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Apple hosted an event on the eve of Halloween, aptly named “Scary Fast,” to introduce their new M3 chip family. The group includes the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. The announcement of the M3 was not spooky, but rather a cause for celebration among the gaming community. These new M3 processors, while delivering CPU enhancements, truly shone with their GPU upgrades.
As expected, Apple’s latest line of chips lives up to its promises, surpassing the previous M2 series in strength and efficiency. The substantial GPU performance improvements will significantly benefit resource-intensive professional applications and elevate gaming experiences.
Interestingly, Apple chose to compare the M3’s performance not with the previous M2 but with the M1. The base M3 boasts an eight-core CPU and a ten-core GPU, while the M3 Pro sports a twelve-core CPU and an eighteen-core GPU. The top-tier M3 Max has a whopping 16-core CPU and a 40-core GPU. In thorough CPU and GPU performance tests, these models exhibit significant improvements compared to the M1. What’s truly impressive is Apple’s claim that the M3 Max’s GPU performance is up to 80% faster than the M1 Max, a remarkable feat considering the M1’s launch in October 2021.
Gamers can get their hands on the new M3 chips in Apple’s new MacBook Pro models on November 7th
Unfortunately, the base M3 only supports one external display in addition to the built-in Mac display, which might disappoint gaming enthusiasts who love multiple monitors. One of the key factors behind these significant GPU performance boosts is Apple’s cutting-edge next-gen architecture. The M3 chips incorporate hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, features never before seen in an Apple-designed CPU chip. This marks a significant milestone for Apple and gamers alike.
Gamers no longer need powerful rigs or consoles to experience realistic shadows and reflections in games. With ray tracing and mesh shading now integrated into the M3, Apple is bringing these features to their platform. Game developers can finally create these lifelike games for Apple users.
The M3 family will be built on a 3nm process, similar to the A17 Pro in the new iPhone 15 Pro. This shift will result in significantly improved efficiency and battery life. The M3 chip introduces an enhanced Neural Engine for machine learning acceleration and a new dynamic caching feature which will further enhance the experience for gamers and game developers.
The M3 and M3 Pro will be available for gaming on November 7th. Apple is now poised to compete with Microsoft in the non-console gaming industry. Windows had previously held some of the most beloved games hostage, but earlier this summer, Apple introduced a game porting toolkit to allow Mac users to play Windows games. With the introduction of the M3 chip, Apple is taking things up a notch, significantly enhancing the performance of these games. The gaming industry has just gotten a lot more interesting.