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

[Chancha]

Apple MacBook Pro 14-Inch (2023, M3 Pro) Review

Apple's 2023 14-inch MacBook Pro strikes a winning balance between premium design and M3 Pro-powered performance, for a compact mobile workstation that trounces similarly priced Windows machines.

www.pcmag.com

Here is a M3 Pro review, with a binned base model at that.

The highlight of the tests is the “30-hour battery life” part.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

In reality no macbook customers were lost.

I was considering an upgrade and didn't buy one so you're wrong.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

All I do is productivity apps and safari. I really don't even need the base pro lol.

Most people don't. And most people would also never notice the decreased SSD speed that some people here went bonkers over.

 

[eropko]

I was considering an upgrade and didn't buy one so you're wrong.

Yeah right

 

[YonTom]

That's exactly what Apple wants you to think, so they did a great job here. They want you to jump straight to the more expensive M3 Max because M3 Pro is barely the same as M2 Pro as an overall. Or if M3 is just good enough for you, to pull the trigger now so Apple gets extra margins for some months till much cheaper MBA and Mac Mini with similar specs (same CPU, same RAM, a bit less SSD) are released.

You hit the nail right on the head! I feel like a lot of people who would have been fine with an M3 Pro are just going for the M3 Max because we keep getting the message that the M3 Pro is not worth buying, period. Not true! The M3 Pro is still an improvement over the M2 Pro, however moderate, and it is definitely the chip you should go for in many cases (e.g. you don't need much power but want a big 16" display and great battery life, you do light 4K editing but nothing too wild...). Going for the M3 Max is actually a poor decision for many if not most customers, nevermind how huge the leap with respect to M2 Max.

 

[eropko]

All I do is productivity apps and safari. I really don't even need the base pro lol.

That's enough for it to start swapping.

 

[pappl]

Blender 3D GPU results:

M3 Max: 1:09 min

M1 Max: 7:49 min

M2 Ultra: 2:28 min

lower is better

Source:

 

[eropko]

M3 Max: 1:09 min

Aligns well with predicted 4070 or laptop 4080 performance.

 

[darthbane2k]

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.

As is should be, why is this a surprise? Honestly.. you people are now treating the M3 Pro like the 13" MacBook Pro of the past?! Hilarious!

 

[darthbane2k]

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

People who want to upgrade to the M3 Ultra should wait for the M4 it should be even more future proof chip.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

People who want to upgrade to the M3 Ultra should wait for the M4 it should be even more future proof chip.

Wait for the M10 to be extra sure.

 

[Giant_enemy_crab]

Buying any Ultra is a mistake, Apple will just match / exceed it with their next laptop release shortly after you buy one.

 

[eropko]

The highlight of the tests is the “30-hour battery life” part.

Sounds like a swan song of Intel laptops to me.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The headline says the M3 Pro chip has a catch but, I didn't see that mentioned in the article. What is the catch supposed to be?

 

[bousozoku]

I think they like the headline, the media hype. Following through is a different thing entirely.

They have promoted gaming on iPads and iPhones for over a decade… and to this day I don’t have a single game on them. It’s a horrible experience. If they had brought out a custom, apple made attachment to convert it into a handheld games machine I could see it. But the horrible third party stuff that’s too tight, scratches your phone etc. no way.

Apple just don’t seem to do gaming.

I've been playing games on Apple mobile devices since the 2nd generation iPod touch. I often use a SteelSeries Nimbus+, which fits my 2022 iPhone SE just fine and also works with my M1 MacBook Air, although macOS Monterey is horrible with the Bluetooth connection.

Certain games work well, but Apple really should embrace gaming and at least, have something akin to Razer's Edge with Kishi V2 Pro. Going the ASUS route with the huge fan on the back might be too much for their aesthetic ideals.

For now, I'm more invested in Steam Deck and games that work well with that, including Chorvs, the descendant of the Galaxy on Fire series that Apple often promoted.

 

[smulji]

16/512*
16 so it doesn't swap and slow down. 512 so if it swaps, it swaps twice as fast at least (if Apple will put one NAND chip into 256 again).

The base M3 MBP comes with 512GB SSD as standard, and it's already been confirmed it's 2 x 256GB

 

[eropko]

The base M3 MBP comes with 512GB SSD as standard, and it's already been confirmed it's 2 x 256GB

That's good news, so guy just needs to add up RAM to 16 to not get buyer's remorse in its 5 years of service.

 

[Telekinetic]

The base M3 MBP comes with 512GB SSD as standard, and it's already been confirmed it's 2 x 256GB

Source that it has been confirmed? This is why I have been waiting for a teardown video

 

[CloudsNeverDie]

Here is a M3 Pro review, with a binned base model at that.

Thanks for sharing this, it's the first M3 Pro review I've seen. Tim must have had them sign some kind of agreement that limited what they could compare it against, because nowhere does it compare benchmarks against the machine it's actually replacing, i.e. the MacBook Pro 14 with the M2 Pro chip. Typical Tim tactics!

 

[jillpygok]

I have the 48GB Max on order and was second guessing myself. Should I cancel the order and get an M1 or M2 Max with 96 or 64 gigs of RAM with oodles of disk space (mostly for AI models). I think I'm a bit calm now after seeing the benchmarks. As for games, I do want to see how BG3 works on this machine at max settings. Not pushing the limits of the machine is like buying an expensive performance car and having it sit in the garage because you're worried about paint chips and engine wear and tear.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have the 48GB Max on order and was second guessing myself. Should I cancel the order and get an M1 or M2 Max with 96 or 64 gigs of RAM with oodles of disk space (mostly for AI models). I think I'm a bit calm now after seeing the benchmarks. As for games, I do want to see how BG3 works on this machine at max settings. Not pushing the limits of the machine is like buying an expensive performance car and having it sit in the garage because you're worried about paint chips and engine wear and tear.

You have until January 6th, I believe, to test out the Mac during the extended holiday return period. Test the Mac you ordered during that time, instead asking strangers who didn't put the money down you did. You are the one with the vested interest.

 

[eropko]

I have the 48GB Max on order and was second guessing myself. Should I cancel the order and get an M1 or M2 Max with 96 or 64 gigs of RAM with oodles of disk space (mostly for AI models). I think I'm a bit calm now after seeing the benchmarks. As for games, I do want to see how BG3 works on this machine at max settings. Not pushing the limits of the machine is like buying an expensive performance car and having it sit in the garage because you're worried about paint chips and engine wear and tear.

For AI you better add RAM to ordered M3Max, 48Gb is enough TODAY, but there's tomorrow and the day after.
Getting older chip also has no point, computational demands will only grow, most probably you will not be able to cheat the time and will have to simply update M1 sooner than M3.

 

[jillpygok]

You have until January 6th, I believe to test out the Mac during the extended holiday return period. Test the Mac you ordered during that time, instead asking strangers who didn't put the money down you did. You are the one with the vested interest.

For sure. Have the environment setup and ready to go. Just waiting to get the machine.

For AI you better add RAM to ordered M3Max, 48Gb is enough TODAY, but there's tomorrow and the day after.
Getting older chip also has no point, computational demands will only grow, most probably you will not be able to cheat the time and will have to simply update M1 sooner than M3.

Yea, still back and forth on the RAM. I was thinking 64. Then why not 96? At some point, I'll need to start VMs. Need to do a best guess on when the VM usage. Will be doing quite a bit of local modeling but at some point, I'll need to scale out where even 128 isn't going to be enough.

 

[smulji]

Source that it has been confirmed? This is why I have been waiting for a teardown video

 

[Apple_Robert]

I found the reviews weak at best. Dave spent half of his video talking about the color and fingerprints. With the CNET review, I couldn't make it past the first 30 seconds before turning her off. Basically, the videos are nothing but fluff. If you are an average user looking for real day to day honest feedback, wait to see reviews from people here on MR.