its users and customers, the M1 and M2 lineup of Macs -- Apple's masterpiece, makes incremental progress in performance and efficiency.

As the M1 and M2 Macs are sufficiently equipped and perfectly developed, Apple makes no endeavor to the next iteration chip -- M3 Apple Silicon Chip. Though no official claim from Apple, we can gain some useful information from fragments of Apple's senior technicians' interviews and a slew of rumors.

Now follow this guide from iBoysoft to have a sneak peek of this highly anticipated Apple M3 Chip.

Table of Contents:

When does Apple M3 Chip come to the public?

Mark Gurman, an advanced tech journalist predicted that the M3 Macs might be released "late this year or early next year". While Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says mass production with the M3 chip will begin in the second half of 2023, so we could see M3 Macs late in the year. 

Both statements accord with Apple's track record of releasing new products. Apple announced its switch from Intel processors to Apple Silicon Chips and set a two-year timeline to complete the transmission. The M1 chip was launched in November 2020 and the M2 chip was released in June 2022, a year and a half later.

So if you intend to have a device replacement, wait patiently and the new product will come soon.

Share this article with more people who also have an interest in the newly coming M3 Apple Silicon Chips!

 

What new features come with the M3 Apple Silicon Chip?

Knowing when the new chip would come to the public, now let's focus on the new features coming with it. 

Current M-series chips employ TSMC's 5-nanometer technology, whereas the new chip uses 3-nanometer technology, which will result in considerable power and efficiency gains. TSMC is already developing a 3-nanometer chip design, with commercial manufacturing expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.

According to The Information, future Apple silicon chips made on the 3nm technology will have up to four dies and up to 40 compute cores. The original M1 has an 8-core CPU, but the M1 Pro and Max have 10-core CPUs, thus this would be a significant performance boost.

Apple is developing many M3 chips under the codenames Ibiza, Lobos, and Palma.

What Mac models will include the Apple M3 chip?

Until now, Apple has used the M1 chip and M2 chip in its lower-end MacBook Pro and MacBook Air products, while higher-end MacBook Pro devices use M1 Pro/M1 Max and M2 Pro/M2 Max chips. The Mac Studio uses the "‌M1 Ultra‌," and the Mac Pro is also expected to use "Ultra" chips along with upcoming "Extreme" chips.

If Apple follows its chip naming scheme still, then we can tell that lower-end M3 chips could be included in Apple entry-level machines while higher-end Macs could get M3 Pro and M3 Max chips with up to 40 compute cores. It is also said that there's an M3 iMac that's being tested at Apple headquarters. we can wait for more official and authoritative information from Apple.

M3 Apple Silicon Macs

Last word

M-series chips exceed quietly in performance and effectiveness compared to Intel-based chips, and so do the third generation of M-series chips -- M3 Apple Silicon Chips. This article grabs every useful piece of information from Apple tech staff's statement and forum rumors about the M3 Apple chip to give you an up-front emergence, which is basic yet comprehensive.

If you're interested in M3 Macs, read this article to know basic information about them. Do not forget to share this article with more people who take an interest in the devices soldered with Apple M3 chips.

 

FAQ about M3 Apple Silicon Chips

A

According to the Apple staff, Apple's next-generation M3 chip will enter mass production in the second half of 2023.

A

Apple is planning to refresh the 14" and 16" MacBook Pros in the first half of 2024 as well with higher-end versions of the M3 chip.