Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ event, taking place on this here Halloween, has arrived. The company took the opportunity to reveal its new lineup of incredibly fast Macs, including a new Macbook Pro range and iMac powered by the super M3 chip range.
Here’s a breakdown of the products from Apple’s 2023 Mac event.
Everything announced at Apple’s Scary Fast M3 event
New Apple Silicon Chips
Apple revealed three breakthrough new chips that are, as you’d expect, scary fast.
The M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips utilise cutting-edge 3-nanometer process tech to increase performance and provide new features.
The M3 family of chips contain a next-gen GPU which Apple claims provides the biggest leap forward in graphical architecture yet for Apple Silicon. Some capabilities the M3 chips have are mesh shading, dynamic caching and ray tracing, which is significant for any gamers out there.
M3’s neural engine is 60% faster than the M1 family and the CPU performance and efficiency cores are 30% and 50% faster, respectively, than the M1 range. Each chip in the M3 family also features a unified memory architecture of up to 128GB and advanced engines capable of popular video encodes like ProRes and H.264.
According to Apple, the M3 GPU is able to deliver the same performance as M1 using nearly half the power.
When it comes to the differences between these chips it varies depending on how much power you really need. Apple recommended the M3 Pro for those who need more performance. It features an 18-core GPU that offers extremely fast performance for graphics-intensive tasks.
Meanwhile, the M3 Max has a 40-core GPU and two ProRes engines that make working on video post-production a breeze.
Now, let’s find out where these M3 chips are going.
Apple Macbook Pro M3
The new lineup of Macbook Pro’s are all built to house the new M3 chips. There are a few options on offer.
The 14-inch Macbook Pro with the M3 chip is the basic build that offers new capabilities that make everyday tasks efficient and offer sustained performance in apps and games.
The M3 Pro chip is offered in 14 and 16-inch Macbook Pro editions. They are more suitable for users like coders, creators and researchers who have a more demanding workflow.
The M3 Max Macbook Pros feature the top-tier GPU in the lineup with 128GB of unified memory that suits tasks such as machine learning programmers, 3D artists and video editors.
The M3 Pro Macbook can simultaneously run two external HD displays and the M3 Max can handle 4 extra displays.
A little treat Apple has gifted us on this Halloween event is the introduction of a hot new colour – Space Black – which is exclusive to the new Macbook Pros running M3 Pro and M3 Max chips.
Across the range, the M3 Macbook Pros feature a Liquid Retina XDR display, 1080p built-in camera, six-speaker surround sound system and up to 22 hours of battery life. They also make use of the new macOS Sonoma update which offers desktop widgets, screen-sharing abilities and a new Game Mode.
The new Macbook Pros are available for order now and will be available from November 7. The Australian pricing is as follows:
- Macbook M3 14-inch – starts at $2,699
- Macbook M3 Pro 14-inch – starts at $3,499
- Macbook M3 Max 14-inch – starts at $4,299
iMac with M3
Lastly, we come to the iMac which keeps the sleek and slim design (and colours) introduced a couple of years ago and outfits it with the power of M3.
According to Apple, the 24-inch iMac M3 is up to 2x faster than the M1 iMac and has a 4.5K retina display that packs a punch of 11.3 million pixels along with a cutting-edge speaker, camera and mic system.
The new M3 iMac is available for order now with availability on November 7. Pricing starts at $2,199 for an 8-core GPU and $2,499 for a 10-core GPU.
And that’s everything Apple revealed at its ‘Scary Fast’ Halloween event. Following the reveal of the new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9, it’s been a pretty big year for the company! Are you tempted by any of the new products?
Lead Image Credit: Apple
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