Apple is leaning toward skipping an M3 version of its Mac mini in favor of an updated version powered by Apple’s upcoming M4 chips sometime near the end of 2024, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Gurman’s comments came in the latest edition of his “Power On” newsletter, Gurman said that he doesn’t expect Apple to offer Mac mini models powered by M3 chips. Apple last updated the Mac mini with the M2 and M2 Pro chips in January 2023. The M2 Mac minis also included two extra Thunderbolt 4 ports and an HDMI 2.1 port for M2 Pro configurations, Wi-Fi 6E support with a compatible router, and Bluetooth 5.3 as new features.
Earlier this month, Gurman said Apple will launch the first new Macs powered by M4 chips later this year, to be followed by more M4 models in 2025.
Gurman had previously reported that Apple has plans for new Mac mini models powered by M4 and M4 Pro chips sometime between the end of 2024 and early 2025. Now Gurman postulates that since Apple will release new Mac minis by the end of the year, there is not sufficient “room for M3 models to come out before then, so it’s probably safe to say that those Mac desktops will skip the M3 generation.”
We’ve seen similar situations like this in the past, as the iMac was never updated with an M2 chip, as Apple skipped that update completely, instead providing a larger performance increase for the iMac with an M3 chip late last year. Apple’s M4 chips are also rumored to boast a faster Neural Engine for artificial intelligence tasks.