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you will be able to buy similar Intel based machines with 14 series processors and Nvidia chipsets. When it comes to getting real computer work done that requires speed.. no one cares about colours and size and power draw.

The millions of people that buy MacBooks disagree. ! The people that want to use a machine without being plugged in buy MacBooks.
 
That's because there is little to rave about for this update.
Apple themselves during the keynote advertised it as an upgrade for mostly Intel users and maybe some M1s, they dodged most comparisons against the M2 line.

should M2 mbp users feel the need to have something that convinces them to upgrade?

should m2 any device users want to have something that makes them want to upgrade? it’s the last gen chip.

people keep wanting leaps year to year, and i cannot understand why.
 
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Why not?

If you paid for an M3 Max and got an M3 Max what would the problem be? There's always something newer/faster coming.
I am glad Apple is full steam ahead aboard the 3 nanometer express, but in my view, just like Apple skipped M2 in the iMac, perhaps it should have skipped M2 max in the Mac Studio and waited to release it with M3 max.

On iPhone there is a 1 year cadence. Here, the main issue I have is the short time frame between the M2 Max studio announcement and the m3 max release. Only 4.5 months, and the mac studio is not upgradable, and you can't add the m3 max / ultra logic board to the existing chassis (unlike Framework).
 
I am glad Apple is full steam ahead aboard the 3 nanometer express, but in my view, just like Apple skipped M2 in the iMac, perhaps it should have skipped M2 max in the Mac Studio and just released M3 max.

On iPhone there is a 1 year cadence. Here, the main issue I have is the short time frame between the M2 Max studio announcement and the m3 max release. Only 4.5 months, and the mac studio is not upgradable, and you can't add the m3 max / ultra logic board to the existing chassis (unlike Framework).
Framework has a unique and intriguing business model. Good on them. Question is can/will they continue to do this if they were selling a few million units a year.
 


The first benchmark results for the standard M3 chip surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today, providing a closer look at the chip's CPU performance improvements.

M3-Chip-Apple-Event-Slide.jpg

Based on the results so far, the M3 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 3,000 and 11,700, respectively. The standard M2 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 2,600 and 9,700, respectively, so the M3 chip is up to 20% faster than the M2 chip, as Apple claimed during its "Scary Fast" event on Monday.

Geekbench 6 multi-core scores:
  • M3 chip: ~11,700 (+20% vs. M2 chip)
  • M2 chip: ~9,700 (+17% vs. M1 chip)
  • M1 chip: ~8,315
It's unclear if the results are for the new 14-inch MacBook Pro or iMac, both of which are available with the standard M3 chip, but performance should be similar for both machines. The results have a "Mac15,3" identifier, which Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported was for a laptop with the same display resolution as a 14-inch MacBook Pro.

The standard M3 chip is equipped with an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, and it supports up to 24GB of unified memory. The chip has improved GPU architecture with support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, which will make high-end games look more realistic. It also has a 16-core Neural Engine for AI.

M3-Chip-Performance.jpg

We have yet to see any Geekbench results for the higher-end M3 Pro and M3 Max chips available in most new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

Article Link: First Benchmark Results Surface for M3 Chip in New Macs
Just fine, as expected. I am most interested in seeing how the evolving architecture with OS/apps takes advantage of UMA RAM, etc. over the next year or so.
 
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All I know right now is that they are not "Pro" for the outrageous prices they are charging. Generationally they are still far behind. When it comes to render power, you can buy a fully decked out Desktop PC with a soon to be released 14900K and 5090 GPU. That system will be expandable, serviceable and upgradeable. Not to mention running faster PCIe Lanes. The M3 is still PCIe4! The 5090 will dance circles, multi-fold, around whatever boost to the GPU apple has added to the M3. Apple has really painted themselves into a corner with moving to a phone SOC for their laptops/desktops. So sad. Someone should be fired for making the choice to do that.
Apple is mostly a mobile device company that happens to make desktops.
 
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20% speed boost is extremely high. I wonder how well Geekbench translates to daily experience because wow. The new iMac beats all the M2 macs, even the ones that are super expensive and top of the line
It is easy to estimate this.

  1. look at Apple's "Activity Monitor" while doing what you normally do with your Mac. Look at the average CPU utilization. Let's say it sits at 10%.
  2. Look at the increase in speed of the new CPU. Let's say this is 20%
  3. Multiply the two together to see the real-world speedup. In this case, it would be about 2%.
What this means is that if your normal workload does not stress the CPU, a fast CPU is not very important. But if Activity Meter told you that the CPU utilization was about 95% then a 20% faster CPU would give you a 19% real-world speed boost.

It gets worse. Some things can not be sped up. For example, I am right now writing a design document for a software project. A faster CPU will not allow me to write faster. In general, most tasks we do can't be sped up because the speed is limited by the user.
 
Anxiously awaiting the M3 MBA. Seeing as the M1 MBA I use now is my favorite Apple computer ever, I am beyond excited to see M3 come to the MBA lineup and potentially make the jump!

Aiming for the 15" this time around with 16GB RAM and 512 SSD, a solid replacement for my M1 MBA of similar specs ☺️
 


The first benchmark results for the standard M3 chip surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today, providing a closer look at the chip's CPU performance improvements.

M3-Chip-Apple-Event-Slide.jpg

Based on the results so far, the M3 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 3,000 and 11,700, respectively. The standard M2 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 2,600 and 9,700, respectively, so the M3 chip is up to 20% faster than the M2 chip, as Apple claimed during its "Scary Fast" event on Monday.

Geekbench 6 multi-core scores:
  • M3 chip: ~11,700 (+20% vs. M2 chip)
  • M2 chip: ~9,700 (+17% vs. M1 chip)
  • M1 chip: ~8,315
It's unclear if the results are for the new 14-inch MacBook Pro or iMac, both of which are available with the standard M3 chip, but performance should be similar for both machines. The results have a "Mac15,3" identifier, which Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported was for a laptop with the same display resolution as a 14-inch MacBook Pro.

The standard M3 chip is equipped with an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, and it supports up to 24GB of unified memory. The chip has improved GPU architecture with support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, which will make high-end games look more realistic. It also has a 16-core Neural Engine for AI.

M3-Chip-Performance.jpg

We have yet to see any Geekbench results for the higher-end M3 Pro and M3 Max chips available in most new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

Article Link: First Benchmark Results Surface for M3 Chip in New Macs
Huge upgrade in speed, so glad I've already ordered my 14" M3 😁
 
you will be able to buy similar Intel based machines with 14 series processors and Nvidia chipsets. When it comes to getting real computer work done that requires speed.. no one cares about colours and size and power draw.
What do you mean by "real computer work"? Just want to understand for myself in which scenarios I don't get enough speed on my iMac Pro and MBP i7.
 
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Honestly - makes the iMac look like a nice upgrade for those that like the form factor. Meaningful boosts over the M1 iMac, and an opportunity to make sure you get your RAM/Storage right for the next few years...
 
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The M3 is not worth the price for a "Pro". I am seriously not understanding how people are accepting the marketing hype of these keynotes when the real world benchmarks are showing it is not an impressive chip for the price for Real Pro's. 8GB of ram in a pro machine with reduced memory bandwidth. This is "Pro"? In what world are we living. The Pro moniker needs to start with 32GB Ram and 1TB drive space. Period. These low end Pro machines are being created to allow people to run around pretending they are in some social class. Apple is all about social status and maximizing profits now... It's just gross.
Ah. So same complaints as the previous 500 posts, with nothing new to add. Got it, thanks.
 
That's because there is little to rave about for this update.
Apple themselves during the keynote advertised it as an upgrade for mostly Intel users and maybe some M1s, they dodged most comparisons against the M2 line.
Of course. Almost all upgrades will be from M1 and previous (duh). This a good solid update showing that v1 of the new ~3 nm process actually works (quite a feat really). Bravo!
 
That's because there is little to rave about for this update.
Apple themselves during the keynote advertised it as an upgrade for mostly Intel users and maybe some M1s, they dodged most comparisons against the M2 line.
By the looks of it, the base M3 is faster than the base M1 Pro model, and about just as fast as the M2 Pro base model in multicore. That's impressive.
 
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But there is no M3 Max Mac Studio. So it doesn't matter that the M2 Max Studio was released in June and they just released some new Mac models with M3-family chips, because none of those other Macs are Studios. When Apple releases a M3 Max Studio, then you'll have an apples-to-apples comparison, no pun intended, and a timeline that applies to your statement.

A newer chip may have been released that outshines the M2 Max, but it's not (yet) in the machine you're using as an example, so it doesn't matter.
I suppose the question then is why did they update the Mac Studio in June if these new chips were just around the corner. Unless there was uncertainty and releasing these MBPs now was a last minute decision?
 
The M3 is not worth the price for a "Pro". I am seriously not understanding how people are accepting the marketing hype of these keynotes when the real world benchmarks are showing it is not an impressive chip for the price for Real Pro's. 8GB of ram in a pro machine with reduced memory bandwidth. This is "Pro"? In what world are we living. The Pro moniker needs to start with 32GB Ram and 1TB drive space. Period. These low end Pro machines are being created to allow people to run around pretending they are in some social class. Apple is all about social status and maximizing profits now... It's just gross.
I agree it shouldn't have the Pro moniker. Maybe Apple should have just called it the 14" Macbook.
 
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Pave the way for a re-introduction of 12-inch MacBook in 2024? This will make me spend the money.
The TDP of the CPU in the 2017 12-inch MacBook is the same 4.5W as the A17 Pro, so from a thermal standpoint Apple could very much build the same computer with an iPhone chip, and presumably that's what they'd use if the goal were really to reproduce that preposterously-thin design.

It's interesting from a CPU perspective that that computer was basically an iPhone, and also that a Mac running one of those CPUs would be quite capable (roughly comparable to something as recent as the final-generation i7 MacBook Air in 2020, although thanks to the huge single-core performance it would actually be much faster for a lot of real-world use).

I think(?) that Intel's current best 4.5W CPU is an underclocked i7-10510Y, which the A17 Pro has somewhat better multi-core performance than and is nearly 3x faster in single-core, so were Apple to build one it would presumably be the fastest... microbook? Whatever that class of laptop is called.

All that said, it seems pretty clear that Apple's current stance is that if you want an ultra-light laptop, you should get an iPad with a keyboard case.
 
That's because there is little to rave about for this update.
Apple themselves during the keynote advertised it as an upgrade for mostly Intel users and maybe some M1s, they dodged most comparisons against the M2 line.
Little to rave about? Sure it's unusual for Apple to update to a new gen of chip so soon, but let's not forget they started with the Macbook Pros and acheived 22 hours of battery life + a 20% performance gain! So more battery life and a 20% gain. That's not going to thrill all users but you can't deny the value you're now getting at the same price point.
 
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20% speed boost is extremely high. I wonder how well Geekbench translates to daily experience because wow. The new iMac beats all the M2 macs, even the ones that are super expensive and top of the line
Odds are that real-world experience improvements will ultimately (as OS and apps adjust to available new hardware competence) be similar to or better than what benchmarks show, because of all the other improvements that Apple engineers do under the hood that we do not see.
 
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