Apple’s Tim Cook and company announced their fall 2023 lineup of M3 Macs at today’s short and sweet “Scary Fast” Mac Event. The new Macs offer a variety of configurations including a stock M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max Apple Silicon Processors.
The new MacPro laptops and iMacs are all based on Apple’s new 3nm Apple Silicon process which promises faster performance, greater reliability, and lower energy costs.
Image Credit – Apple
M3 Processor
As the third generation processor since Apple transitioned away from the Intel platform, the M3 processor is crafted from Apple’s new 3 nano meter (nm) manufacturing process.
3 nm processors promise to provide a greater leap in performance and efficiency over the previous 5 nm process and will allow Macs that use the M3 chip to perform more tasks simultaneously while using less power.
The chip is also believed to offer greater support for more complex applications such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, while also offering ray tracing graphics capabilities.
Apple claims that the M3 chip should use up to 35 percent less power than the previous M2/5nm chip. 3nm chips are more dense, and capable of fitting over 2 million transistors into an area the width of a human hair.
This makes the 10-core chips over 50 percent faster than previous Apple Silicon models while using half the power.
The unified chips also introduce an update to the Apple graphics processor, which uses dynamic caching to devote only exactly what the processor needs to accomplish a task.
The result is over 2.5x faster graphics rendering, with raytracing, over the original M1 chip.
Which products get which chip? Well, that depends on what you need and your budget.
Image Credit – Apple
MacBook Pro M3
The is available in a 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the M3 Pro will be available in both a 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Meanwhile, the 16-inch MacBook Pro gets the monster M3 Max 16-core processor.
The stock 14-inch MacBook Pro are available with the stock 8-core M3 processor and 10-core GPU, making it 40% faster than the previous M2 MacBook Pro.
14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Pro
With a 12 Core CPU and 18 Core GPU, the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros powered by the M3 Pro is an ideal tool for professionals like software developers. Industrial designers. Biomedical researchers.
M3 Max. 16-core CPU. 40-core GPU. 128 GB Unified RAM. 80 percent faster than M1 Max. Great for design work and content creation.
With its monster CPU and GPU, 3D Animators, and video editors will be able to handle multiple 8K streams without breaking a sweat. The 16-inch MacBook Pro also supports the ability to drive two LCD monitors via Thunderbolt 4.
Image Credit – Apple
16-Inch MacBook Pro M3 Max
For software designers, 3d artists, and video editors, the 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Max has a monster 16-core CPU with a unified 40-core GPU and support for north of 128 GB of Unified RAM. This power provides enough performance to drive multiple 8K video streams.
All the M3 MacBook Pros offer up to 22 hours of battery life, a liquid XDR retina display with 600 nits of peak brightness, a six-speaker sound system, and a 1080P Facetime camera.
The 16-inch M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pros are also available in a special new Space Black color, a dark aluminum case created by a special chemical process and recycled aluminum construction.
Image Credit – Apple
The 24-inch iMac
Lastly, after more than 900 days since its M1 debut, the 24-inch iMac finally gets the M3 after skipping a generation with the M2.
The new 24-inch iMac can boast a giant leap in performance while keeping the same thin design and multiple colors. The M3 iMac is twice as fast as the current M1 iMac, giving it the capability to hand multiple streams of 4K video.
Pricing and Availability
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 starts at $1,599 (U.S.) and $1,499 (U.S.) for education; the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro starts at $1,999 (U.S.) and $1,849 (U.S.) for education; and the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499 (U.S.) and $2,299 (U.S.) for education with an additional charge for the M3 Max Processor.
Meanwhile, the 24-inch M3 iMac will be available starting at the same $1299 pricepoint as before. It comes in the same six colors (gree, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver) and will feature a 4.5K liquid retina display with a 1080p FaceTime camera, six speaker sound system, studio quality microphones, and touch ID.
[source: Apple]
B&H Order Links:
- Apple 24″ iMac with M3 Chip (Blue)
- Apple 14″ MacBook Pro (M3, Space Gray)
- Apple 16″ MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, Silver)
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