Apple is marketing its 2023 MacBook Pro as "scary fast," and it's just that, thanks to Apple's latest silicon, the M3 chip.
When invites to the latest Apple Event went out, insiders figured that the tech giant would be focusing on the iMac (which ended up being true) as it's only been about nine months since the previous M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pros had shipped. And yet, along with the new desktops, Apple also unveiled new MacBook Pros, suggesting that Apple's silicon has made enough significant strides within the year to justify an almost immediate upgrade.
With a shorter gap between the M2 and M3 than the M1 and M2, you might assume that there'd be less progress between the second and third generations but that's not the case. The leap from M2 to M3 is by far the most significant performance jump in Apple silicon so far.
To put it simply, Apple's M3 Max chip blows its M2 Max out of the water.
The M2 Max set the standard for what serious mobile computing can look like and that bar has now been raised even more. Last year's model was impressive enough that it's hard to believe that this new chip is nearly twice as fast, but when you put it to work, it is immediately apparent how fast the M3 Max really is.
It makes you wonder how fast can we go before even the most complex tasks can be completed within seconds. The M2 Max left little to be desired but now there's even more of a reason to upgrade to the M3 Max — if you're looking for apex performance on a Mac, that is.
Taking it to Cinebench, the M3 Max blows its predecessor out of the water which was surprising enough. It doesn't quite Apple's claim of being nearly twice as fast, though: the M2 Max clocked 14632 in a Cinebench test, compared to the M3 Max's overall score of 23595. A one-third improvement is still a big jump, though.
Taking the M3 to a program like Blender, only the most daunting high-sample renders will activate the cooling fans, and even when they do, they're practically silent. Same for DaVinci Resolve: entire 8K exports were snappier than ever.
It's getting to the point where you could reasonably consider using the M3 Max MacBook Pro over a high-end PC setup, especially paired with the Apple Studio display.
For years, customers have been asking Apple to bring back the MacBook's matte black aluminum body, and they finally did, kinda.
The Space Black MacBook was a bit underwhelming in-person, but compared to the Space Grey version, it is significantly darker. However, a pure jet-black matte finish would've been preferred.
The main concern with Space Block color is, obviously, fingerprints. While Apple's marketing jargon and treatment suggest that the latest MacBook is powered by fingerprint-resistant tech, fingerprints are still apparent. They're not a glaring issue, though — it's better than with the Space Grey version — which only makes me want a pure black one even more. It also would've fit the "scary" theme better.
Now, all that being said, is it worth upgrading? If you opted to skip the M2, it's time.
The performance increase is so significant it is almost comparable to the gap between the Intel-based structure and M1.
But. if you're on the M2 Max, it's only worth upgrading if you've pushed your machine to the edge and need or want a noticeable increase in computing. For me, this wasn't even really needed with the M2 Max coming out in Q1.
Then again, though, change is always welcome.
