It’s been an eventful year for Apple: the company revealed the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max configurations in January, the first-ever 15-inch MacBook Air, and the new Mac Studio models. and Mac Pro at WWDC in June, and a Vision Pro headset that could ultimately replace all of these machines.
But that wasn’t enough for this year apparently! Because Apple has just announced new Macs. During a keynote at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, Tim Cook and several product managers took to a virtual stage to unveil new MacBook Pros and a 24-inch iMac, all equipped with M3 processors.
This new processor is based on TSMC’s 3nm engraving process and will certainly become the standard chipset for future Macs. More importantly, the line of new Mac computers comes at a time when other chipmakers, including Qualcomm and Intel, are preparing their own high-performance chips.
So here’s a recap of all the products revealed at Apple’s “Scary Fast” event, and also a list of what we anticipated in the announcements that didn’t get mentioned.
3 new M3 chips
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At the center of the hardware announcements is Apple’s new processor available in three versions: M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. The new M3 chips, manufactured using TSMC’s 3nm engraving process, succeed the M2 chips manufactured using the 5nm process and are thus aligned with the A17 Pro chip of the new iPhone 15 Pro.
The 3nm process transistors allow Apple to improve the GPU performance of its Mac computers – up to 1.8 times more graphics performance than the M2 chip. The efficiency cores also take a big leap forward, with a 30% improvement over the M2 series and a 50% improvement over the M1 series.
The M3 chipsets also introduce dynamic caching, which allows processors to adaptively allocate bandwidth based on the tasks at hand. Dynamic caching is compared to the previous technique of traditional memory management, which prioritizes only one program at a time.
The M3 also supports Mesh Shading and Ray Tracing at the hardware level to improve graphics rendering, especially for creative workflows and video games.
Like the M2 processors that rank Apple’s latest Mac computers based on performance and efficiency, the company has continued its three-tiered approach with these new models:
- M3: 8 main processing cores (CPU) (4 performance and 4 efficiency) and 10 graphics cores (GPU)
- M3 Pro: From 12 main processing cores (6 performance and 6 efficiency) and 18 graphics cores
- M3 Max: from 16 main processing cores (12 performance and 4 efficiency) and 40 graphics cores, and supports up to 128 GB of unified memory.
MacBook Pro 14 and 16 inches
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Apple’s MacBook Pro line is more convoluted than it seems, with models with Touch Bar and without Touch Bar still being sold, for example. The new M3 upgrades could streamline things until 2024, however.
The 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros receive M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. Apple says the M3 Max models are twice as fast as the M2 Max models released in January.
The new MacBook Pros can also be configured with up to 128 GB of unified memory, which is ideal for “extreme users” who use many plugins and services for photo and video editing, or development.
What hasn’t changed is the shape of the new MacBook Pros, with super-bright Liquid Retina XDR displays (up to 1,600 nits) and all the ports pro users need. But the new Space Black finish offers dark shades similar to those of the iPhone 15 Pro. Above all, performance and battery life (up to 22 hours) are significantly improved thanks to the new M3 chipsets.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are available for pre-order now, starting at €1,999 and €2,999, respectively. The M2 and M2 Pro models will ship sooner (as early as next week) and the M2 Max models are scheduled for late November.
iMac with M3
Jason Hiner/ZDNET
It’s hard to believe that the 24-inch iMac is already over 900 days old. I attribute this to its timeless design and the reliability of its M1 chipset. So during Apple’s “Scary Fast” event, the all-in-one computer got a much-needed overhaul. The changes are mostly internal, of course, with the new M3 base chip taking the place of the M1 chip.
According to Apple, the M3 chip allows the new 24-inch iMac to run twice as fast as its M1 predecessor. And the difference is even greater compared to older models based on Intel chips. For the rest, the design of the new iMac is approximately the same as that of the previous one, however with a new 1080p FaceTime camera, a six-speaker audio system, a 4.5K retina screen whose brightness can reach 500 nits , and Apple’s Neural Engine and Media Engine for creative workflows.
The 24-inch iMac is available for pre-order from €1,599 and will ship next week.
Products that have not been announced (and on which we were banking on for good reasons)
13-inch MacBook Pro
Jason Cipriani/ZDNET
There have been rumors that the M3-fication of MacBook Pros would include the 13-inch model. But to date, this is not the case.
It’s not unreasonable to think that Apple is selling off inventory, as this is the last MacBook with a Touch Bar. The design of the 13-inch MacBook Pro remains inferior to that of the MacBook Air, which benefits from a notch and a keyboard that is less prone to defects.
Magic Keyboard and Mouse with USB-C
Apple/ZDNET
With the iPhone being the latest major product to move from the Lightning port to USB-C, the stars aligned for Apple to standardize its most popular Mac accessories during its “Scary Fast” event. But that was not the case.
With the new 24-inch iMac, Apple will continue to offer Magic Keyboard and Mouse devices equipped with Lightning technology, giving some users reason to save their cables.