Earlier this month, Apple added the M3 chip to the MacBook Air series, and last fall it was added to the 24-inch iMac and MacBook Pro. It probably won’t stop there. The M3 processor may also be added to the Mac mini and other Apple devices.
Not only will the super-fast processor be added to Mac computers, the iPad Pro is also expected to feature an M3 chip for powerful performance. Just like the A17 Pro for iPhone 15 Pro (Max), the M3 chip is designed using a 3nm manufacturing process and this is reflected in the performance of the chip.
M3 series in brief
Last fall, Apple released the M3 series for Mac. Not only the ‘standard’ M3 chip, but also the M3 Pro and M3 Max for MacBook Pro. Like the A17 Pro for iPhone 15 Pro (Max), the M3 is designed using a 3nm manufacturing process. This is an advanced manufacturing technology used to make semiconductor chips. A 3nm process means that the transistor gate is only 3 nanometers wide, this article explains what is so special about it.
The GPU is faster, more efficient and uses the new Dynamic Caching technology. In addition, thanks to this GPU, new features such as ray tracing and mesh shading with hardware acceleration are possible for rendering on Mac for the first time. The rendering speed is now up to 2.5 times faster than with the M1 chips. This is especially a big plus when gaming on a Mac.
The CPU’s performance cores and efficiency cores are 30 percent and 50 percent faster than the M1, respectively, and the Neural Engine is 60 percent faster than the M1 line. Furthermore, there is a new media engine that supports AV1 decoding, so that images from streaming services are displayed more efficiently and in higher quality.
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Macs with M3 chip
At the time of writing, Apple has already added the M3 series to several Macs, but it is expected that this processor will also be added to other Apple devices including the Mac mini later this year. Below an overview.
Already released
- 24-inch iMac: M3
- 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air: M3
- 14-inch MacBook Pro: M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max
- 16-inch MacBook Pro: M3 Pro and M3 Max
To be expected
- Mac mini: M3 and M3 Pro
- Mac Studio: M3 Max and M3 Ultra (not yet announced)
- Mac Pro: M3 Ultra (not yet announced)
Most likely, Apple will unveil the Mac Studio and Mac Pro with M3 at WWDC 2024 in early June. It is unknown when we can expect the Mac mini with M3 processor. Possibly not until the autumn of 2024, but later this spring is still possible.
iPad Pro with M3
In addition to new Macs, an iPad Pro with M3 chip is also expected. Thanks to the M3, the iPad Pro has great computing power and can complete professional tasks in no time. The chip will also probably be used for extra complex tasks especially for the iPad and/or Apple Pencil.