Apple launches new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros powered by its latest M3 chips

By Stephen Fenech On Oct 31, 2023

Apple has launched a powerful new range of MacBook Pro laptops which feature Apple’s latest M3 line-up of processors which take performance and efficiency to an all-new level.

In its first evening launch event which lasted for 30 minutes, Apple unveiled the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max family of 3-nanometer chips which offers a new level of performance and power efficiency.

Apple announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros which can be configured with the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max processors.

Apple also introduced a new Space Black colour for the latest MacBook Pro M3 Pro and M3 Max models which are made with a new chemistry that forms an anodized seal to repel fingerprints.

The 24-inch iMac has also had an upgrade to the M3 chip to make the all-in-one desktop computer the fastest and most powerful it has ever created.

The new products are available for pre-order from today and will go on sale on November 7.

The M3 family of silicon has taken a giant leap forward in the two years since the M1 chip was announced.

It includes a next-gen GPU (graphics processing unit) that’s faster and more efficient and includes a new industry first technology called Dynamic Caching which can optimise the way the GPU is allocated by your applications and tasks.

The chips also have new hardware-accelerated rendering features Mesh Shading and Ray Tracing.

These features allow for faster and more powerful processing for filmmakers and game developers to create more realism with light and shadows in scenes.

In rendering performance, the new M3 chips are up to 2.5x faster than the M1 and up to 1.8x times faster than M2.

On the CPU (central processing unit) side, the M3 have performance cores that are up to 30 per cent faster than M1 so things like compiling and testing millions of lines of code in Xcode is even faster.

It also means musicians can use hundreds of audio tracks, plug ins and virtual instruments in Logic Pro.

The M3’s efficiency cores are up to 50 per cent faster than the M1 efficiency cores so not only is it faster – is it also even more energy efficient so it makes battery life of up to 22 hours on the new MacBook Pro a reality.

The trademark of Apple’s silicon is the unified memory architecture with each M3 chip delivering higher bandwidth, low latency and even greater power efficiency.

The M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips include an enhanced Neural Engine to power and accelerate machine learning (ML) models – it is now up to 60 per cent faster than M1.

M3 includes 25 billion transistors – 5 billion more than M2 and a 10-core GPU.

M3 Pro takes it up to 37 billion transistors with an 18-core GPU while M3 Max takes the transistor count to a massive 92 billion with a 40-core GPU that makes up to 50 per cent faster than the M1 Max.

MACBOOK PRO

The MacBook Pro line-up now includes 14-inch and 16-inch with M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 starts at $2,699 and is ideal for a student, a creator, business owners and video editors and includes an advanced thermal system so nothing will hold users back from unleashing its full potential.

With M3 MacBook Pro:

– Render performance in Final Cut Pro is up to 7.4x faster than the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Core i7,3 and up to 60 per cent faster than the 13‑inch MacBook Pro with M1.

The 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro takes things to another level and can improve and speed up workflows for researchers, creatives and coders.

With M3 Pro MacBook Pro:

– Filter and function performance in Adobe Photoshop is up to 3x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro,5 and up to 40 per cent faster than the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.

– Basecalling for DNA sequencing in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW is up to 20x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro,5 and up to 36 per cent faster than the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro.

The 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max is aimed at AI developers, 3D modellers, video editors and supports up to 128GB of unified memory.

With M3 Max MacBook Pro:

– Simulation of dynamical systems in MathWorks MATLAB is up to 5.5x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro,5 and up to 2x faster than the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.

– Noise reduction in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio is up to 2.7x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro,5 and up to 65 per cent faster than the 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max.