M3 Chip Family Boosts Performance for MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMac

[Simon]

@fischej

[TLDR summary]: Am I the only one who feels his current computer is as fast and as capable as he can imagine ever needing?

@Sebby

So I guess no, you’re probably not. But it’s interesting to step back and take a fresh look at the question every so often. In truth, all the speed you need is actually the correct assessment of what you have. That doesn’t mean opposition to innovation, or refusal to recognise legitimate needs. It just means being ready to be content with what one already has.

I think you’re both right, and nevertheless, I feel with Apple Silicon it’s the reason to upgrade that changes, not the urge.

I would argue for most people (myself included) the M1-M3 we’ve so far seen offer ample performance for 99% of our tasks. So I doubt CPU core improvements or clock adjustments or mem b/w increases or any other direct CPU tweak will be an immediate reason to upgrade. In that sense I completely get why a lot of people are now finding themselves feeling “why should I get a new M3 Mac, my M1 is still awesome at everything”.

But I also know that beyond just CPU performance there’s a lot I could see improve and when it does I know I’ll want to jump on a new Mac at once. I’ll admit, much of it pertains more to mobile computing than desktop. (That said, these days my desktop reality is mobile computing because rather than a Mac Studio plus say MBA, I just use a beefed up MBP with a nice docking station and fancy screen for my desk work).

• Working in bright sunshine. The screen can never be too bright. Once we get even brighter displays or perhaps micro LED that to me would be a very good reason to upgrade my MBP.

• Non-tethered mobile. Tethering works but it’s always a bit finicky and it tends to run down the iPhone battery fast. One day I suppose MBPs will come with an eSIM and native cellular capability. That is an upgrade I’d jump on. Not because of dire need (there is tethering), but because of convenience.

• 80 Gbps Thunderbolt 5: To this day the fastest external storage you can get is ~2.8 GB/s read and ~2.1 GB/s write. That’s fast, but it’s also 2-3x slower than the Mac’s internal flash. The reason for that bottleneck is the “40 Gbps TB4” that effectively offers 32 Gbps peak data transfer which then in reality translates to sub-3 GB/s. So when the next MBP with TB5 comes out (which should finally get external storage b/w at least into the vicinity of today’s internal flash), you can bet I’ll want to upgrade along with getting new TB5 docking stations.

• Battery life. My 14" makes it through a full work day on one charge, sure. But if I’m spending lots of it on wasteful apps like Zoom and I perhaps also have to crank up my screen real high because I’m sitting for hours at an airport with lots of sun shining into the waiting area and onto my screen, I’ll be having to keep an eye on battery nevertheless. And I’m not inclined to carry around battery packs forever or go chase after outlets. So the moment we get MBPs with 24+ hr spec’ed battery life, I’ll definitely want to upgrade to that.

And that’s just my list. I’m sure others would have other points (10G Ethernet perhaps? Or touchscreens? Faster/better mem card slot? Colors?). Either way, even if performance is overkill and we’re already sufficiently happy with speed and responsiveness, I think there will eventually be plenty things left that will get people to upgrade their Apple Silicon Macs outside of Mx upgrades. I have a suspicion Apple will try to entice folks to get new Macs by marketing the heck out of Mx renewals, but that it will be other things like above that will get Mx owners to actually get a new Mx Mac.