Apple just held its “Scary Fast” October event, which was meant to invoke Halloween and introduce new products. The timing of the event, however, is uncharacteristic for Apple, with an 8pm start time instead of the usual 1pm for its keynotes. So, without further ado, let’s see what spooky hardware Apple has in store as we come approach the closing months of 2023.
14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3-based SoCs
The big news is the 3-nanometer M3 family of chips for the MacBook Pro: M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. They feature an all-new GPU architecture with hardware-accelerated mesh shading, hardware-accelerated ray tracing (as seen on the A17 Pro), and Dynamic Caching. Dynamic Memory, as its name implies, allows local memory to be dynamically allocated by hardware in real time depending on what an application needs. Apple claims up to a 2.5x uplift in performance compared to the GPU in the M2 family.
The performance cores are up to 30 percent faster, while the efficiency cores are up to 50 percent faster than the M2 Pro and M2 Pro Max. The neural engine is up to 60 percent faster than the one found in the M1 family. Here’s the new CPU lineup for the MacBook Pros:
- M3 8-core CPU (4 performance, 3 efficiency), 10-core GPU, up to 24GB unified memory
- M3 Pro 12-core CPU (6 performance, 6 efficiency), 18-core GPU, up to 36 GB unified memory
- M3 Max 16-core CPU (12 performance, 4 efficiency), 40-core GPU, up to 128GB unified memory
Base 14-inch MacBook Pros come with the M3 processor, whereas previous entry-level 14-inch models started with the M1 Pro or M2 Pro. It will also be available with the M3 Pro and M3 Max. The 16-inch MacBook Pro will only be available in M3 Pro and M3 Max configurations.
Apple claims up to 22 hours of battery life with the new MacBook Pros. There’s also an upgraded Liquid Retina XDR Display with a maximum HDR brightness of 1600 nits.
In addition, Apple introduced a new color for the M3 Pro and M3 Max: Space Black. The dark aluminum finish is a nice break from the usual Silver and Space Grey that have been the standard two options for years on MacBook Pros. Apple claims it features a “breakthrough” anodization method that resists fingerprints.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro now starts at $1,599 with the M3 processor (it previously started at $1,999 with the M2 Pro), while the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499. All the systems are available to order today, but MacBook Pros with the M3 Max won’t ship until November.
On a side note, the new lower price of the M3-based MacBook Pro will seemingly replace the “old” 13-inch MacBook Pro.
New 24-inch iMac with M3
It’s been over two years since Apple last updated the iMac. At the time, the all-in-one computer launched with the M1 processor. When Apple debuted the M2 processor for the Mac mini and MacBook Air, the iMac was left out of the loop.
Now, finally, a new iMac is boasting increased performance with the M3 processor. The new 24-inch iMac Pro is now up to 2x faster than its predecessor with an M1 processor (Apple also says that the machine is 2.5x faster than compared to 27-inch Intel-based all-in-one machines). It will be available in seven colors and will still start at $1,299.
Apple says that the new 24-inch iMac is available to order today and will ship next week.
