According to Apple, the new Apple M3 is the most advanced chip ever made for a personal computer. Unveiled at Apple’s Scary Fast event, the M3 promises up to 60 percent higher performance in some applications. But is it really worth the upgrade over the M1 or M2?
We’ve already seen the M2 in action on devices like the Mac Mini, and we’ll have to wait until the M3 launches to really know how it performs. But based on what we know right now, here’s how the M3 stacks up to the M2.
Before we get into that, it’s worth noting that we’re looking specifically at the M3 and M2 here. Apple also offers the M3 Pro and Max variants, as well as the M2 Ultra, but it went for base chips.
Where can you get them?
Apple doesn’t immediately update its entire line of Macs with a new chip. Although it’s conceivable that the M3 will eventually work its way into Apple’s lineup, some devices are stuck on the M2. If you’re looking for a specific device, deciding between chips may be simple. Here are the Macs currently available with the M2:
- 13-inch MacBook Air
- 15-inch MacBook Air
- 13-inch MacBook Pro
- Mac Mini
The M3 is available in just two devices to begin with: the 24-inch iMac and the 14-inch MacBook Pro. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 will replace the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2, but otherwise, the M2 and M3 devices will live side by side.
Which makes the pricing a bit interesting. Like the M2, Apple offers the M3 with an octa-core or 10-core GPU, both alongside an octa-core CPU. The 24-inch iMac starts at $1,300 for the 8-core version and $1,500 for the 10-core version. A 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 starts at $1,600, possibly with an octa-core GPU. It also has 8 GB of integrated memory and 512 GB of internal memory.
You can get the M2 for much less. On the 13-inch MacBook Air, you’ll pay $1,100 or $1,400 for an 8- or 10-core GPU, respectively. The 15-inch MacBook Air with a 10-core GPU starts at $1,300. Unsurprisingly, the Mac mini is much cheaper, at $600 for the 10-core M2.
If you want instant access to the M3 on a MacBook, you’ll have to pay more. However, we expect Apple to turn the M3 into products like the Mac mini in the future, so if you’re not interested in one of the products Apple currently offers the M3 in, it’s best to wait. It’s also worth noting that the new M3 iMac completely replaces the M1 model and sells for the same price.
What’s different under the hood?
Both M2 and M3 are similar in overall core count. Both have an octa-core CPU, along with an octa-core or 10-core GPU. Once again, Apple uses integrated memory in the system-on-a-chip (SoC), with the maximum capacity of the M3, just like the M2. The more expensive M3 Pro and M3 Max chips can support up to 128GB, so we could see a problem with the M3 line in other devices in the future.
The big difference between the M2 and M3 is under the hood. The M3 is the first chip to use a 3nm process, while the M2 uses a 5nm node. It just means that the M3 can pack more transistors into the same space, resulting in higher performance and better efficiency. The M3 is capable of housing 25 billion transistors, 5 billion more than the M2.
Apple is also touting an all-new graphics architecture for the M3. This new architecture is centered around a feature called Dynamic Caching, which is claimed to provide higher performance by allocating local memory in real-time. Apple claims this is an industry first and serves as the cornerstone of the new GPU architecture.
In addition to Dynamic Caching, the M3 is the first chip in Apple’s lineup to support hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading. These are the two main features of DirectX 12 on PC, and it looks like Apple finally has the hardware in place to enable support through its Metal API. These features could help some professional apps, but they seem to be aimed squarely at gaming. More games than ray tracing and some titles likeAlan Wick 2,Requires mesh shaders to run correctly.
Apple has also added an advanced Neural Engine to the M3, which is said to deliver 60 percent higher performance on AI workloads compared to the M1. Unfortunately, Apple did not provide a direct comparison with the M2 in this regard.
What about performance?
We haven’t tested the M3 yet, so all we have to go on are Apple’s claims about the chip’s performance. Complicating matters is that Apple has focused primarily on performance compared to the M1, not the M2. This is probably because the 24-inch iMac was never upgraded to the M2.
However, we can make some guesses about performance based on how the M1 and M2 compare. Apple says the M3 offers an overall 35 percent higher CPU performance than the M1, or the same performance at half the power. Based on the results of our MacBook Air M2 review, we saw the M2 outperform the M1 in multi-core performance by about 18 percent. This sets the M3 up for a similar jump in CPU performance, which is an expected increase in performance, even if it’s not very exciting.
The bigger jump seems to come from the redesigned GPU. Apple says the M3s GPU offers 65 percent more performance than the M1, which is a huge leap. It’s hard to tell exactly how it compares to the M2. The new GPU M3 features can give it a huge advantage depending on the game or application. But it’s safe to assume that the M3 will offer a bigger increase in GPU performance than CPU performance, at least compared to the M2.
We won’t know for sure how the M3 performs compared to the M2 until we get a chance to test the chip. However, we expected a larger jump from M2 to M3 than from M1 to M2, reaching the 3nm node.
About a year ago, we heard rumors that Apple was delaying the actual M2 until 2023. The original M2 was reportedly going to be built on a 3nm node, but Apple reversed course and built it on a refined version of the 5nm node. M1 is used. The fact that we saw performance improvements with the M2 was a miracle in itself, even though it included chips that ran hotter under the hood. Now we’ve seen that real jump in performance in the M3, and it should be significant.
A waiting game now
Of course, the performance improvements the M3 will likely bring are significant, but Apple has carefully curated the list of products you’ll find the M3 and M2 in. For the 24-inch iMac, Apple is likely to offer performance that’s leagues ahead of the M1. Well, you’ll likely see some discounts on the 24-inch M1 once the M3 is released, but it’s hard to imagine given that Given how old the M1 version is at this point, it offers better value.
As the M3 works its way into Apple’s product stack, the conversation gets more messy. When you see an M3 available in the MacBook Air and Mac Mini, you have to compare the price of the M2 models to the newer versions. For now, though, all we can do is wait until we get a chance to test drive the M3 to see what it’s capable of.
Editors’ recommendations
#Apple #Generation #Performance #Digital #trends
Image Source : www.digitaltrends.com