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Appleis closing out the 2023 product year with what might be its biggest reveal on the smallest scale.
However, Apple hasn’t redesigned any of the hardware.
What matters here is the chip.
It’s now been three years since we saw the first collection of Macs running Apple’s Silicon.
Like the M1 and M2 before it, the base M3 has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU.
There’s greater efficiency thanks to the 3-nanometer process and across-the-board improvements over the original M1 chip.
The speed improvements may be more incremental when it comes to comparisons with the M2 class.
Not only is the memory unified on these M3 systems, but there is no discrete graphics option.
However, there’s an important wrinkle here.
Dynamic caching turns traditional graphics memory management on its head.
This could make M3 systems far more efficient and speed up performance by opening up memory for other tasks.
It’ll just work.
The Neural Engine is reportedly 60% faster than what was found in the M1 class of chips.
It’s not clear yet what the speed difference is between M2 and M3.
The good news here is that you will likely see performance improvements without sacrificing battery life.
First, though, Apple is finally putting the MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touchbar out to pasture.
The MacBook Pro line will now start with a 14-inch model.
However, it’s also cheaper than theMacBook Pro 14-inch running M2.
At that point, the laptop screen size becomes somewhat less important.
The MacBook Pro 16 is available with M3 Max or M3 Pro.
Apple didn’t redesign the MacBook Pro.
There are still three Thunderbolt USB-C ports (just two on 14-inch M3 models).
What is different is the new Space Black finish.
I saw this finish in person and it is dark, brooding, and lovely.
But the color is more than skin deep.
Apple used a new anodizing process that makes the laptop body fingerprint-resistant.
Apple is also breathing new life into the semi-dormant iMac line with a new M3 iMac 24-inch.
There are two core options, though.
The 8-core M3 iMac 24-inch starts at $1,299 and the 10-core model starts at $1,499.
It is a lovely, large screen for video editing and multitasking.
gaming (Myst, in particular shows off the M3’s ray-tracing skills).
There are, by the way, no new color options for the iMac.
Ultimately, the new MacBook Pros and All-in-One iMac 24-inch serve as a showcase for Apple Silicon’s progress.
Apple is clearly betting on that.
Of course, we’ll know more after we put these components and systems through our own tests.
