New MacBook Pro Reviews: Scary Fast, But M3 Pro Chip Has a Catch

[MacRumors]

Last week, Apple updated the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips for faster performance. There is also an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the standard M3 chip. Other new features include a Space Black finish for M3 Pro and M3 Max configurations, and 20% brighter displays.

The new MacBook Pro models will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores on Tuesday, November 7, although M3 Max configurations do not launch until a few days later. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the laptops have been shared by select media outlets and YouTube channels, and we have rounded up some of them below.

Written Reviews

Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the new MacBook Pro models already leaked last week. The results showed that the M3 chip is up to 20% faster than the M2 chip, the M3 Pro is up to 6% faster than the M2 Pro, and the M3 Max is up to 50% faster than the M2 Max and roughly on par with the M2 Ultra chip.

CNET's Lori Grunin on M3 vs. M3 Max performance:

For a sense of practical scale within the M3 line, the MacBook Pro 14 with the base processor took just under 20 minutes to import (with lens corrections on import) and simultaneously create full-resolution previews of around 1,000 raw+JPEG photos and videos; the MacBook 16 Pro took just over 8.5 minutes. Lightroom import and thumbnail generation is CPU and memory-bound, which explains much of the difference.

Both the M2 Pro and M3 Pro are equipped with up to a 12-core CPU, but the M3 Pro has two fewer high-performance CPU cores. So while the M3 Pro is manufactured with TSMC's improved 3nm process, compared to 5nm for the M2 Pro, the chip's resulting performance gains are diminished due to this change. Apple says the M3 Pro also has 25% less memory bandwidth and one fewer GPU core compared to the M2 Pro.

M3 series chips offer not only performance and power efficiency improvements over M2 series chips, but they also have an upgraded GPU with support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading for improved graphics rendering in games.

Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham on M3 Max graphics performance:

Graphics performance also sees a solid boost, more than you'd expect from just a pair of extra GPU cores. The M3 Max benchmarks around 50 percent faster than the M1 Max—and playing Baldur's Gate 3 on it with all the settings turned up was actually by-and-large a pleasant experience. The Mac still isn't a viable AAA game platform for most people, but Apple does seem to be trying, and if it ever succeeds, the M3 Max will be up for it.

Apple says the new Space Black finish features an "anodization seal" to "greatly reduce fingerprints," presumably compared to the MacBook Air's dark Midnight finish. Based on hands-on videos shared following Apple's event, the new anti-fingerprint seal does appear to be an improvement compared to the MacBook Air.

The Independent's David Phelan on the Space Black finish and fingerprints:

When Apple announced the new space black version, it made a big deal out of one aspect: although it's a matte finish, it doesn't collect fingerprints. Apple says this is down to what it calls "breakthrough chemistry" – there's an anodization seal that reduces fingerprint marks. Whatever the science, it really works. Marks may not vanish completely but they are very hard to spot.

MobileSyrup's Patrick O'Rourke:

What's most notable about Space Black is the anodization seal that prevents most grease and smudges from getting on the laptop. When Apple mentioned this during its keynote, I assumed it was just marketing, but to my surprise, it was tough to get grease to appear on the Space Black M3 MacBook Pro I've been using for the last few days. If your hands are exceptionally grimy, it's still possible and isn't entirely as perfect as I initially thought, but it happens so infrequently it's shocking.

Apple's tech specs indicate that all of the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models provide up to 600 nits of peak brightness for standard/SDR content, which is a 20% increase over the 500 nits maximum on the previous models. This means the laptops now have the same peak brightness as Apple's Studio Display.

Tom's Hardware's Brandon Hill on the brighter display:

In SDR content, brightness maxed out at 563 nits, which confirms Apple's assertion of a 20 percent boost compared to the previous generation. Switching to HDR content, we hit a maximum of 1539 nits with 40 percent coverage, compared to 1,470 nits for the older model.

Video Reviews

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Article Link: New MacBook Pro Reviews: Scary Fast, But M3 Pro Chip Has a Catch

 

[adamw]

Scary fast indeed, especially for the M3 Max Macs. I look forward to a M3 Max Mac Studio, that should be about as fast or faster than a M2 Ultra Mac Studio in CPU operations, with a more powerful GPU than M1 Max or M2 Max also!

The best review of the M3 Max MacBook Pro I have seen so far (with extensive comparison Benchmarks) is the Tech Chap one here:

 

[Return Zero]

If they make an Ultra version of this chip with 80 GPU cores (for studio or mac pro), it looks like it will be one of the fastest consumer graphics systems out there.

 

[VisceralRealist]

M3 and M3 Max are significant leaps forward.

M3 Pro is a disappointment. The "middle option" doesn't seem as appealing anymore. If they can get a 20% CPU performance improvement out of M3 and 50% out of the Max, then only 6% for the Pro is inexcusable. The Pro shouldn't be the "ugly stepchild" that makes you go for the Max. Prior to M3, it was a significant improvement over the base chip and was a true "middle of the road" option. It doesn't seem to be anymore.

 

[Malus120]

Fully enabled M3 Max is actually looking pretty good, even
Monstrous in some tests.

Apple doesn’t seem to have widely sampled the M3 Pro (or binned M3 Max although that’s to be expected) which is worrying to say the least and honestly kinda ****** since they go on sale tomorrow…

Obviously more data is needed to draw firm conclusions but a good start at least for the max (and M3 which is about where expected)

 

[canadianreader]

People who want to upgrade to the M3 Max should wait for the M3 Ultra it should be even more future proof chip.

 

[MacBird]

M3 and M3 Max are significant leaps forward.

M3 Pro is a disappointment. The "middle option" doesn't seem as appealing anymore. If they can get a 20% CPU performance improvement out of M3 and 50% out of the Max, then only 6% for the Pro is inexcusable. The Pro shouldn't be the "ugly stepchild" that makes you go for the Max. Prior to M3, it was a significant improvement over the base chip and was a true "middle of the road" option. It doesn't seem to be anymore.

The stronger 'differentiation' between Pro and Max might have the goal to persuade more people to order the Max, which is of course quite a bit more expensive.

 

[VisceralRealist]

The stronger 'differentiation' between Pro and Max might have the goal to persuade more people to order the Max.

I think so too, especially with the price increase on the Max. The Max is quite the powerhouse now and it seems much further ahead than the other chips, more so than the M2 or M1 Max was.

 

[poematik13]

My 2019 16” is so jealous right now

 

[thadoggfather]

seems like 3nm benefits are to come later, but not with M3 variants or A17 Pro..

bit disappointing but then again I got an M2 Air and was planning on staying put

 

[MrGimper]

I’ll probably pick up an M2 when the prices drop TBH.

 

[TinyMito]

lol who does yearly upgrades? that's rich...

 

[MacBird]

I think so too, especially with the price increase on the Max. The Max is quite the powerhouse now and it seems much further ahead than the other chips, more so than the M2 or M1 Max was.

I bought the 16'' M1 Max with 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD and 32 GPU cores when it was released and I think I paid about $3200. A similar M3 Max model costs over $3700.

The M1 Max is still plenty fast for what I do, and I don't even consider a new MBP at the moment.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

If they make an Ultra version of this chip with 80 GPU cores (for studio or mac pro), it looks like it will be one of the fastest consumer graphics systems out there.

Um, not quite. The RTX4090 is still around 75% faster than the best Apple has on offer when it comes to what "pros" actually use GPUs for. 3D rendering. Yes, it's a $1600 card, but in the world of Apple Dollars (tm), that's not much.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Who is going to game on a laptop like this?

Gaming on a MacBook Pro is only ever going to be the very casual kind. Anyone into serious gaming at all will have a dedicated console (that you know will be optimized for, for 5 plus years) or a PC.

Even casual gaming is much better on a console. You switch it on and play, and forget about the hardware.

Apple put the ray tracing hardware in the wrong device. If it was in an Apple TV geared towards gaming, that’s the real proposition.

Instead, they have the SoC with ray tracing in Macs… but have a slower one in the Apple TV that is connected to the TV, where games are usually best played and enjoyed.

They put the pieces in the wrong boxes 😂

 

[Orange Bat]

These reviews basically confirm everything I suspected about these new MacBooks. If you’re on an M1 or M2, there’s little reason to upgrade (Of course if you’re need to have the latest, greatest CPU, go for it. No judgement). The only thing that’s really confusing to me at this point is the bas model 14 inch Pro with the base M3. This machine sounds like a competitor for the 15 inch Air Apple just released. On the whole the 14 MBP inch is a better deal and weighs about the same as the Air. I have the 15 inch Air and I like it (And don’t regret it at all. I seriously needed a laptop this summer), but now I wonder what I would have done if the MBP had been available….

 

[Return Zero]

Um, not quite. The RTX4090 is still around 75% faster than the best Apple has on offer when it comes to what "pros" actually use GPUs for. 3D rendering.

Yeah, vs. the M2 Ultra, sure. When the M3 Ultra hits is what I'm talking about... it will be within shouting distance of 4090 based on how they have scaled in the past (not that it will beat it, but should be much closer, I'd guess 15-25%).

 

[Fuzzball84]

And this is not scarily fast… this tagline should have been reserved when they first introduced Apple Silicon. Back then it was scarily fast, scarily efficient.

The marketing team are 2-3 years late.

 

[Unami]

Maybe they are responding to economic harder times? Don't try to upsell people to the mid-segment any more but rather just leave the people alone who- after repeated price increases - can't afford anything but the base model. And upsell from the pro to the max (and in increase prices) for the people who need a fast machine.

 

[Orange Bat]

Who is going to game on a laptop like this?

Gaming on a MacBook Pro is only ever going to be the very casual kind. Anyone into serious gaming at all will have a dedicated console (that you know will be optimized for, for 5 plus years) or a PC.

Even casual gaming is much better on a console. You switch it on and play, and forget about the hardware.

Apple put the ray tracing hardware in the wrong device. If it was in an Apple TV geared towards gaming, that’s the real proposition.

Instead, they have the SoC with ray tracing in Macs… but have a slower one in the Apple TV that is connected to the TV, where games are usually best played and enjoyed.

They put the pieces in the wrong boxes 😂

I know that finding a good gaming laptop can be a real nightmare. They’re hard to come by. If Apple can make good quality MBPs for gaming, then they may have something real.

The only issue is the price. However, top gaming laptops on Windows aren’t exactly cheap, so it may not be as big issue than one might think.

As for desktop gaming, yeah, Apple won’t compete with Windows PCs any time soon.

EDIT: I haven’t checked out gaming laptops in a couple years, so things may have changed.

 

[Fuzzball84]

I still think a Pro laptop should have upgradable storage and RAM. Apple could have came up with a tiered storage system to allow an expansion of sorts. Something between the SSD and main RAM connected to the CPU. Having something modular like this would really help their top end products that are not suited to an all encapsulated SoC.

 

[Fuzzball84]

I know that finding a good gaming laptop can be a real nightmare. They’re hard to come by. If Apple can make good quality MBPs for gaming, then they may have something real.

The only issue is the price. However, top gaming laptops on Windows aren’t exactly cheap, so it may not be as big issue than one might think.

As for desktop gaming, yeah, Apple won’t compete with Windows PCs any time soon.

I’d love to see thermals of the new MAcBook Pros when pushed to the limit during gaming. That would be interesting. The unfortunate thing about all aluminum chasis design is that it can quickly damage the battery if prolonged. That’s why plastic and good thermal compartmentalization in games consoles and laptops is so important.

 

[Unami]

Um, not quite. The RTX4090 is still around 75% faster than the best Apple has on offer when it comes to what "pros" actually use GPUs for. 3D rendering.

really, that's what pros use the GPU for nowadays? In my days, the GPU was rather used for modelling/real time 3D preview.

Anyway, nearly every professional I know who needs a really beefy GPU is using them for computing/machine learning/AI Stuff.

 

[eropko]

Gaming on a MacBook Pro is only ever going to be the very casual kind. Anyone into serious gaming at all will have a dedicated console (that you know will be optimized for, for 5 plus years) or a PC.

Imagine sleeping in a cave for a year and still not knowing about game porting toolkit.

 

[nathan_reilly]

Um, not quite. The RTX4090 is still around 75% faster than the best Apple has on offer when it comes to what "pros" actually use GPUs for. 3D rendering. Yes, it's a $1600 card, but in the world of Apple Dollars (tm), that's not much.

Yeah, exactly. Give me an apple silicon chip I can render with, and I will use it. Up until this point there is still nothing that compelling for my use case.