Apple M3 Pro chip could sacrifice performance for improved battery life over M2 Pro

Updated on 16-May-2023
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Apple is reportedly working on Apple M3 Pro chipsets.

Apple may tease M3 Pro chips at WWDC 2023.

Here’s what we know about the third-gen Apple processors and how they could compare to their predecessors.

Apple M3 Pro specs have been tipped by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg through his Power On newsletter. The M3 Pro could bring 12 CPU cores and 18 GPU cores. This may seem similar to the Apple M2 Pro, but there are some key differences that you should know. 

Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M2 Pro (Expected)

Apple M3 Pro could have fewer performance cores as per Mr Kuo. That is, out of the supposed 12 CPU cores, 6 will be performance cores and the rest for efficiency. This is different from the Apple M2 Pro in terms of core structure. You get 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores on the M2 Pro.

This could be paired with 36GB of RAM (4 gigs more than its precursor). And offer a unified design, as in integrated with the CPU. This allows for quicker access to memory and hence results in higher efficiency. 

If we expand upon the logic used by Apple M2 Max and M2 Ultra design language, we suspect the Apple M3 Max could bring 14 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores. Meanwhile, the M3 Ultra can pack 28 CPU and 80 GPU cores. 

Also, Mr Kuo tells us the M3 Pro could be manufactured on a 3nm process from TSMC. 

Not just that, we should be hearing more about the Apple M3 series of chips before long as Apple is apparently testing the chips as we speak. Kuo says it is being tested on a forthcoming MacBook Pro.

As you may know, MacBook Pro is used for the Pro, Max, and Ultra chipsets because they could heat a lot more than vanilla M-series chips and a proper cooling system is required to dissipate the same. A bigger battery also gets used in the power they consume. Only a thicker and larger MacBook can house such a battery and cooling system, which the Air models lack.

We could also get to see an M3 Ultra within one of the upcoming Macs (desktop PCs from Apple).

Besides the core structure, the new chips could also feature other enhancements. Let’s see if we hear about them at this year’s WWDC which is slated to take place next month.

G. S. Vasan

Vasan is a word weaver and tech junkie who is currently geeking out as a news writer at Digit.

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