Apple held its surprise “Scary Fast” event last night: in just 30 minutes, the company unveiled its new M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips, as well as new MacBook Pros and a 24-inch iMac.
Never in its history had Apple hosted an evening event in the US. But with Halloween around the corner, the company went all out for this lightning-fast keynote. As an introduction, viewers saw its famous Apple Park campus shrouded in nighttime fog with bats flying around, all set to haunting music and a fast-paced rhythm.
At the end of the video, a small note also informed us that the entire content was shot on an iPhone and edited on a Mac. An impressive flex, to be honest.
The new M3 chips
Without a doubt, the highlight of the event was the unveiling of the new M3 chips. As with previous models, Apple released three versions of this chip: the standard M3, the M3 Pro, and the M3 Max.
Designed using the innovative 3-nanometer process, these chips power the new MacBook Pro lineup and the 24-inch iMac.
In addition to offering a faster and more efficient CPU, the trio comes with an updated GPU that supports ray tracing, mesh shading, and Dynamic caching, a new feature that optimizes the amount of memory used by the device during tasks.
Compared to their M1 predecessors, the M3 chips reportedly provide 2.5 times faster rendering speeds and a 30% faster CPU.
New models for the MacBook Pro
Apple introduced 14 and 16-inch models for the MacBook Pro. Besides the embedded M3 chips, the first novelty is the Space Black color these models are offered in. This color, reminiscent of the 2006 MacBook, hadn’t been used since (and is different from the “Midnight” shade known for the MacBook Air).
The 14-inch model can be equipped with any of the new M3 chips, while the 16-inch model is exclusively available with the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips.
These new computers promise a 22-hour battery life. Available from November 7th, pre-orders are already open on Apple’s website, with prices starting at $1,599 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and $2,499 for the 16-inch model.
The 24-inch M3 iMac
The iMac also received a significant upgrade. Retaining its palette of 7 vibrant colors, it’s equipped with a standard M3 chip, a new 4.5K Retina display, a 1080p FaceTime camera, and a six-speaker audio system supporting Dolby Atmos and spatial audio.
Pre-orders are also open, with the official launch on November 7th as well. The starting price is $1,299.
You can watch the entire “Scary Fast” event from Apple in the video below.
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