Professionals looking for a more powerful MacBook will get really significantly more performance by upgrading to an M3 Max processor instead of the M3 Pro.
It’s no surprise that the Max version of one of Apple’s new chips is faster than the Pro, but many people might not be aware how very much faster it is.
I occasionally run across someone criticizing Apple because the MacBook Pro supports only a single external display. But that’s not a limitation of most MBP models — only the budget versions.
It was a drawback of the first professional-grade MacBook with Apple silicon, which is probably why people are still confused today. However, today there are multiple options for those who want two or more external screens.
The base model in the new 2023 MacBook Pro lineup comes with Apple’s standard M3 chip. This model, which replaces the discontinued 13-inch MacBook Pro, costs $400 less than the next model up, which runs on an M3 Pro chip.
The two laptops look almost identical. The big question is, will the entry-level M3 MacBook Pro suit your needs? Or should you spend the extra $400 and get the one with the M3 Pro chip? Find out in this comparison.
Apple could overhaul its tablet lineup in 2024, delivering the first 12.9-inch iPad Air and upgrading iPad Pro models to OLED displays and the company’s fast new M3 chip.
The upgrades could help boost iPad shipments to between 52 million and 54 million units in 2024, up from about 50 million in 2023.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Erfon breaks down the specs/performance of Apple’s recently released MacBook Pro lineup, and he’s convinced there are only two models any sane person would buy. Listen to found out which models make the grade!
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
From the outside, the new M3 MacBook Pros look the same as their predecessors — except for that gorgeous new space black finish.
How did Apple create this exotic new finish? And what’s changed inside its new laptops, aside from the powerful new M3 chips? The iFixit team posted a detailed teardown Friday that answers all your questions.
Some lucky first-day owners of the new M3 MacBook Pro unboxed their machines Tuesday to discover a reversal of fortune: Their new Macs arrived with a broken version of macOS that can’t install software updates.
Some MacBook Pros shipped to customers with an unreleased (well, more like unintentionally released) build of macOS Ventura 13.5. This version can’t be updated to macOS Sonoma through the standard Software Update feature in System Preferences.
Here’s how to fix the admittedly rare problem.
Apple’s new M3 iMac and MacBook Pros are now officially on sale in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and select other countries. If you live in one of those locations, you can pick up the latest iMac or M3-powered MacBook Pro from your nearest Apple Store.
The new M3 Max MacBook Pro will go on sale later in November.
If you’ve been holding your breath waiting for a new 27-inch iMac, it’s time to inhale: Apple reportedly has no plans to produce such a computer.
The news, which doubtless will disappoint fans of all-in-one Apple computers hoping for a bigger screen, comes straight from Apple itself.
Fans of all-in-one desktops are about to get the improved iMac they’ve been waiting for. The first reviews of the 2023 version are out and they’re full of praise for performance gains that that come with the new Apple M3 processor.
“The 2023 edition of the 24-inch Apple iMac is a real pleasure to use, and arguably the best all-in-one desktop when it comes to the amount and variety of tasks it can accomplish,” said the PCMag reviewer.
To paraphrase many of the M3 MacBook Pro reviews coming out Monday, Apple’s new lineup is like new car models that look like the old ones but have much better engines under the hood.
Other than the inclusion of blazing-fast M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, reviewers made note of the new Space Black color for the M3 Pro and M3 Max MacBooks. And some poked a little fun at Apple for even having a MacBook Pro with an option for only 8GB of RAM (the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro model).
New benchmark tests support claims Apple made about the impressive speed of the new M3 chip unveiled Monday in the Scary Fast event.
Geekbench found the new entry-level M3 chip, which appears initially in a new 24-inch iMac and one of three MacBook Pro models, performs as expected compared to M1 and M2 versions.
Update: And after the initial results for M3 came in, further tests showed M3 Max is 42% faster than M2 Max, or about as fast as M2 Ultra. That means a new top-shelf MacBook Pro is as fast as the Mac Pro released earlier this year in June, which Apple said at the time was the “most powerful chip ever created for a personal computer.” That claim lasted about five months.
Looking to get the new M3 MacBook Pro? Best Buy is taking $100 off Apple’s latest laptop, dropping its price to as low as $1,499.
The deal is available on M3 and M3 Pro variants of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. But to take advantage of the offer, you must be a Best Buy member.
Apple unveiled the 24-inch iMac with M1 chip way back in April 2021, and while the rest of the company’s Mac lineup got an M2 upgrade since then, the all-on-one desktop missed the boat. To make up for it, Apple announced the M3-powered iMac at its ‘Scary Fast’ event.
How does the 2023 iMac compare to its predecessor? Does it pack any other improvement besides the faster chip? Read this comparison to find out.
Following Monday’s launch of the M3-powered MacBook Pros, Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro. It was the last MacBook in the company’s lineup with a Touch Bar, a thin, customizable OLED strip at the top of the keyboard that replaced the usual row of function keys.
A cheaper 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip replaces the older Touch Bar model.
In a first, Apple rolled out three new chips at once — the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max — during its Halloween-themed Scary Fast event Monday. The new Apple processors power updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
The company also utilized a cool-looking space black aluminum finish for the first time on M3 Pro and M3 Max models. The laptops promise to hit speedy new benchmarks.
“Tonight we’re doing something we haven’t done before, as we bring our latest technologies to a broader set of users more rapidly than ever,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies. “We’re launching the next generation of Apple silicon for the Mac by releasing three great new chips at the same time.”
Apple broke with tradition and unveiled the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max processors all at once on Monday, rather than stringing the releases out. The performance cores in the new chips are up to 30% faster than M1, and the efficiency cores are up to 50% faster.
“Apple silicon has completely redefined the Mac experience. Every aspect of its architecture is designed for performance and power efficiency,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s SVP of Hardware Technologies. “With 3-nanometer technology, a next-generation GPU architecture, a higher-performance CPU, faster Neural Engine, and support for even more unified memory, M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are the most advanced chips ever built for a personal computer.”
UPDATE: The “Scary Fast” event has come and gone, and it brought the fresh MacBook Pro models and the iMac — all powered with a new M3 processor — that leaks predicted. Check out Cult of Mac‘s full coverage for more details.
As Apple’s Monday-evening Scary Fast event fast approaches, the latest rumors Friday say new M3-powered 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are likely to appear, while a new 13-inch M3 model likely remains in development.
After Apple invited the world to its Scary Fast product event Monday, speculation turned more seriously to the idea that newly announced Macs might sport faster new M3 chips rather than versions of the current M2 series chips.
One prominent analyst who had said the upgrade wouldn’t happen yet even changed his tune on the matter.
Update: This report has now been confirmed. On Tuesday, Apple invited the world to watch a product event on October 30. The theme is “scary fast.”
Fresh MacBooks and an iMac might be the highlights of an Apple event the last week of October, according to a high-profile tipster.
Exactly what’s on the agenda isn’t yet clear, but there are a number of strong possibilities, including some potential surprises.
Apple reportedly will see a significant decline in MacBook shipments in the remaining half of 2023. This is primarily due to the lack of new models, with MacBooks powered by an Apple M3 chip not launching until 2024.
The M3 chip could debut inside the iMac as early as this year before expanding to other Macs.
Apple might not launch M3-powered MacBooks this year. The claim comes from reputed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
The TF International Securities analyst did not provide more reason behind this. But given his accurate track record, it’s possible M3 MacBooks might not debut in 2023.
Apple is working on a big iPad Pro revamp due as soon as next year. This will be the first major overhaul to Apple’s Pro tablet lineup since 2018.
Besides the switch to M3 chips and a new design, the next-gen iPad Pros reportedly will feature OLED displays.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Looks like we have an iPhone 15 launch date. An early hint pinpointed September 13, but now it looks like the big reveal might come a day earlier. Mark your calendars (but maybe use a pencil rather than a Sharpie).
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Apple is working on a slew of M3-powered Macs for late 2023 and 2024, and the latest mystery machine spotted on developers’ logs appears to be a new Mac mini.
The M3 chip, the next-gen Apple silicon that will power these Macs, should be based on the 3nm node, offering superior performance and efficiency.
