Apple recently held an event to announce its latest products and unveiled the highly anticipated M3 family of chips. These new chips, which are designed for iMac and MacBook models, are said to be the most advanced chips ever made for personal computers.
The M3 family consists of three members – the base M3, the M3 Pro, and the powerful M3 Max. One of the key highlights of these chips is their use of the “3-nanometer process” technology, making them the first to market with this cutting-edge technology. Apple claims that the M3 chips are faster and more efficient compared to their predecessors.
In terms of performance, the M3 chips boast the same number of CPU and GPU cores as the previous generation, but they are significantly faster. The M3 chips’ performance cores are 15% faster than the M2 family and 30% faster than the M1. The efficiency cores, on the other hand, are 30% faster than M2 and 50% faster than M1.
The base M3 chip features 25 billion transistors, up from 20 billion in the M2. It supports up to 24 GB of unified memory and includes a 10-core GPU that is 65% faster than the M1, as well as an eight-core CPU that is 35% faster. The M3 Pro, on the other hand, offers 37 billion transistors and supports up to 36 GB of unified memory. It features an 18-core GPU that is up to 40% faster than the M1 Pro, along with a 12-core CPU that is up to 30% faster.
The M3 Max is the most powerful chip in the family, with up to 128 GB of unified memory. It boasts an astonishing 92 billion transistors, a 40-core GPU that is up to 50% faster than the M1 Max, and a 16-core CPU that is up to 80% faster. These chips are specifically designed to power resource-intensive applications such as photo and video editing, as well as games that utilize advanced rendering techniques like ray tracing and mesh shading.
Alongside the M3 chips, Apple also announced the first iMac and MacBook models that will feature these chips. The new iMac, running on the M3 chip, is expected to be twice as fast as previous models. It features a 24-inch Retina display with 4.5K resolution and supports Wi-Fi 6E for faster download speeds.
The new MacBook Pro lineup offers the choice of any of the three M3 chips. The 14-inch model can be equipped with either the M3 or M3 Pro, with a high-resolution display and up to 2 TB of SSD storage. The 16-inch model comes with either the M3 Pro or M3 Max and features a larger display and up to 8 TB of storage.
All new MacBook Pro models have also received upgrades, including up to 120 Hz refresh rate, up to 22 hours of battery life, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, an HDMI port, and an SDXC card slot.
The new iMac starts at US$1,299, while the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,599 for the M3 or $1,999 for the M3 Pro. The 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499. These new models will be available in stores starting from November 7.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
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