It’s been a good number of months since Apple first announced the Apple M3 and the processor has only expanded to more devices since.
The question is, how does the Apple M3 compare to the Apple M2 chip that came before it? Keep reading to discover all the big differences between the Apple M3 and the Apple M2 to help you decide whether it’s worth upgrading.
Specs
The Apple M3 features the exact same core configurations as the Apple M2, including 8 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores as well as up to 24GB of unified memory. This doesn’t mean you won’t experience a performance boost, however.
The increase in speed all comes down to Apple’s move to 3nm processor architecture, which is smaller than the 5nm process used in the M2 series. The smaller process node means that Apple can fit more transistors, boosting the overall performance.
The Apple M3 boasts a whopping 25 billion transistors compared to the 20 billion in the Apple M2. That’s a 5 billion transistor increase in the new chipset, allowing for faster processing.
The Apple M3 also uses the new Dynamic Caching technology in its GPU, allowing local memory to be allocated in real-time. According to Apple, Dynamic Caching “dramatically increases the average utilisation of the GPU, which significantly increases performance for the most demanding pro apps and games”.
Other additions include hardware-accelerated ray-tracking which brings improved lighting effects with boosted shadows and reflections to the Mac series, as well as hardware-accelerated mesh-shading to enhance the capability and efficiency of geometry on the Mac.
Performance
When it announced the M3, Apple claimed that the CPU and GPU were both faster than those on the M1 to an even greater degree than the M2 proved.
According to the company, the M3’s CPU is up to 25% faster than the M1’s whereas the M2’s CPU is 18% faster than the M1’s, while the M3’s GPU is up to 65% faster than the M1’s whereas the M2’s CPU is 35% faster than the M1’s.
Of course, we ran our own tests on the Apple M3 and M2 as soon as we got our hands on the M3-powered 13-inch MacBook Air. We compared the benchmarking results with those of the M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Air and discovered performance boosts across the board, as can be seen in the graph below.
Apple also claims that AI performance is faster on the M3. However, we don’t have any benchmarks to back this claim up.
Devices
As of our last update to this guide, the Apple M3 chipset powers the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2023), 15- and 13-inch MacBook Air (2024), and iMac (2023).
Apple also sells M3 Pro and M3 Max variations which can be configured in the 16- and 14-inch MacBook Pro models (2023).
The Apple M2, meanwhile, could be found in the 13-inch MacBook Pro (2022), 15-inch MacBook Air (2023), 13-inch MacBook Air (2022), 12.9- and 11-inch iPad Pro (2022) and Mac Mini (2023). It also powers Apple’s new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.
M2 Pro, M2 Max and M2 Ultra variations are also available across Apple’s product line, including the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro (2023), Mac Mini (2023), Mac Studio (2023) and Mac Pro (2023) where available.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
