Good news for those who have been waiting for Apple to announce a new computer with the rumored M3 chip: according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is preparing to launch its first Mac with M3 in October, the iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, MacBook Pro will be equipped with the next generation Apple silicon

In his latest Power On newsletter, Garman said the new M3-powered Macs will be available after Apple's launch event in September, when the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra are expected to be announced

Since the MacBook Pro 14-inch 2023 and MacBook Pro 16-inch 2023 were released less than six months ago, the next new models will likely come later Garman previously predicted that upgraded versions of these models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips would be available in the first half of 2024

"Now that Apple has launched the 15-inch MacBook Air and the new M2 Ultra-based Mac, October's launch could see the first Mac with an M3 chip," Garman wrote in his Sunday newsletter 'October is too early for new high-end MacBook Pros and desktops, so the first beneficiaries of the new chips should be the upcoming iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro'

He did not say whether there will be another full-scale event from Apple in October, or whether new Macs will be announced via press release instead Perhaps Apple has not yet decided whether it is worth holding two formal events in succession However, it is not hard to imagine that Apple wants to create as big a buzz as possible for such an important announcement

Other Apple products powered by the M3 may also be in the works: a new iPad Pro model with an OLED display will likely feature Apple's third-generation chip, Gurman said

Nevertheless, iPad Air models with the updated chipset are being prepared for a fall release Given that the current generation iPad Air has an M1 chip, it would likely be the same M2 chip as some of the best MacBooks

The new Apple M3 series chips are rumored to use TSMC's N3E 3-nanometer process If so, the next generation Apple devices would be much more powerful than the previous generation devices using TSMC's 5-nanometer technology

But while Apple's next tablets and laptops are expected to be much more powerful and perform much better, that doesn't mean your M2 Apple device will automatically become obsolete Every previous generation of Apple silicon has been great, going all the way back to the M1 chip, and if you're on the fence about whether to buy a MacBook M2 or wait for the upcoming M3 model, check out our breakdown