Taking place on the night of October 30 (local time), the focus of the Scary Fast event was on Apple's new computer chips and laptops. The products are expected to bring new life to the Mac line right before the year-end shopping season in the context of slowing global PC sales.
The new computers, including the MacBook Pro and iMac, which will hit shelves next week, have the same design as last year’s models, minus the updated chips. The iMac hasn’t been refreshed since April 2021, and the MacBook Pro last got a new chip in January. Apple also introduced a 15-inch MacBook Air in June.
At a Halloween-themed event, Apple said the new chip is a significant improvement, providing faster speeds, longer battery life and the power needed to develop artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The “bitten apple” leader emphasized that Macs with the new chip are much faster and more efficient than Macs with Intel chips.
Additionally, Apple also reduced the price of the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, from $1,999 to $1,599.
New M3 Chip Series
Apple announced three new M3 chips, including the entry-level M3, M3 Pro (40% faster), M3 Max (250% faster) for AI developers and 3D artists.
According to Apple, the M3 chip helps laptops last up to 22 hours on a single charge. The M3 chip has 8 CPU cores and up to 10 GPU cores, the M3 Pro uses 12 CPU cores and 18 GPU cores, and the M3 Max uses 16 CPU cores and up to 40 GPU cores.
The M3's GPU is 1.8 times faster than the GPU on the M2 chip , while the M3's CPU is 15% faster than the M2's for heavy tasks. The M3 chip is 60% faster than the M1. The new chips are manufactured by chip foundry TSMC on the most modern 3nm process today.
However, Mac computers equipped with the M3 Max chip will not be sold until the end of November.
New MacBook Pro and iMac
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip starts at $1,599. Last year's model started at $1,999 but used the M2 Pro chip. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro chip starts at $1,999 or can be upgraded to the M3 Max chip for an additional cost.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is Apple's largest and most powerful laptop. It starts at $2,499 with the M3 Pro chip, with the option to upgrade to the M3 Max chip.
Apple's MacBook Pro models all have an HDMI port, an SD card slot alongside USB-C ports. In contrast, the MacBook Air only has USB-C ports.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar keyboard does not get the new chip. Additionally, the high-end MacBook Pro with Pro and Max chips gets a new “Space Black” color. Apple says the aluminum used in the laptop is anodized to reduce fingerprints.
Finally, the 24-inch iMac desktop is also updated, with an M3 chip, starting at $1,299.
(According to CNBC)
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