Apple has just taken the tech world by storm with the official unveiling of its remarkable M3 series of chips. These chips are a groundbreaking leap forward in personal computing, being the first-ever 3-nanometer chips designed specifically for personal computers. With the M3 series, Apple introduces a next-generation GPU architecture and ushers in a wave of astonishing performance enhancements.
The M3 chips offer users a faster CPU and Neural Engine, promising a significant boost in processing power and overall performance. Whether you're a professional user or someone who enjoys everyday computing tasks, you can look forward to a substantial improvement in your device's capabilities.
One standout feature of the M3 chips is their support for more unified memory. This ensures seamless multitasking and quicker data access, making your Apple device more efficient and responsive for a wide range of tasks, from work to play.
The M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips represent the future of personal computing and are set to redefine what Apple devices can achieve. With these cutting-edge chips, users can expect an unparalleled computing experience. Stay tuned for further updates as we delve deeper into the world of M3 technology."
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - Apple today announced M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max, three chips featuring groundbreaking technologies that deliver dramatically increased performance and unleash new capabilities for Mac. These are the first personal computer chips built using the industry-leading 3-nanometer process technology, allowing more transistors to be packed into a smaller space and improving speed and efficiency. Together, M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max show how far Apple silicon for the Mac has come since the debut of the M1 family of chips.
The M3 family of chips features a next-generation GPU that represents the biggest leap forward in graphics architecture ever for Apple silicon. The GPU is faster and more efficient, and introduces a new technology called Dynamic Caching, while bringing new rendering features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading to Mac for the first time. Rendering speeds are now up to 2.5x faster than on the M1 family of chips. The CPU performance cores and efficiency cores are 30 percent and 50 percent faster than those in M1, respectively, and the Neural Engine is 60 percent faster than the Neural Engine in the M1 family of chips. And, a new media engine now includes support for AV1 decode, providing more efficient and high-quality video experiences from streaming services. The M3 family of chips continues the tremendous pace of innovation in Apple silicon, and brings massive enhancements and new features to the new MacBook Pro and iMac.
“Apple silicon has completely redefined the Mac experience. Every aspect of its architecture is designed 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 higher-performance CPU, faster Neural Engine, and support for even more unified memory, M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are the most advanced chips ever built for a personal computer.”
All-New GPU Features Dynamic Caching, Mesh Shading, and Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing
The next-generation GPU inside the M3 family of chips represents the largest leap forward in graphics architecture for Apple silicon. It features Dynamic Caching that, unlike traditional GPUs, allocates the use of local memory in hardware in real time. With Dynamic Caching, only the exact amount of memory needed is used for each task. This is an industry first, transparent to developers, and the cornerstone of the new GPU architecture. It dramatically increases the average utilization of the GPU, which significantly increases performance for the most demanding pro apps and games.
With the M3 family of chips, hardware-accelerated ray tracing comes to the Mac for the first time. Ray tracing models the properties of light as it interacts with a scene, allowing apps to create extremely realistic and physically accurate images. This, along with the new graphics architecture, allows pro apps to deliver up to 2.5x the speed of the M1 family of chips. Game developers can use ray tracing for more accurate shadows and reflections, creating deeply immersive environments. Additionally, the new GPU brings hardware-accelerated mesh shading to the Mac, delivering greater capability and efficiency to geometry processing, and enabling more visually complex scenes in games and graphics-intensive apps. This breakthrough GPU architecture enables all of these enhancements and features while maintaining Apple silicon's legendary power efficiency. In fact, the M3 GPU is able to deliver the same performance as M1 using nearly half the power, and up to 65 percent more performance at its peak.
A Quicker and More Efficient CPU
The next-generation CPU found in M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max incorporates architectural enhancements for both its performance and efficiency cores. The performance cores now offer a remarkable 30 percent increase in speed compared to the M1 family, resulting in accelerated tasks like compiling and testing millions of lines of code in Xcode, as well as empowering musicians to utilize numerous audio tracks, plug-ins, and virtual instruments in Logic Pro.
The efficiency cores have also received a significant boost, being up to 50 percent faster than the efficiency cores in M1. This means everyday tasks are more responsive than ever, all while allowing the system to optimize battery life. When combined, these cores deliver a CPU that maintains multithreaded performance similar to M1 but with the added benefit of using as little as half the power. At its peak, it offers up to 35 percent more performance.
Unparalleled Unified Memory Architecture: Up to 128GB
Every chip within the M3 family incorporates a unified memory architecture, a defining feature of Apple's silicon technology. This architecture provides high bandwidth, minimal latency, and unmatched energy efficiency. With a single unified memory pool situated within a custom package, all components of the chip can access the same data without the need for duplicating it across multiple memory pools. This not only enhances performance and efficiency but also reduces the amount of memory needed for the majority of tasks.
Furthermore, the support for up to 128GB of memory opens doors to workflows that were previously unattainable on a laptop, such as AI developers working with even larger transformer models containing billions of parameters.
Custom Engines for AI and Video
M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are equipped with upgraded Neural Engines designed to accelerate robust machine learning (ML) models. The Neural Engine now boasts a remarkable 60 percent speed increase compared to the M1 family of chips, resulting in even faster AI/ML workflows while ensuring data remains on the device to safeguard user privacy. This boost in performance also extends to powerful AI image processing tools like noise reduction and super resolution in applications like Topaz. Additionally, tools like scene edit detection in Adobe Premiere and Smart Conform in Final Cut Pro experience significant performance enhancements.
All three chips in the M3 family feature an advanced media engine that offers hardware acceleration for widely-used video codecs, including H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW. What's more, the media engine now supports AV1 decoding for efficient playback of streaming services, contributing to extended battery life, marking the first time AV1 decoding is supported.
M3: Exceptional Performance for Leading-Edge Systems
The M3 chip incorporates a staggering 25 billion transistors, an impressive 5 billion more than its predecessor, the M2. It boasts a 10-core GPU featuring a next-generation architecture that offers a remarkable 65 percent increase in graphics performance compared to the M1. This enhancement is vividly demonstrated in games like Myst, where you'll experience incredibly realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections.
The M3 is equipped with an 8-core CPU, consisting of four high-performance cores and four efficiency cores, delivering CPU performance up to 35 percent faster than the M1. Additionally, it supports up to 24GB of unified memory.
M3 Pro: Meeting the Needs of Power Users
M3 Pro is a powerhouse, boasting a substantial 37 billion transistors and an 18-core GPU, which delivers lightning-fast performance, especially for tasks demanding intense graphics processing. The GPU exhibits an impressive 40 percent boost in speed compared to the M1 Pro. With support for up to 36GB of unified memory, users can tackle even larger projects on their MacBook Pro while on the move.
The CPU is designed with 12 cores, divided into six high-performance cores and six efficiency cores, resulting in single-threaded performance up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Pro. Activities such as stitching together and manipulating vast panoramic photos in Adobe Photoshop are now more efficient than ever with the M3 Pro on the new MacBook Pro.
M3 Max: A Remarkable Leap in Performance for the Most Demanding Pro Tasks
M3 Max takes the performance game to the next level with a staggering 92 billion transistors. The 40-core GPU sets new standards, offering a remarkable 50 percent increase in speed compared to the M1 Max. Supporting up to 128GB of unified memory, it empowers AI developers to work with even more extensive transformer models containing billions of parameters.
The CPU boasts a 16-core design, comprising 12 high-performance cores and four efficiency cores, achieving an astounding performance gain of up to 80 percent compared to the M1 Max. With the inclusion of two ProRes engines, M3 Max streamlines video post-production work, even on the most demanding high-resolution content, whether you're using DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Final Cut Pro.
M3 Max is purpose-built for professionals who demand peak performance in a MacBook Pro, all while maintaining industry-leading battery life in a pro laptop.
Environmentally Friendly Advancements
The power-efficient performance of M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max plays a crucial role in enabling the new MacBook Pro and iMac to adhere to Apple's stringent energy efficiency standards. This achievement also allows the new MacBook Pro to deliver the lengthiest battery life ever seen in a Mac, reaching up to 22 hours. This translates to reduced dependency on charging and decreased energy consumption over the product's lifetime.
Currently, Apple maintains carbon neutrality for its global corporate operations, and by 2030, the company is committed to achieving a net-zero climate impact across its entire business, encompassing the entire manufacturing supply chain and product life cycles. This commitment ensures that each chip in every Mac, from the design phase to manufacturing, will have a carbon-neutral footprint.