Fact is that there are folks (granny with email, K-12 admins buying dozens of Macs) who need lowest cost and can function fine under 8 GB RAM. Whiners who just want more base RAM (but w/o paying more) are just whiners.
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Apple's M3 Chip: Everything We Know
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This kind of comment every time rumours about a new chip are published is becoming the new “Safari feels snappier”.
What I know is the Mac Pro had an incredibly small audience with its cost. The new M series will be even less. As a pro I have just gone to the studio. Although after all of the boasting about unified memory I am CONSTANTLY coming up against out of memory issues. Trusty Apple. Going from the Mac Pro intel supporting 1tb of ram, down to 192gb. Ya. So I suspect that the Mac Pro will either change again, to actually be upgradable or it’ll be dead in the water as a product. Because the Mac Studio and Mac Pro are identical apart from PCI which has the most ridiculous list of usage.
I’m pretty underwhelmed with the m2 ultra. So many issues with performance and memory.
I’m pretty underwhelmed with the m2 ultra. So many issues with performance and memory.
I fail to understand where the "*extremely* notable performance improvements" should come from. They are just sizing down the structures. If you don't change the architecture and don't change the clock speed, it only will result in a smaller die that's potentially cheaper to produce and possibly more energy efficient.
But smaller structures don't automatically increase the performance.
The increase in energy efficiency means the thermal load is decreased wich in turn allows for higher clock speeds. And it also allows for more transistors on the same size of die. So you could add more cores. Or you could change the architecture (alus/jump predictions/registers/...) to a more powerful and complex one... But that's not easy, and it would require a serious redesign.
A better title would be „Everything we guess“.
And you could get external Thunderbolt PCIe enclosures for less than the price difference between the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro.
I may just buy a M3 Mac mini just to make sure I like Apple Silicon over Intel Macs.
Then also buy a Mac Studio M3 MAX if all goes well. Spending $4k for the Ultra may not be worth it.
I can always use a M3 Mac mini camping in a motor home or wire it in my car or mini van with a pull out Touch screen. Being Low Power draw. Great to run off a mobile Solar Panel RV Set up. Hope they even stick a 5G modem inside.
Then also buy a Mac Studio M3 MAX if all goes well. Spending $4k for the Ultra may not be worth it.
I can always use a M3 Mac mini camping in a motor home or wire it in my car or mini van with a pull out Touch screen. Being Low Power draw. Great to run off a mobile Solar Panel RV Set up. Hope they even stick a 5G modem inside.
Fingers crossed for an M3 powered larger than 12.9” iPad Pro with a new Apple Pencil and new Magic Keyboard with a function row of keys.
Will the M3 major on low power / high efficiency if so I guess it'll be mainly used in portables ??
Since Apple has 14” and 16” MBPs, why not really make something I think people would buy - a 12” MBP. Don’t make it like the MBA. Make it a true Pro Mac with the M3 Pro SoC and up to 64GB of RAM. That would sell like hotcakes if you ask me. Sure people like big iPhones but smaller laptops are always a favorite. Don’t make it like the small 12” MacBook. Make a real MacBook Pro that’s thicker with the fan, MagSafe, high-end display, Thunderbolt/USBC 4, and I guess HDMI if that’s what people really want. Put good speakers in it like others have said the 13” MBP had as an improvement over the Air.
I would buy it. I like small and powerful on the go, but able to connect to a new 8K XDR display at home!
Who’s in on something like this? That PowerBook sure was popular at 12 inches!
I would buy it. I like small and powerful on the go, but able to connect to a new 8K XDR display at home!
Who’s in on something like this? That PowerBook sure was popular at 12 inches!
My current M-series machines are so good that it will be pretty hard to convince me to upgrade. Faster performance doesn't help me. Would need to be very compelling jump in battery life or a smaller form (12" please!). Other than that I will be out on this cycle.
You do know M2 Ultra is out??..
Oh my and a 32-core GPU... instead of CPU..
Was really hoping to see greater number of GPU cores in M3. While current M processors are just fine for majority of users, graphics intensive performance is an achilles' heel of apple silicon; they're no match compared to discrete graphic cards on the market. Since e-GPU is not available anymore, adding more GPU cores and leveling up on graphics performance would make M processors an all-around perfect solution for everyone's needs.
So the 14 MBP will either get thinner or get battery bump because the lack of M3 Max will save some space.
I hope that all variations can get 6 efficient cores so that more light tasks can run on the efficient cores, thus giving MacBook Airs a battery bump
I hope that all variations can get 6 efficient cores so that more light tasks can run on the efficient cores, thus giving MacBook Airs a battery bump
My M1 Ultra Mac Studio has been fun, but I still need a bit more power.
I'll replace mine with an M3 Ultra model in mid 2024; can't wait!
I really hope the switch to 3nm will actually bring some considerable improvement in power, and not just an incremental update like we saw with the M2 generation.
I'll replace mine with an M3 Ultra model in mid 2024; can't wait!
I really hope the switch to 3nm will actually bring some considerable improvement in power, and not just an incremental update like we saw with the M2 generation.
M1 was the considerable improvement in power - any M# (as with A#) going forward will most likely be an incremental upgrade, if Apple's track record speaks clearly.
We always have high hopes every year, and Apple upgrades rarely fail to underwhelm us.
Cue Bruce Hornsbey's "The Way it Is" song.
That is nonsensical or sloppy, you can't have "only chip companies". TSMC is either the only chip company that is able to make 3nm chips OR one of the chip companies that is able to make 3nm chips. Which is it?
More accurate: TSMC is one of the few chip companies that is able to make 3nm chips. The "few" chip companies being TSMC, Samsung and Intel according to Wikipedia.
I don't think Apple know what to do with the 13" MBP and so far are happy just keeping it as is because I imagine they sell a lot to cost-conscious companies. I think there are a few options
- Get rid of the touch bar, drop the price to $999 and call it the MacBook SE (i.e. last gen casing/internals with latest SoC)
- Offer the option of the lowest binned M Pro chip for an extra few hundred $ (in the same way that the M2 Mini comes with M or M Pro chips)
- Go the whole hog and update the case in line with the 14"/16" MBPs (latest camera, speakers, MagSafe etc) and offer M Pro chips as a proper step between MBA and 14" MBP. Hold back things like ProMotion and the M Max chip for the bigger models and price it at around $1699 (12/256 config)
On RAM - remember that Apple is on the hook for supporting Macs for at least 5 years meaning that if the M3 models launch with 8 GB, Apple will need to make sure MacOS runs well with 8 GB in 2028. I think 12 GB is a good compromise.
I see a contradiction in the Pro and Max variants. Since the Pros were just the Max with the bottom part cut off. It wouldn’t make sense if the M3 Pro going have 2 more efficiency cores more than the M3 Max. Unless Apple makes them a separate chip design.
This handle is all over the place. The M2 Ultra is out and the M1 Ultra is end of life, and there is no reason for the MBP 14 not to get the M3Max as it currently gets the M2Max.
Apple is developing the next several iterations of its M-series Apple silicon chips, and the chips coming in late 2023 and 2024 will be the "M3" series. The M3 chips will use updated TSMC chip manufacturing technology to make them faster and more efficient than ever before.
This guide contains everything that we know about Apple's upcoming M3 chips, and it will be updated over time as we learn more about them.
What We Know
Apple is still on the M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M1 Ultra line of chips, and the first M3 chip isn't expected to launch until sometime in late 2023. As with the M1 and M2 chip releases, we'll see the standard M3 first, followed by the M3 Pro, M3 Max, and M3 Ultra.
Chip Details
Like the M2 chip, the M3 chip will feature an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, but we will see more notable performance improvements when it comes to the higher-end chips. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the most powerful M3 chip, the Ultra, will have a 32-core GPU and up to an 80-core GPU.
Here's the breakdown:
M2 M3 Standard 8 CPU cores (4 high-performance and 4 energy-efficient)
10 GPU cores8 CPU cores (4 high-performance and 4 energy-efficient)
10 GPU coresPro 10 or 12 CPU cores (6 or 8 high-performance and 4 energy-efficient)
16 or 19 GPU cores12 or 14 CPU cores (6 or 8 high-performance and 6 energy-efficient)
18 or 20 GPU coresMax 12 CPU cores (8 high-performance and 4 energy-efficient)
30 or 38 core GPU cores16 CPU cores (12 high-performance and 4 energy-efficient)
32 or 40 GPU coresUltra 24 CPU cores (16 high-performance and 8 energy-efficient)
60 or 76 GPU cores32 CPU cores (24 high-performance and 8 energy-efficient)
64 or 80 GPU cores
3-Nanometer Technology
Current M-series chips are using TSMC's 5-nanometer technology, but the M3 chips will use TSMC's newest 3-nanometer chip technology. A smaller node size equates to more transistor density, which improves both efficiency and performance. 3nm chips could offer up to 35 percent better efficiency, which would allow for longer battery life for M-series Macs.
Apple supplier TSMC is one of the only chip companies that is able to make 3nm chips, and rumors suggest that even TSMC's yield rates are just above 55 percent right now because the technology is so new. Apple's shift to 3nm will mark the first node update since the 5nm M1 chip came out in 2020, and it will bring a bigger performance update than we saw with the M2.
M3 Macs
So far, Apple has used standard "M1" and "M2" chips in its lower-end MacBook Pro and MacBook Air machines, while higher-end MacBook Pro machines use "Pro" and "Max" chips. The Mac Studio and Mac Pro use Apple's "Ultra" chips.
If Apple sticks with this chip naming scheme, lower-end M3 chips could be in Apple's entry-level machines, while higher-end Macs could get M3 Pro, M3 Max, and M3 Ultra chips.
Macs Expected to Use M3 Chip
- 13-inch MacBook Air
- 15-inch MacBook Air
- 13-inch MacBook Pro
- Mac mini
- 24-inch iMac
Macs Expected to Use M3 Pro Chip
- Mac mini
- 14-inch MacBook Pro
- 16-inch MacBook Pro
Macs Expected to Use M3 Max Chip
- 16-inch MacBook Pro
- Mac Studio
Macs Expected to Use M3 Ultra Chip
- Mac Studio
- Mac Pro
Release Date
Rumors so far suggest that we'll see the first Macs with M3 chip in 2023. Apple plans to release the standard M3 chip first, and we could potentially see it in refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Air models before the end of the year. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says we can expect new Macs in October.
Higher-end machines with M3 Pro, M3 Max, and M3 Ultra chips are not expected until 2024.
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Article Link: Apple's M3 Chip: Everything We Know
It’s as if we were reading Digitimes.
Even TSMC is only promising a 10-15% performance gain at the same energy consumption over second generation 5nm. This may be closer to an M2 level performance gain versus an Intel to M1 performance gain (the latter of which will likely never be repeatable).