Apple‘s lightweight MacBook Air is rumored to be getting an upgrade to the new M3 chipset soon. Here’s a rundown of everything we know so far about the potential release date, pricing, design changes, specs, and other details surrounding the next-gen MacBook Air.

Expected release date

The current 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip launched in mid-2022. Apple also released a larger 15-inch MacBook Air variant in mid-2023. Apple analyst Mark Gurman originally predicted the M3 MacBook Air could arrive in fall 2023, but he has since revised that to spring/summer 2024 based on reports from his sources.

Gurman now says the 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air models are in the Engineering Verification Test (EVT) phase, putting them on track for a release between spring and summer 2024 at the earliest. Some rumors point to a potential announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

Pricing

Pricing on the 13-inch M3 MacBook Air will likely stay close to the current $1,099 starting price for the base model. When Apple introduced the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air variant, it dropped the 13-inch base model price by $100, so it could keep that lower $999 pricing with the M3 update.

Apple could also potentially lower UK and European pricing in response to currency fluctuations that drove prices higher outside the US recently. The pricing difference between base 13-inch and 15-inch models will likely remain around $200.

Design

The M2 MacBook Air just got a major redesign in 2022, so we expect the overall look and feel to stay largely the same as the M3 models. They should retain the thin, uniform body shape rather than the tapered wedge look of the older M1 Airs. Dimensions and weight should remain extremely portable.

Display

The current 13.6-inch and 15.6-inch Liquid Retina displays will likely carry over to the M3 models. Improvement to 500-nit or 600-nit peak brightness could happen, but the Air still won’t match the HDR, ProMotion variable refresh rate, or other pro-level display tech offered on the MacBook Pro. The controversial display notch housing the 1080p webcam will remain.

Colors

Apple will likely stick to the existing Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Space Gray color options for the M3 MacBook Air models. Some rumors indicate we could see new colors added in the future, like the iMac‘s blue and green shades, but likely not with this generation.

Performance

The M3 chipset will bring performance improvements thanks to enhancements like the new 3nm manufacturing process allowing more transistors. Expect speed boosts of around 20% over the M2 chip. The M3 MacBook Air will offer 8GB or 16GB of unified memory, up to 24GB on custom configs. The fanless design can limit sustained performance during intensive workloads.

Ports & connectivity

We expect the M3 MacBook Air to include the same set of ports as the M2 version, with two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, a MagSafe 3 power charging port, and a headphone jack. Wi-Fi 6E support would make sense as a wireless upgrade. Don’t expect to see an SD card slot or HDMI added, unfortunately.

Battery life & charging

Battery capacity will remain similar, around 52.6Wh for the 13-inch and 66.5Wh for the 15-inch model. Battery life of 15+ hours for web browsing and 18+ hours for video playback will continue. Faster charging could come via a 70W or 96W USB-C power adapter rather than the 30W/35W adapter included now.

The M3 MacBook Air will deliver performance bumps but likely keep the same overall design as the current models. Look for the new M3 Airs to launch in the spring or summer of 2024 if rumors pan out, with pricing staying around the $999 to $1,499 range.