Apple skips the Mac mini with the M3 chip

Last year, rumors surfaced several times about a Mac mini with an M3 chip. The smallest Mac was expected to be released in the summer of 2023. In the end, only the iMac and MacBook Pro received the new M3 last year. The chipset later also appeared on the MacBook Air, but we should not expect a Mac mini with M3 chips. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reports this in his PowerOn– magazine. According to Gurman, the time between the release of the M3 and M4 chips is too short for this.

Mac mini met with M4-chipsets

Apple is expected to launch Silicon M4 chips later this year. All Macs are also expected to be upgraded to the M4 platform later this year. In addition to the Mac mini, the Mac Pro and iMac would also receive M4 chips, Gurman expects.

That decision can be attributed to the small speed advantage that the M3 chipsets have to offer. The electronics group seems to be very aware of this and deliberately compares the performance of the M3 chipsets with the first generation of Apple Silicon chips. It is possible that Apple wants to take a big step with the M4. It is known that it will be Apple’s first chip with a strong focus on AI. The integrated NPU will enable all kinds of AI features in macOS 15.

Gurman is still unable to provide specifics about the Mac mini and M4 chipsets. Apple’s AI development is also yet to be revealed. Apple is working on a series of internal AI functions for iPhones to protect user privacy, it emerged last week. Apple has not yet decided whether it wants to partner with AI service providers such as Google and OpenAI.

The NPU in the upcoming M4 platform can perform important AI functions locally. What jobs? We can only speculate on that at this time.

M4 on M4 Pro

It’s also still unclear what chips the upcoming Mac mini will have. Both the M1 and M2-powered Mac minis were available in regular and Pro variants. This will probably also be the case for the Mac mini, which will be released later this year or early 2025. In addition to the faster Pro chipset, the more expensive mini often gets additional Thunderbolt connections.