During Apple’s “Scary Fast” event on Halloween Eve (although an 8 PM Eastern start time is quite unusual), the company introduced its latest innovation – the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips. As unveiled during the Apple Event, the M3 series is set to power the revamped MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models, as well as the 24-inch iMac, which had been waiting for an M2 refresh.
Apple positions the M3 chips as substantial upgrades over its M1 hardware. If you’ve recently invested in an M2 system, you may not be rushing to replace it just yet. The most significant leap is seen in the M3’s GPU, which introduces features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, promising more realistic lighting and improved geometry handling. According to Apple, the M3’s GPU is 1.8 times faster than the M2 and a striking 2.5 times faster than the M1 in “Pro apps,” although the specific testing criteria aren’t disclosed. The M3’s GPU also offers enhanced power efficiency, maintaining M1-level performance while using only half the power.
Here’s a breakdown of Apple’s new hardware: The standard M3 features an 8-core CPU (comprising four performance cores and four efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU. It’s claimed to be up to 35 percent faster than the M1 and can support up to 24GB of unified RAM. Stepping up to the M3 Pro, you get a 12-core CPU (with six performance and six efficiency cores) and an 18-core GPU, accommodating up to 36GB of memory. Apple reports a single-threaded performance increase of up to 30 percent compared to the M1 Pro.
The most powerful among them, the M3 Max, boasts a 16-core CPU (including 12 performance and four efficiency cores), a 40-core GPU, and support for up to a remarkable 128GB of RAM. Apple claims it’s a substantial 80 percent faster than the M1 Max. Additionally, it incorporates two ProRes engines, catering to even the most demanding video professionals.
An important distinction is that the M3 chips mark a significant shift as the first PC chips built on a 3-nanometer process, moving beyond the M1 and M2’s 5nm process. This increased transistor density translates to improved power efficiency and overall performance. Apple highlights that the M3’s performance cores are 15 percent faster than the M2’s, while the efficiency cores exhibit a 30 percent boost.
Apple’s introduction of the 3nm A17 Pro for the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro recently aligns with this strategy, emphasizing their dedication to smaller, more efficient chipsets. Meanwhile, competitors like AMD introduced their 4nm Ryzen 7040 chip, and Intel plans to launch its Core Ultra Meteor Lake laptop chips in December, built on the “Intel 4” platform (using a 7nm process). The variations in architectures and technologies make direct processing node size comparisons challenging, but Apple’s 3nm process places it ahead of the PC world for now.
Beyond the impressive GPU and CPU enhancements, Apple touts the M3’s Neural Engine’s speed, which handles AI tasks, being up to 60 percent faster than M1 chips. Additionally, the M3 includes a media engine with hardware acceleration for H.264, HEVC, ProRes (standard and RAW), and introduces support for AV1 video decoding, enhancing the efficiency of streaming AV1 content.
Like most chip manufacturers, Apple’s M3 follows a significant release like the M1 with an evolutionary step like the M2. The M3 now needs to prove its mettle as a substantial upgrade over the M1, which Apple has claimed. With the addition of ray tracing and improved graphics capabilities, it holds the potential to make Macs more appealing to developers and gamers alike, just in time for major titles like Death Stranding and Resident Evil Village to arrive on the App Store.
