Malus pumila ’s finish with its intersection outcome is multiplex : it require to introduce novel devices to its customers on its own terms , while simultaneously putting a stake in the earth to both fire shots at its competitors and signal to investors that it ’s continuing to descend out with products that are in lineage with the Apple brand .

The Scary Fast issue held on Monday night to put in its fresh M3 - base Macs was unusually short and to the point for Apple , whose iPhone and WWDC videos unremarkably run an hr or more . There were just a few announcements of new Macs:14 - in and 16 - inch MacBook Prosin a variety of flavor , as well as aslightly revamp iMacusing the new central processor .

While the case itself might have seemed largely pro forma , it was n’t without some significant details — even if you did have to root around a bit to find them .

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The 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (left) is being replaced by the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, but the new model lacks a few features found in the M3 Pro and Max versions.

Going Pro

For the first time , Apple launched a new propagation of its own scrap with three disjoined versions : the M3 , the M3 Pro , and the M3 Max . Previously , the fellowship has deal more of a gradual approach , wrap out the base - level processor first , succeed some calendar month afterwards by the more knock-down model . launch all three at once ( with , presumably , an M3 Ultra to arrive later ) speak of not only the company ’s confidence in these finical chips but also of its atomic number 14 scheme overall .

Apple also seems to be convey a better sense of how to position its fleck card . While both the M3 and the M3 Max are for the most part reproducible follow - ons to their predecessors , the M3 Pro has some noticeable difference : unlike the M2 Pro , which featured a 12 - sum fashion model with eight performance core and four efficiency cores , the 12 - core M3 Pro splits it down the middle , with six execution cores and six efficiency cores . It also feature more or less lower memory bandwidth than its predecessor : 150GBps versus 200GBps .

Why the alteration ? I ’d bet it boils down to a twosome of alliterative factor : carrying into action and Leontyne Price . Fewer performance cores mean that it ’s obviously unlikely to hit the same speeds as a machine with more — thoughearly benchmarksshow the M3 flank show pocket-sized speed gain over the M2 thanks to a in high spirits clock speed . That reined - in performance helps Apple set the M3 Pro better in between the standard M3 and the richly - powered Max . And no doubt the few execution essence and low-down memory bandwidth make the product of the chip cheaper , which help meet it into a specific monetary value bracket .

13 14 inch MacBook Pro

The 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (left) is being replaced by the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, but the new model lacks a few features found in the M3 Pro and Max versions.

Lowering the bar

talk of Leontyne Price , allow ’s talk about the 14 - in MacBook Pro . Apple lowered the prefatorial price of its low pro laptop to $ 1,599 ; antecedently it started at $ 1,999 . As such , it break the difference between that and the sometime 13 - in MacBook Pro , which come in at $ 1,299 .

Apple ’s trying to thread the needle here , reject an previous product ( the 13 - inch MacBook Pro , which still lark about thekicked - to - the - American Stock Exchange Touch Bar ) and convincing customers to change to a more innovative example , even if it is at a high monetary value .

The 13 - inch M2 MacBook Pro ( left ) is being replaced by the 14 - in M3 MacBook Pro , but the newfangled model lack a few features found in the M3 Pro and Max versions .

Apple

But it ’s worth take down that there are a few key difference between the new 14 - inch MacBook Pro and the 13 - inch it replaces : for one , the previous entry - grade 14 - column inch model shipped with the more powerful M2 Pro , whereas this model uses the vanilla extract M3 . There ’s no doubt that the M3 is a open chip , and will be more than sufficient for those who bribe the 13 - inch MacBook Pro , but whether the damage - to - performance proportion is something that those customers will swallow is the literal question . The premature 14 - inch MacBook Pro ( and the young higher - end 14 - inch MacBook Pros ) also came with three Thunderbolt 4 ports ; the new base - example 14 - column inch has just two ports , and it use an erstwhile version of Thunderbolt which , among other limit , can drive just one external show .

True to the upshot ’s flighty theme , the groundwork - level 14 - column inch MacBook Pro is a Frankensteinian compounding : essentially an updated version of the 13 - in MacBook Pro toss off into the human body of the 14 - inch simulation , at a price smooch tap between the two .

Prime-time cut

One other significant matter to take aside from this event ? The issue itself . Apple selling is a finely tuned machine , and by this stage , we know exactly what to expect from the slickly give rise TV it ’s been reach since 2020 .

But that does n’t intend the company does n’t need to rest sharp . A primetime consequence the night before Halloween — with a seasonal paper and short running time — is a great opportunity to try out things that Apple would n’t normally do . More to the point , the stakes for an event focused on the Mac are comparatively low — there ’s a reasonableness , by comparison , that Apple did n’t change up its annual iPhone event — so if it does n’t pan out , it can just chalk it up to a failed experiment and move on .

Apple also tried something different behind the scenes this time around ; eagle - eyed viewers catch the note at the death of the event that it was fool away completely on the iPhone 15 Pro Max ( albeit withplenty of professional equipment ) . If nothing else , the troupe can crow about the prowess of its smartphones and channelize out that it does n’t just lecture the talk , but walks the paseo .