The rumors are true! After much speculation from the tech world, Apple unveiled its newest generation of Silicon chips on a live stream presentation that was shot on the new iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple's "Scray Fast" event showed off some brand-new Macs that come with the company's latest version of its in-house chips.
Let's check out the roundup of the major announcements from the event.
A Powerful Line Up of M3 Chips
Again, no one was surprised to hear that there is a new generation of Silicon chips (again).
The new lineup includes the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips, which Apple says marks the "first personal computer chips" that are made using a 3-nanometer process to increase your computer's performance.
Offering a "faster and more efficient CPU," the trio of chips gets an updated GUP that supports Ray Tracing, mesh shading, and Dynamic Caching (a new feature that optimizes the needed amount of memory the device uses during tasks).
The most powerful Silicon chip, M3 Max, comes with up to 92 billion transistors, a 40-core GPU, and a 16-core CPU, making it a beast that is perfect for filmmakers working in post-production.
Credit: Apple
M3 Boost the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros
Apple also announced a new pair of 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with either the M3 Pro chip or the higher-end M3 Max. The new chips will give these personal laptops the boost needed to get all of your heavy processing work done with ease.
Both laptops feature a Mini LED display, a 1080p camera, a six-speaker sound system, 22 hours of battery life, and up to 128GB of RAM. They are also available in a new space black finish that is supposed to help reduce fingerprints.
While the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip starts at $1,999, the 16-inch M3 Pro model starts at $2,499. You can preorder these MacBook Pro models today or wait until November 7 to purchase your new laptop.
But our question is, how are the thermals?
Credit: Apple
Upgrading the iMac
The 24-inch iMac is getting the M3 boost to offer a two-times faster performance than its M1-equipped predecessor. With the new chip, the iMac will provide faster rending speeds for all of your favorite workspaces while providing you with 24GB of unified memory.
Along with the new chip, the refreshed iMac features a 4.5K Retina display with more than 1 billion colors, support for Wi-Fi 6E, and a 1080p webcam. If all of this wasn't enough, Apple is offering up seven new colors for the iMac: green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver. There are also color-matched accessories that come with the iMac, but they still feature Lightning connectors.
The 24-inch iMac costs $1,299 with an eight-core CPU or $1,499 with a 10-core chip. You can preorder it starting today, with availability starting on November 7.
Credit: Apple
While the event focused on animation and gaming, the new generation of M3 chips can really change the at-home workflow for filmmakers in post or for anyone who wants to dabble in the world of Unreal Engine or other AI tools.
But are the M3 chips worthy of updating your entire system months after the announcement of the M2 chips? We'll keep digging to find out.
