Mac fans have plenty of reasons to be excited about the M3 chip, which will reportedly deliver better speed boosts and longer battery life than the M2. But according to a new report, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see what the new chip is capable of.

According to Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) on Twitter, the M3 chip, designed for next-generation iPad Pros and Macs, won’t arrive until next year at the earliest. Apparently, TSMC, which makes the chips, is currently unable to meet Apple’s demand “due to output issues.”

Revennus is a “technology enthusiast, semiconductor geek.” [stet]according to their Twitter biography, and other reports have been leaked in the past that have come true. Revegnus recently tweeted that Apple is working on a 14-inch iPad Pro with the M3 Pro chip, due in 2024.

In February, DigiTimes reported that Apple ordered all 3nm processors from TSMC. Apple’s A17 Bionic chip, which will be used in the new iPhone 15 Pro, is rumored to be a 3nm chip, and since Apple’s iPhone cycle happens every fall quarter, Apple and TSMC are likely to prioritize A17 Bionic production, and not M3.

The delay does help clarify the possible lineup of Mac releases for next year. There have been rumors of a 15-inch MacBook Air coming out, so it now seems more likely that it will have an M2, or possibly an M2 Pro. The MacBook Air M2 and 13-inch MacBook Pro were released almost a year ago and will remain in the lineup until the M3 is released in 2024. The Mac mini M2 was only released in January and does not require an immediate update. However, the iMac M1 really needs an update – by the time the M3 is released, it will be almost three years old.

As for the iPad, Apple updated the iPad Pro to the M2 in October 2022. In 2024, it could be updated not only with the M3, but also with a lineup update and the release of the 14-inch iPad Pro that Revegnus and others have reported.

The Apple M3 could be the first personal computer chip to be made using the 3nm process. Going to 3nm increases transistor density and is an improvement over the current advanced 5nm process used with the M2. The M3 will offer more processing at lower power consumption, which could result in more performance gains than the usual year-on-year increase.