Apple last week announced new Mac computers equipped with the first 3-nanometer chips, the M3 family, which is made up of the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. The entry range for this new generation of processors has included the 24-inch iMac, which has not been renewed since 2021 and which had the M1 chip, and the more affordable MacBook Pro, which until now retained the old design, with the TouchBar, a bar of software-definable keys that seemed like a good idea but never caught on with the public. The arrival of the M3 has meant that the cheapest MacBook Pro has practically the same design as the most powerful ones.
The new iMac doesn't look new. With the same design as 2021 and the same range of seven colors, it is still a very current machine, incredibly stylish and practical, but it is easy to wonder where the news is. There is only one answer: on the M3 chip. That's where Apple has put the emphasis. Compared to the version with M1, the new iMac is not just a slightly faster machine. It's much faster. That, in an all-in-one desktop computer, easy to install and with high quality components at a reasonable price (from 1,619 euros), is a point in its favor.
One of the most important improvements of the new iMac is in the difference in the graphics processor (GPU) of the M3 compared to that of the M1. The first is 65% faster than the second. The graphic aspect, whether for professional functions (design, photo and video editing) is a big leap in the new Apple machine. The new chip includes features such as dynamic caching (the processor optimizes the amount of memory it uses during tasks), ray tracing (ray tracing, rendering the lighting of graphic scenes), and mesh shading.
To these features we must add that the chip's multimedia engine supports hardware acceleration of the most used video codecs, including ProRes, for professional use. The neural engine, used for artificial intelligence applications, has 16 cores in the M3 and is, according to Apple, 60% faster than in the M1. Without objective measurements, AI photo resizing is much faster than its predecessor.
Those for whom this machine could have fallen short due to its essentially domestic nature, no longer have as many arguments for not considering it as an option. As a home computer, the iMac is a delight, with a 4.5K display, six spatial sound speakers, and three studio-quality microphones. It is a very versatile computer that is very comfortable to use and takes up very little space.
Along with the computer, the box includes, in addition to the Magic Keyboard with TouchID (simple or with numerical extension), a Magic Mouse and, optionally, a Magic Trackpad, all of them with a USB-C to Lightning cable for recharging . The transition to the disappearance of this latest Apple proprietary connector, as has already happened with the iPhone 15 family and the second generation AirPods Pro, will take some time.
The M3 provides the iMac not only with the ability to be a complete computer for any task, but also opens up a world for Apple that the Cupertino company has been determined to enter for quite some time: that of video games. The graphics capabilities of the new chip give you the opportunity to present your machine as ideal for gaming not only to users, but also to game developers. If the computer with the least powerful chip is capable of performing well with demanding software, much more can be expected from the more complete ones, with the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. In the future, we will see with the M3 Ultra, which will likely equip future Mac Studio and Mac Pro.
The new entry-level MacBook Pro, with the same M3 chip as the new iMac, is barely distinguishable externally from the more powerful 14-inch MacBook Pro versions with the M3 Pro and M3 Max. Only on its right side can you see that it has one less USB-C port. That's not the only difference, although the rest are more subtle. The higher models have three Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the Mac reviewed has two Thunderbolt/USB4 ports. The practical difference is not in the data transfer speed (40 GB/s in both cases), but that the most capable ones can be used with two external 4K (or one 8K) screens, while the first can only control one . It is a distinction that depends on the use to which the computer is intended. Many users will never connect an external display and others will use up to four. In this case, you would need the MacBook Pro with the M3 Max.
For the rest, the experience of this M3 is what Apple Silicon chips have been providing in its three generations. Plenty of ease for most tasks, although anyone who intends to use it for demanding uses, such as video or photography editing, should resort to the M3 Pro and Max. This most basic MacBook Pro is the closest thing to a MacBook Air, of which there is now a version with the M2 chip and even one with a larger 15-inch screen. The difference between both devices is not too much, although the M3 has more ports (an HDMI and one for SDXC cards). And something important: it has a fan. It can take on large workloads without necessarily limiting its performance. The model with M3 is the one with the best autonomy, up to 22 hours of video playback, according to Apple.
The lines of separation between the different Apple computers are increasingly subtle, but it has had a consequence that seems to have supported the company's plans. The penetration of Mac computers among the public has grown. There is a Mac for every user and/or need. The M3 covers a very large sector of users. It can satisfy a large majority at work and also at leisure.
