M3 MacBook Pro & iMac Released by Apple
Apple has used their Halloween-eve “Scary Fast” event to release updates to the MacBook Pro and iMac lineup, both featuring the all-new M3 processor.
And, for the MacBook Pro, there’s an all new Space Black color option, but only for the M3 Pro and M3 Max versions of that computer.
M3 MacBook Pro Series
The MacBook Pro update includes a move to the M3 processor line, with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips available as upgrades, in both 14″ and 16″ screen sizes. The design and ports of the laptop remain the same, with the exception of the new Space Black color, and if you want that Space Black color, you’ll have to go for the M3 Pro or M3 Max chip upgrade.
The base M3 chip has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU with up to 24GB RAM, while the M3 Pro has a 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU and up to 36GB RAM, and the M3 Max features a 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU with up to a whopping 128GB RAM.
The MacBook Pro 14″ and 16″ continue to use the same Liquid Retina XDR display that has been update to be brighter, but due to the mini-LED backlighting will likely continue to suffer from PWM, or Pulse Width Modulation, a display power management approach that can cause headaches, eye strain, and nausea for a group of users who are sensitive to PWM display flickering (woe is me, I am one of them). Most users are not impacted by PWM, but for those who are it can make upgrading to computers that use that display flickering technology impossible.
You can review tech specs for the M3 MacBook Pro here at apple.com, and you can also order a MacBook Pro with M3 chip right now with deliveries beginning in about a week.
M3 iMac
The iMac spec-bump update also includes a move to the M3 chip supporting up to 24GB RAM, and continues to be available in green, yellow, pink, orange, purple, blue, and silver color options.
Apple says the M3 performance of the iMac makes it up to twice as fast as the M1 model it is replacing, and up to 4.5x faster than some Intel iMac models.
You can review tech specs for the iMac M3 at apple.com and order one right away, with deliveries beginning in a week.
Recent Apple release of the 3nm M3 chip with a 40-core CPU will definitely delivers more visible power vs M2 generation and is at the M2 Ultra level of performance. This is a desktop power in a laptop, Apple did it again! With the M3 chip with enhanced GPU/CPU performance, Apple has entered gaming space, and the newer generation Macs will have much better gaming benchmark scores and the overall FPS rates and performance vs prior gen M2 and M1 chips and even v. M3 Macs will close gaming performance gaps vs Windows OS based platforms with RTX 4000 series gaming graphics cards. The M2 generation had already made substantial progress in this regard with the gamers, so M3 with 3nm chip infrastructure has again raised the bar very high.
There are other performance improvements too that the M3 offers if you are going to perform GPU-demanding tasks such as 3D graphic rendering or modelling, video and audio production, etc. Here too the M3 Max 3nm process is offering higher performance and lower power draw versus N5. Clearly Apple has delivered something out of this world… And wait until M3 Ultra comes out – this will seal the deal!
I am not one to ever even consider a Macbook Pro simply because its way overkill for what I use any computer for. The iMac has always interested me but it now looks like a giant tablet on a stand with very little ports. I know, you can buy add on ports third party but that sort of defeats the aesthetics. Then you have 24″ screen which is like crazy small for a retina screen. Where is the more reasonable 27″ or even 32″? I think I would rather buy a Mac Mini and buy my own proper monitor to use. Kind of funny the biggest talk about this event was Apple filmed it on a iPhone Pro.
I don’t know that i’d throw money away on the new mini either. At the price point it underperforms and it to has the same lack of ports.
Sure you can use wireless peripherals, but you end up constantly re-charging them (nothing like trying to get some work done and realizing you have a dead mouse or keyboard.)
I collect the mini. I have all of them and I honestly think the mini peaked in 2009 in terms of value and usability for the price. (technology has still improved, but functionality has declined or stayed fairly flat)