Hands-On With the New M3 Pro MacBook Pro

[DownUnderDan]

Just in terms of performance, it's hard to justify getting this over an M2 for an extra $400. However, I'd like to know:

1) SSD. which versions use single module vs two modules. (did they fix the SSD issue from M2?)
2) Battery life. has this improved at all over M2?
3) is the screen improvement even perceptible?

What I have gathered from other reviews. All SSD's are now two chip solutions. So bottom spec performance is improved. Top spec I don't know what performance is like.

Benchmarks are literally useless. Go watch Luke Miani’s video where he does an actual real world render in Blender and sees a 50% increase.

M2 to M3 is a nice upgrade all-round. M2 Pro vs M3 Pro unless you do 3D, nope.

 

[DownUnderDan]

Just in terms of performance, it's hard to justify getting this over an M2 for an extra $400. However, I'd like to know:

1) SSD. which versions use single module vs two modules. (did they fix the SSD issue from M2?)
2) Battery life. has this improved at all over M2?
3) is the screen improvement even perceptible?

What I have gathered from other reviews. All SSD's are now two chip solutions. So bottom spec performance is improved. Top spec

1) it's actually two chips vs four (one chip gets the 1.5k/1.5k scores). And yes, it appears they did as folks w/ the 512 are showing in the 5k/5k'ish area.
2) it seems like it has based on initial reviews
3) it's just a software change to increase brightness. You can achieve this and more with a variety of 3rd party apps

To add to all that, seems the base 14" models have a smaller battery and a single fan solution with M3. It gets quite hot.

 

[DownUnderDan]

One of the challenges with the M3 generation is because of yields and Apple desperately wanting to use every chip and keep production prices down by looking at other places to do so in the computers design, like memory bus, fans and battery size, it's a dogs breakfast when it comes to specs. Comparing M2 or M1 vs M3 gets really complicated to explain, really fast. I'm sure one of the YouTubers will eventually explain it all, but it's not going to be a short video, that is for sure.

From what I have gathered so far:
M2 to M3 - good upgrade and a great one for M1 users and where the real value is in the range.
M2Pro to M3Pro - unless you need ray tracing, don't bother.
M2Max to M3Max - good update, but still hardware limited unless you go for top spec. Expect to have deep pockets as this is where Apple is really going to get its money back.
OMG I LOVE Space Black! - buy it and be happy, because reason went out the window already.
Intel Mac to M3 Mac - if you were hoping Apple would come to their senses with pricing - don't look. If the base M3 appeals go for it or just keep trucking with what you have.

The M3 has all the hallmarks of a version one product. It's compromised in places and in the case of the M3 Pro, actively hobbled to limit performance and thermal issues in the 14" model and push sales up to Max. I suspect M4 will be what M3 was supposed to be, before all the production issues with M3 and if M3 doesn't sell very well, even Tim might have to concede they have to look at their price model again. We live in hope.

 

[Hyloba]

Anyone who wants an MBP should just get an M1 Pro Unless you like to flex your Macbooks, it's like $1.0k at this point.

But where?

 

[Tiago L]

I picked up my MBP 16” in Space Black yesterday and the colour is stunning! I have always had Silver MacBooks before so I was a little hesitant about the Space Black particularly because of how visible would the fingerprints be, however you really don’t see any unless you’re really looking for them.
The unit I got had, unfortunately, a defective arrow key which made me having to go to a different Apple Store in London to change it - due to the low stock, there barely is any stock available at all. The staff were very kind and changed the unit for me after immediately seeing the defective key (it had a cosmetic defect in it and didn’t work correctly).
I have not had the chance yet to do any sort of heavy work on it so I cannot comment on the performance, but bear in mind this is my first Apple silicon device so I will certainly be blown away!

 

[tshrimp]

So are we stuck with that notch forever unless we leave Apple?

 

[iMac27LoverButNowSad]

Is a 6% generation on generation Multicore performance increase “scary stagnation”?

Should we buy the 16” MBP M3Pro for $4,299 AUD or the M2Pro refurb for $3,399 AUD.

Hmm. 26% price rise. 6% performance increase. :/

The best MBP EVER.

Anyways, the video is pure pile of joy because its not sharp when he shows the benchmark. How do those lousy youtubers get so awesome hardware. Maybe talk less and show more clear pictures but thats too much to ask

 

[iMac27LoverButNowSad]

unless you need raytracing, go for m2 pro

Yeah I need raytracing for the awesome almost non-existent games or 3D software

 

[lowkey]

Benchmarks are literally useless. Go watch Luke Miani’s video where he does an actual real world render in Blender and sees a 50% increase.

That 50% difference was M2 to M3 wasn’t it? Not M2Pro to M3Pro

 

[chrono1081]

That 50% difference was M2 to M3 wasn’t it? Not M2Pro to M3Pro

Oh maybe, I could have missed that.

 

[AlexSwitch]

Hi to everyone from a fresh new member... Coming to the article I am very disappointed about the performance of the M3 Pro! Apple has clearly nerfed it, the GPU in particular, and I wanna know why.
This is a comparison with my Mini M2 Pro with 10 Core CPU/16 Core GPU vs a 11 Core CPU/14 Core GPU with the GPU bench using Geekbench 6:

OpenCL:

- M2 Pro: 45441 points
- M3 Pro: 42928 points

Metal:

- M2 Pro: 72474 points
- M3 Pro: 68665 points

Really Apple??!! 😤

 

[brofkand]

I get that MacRumors is mostly a rumors and news site, with product reviews etc being bonus material. That said I rarely find them to be worth watching on here FWIW.

 

[DarthDon]

I personally could not go back to a laptop that sounds like a hair dryer when you’re using it, the silence alone to me is a major feature. Being able to actually use it as a laptop for more than an hour is another feature. No, not watching a movie…

The difference from my 27 inch iMac with an i9 that was my daily to just my M1 Mac Mini opened my eyes to what’s possible.

That's a pity. I had an I5 Imac 27" and never had such problems. The fan only ran at absolute full speed and even then only quietly. My I9 MBP fan also only runs at full blast (very quiet), as I've only managed with one game or file conversion so far. Sure, a silent device is better. But is that worth the extra $2-300?

I can only say about the performance of the battery, from hours (maximum 10 so far) to about an hour under full load. Even with capacity of 80%. I don't know what M1-3 can do in terms of battery performance under full performance - but it can't be much more. And let's be honest; Who does something like that on the road..

 

[Substance90]

Hmm. Work is refreshing my laptop so I'm wondering if a 32GB M1 Max will feel more performant than the base (18GB) M3 Pro.... the Geekbench results don't seem to suggest it will.

Depending on the workload you might notice the difference in RAM. My 32GB M1 Max usually hovers above 27GB usage even when not too much stuff is going on.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

So are we stuck with that notch forever unless we leave Apple?

Have you actually tried to use a Mac with it? I never even notice its there anymore and that was the case quickly. I much prefer it to the old way of a thicker bezel.

 

[tshrimp]

Have you actually tried to use a Mac with it? I never even notice its there anymore and that was the case quickly. I much prefer it to the old way of a thicker bezel.

I used the iPhone for years and never got used to it, and other laptop brands have thinner bezels and still fit a good camera there. I am sure “not as good”, but I would take it over the notch.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Hi to everyone from a fresh new member... Coming to the article I am very disappointed about the performance of the M3 Pro! Apple has clearly nerfed it, the GPU in particular, and I wanna know why.
This is a comparison with my Mini M2 Pro with 10 Core CPU/16 Core GPU vs a 11 Core CPU/14 Core GPU with the GPU bench using Geekbench 6:

OpenCL:

- M2 Pro: 45441 points
- M3 Pro: 42928 points

Metal:

- M2 Pro: 72474 points
- M3 Pro: 68665 points

Really Apple??!! 😤

Forget about the numbers for a moment. Can the M3 Pro do the work you need? I have a feeling it will do just fine. You appear to be a bench score numbers chaser and on top of that, stating Apple screwed up the M3 Pro chip because you didn't get the scores you expected.

 

[AlexSwitch]

Forget about the numbers for a moment. Can the M3 Pro do the work you need? I have a feeling it will do just fine. You appear to be a bench score numbers chaser and on top of that, stating Apple screwed up the M3 Pro chip because you didn't get the scores you expected.

The work I need is done perfectly by my M2 Pro, but numbers are facts and the M3 Pro, considering the GPU computational performance, actually is a step below the M2 Pro. May be for the narrower 150GB/sec memory bandwidth vs the 200GB/sec of the M2 Pro, or because of the 14 GPU core vs 16 but, fact, the new M3 Pro GPU seems to have less horsepower respect to the previous generation.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The work I need is done perfectly by my M2 Pro, but numbers are facts and the M3 Pro, considering the GPU computational performance, actually is a step below the M2 Pro. May be for the narrower 150GB/sec memory bandwidth vs the 200GB/sec of the M2 Pro, or because of the 14 GPU core vs 16 but, fact, the new M3 Pro GPU seems to have less horsepower respect to the previous generation.

It sounds like you don't even own the new M3 Pro.

 

[lowkey]

That's a pity. I had an I5 Imac 27" and never had such problems. The fan only ran at absolute full speed and even then only quietly. My I9 MBP fan also only runs at full blast (very quiet), as I've only managed with one game or file conversion so far. Sure, a silent device is better. But is that worth the extra $2-300?

I can only say about the performance of the battery, from hours (maximum 10 so far) to about an hour under full load. Even with capacity of 80%. I don't know what M1-3 can do in terms of battery performance under full performance - but it can't be much more. And let's be honest; Who does something like that on the road..

My 14” M1Pro is WAY better than my old 16” i9.
It’s more powerful, but more importantly isn’t a cross between and electric griddle plate and a vacuum cleaner. That thing was hot and noisy.

 

[bgillander]

The work I need is done perfectly by my M2 Pro, but numbers are facts and the M3 Pro, considering the GPU computational performance, actually is a step below the M2 Pro. May be for the narrower 150GB/sec memory bandwidth vs the 200GB/sec of the M2 Pro, or because of the 14 GPU core vs 16 but, fact, the new M3 Pro GPU seems to have less horsepower respect to the previous generation.

Well, part of those number facts are that you are comparing a version of the M3 Pro that only has 14 GPU cores versus a M2 Pro with 16 cores, which makes it seem pretty reasonable. That M3 Pro has only 87.5% of the cores of the M2 Pro you are comparing it against, yet appears to have about 95% of the benchmark result, so it seems to have more horsepower available to me, as you can get the version with 18 GPU cores if you really need that higher total GPU benchmark result you crave. Now I could see you possibly arguing pricing and targeting of specific levels of the M3 Pro, but the chip itself seems quite impressive to me.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Well, part of those number facts are that you are comparing a version of the M3 Pro that only has 14 GPU cores versus a M2 Pro with 16 cores, which makes it seem pretty reasonable. That M3 Pro has only 87.5% of the cores of the M2 Pro you are comparing it against, yet appears to have about 95% of the benchmark result, so it seems to have more horsepower available to me, as you can get the version with 18 GPU cores if you really need that higher total GPU benchmark result you crave. Now I could see you possibly arguing pricing and targeting of specific levels of the M3 Pro, but the chip itself seems quite impressive to me.

You must work in marketing because this is some great spin. I mean that as a compliment. Apple could use those talents.

 

[VinMart]

Hi, new here and wanted to get peoples opinions. I ordered a 14” M2 pro MBP (base processor with the 16MB, upgraded to 1TB SSD) just before the Back to School Sale expired. I didn’t receive until Oct 17 and as I was in the middle of moving I didn’t even open the shopping box. Then Apple Annlunced the new M3 MBP Models.

I read somewhere when this happens Apple will allow a return when new models are announced within a certain timeframe. I went to the Apple Store and they confirmed I can likely return mine and swap it for an M3 model.

I had already put the M2 on Apple Card so I don’t want to spend more. The model I’d be looking at based on that is the base M3 Pro (11 core CPU with the 18GB ram) and upgrading the SSD to 1TB. It comes out to the exact same price as the M2 I purchased.

I was waiting a bit to see if any issues with the 11 core chip or new M3 models in general (similar to when we later learned that some SSDs were slower on some previous M-based models) but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be many reviews or specs on the base M3 Pro 11 core.

Keep in mind, I am upgrading from a 2011 15” MB Pro and the only reason I waited so long was some of the more expensive music gear I had only works with 32nit drivers but it’s time to move on, especially since I haven’t been able to do as much music as I used to and the benefits of upgrading far outweigh keeping that older gear.

I would say I’m a medium user, some light photoshop and illustrator, for marketing work as well as music composition on the side. I got my moneys worth on my MBP 15 lol. I hopefully will be getting back into music more seriously/more frequently with this Mac (Logic, soft synths and orchestral libraries, etc) so I’d like to future proof this one as best I can within my budget.

Obviously, coming from a 2011 MBP maxed with 8gb RAM and self-upgraded 512gb SSD, any modern upgrade to an M-based Max at this point would be massively huge lol - but I don’t want to wait to much longer looking for M3 Pro reviews/issues and wondering if I should go ahead and return the M2 MPB which I know is a solid machine for an M3Pro 11 core without much time on the market/many reviews. If I bought the M2 earlier in the year im pretty sure I’d have no regrets but as I’m in a rare situation of being able to swap for a newer m3pro model it seems to make sense that I should (unless there is some glaring undiscovered flaw or performance is severely impacted in music production for example due to the new design compared to previous ones).

Not trying to be greedy or a beggar that wants to be a chooser but obviously I don’t buy new macs too often (in this case I waited way longer than I usually would bc of that old music gear i mentioned, before that I would say I upgraded every 4-6 years) so I don’t want to make a dumb move by getting one that hasn’t been reviewed a lot and weird positioning between this the 12core M3 pro and the Max base configuration with 11core and 18GB ram - and seems that while I still have a return window, it’s a no-brainer to swap the unopened m2 pro I just purchased for the comparable base M3Pro model.

Just curious opinions are out there in this situation. Thanks in advance for any advice and opinions.

 

[bgillander]

You must work in marketing because this is some great spin. I mean that as a compliment. Apple could use those talents.

Hey, I'm not a fan of the pricing, but the chip itself does show rather good performance per core. I was actually expecting less, but it looks good to me, so far. Of course, I would prefer if the base Macbook Pro 14 defaulted to the best version of the M3 Pro, though. (Edit: with no increase in price)

 

[RoadCyclistID]

Ordered my 14” and it arrives tomorrow. Tried out the MBA 15 and was tired of the limitations. Glad to get back to the MBP and being able to use 2 monitors again. Oh and the finger print magnet is going to be going back. I will be able to give my polishing cloth a breather finally!! Maybe I need to buy another as it was getting used every day.