All of the announcements made by Apple at its "Scary Fast" Mac event.

This year, Apple really caught us off guard. A straightforward press release or a large-scale event held at 1 p.m. are the two typical methods used by the company to reveal new products. me. GMT (10 a.m. me. EST). The company did neither of these things with its "Scary Fast" Mac event; instead, it released a pre-recorded event at 8 p.m. me. ET (5 p.m. me. Openly embracing the Halloween theme (PT).

Even though the event lasted only 30 minutes and probably attracted less attention than if Apple had announced it at the regular time, it was still an exciting announcement, particularly for those of us who eagerly await new developments in Apple silicon.

M3, M3 Max, and M3 Pro.

The most recent M-series chip family—the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max—was unveiled by Apple as anticipated. These chipsets are constructed using TSMC's 3-nanometer technology, which enables the integration of additional transistors onto the chip. More power and performance come from having more transistors in the M3 as well as its new "Dynamic Caching," which Apple claims allocates memory in real time to ensure that the precise amount of memory required is used for any given task.

A 16-core neural engine, a 10-core GPU, and an 8-core CPU make up the M3, which replaces the M2 as the company's entry-level M-series processor. Regretfully, the 8GB of unified memory that comes pre-installed cannot be increased to 16GB or 24GB. The M3 Pro has more powerful specifications, including a 16-core neural engine, a 14- or 18-core GPU, and an 11- or 12-core CPU. RAM is available in increments of 18GB, with an upgrade to 36GB.

The M3 Max is where things really start to get wild. A 14- or 16-core CPU, 30- or 40-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine are the options available to you. You can install up to 128GB of RAM and up to 8TB of storage on the M3 Max, depending on your configuration.

Brand-new MacBook Pros M3.

Of course, there is more to these chips than just them. You purchase the Macs that the chips are sold in, not the chips themselves. Apple concentrated on a small number of products rather than updating the entire Mac lineup with the M3.

Macbook Pro is first in line. The MacBook Pros M3 Pro and M3 Max have replaced the M2 Pro and M2 Max models. However, aside from the faster, new chips, there isn't much to discuss here. The MacBook Pro design remains largely unchanged, though you will notice significant performance gains if you're upgrading from the M1 Pro or M1 Max, and some minor improvements if you're coming from the M2 Pro or M2 Max. You still get the fantastic XDR display in both the 14- and 16-inch models, three USB 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, and a 1080p FaceTime camera hidden in a "notch.". ".

The display on the M3 Pro and M3 Max laptops has two major hardware differences: it is now capable of 600 nits when viewing SDR content, up from 500 nits previously, and it has a new color called "Space Black.". The starting prices for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are the same at $1,999 and $2,499, respectively, but the way you customize it can save you a significant amount of money. It will cost you $7,199 for a 16-inch MacBook Pro with 128GB of RAM and 8TB of capacity. Ouch!

The standard M3 MacBook Pro, which replaces the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, is the subject of more discussion. For better or worse, both the Touch Bar and the 13-inch display size are now obsolete. The $1,999 price tag that Apple originally attached to a 14-inch MacBook Pro is no longer an obstacle.

The majority of the benefits of a 14-inch MacBook Pro, such as the superb XDR display and HDMI and SDXC ports, are yours for $1,599 dollars. While the M3 chip loses some of its power and only gains one USB 4 port, it should still be sufficient for the majority of applications, including creative and design work. The RAM, however, represents a significant compromise. As previously mentioned, Apple maintains that the base model M3 must come with 8GB of RAM, so if you spend $1,599 on a new computer, that is all you will have. I strongly advise upgrading to 16GB RAM if you're considering this model and have the extra $200. In addition to lasting longer than the base model, your Mac will be able to handle more tasks at once. Furthermore, it remains $200 less expensive than the M3 Pro MacBook Pro.

At last, the iMac receives an update.

Yesterday, however, was not just about the MacBook Pro. The first update since the redesigned iMac was first unveiled by Apple in 2021, the 24-inch iMac has finally been upgraded with the M3 chip. Though the company may have had other reasons for not producing an M2 model of the iMac, the desktop is now once again a device that is easy to recommend.

The iMac now has one or two more GPU cores than before, depending on the model, thanks to the jump from M1 to M3. In addition, you have the option to increase RAM beyond the maximum 16GB of M1 memory, from 8GB (ugh) to 24GB. The iMac is identical for all other uses, including color-matched accessories with Lightning ports and displays with the same dimensions (though apparently not supporting USB-C).

Again, I advise spending the additional $200 to upgrade to at least 16GB of RAM. It starts at the same $1,299 for 8GB. As the base model iMac only comes with 256GB of storage, you might be tempted to spend that money on an upgrade, but if you can only afford RAM. If you want more storage, you can always purchase an external SSD.

You should think about switching from an 8-core to a 10-core GPU if you value graphics highly in your work or play. Though it costs an additional $200, 8GB of RAM is still included.

The entire event was captured using an iPhone.

My favorite part of the evening was when Apple displayed a slide at the conclusion of the event, confirming that all presenters, locations, and drone footage had been captured using iPhones. This was astounding: instead of a Hollywood-caliber camera, a $1,000 smartphone was used to capture the entire event, which didn't seem any different from usual.

Of course, Apple accomplished this with a fully staffed production team and additional equipment that probably cost them a good deal of money. It only serves to highlight how good Apple's video game is at the moment. In the event that you purchased an iPhone 15 Pro this year, you currently hold a very powerful camera.

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