Apple allegedly tests M3 Mac mini ahead of fall launches

AppleInsider

Apple is testing yet another Mac with an M3 chip, rumors allege, with the standard edition of the processor surfacing in what is guessed to be a future Mac mini update.

Apple is in the midst of the M2 generation, and has launched all four tiers of the chip. With a shift to the M3 generation anticipated for the fall, Apple is busy testing its upcoming product changes that use the next chip generation.

According to Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg on Sunday, Apple has apparently been seen testing out the base model of M3 chip.

Gurman writes that the chip is the same configuration as its M2 counterpart, consisting of four efficiency cores and four performance cores for the CPU as well as a ten-core GPU. The version caught being tested also apparently offers configurations of up to 24 gigabytes of memory.

It is reckoned that the specifications of the chip, and the timing, could be held inside a next-generation Mac mini. Gurman previously wrote on July 23 that an M3-equipped Mac mini and updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models probably won't ship in the fall, and that a 2024 launch was more plausible.

While the M3 will be fairly similar in configuration to the M2, the M3 Pro will apparently outpace its predecessor by having a 12-core CPU and 18 graphics cores. A high-end M3 Max is estimated to offer a 14-core CPU and over 40 graphics cores.

Aside from the Mac mini, Gurman believes that Apple's testing includes an M3 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Air, M3 iMac, and M3 Pro and M3 Max 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

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inexco

I am ready for the M3.  Waiting to replace my Last Generation Intel Chip iMac.
Going back to the Mac Mini my favorite Mac and the even Bigger Screens...

I admit that I am desktop stuck.  Carry the iPad Pro when not at desk.

9secondkox2

My Intel 2016 MacBook Pro 15” just died… well, the screen did. Because I spilled coffee in it the first week of ownership and the screen got progressively worse since.  Poor thing. I’d abused it with heavy lifting every day of its life snd it served me well. Love that laptop. Touch Bar and all. The screen replacement cost at this point is too much to justify when it can go toward a new Mac that isn’t obsolete. 

I tried a base m1 iMac to tide me over, but it really wasnt up to the task with the creative suite work I do. Ran out of application memory constantly and beachballed too many times for me. 

So I borrow a work machine and wait for the M3 generation. My personal iMac 5k now donated and  in the hands of some junior designers who really needed it and they’re ecstatic since it’s the first computer they’ve used with actual horsepower - plus it looks amazing. But that leaves me out of a personal machine. 

Yet after dealing with base m1, I know even the m3 base won’t suit me. So I’ll be enduring the long wait for the m3 max MacBook Pro - or, God willing, the next big iMac. M1 Max Mac Studio is pretty great. But it’s not the same when it’s not yours. And it really doesn’t fill the spot my iMac did. 

Waiting…

chasm

9secondkox2 said:

My Intel 2016 MacBook Pro 15” just died… well, the screen did. Because I spilled coffee in it the first week of ownership and the screen got progressively worse since.  Poor thing. I’d abused it with heavy lifting every day of its life snd it served me well. Love that laptop. Touch Bar and all. The screen replacement cost at this point is too much to justify when it can go toward a new Mac that isn’t obsolete. 

I tried a base m1 iMac to tide me over, but it really wasnt up to the task with the creative suite work I do. Ran out of application memory constantly and beachballed too many times for me. 

Yet after dealing with base m1, I know even the m3 base won’t suit me. So I’ll be enduring the long wait for the m3 max MacBook Pro - or, God willing, the next big iMac. M1 Max Mac Studio is pretty great. But it’s not the same when it’s not yours. And it really doesn’t fill the spot my iMac did. 

Waiting…

2016-2023 — Seven years is a VERY good run for a pro-level machine, particularly one that had coffee spilled in it!

Yeah, at this point I think it is obvious that the non-Pro or non-Max Mx chips aren’t designed for the demands of Adobe apps, which are memory pigs and always have been since they went cross-platform. That’s about the only way I can think of to beachball an Mx Mac.

If the rumour mill is correct, you may get your wish for an updated iMac, but I expect it will be the same size and design as it is now, and won’t offer the Pro or Max variations (maybe when they come out with one with a much bigger screen, though). We can all hope for an iMac Pro return …

At least you don’t have to wait too many more weeks to find out what your options are! Looks like we’ll know on September 12th or 13th.

charlesn

chasm said:

9secondkox2 said:

My Intel 2016 MacBook Pro 15” just died… well, the screen did. Because I spilled coffee in it the first week of ownership and the screen got progressively worse since.  Poor thing. I’d abused it with heavy lifting every day of its life snd it served me well. Love that laptop. Touch Bar and all. The screen replacement cost at this point is too much to justify when it can go toward a new Mac that isn’t obsolete. 

I tried a base m1 iMac to tide me over, but it really wasnt up to the task with the creative suite work I do. Ran out of application memory constantly and beachballed too many times for me. 

Yet after dealing with base m1, I know even the m3 base won’t suit me. So I’ll be enduring the long wait for the m3 max MacBook Pro - or, God willing, the next big iMac. M1 Max Mac Studio is pretty great. But it’s not the same when it’s not yours. And it really doesn’t fill the spot my iMac did. 

Waiting…

2016-2023 — Seven years is a VERY good run for a pro-level machine, particularly one that had coffee spilled in it!

Yeah, at this point I think it is obvious that the non-Pro or non-Max Mx chips aren’t designed for the demands of Adobe apps, which are memory pigs and always have been since they went cross-platform. That’s about the only way I can think of to beachball an Mx Mac.

If the rumour mill is correct, you may get your wish for an updated iMac, but I expect it will be the same size and design as it is now, and won’t offer the Pro or Max variations (maybe when they come out with one with a much bigger screen, though). We can all hope for an iMac Pro return …

At least you don’t have to wait too many more weeks to find out what your options are! Looks like we’ll know on September 12th or 13th.

There's a big difference between "not designed for the demands of Adobe apps" and "not designed for the demands of professionals who work with Adobe apps," which would seem to describe 9secondkox2. If you're not earning your living with Adobe Creative Suite, there's no issue running it on a base M1 machine, although an upgrade of memory from 8GB would be recommended. For pros it's a different story--time is money, and the time they'll save with faster proccessors and more memory will easily pay for those upgrade costs.

It's interesting how even though the base M1 machines could outpace Intel pro machines in many areas, the online tech echosphere still discusses them as if they were the underpowered base machines of old, suitable only for grandma sending emails and posting to Facebook. 

gadgetcanadav2

Top spec 16” M3 Max MBP with 64GB memory and 8TB of storage next spring for me to replace my 2019 Intel MBP which I regret not speccing higher. I’ll keep it for windows boot camp though. Hopefully the M3 Max should last quite awhile.

anome

Yeah, I'm another one waiting on the M3 MBPs. Haven't decided on 14" or 16" yet. Depends on pricing and relative battery life, I guess. Another 7 year old 15" MBP to replace, and I no longer need Bootcamp, since I bought a cheap NUC-like AMD box to run the games I can't run natively or in Parallels. 7 years is about I think how long my Black MacBook lasted before I bought the MBP, too. I wanted to upgrade earlier, but I always seemed to need the money for something more pressing.

Still, this is just an M3, not the variants. And, if Gurman's other reports are to be believed, we won't get those until next year.

pulseimages

9secondkox2 said:

My Intel 2016 MacBook Pro 15” just died… well, the screen did. Because I spilled coffee in it the first week of ownership and the screen got progressively worse since.  Poor thing. I’d abused it with heavy lifting every day of its life snd it served me well. Love that laptop. Touch Bar and all. The screen replacement cost at this point is too much to justify when it can go toward a new Mac that isn’t obsolete. 

I tried a base m1 iMac to tide me over, but it really wasnt up to the task with the creative suite work I do. Ran out of application memory constantly and beachballed too many times for me. 

So I borrow a work machine and wait for the M3 generation. My personal iMac 5k now donated and  in the hands of some junior designers who really needed it and they’re ecstatic since it’s the first computer they’ve used with actual horsepower - plus it looks amazing. But that leaves me out of a personal machine. 

Yet after dealing with base m1, I know even the m3 base won’t suit me. So I’ll be enduring the long wait for the m3 max MacBook Pro - or, God willing, the next big iMac. M1 Max Mac Studio is pretty great. But it’s not the same when it’s not yours. And it really doesn’t fill the spot my iMac did. 

Waiting…

My 2016 MBP 15” only lasted 4 years before the screen died. What a POS that computer was. I had Apple Care basically replace everything in that computer more than once due to so many issues. They were kind enough to give me a brand new 2019 MBP 16” for free at the end. Never will I ever buy the first generation of anything again. 

rtalati

9secondkox2 said:

My Intel 2016 MacBook Pro 15” just died… well, the screen did. Because I spilled coffee in it the first week of ownership and the screen got progressively worse since.  Poor thing. I’d abused it with heavy lifting every day of its life snd it served me well. Love that laptop. Touch Bar and all. The screen replacement cost at this point is too much to justify when it can go toward a new Mac that isn’t obsolete. 

I tried a base m1 iMac to tide me over, but it really wasnt up to the task with the creative suite work I do. Ran out of application memory constantly and beachballed too many times for me. 

So I borrow a work machine and wait for the M3 generation. My personal iMac 5k now donated and  in the hands of some junior designers who really needed it and they’re ecstatic since it’s the first computer they’ve used with actual horsepower - plus it looks amazing. But that leaves me out of a personal machine. 

Yet after dealing with base m1, I know even the m3 base won’t suit me. So I’ll be enduring the long wait for the m3 max MacBook Pro - or, God willing, the next big iMac. M1 Max Mac Studio is pretty great. But it’s not the same when it’s not yours. And it really doesn’t fill the spot my iMac did. 

Waiting…

couldn't you plug it into an external monitor and keep going with it if just the screen died?

9secondkox2

rtalati said:

9secondkox2 said:

My Intel 2016 MacBook Pro 15” just died… well, the screen did. Because I spilled coffee in it the first week of ownership and the screen got progressively worse since.  Poor thing. I’d abused it with heavy lifting every day of its life snd it served me well. Love that laptop. Touch Bar and all. The screen replacement cost at this point is too much to justify when it can go toward a new Mac that isn’t obsolete. 

I tried a base m1 iMac to tide me over, but it really wasnt up to the task with the creative suite work I do. Ran out of application memory constantly and beachballed too many times for me. 

So I borrow a work machine and wait for the M3 generation. My personal iMac 5k now donated and  in the hands of some junior designers who really needed it and they’re ecstatic since it’s the first computer they’ve used with actual horsepower - plus it looks amazing. But that leaves me out of a personal machine. 

Yet after dealing with base m1, I know even the m3 base won’t suit me. So I’ll be enduring the long wait for the m3 max MacBook Pro - or, God willing, the next big iMac. M1 Max Mac Studio is pretty great. But it’s not the same when it’s not yours. And it really doesn’t fill the spot my iMac did. 

Waiting…

couldn't you plug it into an external monitor and keep going with it if just the screen died?

Actually did that until I couldn’t see the prompts on the native screen anymore. So I couldn’t activate the prompts. Then the Touch Bar snd screen both went out. I know the liquid damage hurt more than the screen. Over time, it just got worse and worse. 

The thing is, my first Mac was a PowerBook g4. The last year of the 17”. I think 2005 or so. I was getting certified for MCSE and just thought the whole Microsoft world of jumping through hoops was crazy. There had to be a better way. So I had an Alienware top of the line of that I used for audio and video editing at the time and a guy with a PowerBook g4 thought I had to go through too many steps to do what I was doing. I thought he was crazy. Then he showed me Final Cut and how he did it in way less time. And his stupid little notebook was outpacing my big rig. 

So I bought a maxed out PowerBook g4 17” and my world was blown. There was a batter way. I just didn’t know it. No more messing with the computer every couple of days so thst it would just work right. No more having to upgrade parts just to keep doing what Ive been doing. No more new machine every few years. That laptop spoiled me. Had it in active use from 2005 to 2014. 

Outstanding longevity - especially considering apple had moved on to Intel not long after I bought it. The macs I e purchased afterward also had outstanding longevity. Even the aforementioned notebook thst died. If I had t spilled a substantial amount of coffee into it, it would still be cranking away. Though, truth be told, it was getting a bit slow for me these days despite clean installs. The iMac 5k though. Things a beast. Still rips through everything. Almost wish I didn’t donate the thing. Almost. It’s being put to great use in training up the next gen. 

blastdoor

I hope that an M3 Mini will be released in the first wave of M3 Macs. There's no technical reason not to do it -- it ought to be a pretty straightforward swap of M2 SOC for M3 SOC. 

blastdoor

If the core counts in this rumor are correct, then I wonder what Apple is using the die shrink for. Are they just making a smaller SOC with higher yields and maybe higher clock speeds? Or are they adding resources to each CPU core? 

hmurchison

Take my money!!

commentzilla

I wanted a 13" MacBook Pro upgraded like the MacBook Air with 24GB RAM, the new screen, etc, without the annoying Touch Bar. Will it happen this time?

Alex1N

Roll on the M3 (pro+) Mac Mini/Studio! If a large new iMac doesn’t surface (ever?), M3 or otherwise, I will go down the path of a close-to-maxed-out M3 mini or a low-end Mac Studio with an appropriate monitor.

Waiting for an M3 solution, even if towards the end next year, is now a much more comfortable proposition for me. I can afford to wait for an M3 pro or max machine in a much more relaxed state state now after I followed Appleinsideruser’s advice in another thread and installed OpenCore Legacy Patcher, so the mid-2010 27” i7 32GB iMac is more-or-less happily running Ventura. There are a few Metal-related hiccups but that’s to be expected. Overall it’s as though the old machine is new again.

A new AS machine will be nice though, and worth the wait.