On October 30th, Apple held a ‘Scary Fast’ event to focus on new Mac products, including an M3 chip-powered MacBook Pro line.
As noted by MacRumors and Windows Central, though, Apple was opaque about comparisons between its latest chip and the ones featured in the M2, instead stacking it up to the M1 chip. For example, Apple states that the base M3 includes an eight-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores that are up to 35 percent faster than the M1 for CPU performance.
"The base M3 includes an eight-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores, and Apple claims it’s up to 35 percent faster than the M1 for CPU performance."
I take it it's slower than the Snapdragon X Elite because the X Elite is 50% faster than the M2… pic.twitter.com/CGxZ3Yz5t2
— Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) October 31, 2023
However, a closer analysis of the specs shows the reduced memory bandwidth in the M3 Pro chip. As MacRumor points out, the M3 Pro system on a chip (SoC) 150GB/s memory bandwidth, compared to 200GB/s on the earlier M1 Pro and M2 Pro — in other words, a 25 percent reduction.
Elsewhere, Apple has changed the core ratios of the higher-tier M3 Pro chip compared to its predecessor; the former sports a 12-core CPU with 6 performance cores (compared to eight performance cores on the 12-core M2 Pro) and six efficiency cores (versus four efficiency cores on the 12-core M2 Pro). On top of that, the GPU has 18 cores compared to the 19 on the M2 Pro chip.
Apple’s decision to focus on comparisons between the M3 Pro and M1 Pro chips comes in stark contrast to how Qualcomm has been hyping up its own Snapdragon X chips. The latter company has specifically been stacking up the M2 Pro chip to its own upcoming chips.
Still, it’s an odd choice to not reveal a new product but not make direct comparisons to its immediate predecessor.
For more on MobileSyrup‘s coverage from the ‘Scary Fast’ event, including details on the refreshed M3-powered iMac, follow this link.
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