NEW YORK. Three chips in one fell swoop: not even the most optimistic people expected that Apple could present the new M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips all together at the “Scary Fast” event on October 30th. And yet here they are making their debut on four new Mac models: three 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pros, and a 24″ iMac, which replaces the current model equipped with the M1 chip.
MacBook Pro and iMac: first impressions
We were able to discover the new Macs up close in the Italian preview: at first glance it is impossible to distinguish the new models from the previous ones. The design is exactly the same, with one exception: the more powerful MacBook Pros with M3 Pro and M3 Max are also available in a new elegant Space Black color, which minimizes fingerprints. The old design of the 13″ MacBook Pro, which until yesterday could be bought in the M2 version, no longer exists: now even the basic model with M3 has a Liquid Retina XDR screen, full HD camera, magSafe and all the other features of the latest generation Pros.
Apple preview, the new Macs with M3 chips arrive on October 30 by Bruno Ruffilli 24 October 2023
The 24″ iMacs are exactly the same as the M1 range: seven colors, 4.5K screen and the same thin and compact design. After all, the M1 iMac was one of the most successful models in the history of Apple’s all-in-one: there was no reason to change a winning formula to accommodate the M3 chip.
Only one detail disappoints: the keyboard with Touch ID and the color-coordinated Magic Trackpad retain Lightning connections instead of USB-C. Since Apple does not sell these peripherals separately, there was no legal need to adapt them to the USB connection in view of the European standard which will come into force in 2024. Too bad, because it could have been an opportunity to also unify these devices as already done with the iPhone in September. In short, the colored Lightning cables will survive for a while longer.
The 3 nanometer frontier
M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max are the first computer processors made with the 3 nanometer manufacturing process by the Taiwanese TSMC (M1 and M2 were manufactured with the 5nm process). The number indicates the level of miniaturization of the transistors present on the chip wafer: the smaller it is, the higher the number of transistors present on a wafer of the same size. The figures are mind-boggling: on the M3 there are 25 billion transistors (they were 20 on the M2), on the M3 Pro they rise to 37 billion; on M3 Max it even reaches 92 billion.
The greater density of transistors allows you to obtain the same performance with lower energy consumption, or to significantly increase performance while maintaining stable energy expenditure compared to previous processors.
An all new GPU
M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max are each the direct evolution in capacity and performance of the corresponding M2 chips. The reason why Apple wanted to present all three at once rather than at different times of the year, as happened with M1 and M2, is quickly explained. Despite the performance differences between the various models and the variable number of corethey share some characteristics that make them unique in the sector.
The M3 in fact introduce a new generation GPU (the portion of the chip dedicated to graphics) with Dynamic Caching technology. To put it very simply, it is a new dynamic memory allocation mode that allows you to optimize the use of the GPU in parallel by multiple applications. Thanks to this solution, the chip automatically divides the use of the graphics processor in the most efficient way possible and assigns, without waste, the exact amount of memory needed for each parallel operation.
The results are remarkable. Compared to M1, M3 has 65% faster graphics. The M3 Pro is 40% faster than the M1 Pro. On the M3 Max the comparison is even more sensational: the latest generation MacBook Pro with this processor has graphics 2.5 times faster than the already excellent graphics of the 16” with M1 Max (2 times faster than M2 Max).
The new chips, together with the software optimizations of macOS Sonoma, open new frontiers in the graphics field. The most important new feature is the presence – for the first time on Mac – of hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a function that the M3s inherit directly from the A17 Pro of the iPhone 15 Pro presented in September. Ray tracing is a technique that allows three-dimensional scenes, in video games or renderings, to be made more realistic, thanks to the simulation of lights, shadows and reflections in real time. The new GPU also enables hardware-accelerated mesh shading, which also contributes to the realism of 3D scenes.
Many core
The new chips don’t just concern the GPU. The CPU cores have also been redesigned with architectural improvements made possible by process miniaturization. The “performance” cores are up to 30% faster than the equivalents of the M1 family (15% compared to M2), while the “efficiency” cores are up to 50% higher performing (30% compared to M2).
The advances of the first group of cores are particularly noticeable in the use of applications such as Logic Pro, while the performance increase of the second group of cores has a more direct impact on daily operations. Overall, the M3s need half the power to achieve the same performance as the M1s, while at peak power consumption they perform a third better than the first-generation chip family. The maximum memory also increases which can reach up to 128GB on the M3 Max model.
Across all MacBook Pros, M3 performance remains exactly the same whether the computers are connected to power or running on battery power. It is not a new detail, it was already like this for the M1 and M2, but it is always good to point it out because in the sector it is a more unique than rare feature. Under optimal conditions, battery life is more or less the same as the MacBook Pro M2 models, with up to 22 hours of battery life for the 16-inch model, and around 18 for the 14-inch models.
Comparison with M1 and Mac Intel
Apple highlighted the performance differences of the M3s not so much with the M2s, but with the M1 family. The comparison with the previous generation models returns less exciting leaps, but still good. The reason why Apple often refers to the M1 also depends on a commercial positioning reason: the target of these new models are professionals who bought the M1 models two years ago and are perhaps already thinking of upgrading. And, for those who still have an Intel Mac, the performance improvement is off the charts: MacBook Pro with M3 Max is 11 times more powerful from every point of view than the most powerful 16″ Intel MacBook Pro.
The M2 chip survives only on the MacBook Air (which will likely receive the M3 next year), which are now clearly separated from the professional laptop segment. M2 Pro and M2 Max will instead be remembered as the least long-lived M chips ever: arriving in January 2023 (said to be well behind Apple’s plans), they end up officially retired today, supplanted by M3 Pro and M3 Max.
Prices, positioning, availability
As with the previous M1 chips, the flexibility of chip configuration and control of the vertical integration of the hardware has allowed Apple to best position the new MacBook Pro and iMac not on the basis of mere performance but on the basis of the potential target .
The MacBook Pro M3, thanks to the thermal configuration, allows you to make the most of the features of the new entry level processor. Price and features make it suitable for creative professionals who need to edit videos or do audio editing, but also for students and enthusiasts. However, with the transition to the new design and the 14″ screen, the price also rises: the previous 13″ M2 model with the old design started at 1629 euros, while the new MacBook Pro M2 starts at 2049 euros.
The MacBook Pro M3 Pro and M3 Max are both available in 14 or 16-inch versions, and the new Space Black color is available for both.
The Pro model, with 18-core GPU, offers a significant performance leap over the base model and is suitable for creative video, graphics and audio professionals who need to work with 8K video streams. However, Apple also insisted on an interesting diversification of the target, showing examples of applications in the scientific and medical fields where the power of the GPU and the neural processor is fundamental for speeding up operations such as cell counting, or the analysis of three-dimensional brain scans.
The price change of the MacBook Pro with M3 Pro is only 100 euros more (from 2499 to 2599 Euros) in the 14″ version: in our opinion it is the best deal in the range. The 16″ model starts from €3099.
The top-of-the-range MacBook Pro with M3 Max, always available with a 14 or 16-inch display, is finally dedicated to 3D modeling professionals, Hollywood-level video editors, or engineers and architects who need to work on very large and complex project files . For the first time, Apple also winks at the developers of artificial intelligence models with a direct reference to the computing capabilities and the possibility of reaching 128GB of unified RAM memory, fundamental for training LLM models with billions of parameters. This amount of memory was previously only available on Macs with the M1 or M2 Ultra.
The new MacBook Pros with M3 and M3 Max are available next week, while models with M3 Max will arrive later in November.
The positioning and target of the iMac M3 do not change: it is the family computer, which looks great in the living room, or the perfect solution for a reception or office. The M3 processor improves performance compared to the M1 model and above all compared to the old Intel iMacs: it is 2.5 times faster than the 27” iMac with Intel Core i5 processor, Radeon Pro 5300, 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. As already with the iMac M1, the presence of a fan allows the thermal profile of the processor not to be excessively limited: therefore no problems with video editing of even multiple streams in 4K, or with audio processing on Logic Pro with many plugins open at the same time.
Finally, the potential of the M3 chips in the gaming sector should not be underestimated for all new Macs. Ray tracing and mesh shading with hardware acceleration and the new GPU, together with the software optimizations of macOS Sonoma, are excellent news for the future of gaming on Mac. The technical features are there: now the work that remains to be done is convince an ever-increasing number of developers and production houses to bring their titles to Macs with the best graphics performance ever.