Mac Trade-In Changes May Indicate New Model to Launch This Month

Apple may be proceeding with plans to announce a new Mac model this month, according to related information obtained by MacRumors.

Apple Logo Spotlight
Details pertaining to upcoming changes to Mac trade-ins provided to MacRumors by a verified source suggest that Apple will begin accepting new models for trade-in this month. The models in question are current-generation devices, suggesting that successors could be announced in a matter of weeks.

Similar changes in June coincided with WWDC, when Apple began accepting trade-ins of the Mac Studio, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and 13-inch ‌M2‌ MacBook Pro for credit towards new Apple product purchases. Apple simultaneously launched the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌, second-generation ‌Mac Studio‌, and Apple silicon Mac Pro. As such, it seems plausible that a similar, albeit smaller, expansion of the Macs Apple accepts for trade-in this month correlates with the launch of at least one new machine.

In July, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said October of this year could see the announcement of the first Macs with the M3 chip. He said that the 13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌, 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, and 24-inch iMac are all candidates for potential release this month.

The as-yet-unannounced M3 chip is widely expected to be fabricated with TSMC's 3nm process for performance and power efficiency improvements compared to the current 5nm-based ‌M2‌ chip, which debuted in June 2022. It will also likely feature an all new GPU with hardware ray-tracing, first introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro's A17 Pro chip last month.

In September, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that it seemed Apple will not launch new MacBook models with M3 series chips before the end of this year. This may mean that the most likely Mac to be announced is a refreshed 24-inch ‌iMac‌ with the M3 chip. The current model featuring the M1 chip has now been on sale for over two and a half years.

Popular Stories

iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...

Top Rated Comments

erikkfi Avatar
21 months ago
Maybe the PowerBook G5 is finally coming out.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
21 months ago

New Macs are always interesting. I'm not sure an M3 MacBook Air would entice me to trade in my M1 model. The thing handles everything I throw at it without so much as a burp.
At this point the Apple silicon, even M1 which launched all the way back in 2020 is still so powerful that the average user will see no real benefits expect for battery life with regards to Macbooks.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
armandxp Avatar
21 months ago
This year is also the 25th anniversary for the iMac. It would be nice to see some love for it.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacLawyer Avatar
21 months ago
New Macs are always interesting. I'm not sure an M3 MacBook Air would entice me to trade in my M1 model. The thing handles everything I throw at it without so much as a burp.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cocky jeremy Avatar
21 months ago
Give us a 32" iMac, damnit!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
21 months ago
iMac with M3 at this point has been discussed for months and months.. im more interested in iMac M4. No one cares about M3 anymore… 2024 with M4 please :)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)