Discussion

• Phoronix Michael Larabel on x

  Apple Announces The M3 / M3 Pro / M3 Max

• @linustech @linustech on threads

  the scariest part of the #AppleEvent was definitely the graphs

• @wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on threads

  It felt like this Apple event is more about the new M3 SoCs than the revisions of Macs.  The 3 nm process is impressive 💯

• @jw Josh Williams on threads

  “M3 Max drinks only half the blood compared to the M1.”

• @parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on threads

  they seem *very* keen on comparing M3 to M1

• @durumcrustulum.com @durumcrustulum.com on bluesky

  Not really 3nm but TSMC's ‘N3’ process which, well, leads you to draw the conclusions it wants (no one is actually measuring nanometers anymore): [embedded post]

• @ryanshrout Ryan Shrout on x

  That might have been the most impactful 30 minutes of PC announcements (per capita) I've ever seen. #AppleEvent [image]

• @benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x

  I said it yesterday and I'll say it again. Between new M3s and Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X there is a massive gap between Arm and x86. And based on these two SoCs, I'm doubling down on my view that custom Arm ISA > off the shelf where it matters most.

• @munster_gene Gene Munster on x

  What jumps out to me is the Max chip can be used for AI developers. That said Nvidia GPU chips are still better geared for model training and sold as standalone. You have to buy a Mac to get the M3 Max. Apple's and oranges.

• @mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x

  Lots of silly graphs, but an immediate takeaway is that they're comparing M3 family to M1 family, not M2. [image]

• @_wildc @_wildc on x

  Additionally, the cut-down model of the M3 Max (the one that now features a 30-core GPU vs 32 on the M2 Max) also gets downgraded to a 384 bit bus Because of course it does

• @samrutherford Sam Rutherford on x

  The performance of the new M3 chips definitely looks impressive, but this is the last time Apple can get away with comparing its latest M-series silicon against outdated Intel processors.

• @benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x

  New GPU architecture with dynamic caching. Clever implementation of a memory challenge many designers look to solve. Dynamic memory may be a better way to understand it but the term is the term.

• @ryansmithat Ryan Smith on x

  There are only 80B transistors in NVIDIA's GH100 GPU, which is my usual reference point for large, expensive chips. M3 Max is ridiculously swole (as the kids would say) for a laptop chip

• @ryanshrout Ryan Shrout on x

  @PatrickMoorhead 100% correct. They barely showed people using the devices and just hammered over and over and performance. Anytime you can say “11x faster” you're going to do it. Though we of course would like some footnotes...

• @_saagarjha Saagar Jha on x

  I guess they realized all the compute people weren't paying up for M1/M2 Max

• @apollozac Zac Hall on x

  Apple says the M3 is better for the environment [image]

• @chris_ciaccia Chris Ciaccia on x

  Ray tracing on the Mac is a big deal. That's been reserved for high-end GPUs in the past.

• @markhachman Mark Hachman on x

  Apple is launching M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. 3nm. It sounds like they'll be for the MacBook, though? Next-gen GPU with a new microarchitecture with Dynamic Caching, where caching is set by the task in real time.

• @minimaxir Max Woolf on x

  The big constraint is the system RAM: I'm not sure if 18GB RAM for the $2399 Pro config will be a bottleneck for running AI models/GPU intensive apps compared to 36GB for the $3199 Max config.

• @jonfingas Jon Fingas on x

  Great, three M3 models based on 3nm. No watered-down hardware tonight. #AppleEvent

• @lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x

  So funny that Apple just keeps comparing M3 to the M1 where the performance leap is naturally so much larger. #AppleEvent [image]

• @realjoseph123 Joe on x

  @MKBHD “Dynamic Cashing” Apple sure loves the word Dynamic, eh?

• @benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x

  @DurvidImel @anshelsag M2 owners aren't likely to upgrade so not the target. M1 owners and the 50% of the base that is still on Intel Macs are their target.

• @markhachman Mark Hachman on x

  Apple: We have the most powerful Mac ever, with billions of transistors, an improved neural engine, and gobs of CPU and GPU cores. What game shall we show off? “Myst”. [image]

• @munster_gene Gene Munster on x

  M3 has 8 core CPU and 10-core GPU. Pro has 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU. Max has 16-core CPU and 40-core CPU.

• @benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x

  VERY curious Apple did not release a TOPS number for the NPU. Given A17 is 35 I'm assuming it is in that range. The battle of the NPUs cometh, as I predicted.

• @minimaxir Max Woolf on x

  tfw Apple releases the M3 Max just for AI developers to run “billion parameter transformer models”

• @markhachman Mark Hachman on x

  Hardware-accelerated mesh shading for more comokex scenes . Aha! Ray tracing arrives on the Mac, too. 2.5X rendering perf versus M1. CPU is 30 percent faster than M1, with typical tests 50% faster. And we're seeing Qualcomm-like power/perf curves, too.

• @ryansmithat Ryan Smith on x

  Even with transistor counts always increasing, I continue to be amused by how casually these very large numbers are thrown around. There are *just* 92 billion transistors in the M3 Max. That's 37% (25B) more than the M2 Max. Apple is putting that TSMC N3B density to good use.

• @patrickmoorhead Patrick Moorhead on x

  I remember getting lectured so many times that “Apple doesn't care about specs and benchmarks”. BS. It only talks experiences. Even after M1, people kept saying this. Apple doesn't talk specs when it doesn't win on specs. Apple talks specs when it wins on specs.

• @gregjoz Greg Joswiak on x

  Apple silicon has enabled the strongest lineup in the history of the personal computer—and it keeps getting better! Today, we announced the new MacBook Pro 14", MacBook Pro 16", and iMac with the M3 family of chips. You've never experienced performance like this! #AppleEvent [ima…

• @benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x

  Well, the NPU TOPS is on Apple's website.  Very very soon, people (corporations) are going to want to be running AI models locally and NPU TOPS is a metric that will matter more.  Given A17 had 35 TOPS this is interesting and M2 has 17 TOPS.

• @iancutress @iancutress on x

  So, no int8 support? slight frequency increase, but not the newest neural engine found in A17 Pro.

• r/hardware r on reddit

  Apple officially unveils M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max: 3 nanometer, Dynamic Caching GPU, more

• r/apple r on reddit

  Apple officially unveils M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max: 3 nanometer, Dynamic Caching GPU, more

• @mystikos.org @mystikos.org on bluesky

  My M1 MacBook is probably the first laptop I've ever owned that, even after several years, I really have no need to be faster.  I have not run into anything that needs better performance, and it stays cool.  —  Apple is going to have a hard time selling me on an upgrade until I h…

• @daniel_rubino Daniel Rubino on x

  “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... [image…

• @aapltree @aapltree on x

  So apparently 150GB/sec memory bandwidth is deemed sufficient for M3 Pro even tho it's been 200GB/sec since M1 Pro And $2499 M3 Pro swaps 2 perf cores for 2 e-cores. The entry level SKU compares vs. M2 Pro will be interesting. Very. 18-core GPU better beat the old 19-core tho.

• @aapltree @aapltree on x

  Spooky bins, too. I mean, 18GB RAM? Vs. 16GB? What's an 11-core CPU? 5+6? That's...very binned. And two LESS GPU cores than before, 14 vs. 16? How much faster is the $1999 M1 Pro binned MBP14.2 M3 Pro vs. M2 Pro?

• @mbrkhrdt Michael Burkhardt on x

  As highlighted by @VadimYuryev, the M3 Pro is actually 6 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores, compared to M2 Pro which was 8p+4e. The performance gain between the two is very minor, so definitely worth considering an M2 Pro unless you love Space Black! [image]

• @benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x

  Well, the NPU TOPS is on Apple's website. Very very soon, people (corporations) are going to want to be running AI models locally and NPU TOPS is a metric that will matter more. Given A17 had 35 TOPS this is interesting and M2 has 17 TOPS. [image]

• @mehnitesh2 Nitesh on x

  @IanCutress Ah, is Int8 how the A17's neural engine claimed to double in TOPS with the same 16 cores? But comparing to a different format in the previous iteration then? Then the M3's doesn't seem as far behind it on the same formats, but still a weird omission

• @pmkphotoworks Parth Monish Kohli on x

  There are some weird differences between the M2 Pro and the M3 Pro! 🤔 CPU Structure - M2 Pro - 8 Performance Cores + 4 Efficiency Cores M3 Pro - 6 Performance Cores + 6 Efficiency Cores GPU Structure - M2 Pro - 19 Core GPU M3 Pro - 18 Core GPU Memory Bandwidth - M2 Pro -... [imag…

• @tgod34748 @tgod34748 on x

  M3 Pro is the weirdest chip that came out tonight: - 5 or 6 perf. cores, compared to 6 or 8 on M2 Pro and M1 Pro - Less GPU cores than M2 Pro - 8TB SSD is no longer an option, 4TB max. Even with these apparent downgrades, it still looks faster than M2 Pro, but still weird. [image…

• @vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x

  Fun Fact: Because Apple removed 2 P cores on the M3 Pro chip and gave it 2 more E cores, it's not much faster than the M2 Pro chip. M2 Pro was 16% faster than M1 Pro Apple says M3 Pro is 20% faster than M1 Pro Pretty sad LOL

• @nachosoto Nacho Soto on x

  Very interesting transition. M3 Pro now only has 6 performance cores and 150GB/s (compared to 8 performance cores and 200GB/s in M1 Pro). M3 Max has 12 (4 more than M1 Pro) and 400GB/s (double!) That's easily 60% performance boost, and probably worth going Max now. [image]

• @vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x

  Apple made sure to show off dual NAND Flash storage chips on the base M3 14" MacBook Pro lol! Bravo for this change, Apple! You have made me a happy man today. Thank you for listening ❤️ [image]

• @aapltree @aapltree on x

  If any Mac needs a crazy fast NPU, damn the relative perf/W, Mac Studio Ultra is it. But will M3 Ultra inherit the overclocked A17 Pro NPU? It SHOULD, IMHO, but who knows

• @tech_reve @tech_reve on x

  [image]

• @iancutress @iancutress on x

  chips [image]

• @highyieldyt @highyieldyt on x

  Apple's M3 line-up looks very interesting, the GPU seems to be a complete re-design. Oh, and there die shots :)

• @programmax Chris Blume on x

  @SebAaltonen Further, the M3 series memory bandwidth is lower. M2 Pro 200 GB/s -> M3 Pro 150 GB/s M2 Max 400 GB/s -> M3 Pro 300 GB/s Sounds like the bus went from 256-bit to 192-bit. So you get less memory which is also slower. *Maybe* the dynamic cache means you need less memory…

• @sebaaltonen Sebastian Aaltonen on x

  2000$ M3 laptops exist with 8GB of memory :( It's a TRAP! 8GB is shared between CPU + GPU. 14 year old 32 bit Windows 7 computers had 4GB RAM + 4GB GPU. Tests show that even web browser has perf issues with 8GB RAM Macs. And SSD will swap like cracy. Dies sooner.

• @highyieldyt @highyieldyt on x

  My initial #Apple M3 Max chip analysis. Clearly visible 12 P-cores, 4 E-cores, 40-core GPU, SLC, Display Engines, Thunderbolt & other I/O. The chip has a 512-bit LPDDR5 interface. I'm not 100% sure about the NPU location. Looking forward to any input! M3/Pro next! #AppleEvent [im…

• @thegingerbill @thegingerbill on x

  It looks like the M3 Pro is actually a downgrade from the M2 Pro in many ways, __for certain workloads__. Why would you reduce the number of performance cores and memory bandwidth when it is called the “Pro” variant? [image]

• @vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x

  Fun Fact: Apple has downgraded the M3 Pro chip to only have a 14-core GPU compared to 16 cores on the base M2 Pro chip model.  Also, the upgraded M3 Pro now only has a 18 GPU cores compared to 19 on the M2 Pro.  Interesting choice by Apple..

• @tech_reve @tech_reve on x

  The most interesting point is that the M3 Pro has 37 billion transistors, which is a decrease from the M2 Pro's 40 billion. What could be the reason for this? [image]

• @ryansmithat Ryan Smith on x

  I'm still digging through Apple's spec pages. But it looks like the Pro SoCs have regressed in memory bandwidth. M2 Pro was rated for 200GB/sec. M3 Pro is rated for 150GB/sec. This strongly implies the memory bus has been cut down from 256-bits wide to 192-bits wide

• @maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x

  Apple's cutting down on Memory Bandwidth on M3 series M2 Pro was 200GB/s, now M3 Pro is 150GB/s M2 Max was 400GB/s, now M3 Max is up to 400GB/s (I had it show 300GB/s for a SKU but can't get it to show anymore) [image]

• @_wildc @_wildc on x

  M2 → M3 4 → 4 P-cores 10 → 10 GPU cores 128 → 128 bit bus M2 Pro → M3 Pro 8 → 6 P-cores 19 → 18 GPU cores 256 → 192 bit bus M2 Max → M3 Max 8 → 12 P-cores 38 → 40 GPU cores 512 → 512 bit bus

• r/apple r on reddit

  Apple M3 Pro Chip Has 25% Less Memory Bandwidth Than M1/M2 Pro

• r/technology r on reddit

  Apple introduces new M3 chip lineup, starting with the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max