The M3 MacBook Air could launch THIS YEAR — but there's a catch

(Image credit: Future)

The M3 MacBook Air could be launching as soon as this year, and it will be bringing a new 3nm chipset that vastly increases performance and power efficiency.

Yep, you read that paragraph right. We've only just started talking about the M2 Pro and M2 Max in the new 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and the M2 MacBook Air has only been out for a few months.

But the Apple silicon train stops for nobody, as DigiTimes reports that the M3 chip is going to be packed into the MacBook Air and launched in the second half of 2023.

Damn, that was fast!

MacBook Air M2 — (Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Now I know your initial thoughts, because we had them too — with 19 months between M1 and M2 MacBook Air, to bring out M3 just over a year after seems a bit fast.

But this is more than just a system refresh for Apple. It's a test of its manufacturing process as the company moves from its standard 5nm chips to a super tiny 3nm.

"The supply chain is more focused on the more affordable MacBook Air, which is expected to be updated in the second half of 2023 and may be equipped with a 3nm processor," the report say.

Of course all of this sounds cool to any logistics nerds, but to the end user, the result will be increased power (a smaller size manufacturing process means you can stuff way more transistors on there for more horsepower) and better power efficiency (not that it needed to be better at sipping the battery juice).

Outlook - can this rumor be believed?

Of course, there are caveats. This is a rumor and we've got to provide some context here. This report came from the same people who said the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro had been delayed from its early 2023 release date. As is obvious, that wasn't true.

And second is the reports of a 15-inch MacBook Air coming in the first half of 2023. It would seem daft for Apple to not release these both at 13 and 15-inch model together with the new M3. So if so, that means this laptop has been delayed, but we're not hearing anything to suggest that.

Part of me thinks that with the established launch cycle from the previous two generations, this is a little too good to be true. But I'm willing to be proven wrong!

Jason brought a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a writer at Laptop Mag, and he is now the Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He takes a particular interest in writing articles and creating videos about laptops, headphones and games. He has previously written for Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.