Waiting for an M3 Mac mini or Mac Pro? You're probably wasting your time, Apple's all about those M4 chips instead

(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)

If you're holding off buying a new Mac mini or Mac Pro until new M3 versions are announced, you're likely to be left waiting after a new report suggested that Apple is expecting to skip them entirely in favor of newer M4 versions.

Apple is expected to start launching M4-powered Macs later this year and that means that some models will simply skip the M3 family of chips entirely. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened, but it might be the last — Apple is expected to refresh its entire lineup with M4 Macs in 2024 and 2025.

This latest news means that anyone who wants to buy a new Mac mini or Mac Pro has a decision to make. Should they buy the M2 Mac mini or M2 Mac Pro now, or wait for their replacements?

No M3 for you

That's a decision that might not have an easy answer, although we would suggest anyone who needs a Mac now should probably just buy one. Writing in the paywalled version of the Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman says that Apple is unlikely to launch any new M3 Mac mini or Mac Pro devices.

As for when the M4 chips will debut in those devices, the M4 and M4 Pro Mac minis are expected to arrive either at the end of 2024 or in the early part of 2025. The Mac Pro won't see a refresh until the end of 2025, leaving potential buyers with a long wait.

As for what those chips will offer, Apple is expected to bring some AI improvements to its entire silicon lineup this year as it readies new features for iOS 18 and macOS 15.

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Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.