Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
No its not. Raytracing is a game changer for a lot of people. 3D artists will celebrate finally!

This! The GPU performance will improve between 20 and 40% (depending on whether the M2 GPU is based on A15 or A16) but ray tracing will lead to an 8x improvement in those workloads. This will be big for games other 3D workloads.
 
Don't do it.

The best Macs ever made were 2011-2016. I'm still using my 2011 model even though my 2017 has long since failed and been junking and my 2020 (intel model) still runs much worse than the 2011. If the 2011 ever breaks, I'd look for a used pre-2016 model to replace it before buying new.
They were good machines but they're old. There's no way that replacing that with any current machine isn't better in every way. Air with no Fan, Pro with a Fan, doesn't matter. Whatever you're doing on that machine, anything Apple Silicon will run circles around it.
 
Are any other M1 Pro owners considering sitting out still? The M1 Pro is already so ridiculously powerful as it is.
I will be upgrading from my M2 Max to M3 Max, if the M3 generation is based off the not-yet announced A18 Pro architecture and not the current A17 Pro architecture, which is possible if they are starting Top Down with this release.

It's not that M1 or M2 isn't fast enough from a CPU core perspective, its all the other SOC components such as GPU, AMX, and NPU which are more attractive to me concerning the upgrades to 'speed'
 
Good, this will give me a week to think about if I should pull the trigger. Years ago when Apple Silicon came out I said I was gonna wait for the M3 Pro or Max since it was supposed to be on 3nm and it would give Apple time to work out the bugs. But I was also expecting it to come out later next year alongside some new displays.

Thing is my Intel iMac is still fast enough, and my Intel 16" MacBook Pro is decent, could use more RAM, but battery life isn't great and it gets hot in my lap. I want to replace them both with a 14" MacBook Pro M3 Pro or Max so I don't have to switch between computers when I want a nice big 5K display or want to go work outside on a nice day. I hate switching between machines if I need power or portability because it throws off my workflow. Using one powerful docked device that is even more portable would be great.

I guess what I need to figure out then is exactly how fast the M3 Pro is and the max RAM you can configure it with and how much it will cost to get it with sufficient storage. Otherwise I will probably wait for the M4 and the new display. It freaking sucks that I can't use this iMac as an external display. I miss target display mode...
 
You're gonna do things with these new Macs that you have never done before.. we are so excited about the possibilities and the progress we have made with Apple Silicon.

On day you receive the new Mac... you set it up and continue doing the things you had been doing the past few years... but you might get it done just a little bit faster. But then you think.... maybe I'm too slow for this Mac... by the time I made a coffee and got back... it was already finished... so in the end, Tim still did the same amount of work as previously.. because he was the bottleneck in his workflow. :/

For the majority of people.
I’m gonna make big stickers that say “bottleneck” and stick them to my bosses’ backs.
 
Last edited:
The 2012 MacBook Pro had a regular Sata hard drive.
"2012 MacBook Pro" is not the same as "2012 Retina MacBook Pro" although they were both released at the same time.

The "Retina" was the new SSD-only design (it was SATA based but had a proprietary edge connector).

However the "Classic" MBP was updated to the latest processor at the same time, and that had a regular SATA hard drive (and an optical drive...)
 
  • Like
Reactions: bumblebritches5
Am I the only one that’s thinks that it makes no sense at all for apple to release an M3 Pro/Max chip?

The M2 Pro/Max were released 17th January 2023. It makes no sense to release an M3 Pro/Max chip only 9 months after. It even makes no sense to release M3. Maybe this is focused on iPads?
 
By blow away, I assume you mean they're much faster which is true.

The overall build quality is complete crap. They feel like garbage to the touch, there's so many design and build flaws that you're lucky to get 3 years out of one. Compared to my 2011 which is still going. I guess that's on purpose though, a computer in use after 12 years means lost money for Apple (even if it is good for the environment).

You're forced onto the newer OSes. The current state of MacOS is horrendous, aside from all the well-discussed bugs here, they UI is clunky, it's a broken-down version of the UI designed for iPads with their touch screens and it just doesn't work on a computer.

Timmy took out an ad campaign to brag that he doesn't even know what a computer is. He famously said he doesn't even know why anyone would buy a computer. Mac has clearly been led for the past 7-8 years by someone who doesn't know what a computer is for or why anyone would buy one.

They may be the fastest macs ever made but the design and usability is utter garbage and has been since before Apple Silicon came along.
I've never read so much rubbish 🫨
My M1 MacBook Pro 13" is coming up for 3 years in January, still like new and still as fast, plus still 14/15 hrs battery life!
The only thing the older Macs have better than the M chip series Macs, is the lit logo 😒
 
Good, this will give me a week to think about if I should pull the trigger. Years ago when Apple Silicon came out I said I was gonna wait for the M3 Pro or Max since it was supposed to be on 3nm and it would give Apple time to work out the bugs. But I was also expecting it to come out later next year alongside some new displays.

Thing is my Intel iMac is still fast enough, and my Intel 16" MacBook Pro is decent, could use more RAM, but battery life isn't great and it gets hot in my lap. I want to replace them both with a 14" MacBook Pro M3 Pro or Max so I don't have to switch between computers when I want a nice big 5K display or want to go work outside on a nice day. I hate switching between machines if I need power or portability because it throws off my workflow. Using one powerful docked device that is even more portable would be great.

I guess what I need to figure out then is exactly how fast the M3 Pro is and the max RAM you can configure it with and how much it will cost to get it with sufficient storage. Otherwise I will probably wait for the M4 and the new display. It freaking sucks that I can't use this iMac as an external display. I miss target display mode...

My 16" Core i9 Intel Mac got so hot so regularly that it destroyed the batteries. I did not move it once during most of the pandemic beyond cleaning it and it was in a well-ventilated spot. I took a trip in early 2021 and discovered it no longer sat flat. To put it in perspective, the thing was so hot when running video chat that it would constantly throttle and drop frames and the UI would become almost unusable. I could not keep my camera on. I had it replaced with a newer i9 until I could get the the M1 Max and it ran just as hot with the same work load. The M1 Pro that replaced it supports 100s of tabs (current max I have it is 884) and video chat and never gets more than warm.

Is yours a Core i7? It could be something specific to the i9.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: foliovision
Am I the only one that’s thinks that it makes no sense at all for apple to release an M3 Pro/Max chip?

The M2 Pro/Max were released 17th January 2023. It makes no sense to release an M3 Pro/Max chip only 9 months after. It even makes no sense to release M3. Maybe this is focused on iPads?
It makes all the sense in the world, M2's were compromised chips and still very weak in metal, which is why sales have stagnated so much!
For me though it's not just about the M3 speeds, the Pro's need better camera's 4k is a must, Face ID also to justify the notch and Touch Bar should be an option on all the Macs!
 
My late 2013 is still going like a tank after a battery replacement. These machines were/are awesome. Macs age like Toyotas…
An Apt description for an old Intel Mac, speed of a tank 🤣
I bet you're not getting anywhere near 15 hrs battery life even with a new one, My M1 Mac Pro 13 " still does, even with an almost 3 year old battery!
 
He said he doesn't know why anyone would buy a PC; when Apple refers to "PC" they're typically referring to Windows computers, an out for them to refer to another brand without actually saying its name (which avoid as much as possible), simultaneously allowing them to imply that Macs are special, something different entirely.
If you remember the context, he was touting the iPP and didn't understand computers at all. For example this article makes the context more clear: https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/apples-cook-on-the-ipad-pro-why-would-you-buy-a-pc-anymore/

Wired also makes it clear he's referring to computers entirely: https://www.wired.com/2012/03/fighting-words-what-apples-means-when-it-says-post-pc/
Genuinely not sure what you're referring to here. I can wipe this iMac and put Big Sur on it, the first version it shipped with, and stay there as long as I'd like, just like the Intel-based Macs before it.
Apple has massively changed the look and feel of MacOS the past few years, it looks and feels like a dumbed down version of an iPad without a touch screen. They don't know if they're coming or going anymore. Get rid of widgets, at widgets back...tout the wonders of a touchbar and never mention it again. Recent MacOS (since 2017) has been a total disaster.
 
Yawn.

My 2012 MBP lasted until I sold it in 2020. I expect my M1 air to last just as long, if not longer.
Good luck with that. But Timmy's betting it won't. And it's a much less open machine than the 2012 model for a reason.
 
The era you claim to be durable had defective SATA cables in the MacBooks that were practically a wear item and GPUs that failed regularly. Tell me more about how great they are.
I still have my 2011 in use and I've never had a problem with the SATA cable. I'm also on the 5th drive I've had in it. From the original 320 gig spinning platter to a 128, 256, 512 gig SSD and now 1TB. I know from those drive replacements that it's incredibly easy to replace the SATA cable entirely if needed. It's also easy to replace the DVD burner with a second drive bay. And the computer is not on the original battery. That was an easy change. It's got 16 gig of RAM, the max apple sold it with was 8 gig.

I did have the track pad fail after it had water spilled on it. A $8 replacement from aliexpress took me half an hour to install and it's been as good as original since.

As for the GPU, my 13" model didn't have the discrete GPU so I don't have the issue, but Apple did extend the warranty and take care of the machines that had that problem.
 
I dunno.. My gut tells me that it's too soon for the M3 Pro/Max - but a *base* M3? That "seems right". New 3nm process means that it's possible that , at the moment, the M3 is "it" for now and maybe in the spring we see M3 Pro/Max. How far along on the ramp-ups for this process has TSMC come? I could be mistaken, but wasn't there a gap between the M1 and the M1 Pro/Max? A new M3 iMac seems like "making up for lost time" - and maybe an Air to go with it - after all, this is online only and no live event. Then, in the spring, the Pro & Max (maybe even an Ultra) make their debut.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DeanPSN and 4odomi
This! The GPU performance will improve between 20 and 40% (depending on whether the M2 GPU is based on A15 or A16) but ray tracing will lead to an 8x improvement in those workloads. This will be big for games other 3D workloads.
It's what the Macs have lacked big time, since the M1!
Opens up a whole new market for Apple
 
I have two 2014 mini's in active use, an i5 and and i7. They both run Monterey and supposedly run Ventura with Open Core legacy patcher.

If you change the connecter from Apple's to M2 (kits are aonly a few dollars) an M2 NVME will work, but supposedly you only get two of the four lanes. OWC still sells Apple format NVME sticks for those machines, It's probably easier to go that route.

The i5 is in the stereo cabinet where its fusion drive is working just fine. The i7 is the file server. It came with a hard drive (no fusion) and I replaced that with an SSD in 2.5" format, and it has an external drive for the movie collection. The slot for an NVME stick is still open for future adventures.

Sorry, I have a 2012 i7, so I know just how good and upgradable and repairable those machines were/are. I meant my post as a compliment of Apple from that time period as opposed to the locked down junk they're pushing today.
 
Am I the only one that’s thinks that it makes no sense at all for apple to release an M3 Pro/Max chip?

The M2 Pro/Max were released 17th January 2023. It makes no sense to release an M3 Pro/Max chip only 9 months after. It even makes no sense to release M3. Maybe this is focused on iPads?
The M2 Pro/Max were very late though. They kept getting delays. Does not make sense to be competitive in the market to delay the M3 generation just because some extenuating factors forced the delay on your previous generation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bumblebritches5
I still have my 2011 in use and I've never had a problem with the SATA cable. I'm also on the 5th drive I've had in it. From the original 320 gig spinning platter to a 128, 256, 512 gig SSD and now 1TB. I know from those drive replacements that it's incredibly easy to replace the SATA cable entirely if needed. It's also easy to replace the DVD burner with a second drive bay. And the computer is not on the original battery. That was an easy change. It's got 16 gig of RAM, the max apple sold it with was 8 gig.

I did have the track pad fail after it had water spilled on it. A $8 replacement from aliexpress took me half an hour to install and it's been as good as original since.

As for the GPU, my 13" model didn't have the discrete GPU so I don't have the issue, but Apple did extend the warranty and take care of the machines that had that problem.

If you could even call the iGPU in that machine a GPU. What an awful setup. A blistering 211MFlops when not overheating. Less than 1/10th the performance of the base M1 7-core GPU.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.