Apple M3 vs M3 Pro vs M3 Max: What makes these chips different?

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by Rafly Gilang 

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Apple is coming hot this week. The tech giant announced a series of new M3 chips and a brand-new MacBook Pro line with an interesting matte black color. The question we now have is: how do these chips compare against each other? Let’s dig in: Apple M3 vs M3 Pro vs M3 Max.

They call their debut in 3-nanometer chips “the most advanced chips for a personal computer,” and rightfully so. It has a next-gen GPU, a dramatically better CPU and Neural Engine, and better-unified memory

In the official presentation, Apple takes the chips into a series of tests. With 25 billion transistors, the 10-core GPU can showcase incredibly realistic reflections in games like never before. The 8-core CPU, composed of 4 performance cores & 4 efficiency cores, is faster than the M1.

Enough with the tech jargon. What’s the difference between these chips? Here are the key comparisons you need to know about Apple M3 vs M3 Pro vs M3 Max.

Apple M3 vs M3 Pro vs M3 Max: Here are the key differences

Comparisons Apple M3 Apple M3 Pro Apple M3 Max
CPU
  • 8?core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, and
  • 100GB/s memory bandwidth
  • 11?core CPU with 5 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, or
  • 12?core CPU with 6 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, and
  • 150GB/s memory bandwidth
  • 14?core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, and
  • 300GB/s memory bandwidth
GPU
  • 10?core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing
  • 14?core GPU, or
  • 18?core GPU both with hardware-accelerated ray tracing
  • 30?core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing
Memory support
  • 8GB unified memory
  • Configurable to 16GB or 24GB
  • 18GB unified memory
  • Configurable to: 36GB (M3 Pro or M3 Max with 14?core CPU), or 96GB (M3 Max with 14?core CPU), or 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB (M3 Max with 16?core CPU)
  • 36GB unified memory
  • Configurable to: 96GB (M3 Max with 14?core CPU) or 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB (M3 Max with 16?core CPU)
Wireless Wi-Fi 6E & Bluetooth 5.3 Wi-Fi 6E & Bluetooth 5.3 Wi-Fi 6E & Bluetooth 5.3
Supported laptop(s) MacBook Pro with M3 chip in space gray or silver finish, 14-inch display MacBook Pro with Apple M3 Pro with space black or silver finish, 14 or 16-inch display MacBook Pro with M3 Max, with space black or silver finish, 14 or 16-inch display

As you can see on the comparison table, alll Apple’s M3 family of chips features a next-generation GPU with major performance and efficiency improvements, as well as new rendering features and support for AV1 decode.

Apple’s M3 chips support ray tracing, while the recently-released Snapdragon X Elite chips do not. You can check our key comparisons here.

Rafly Gilang

Rafly Gilang Shield

Tech Reporter

Rafly is a reporter with years of journalistic experience, ranging from technology, business, social, and culture. Currently reporting news on Microsoft-related products, tech, and AI on MSPowerUser. Got a tip? Send it to [email protected]

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