Apple's MacBook Pro & iMac Updated With 3nm M3 Family Of Chips

As anticipated, Apple has unveiled its latest Mac products at its "Scary Fast" event, featuring the groundbreaking M3 processors built on a 3nm process. This launch includes updated MacBook Pro models and a revamped iMac, all powered by the M3 family of chips—the world's first 3nm PC chips. This comes on the heels of Intel's announcement for its Meteor Lake chips, expected in notebooks later this year, and Qualcomm's revelation of the Snapdragon X Elite, slated for a mid-2024 release in PCs. These updates have come despite Apple releasing M2 Pro and M2 Max based MacBook Pro models just earlier in the year.

In a notable development, Apple has introduced a 14-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the M3 chip, a successor to the now-discontinued 13-inch MacBook Pro models with M1 and M2 chips. Unlike its predecessors, the new 14-inch model eschews the Touch Bar—a feature that failed to resonate with users. The latest MacBook Pro models also come in a new "Space Black" colour, designed to attract fewer fingerprints through a unique anodisation process.

A significant innovation in the M3 family of Apple silicon is the GPU technology. Apple has introduced features like dynamic caching, which allows the GPU to allocate local memory in real-time, ensuring optimal memory usage for each task. Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing has also been incorporated across the M3 family, including the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chipsets. A new feature called hardware accelerated mesh shading has also been added. The media engine also now adds support for AV1 video decode.

"Apple silicon has completely redefined the Mac experience. Every facet of its architecture is crafted for performance and power efficiency," said Johny Srouji, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies. "With 3-nanometer technology, a next-generation GPU architecture, a high-performance CPU, faster Neural Engine, and support for even more unified memory, the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are the most advanced chips ever designed for a personal computer," he added.

The M3 processor family supports up to 128GB of RAM on the M3 Max variant, a feature previously exclusive to the M1 Ultra chip just 18 months ago. The Neural Engine in these processors is said to be 16% faster than that of the M2 line, while consuming about half the power of the M1 processors for comparable performance.

Technical specifics reveal that the M3 features a 10-core and an 8-core GPU, both of which are 20% faster than the existing M2 chip found in products like the MacBook Air. It supports up to 24GB of unified memory and boasts a total of 25 billion transistors. This chip is the powerhouse behind the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 24-inch 4.5K iMac.

The M3 Pro variant offers up to 36GB of unified memory and has 37 billion transistors. Its 18-core GPU is 40% faster than the M1 Pro and 10% faster than the M2 Pro. Apple claims its 12-core CPU is 20% faster than the M1 Pro, although the company remains tight-lipped about comparisons with the M2 Pro.

The M3 Max supports a staggering 128GB of unified memory and a colossal 92 billion transistors. Its 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU offer performance gains of up to 50% and 20% over the M2 Max, respectively.

In addition to these hardware advancements, Apple has subtly improved the screens on the MacBook Pro models to enhance their utility in professional workflows.

As for the Indian market, the iMac will be available starting 7 November with prices beginning at ₹134,900 for the 8-core GPU model and ₹154,900 for the 10-core variant. The M3 MacBook Pro starts at ₹169,900 for the base model in the 14-inch chassis.

The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M3 Pro chip will start at ₹199,900 and ₹249,900, respectively, and are expected to be available next week.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max chip starts at ₹3,19,900 while the 16-inch version is priced starting at ₹3,49,900. They are up for pre-orders and are anticipated to hit the market in November.