Apple is testing another M3 Mac as chip nears October debut

Apple has finished its transition to its own Apple Silicon chips with its latest Mac Pro launch. Now that all of Apple’s Macs are running on Apple Silicon, all of us are waiting to see what the next generation holds. The M3 chip has been rumored to launch sometime in October this year, and it appears Apple is testing another M3 Mac right now.

Mark Gurman, in his latest Power On newsletter, reported that there’s a new M3-powered Mac that has been spotted testing. It adds to a long list of new M3 Macs that are currently being tested, with at least a few set for launch as early as this October.

M3-powered Mac mini likely under testing

Gurman reported that there’s a new Mac that was spotted testing running the base version of the M3 chip. This is likely to be the next Mac mini.

Gurman wrote, « The Mac in testing includes eight CPU cores (made up of four efficiency cores and four performance cores), 10 graphics processor cores and 24 gigabytes of memory. This machine is running macOS Sonoma 14.1, the first point update to the upcoming new Mac software release. Given the M3 chip’s specifications in this particular Mac, I believe it probably represents a next-generation Mac mini. »

The Mac mini was spotted in third-party developer logs. Gurman also noted the configuration differences in this base M3 as compared to the M2. « The entry-level M3 core counts are the same as those in the M2, coming in at eight CPU and 10 graphics cores, but the M3 Pro comes in a bit stronger than its predecessor, reaching 12 CPU cores and 18 graphics cores. I estimate that a high-end M3 Max could reach 14 CPU cores and over 40 graphics cores. »

It looks like we’re going to see an even more powerful generation of Macs, right to the most entry-level models. We may see the M3 come to the best Macs in October, right after the September iPhone event.