Apple launched 14-inch and 16-inch variants of MacBook Pros promoting its recently launched M3 chips. It doesn’t bring many new updates and doesn’t make much sense if you already have an M2 series chip. However, if you’re one of those holding out on the Intel or M1 MacBook Pro, now might be the time to make a switch.
Probably one of the most interesting things about this release (at least for me) is the new Space Black color variant. After years of only purchasing Space Gray and Silver, we needed this. Unfortunately, that’s only for the 14-inch version with the Pro and Max chips, so I didn’t get to experience that and my heart is broken.
The configuration they sent me housed the M3 chip, along with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage (in gray) for $1,999, which seems like the sweet spot since the $1,599 model with 8GB and a 512GB SSD seems a little underpowered, especially if you plan on taking advantage of the gaming performance of the M3 chips.
MacBook Pro M3 structure and ports
You get a cooler build if you opt for the Pro or Max chips
Another thing I missed because they sent me the machine with the M3 chip was an additional Thunderbolt port. I only have two Thunderbolt ports, unlike the 14-inch models with the M3 Pro and M3 Max, which house three Thunderbolt ports. My machine also features a 3.5mm headphone jack, a MagSafe 3 port, an HDMI port, and an SDXC card slot.
Like the 2021 M1 MacBook Pro and 2023 M2 model, Apple has decided not to include a USB-A port, which is a serious omission when you insist that your machine is ideal as a gaming platform. Sure, you can plug in a USB-C hub to connect your other peripherals, but that takes extra effort.
I understand the idea of giving M3 users one less Thunderbolt port than the M3 Pro and M3 Max. It didn’t give me any FOMO either; The two available ports covered all my USB-4 needs.
Watching how modern laptops began to have very few ports (especially omitting the HDMI output) to keep their form factor as slim as possible, I was quite pleased with the generosity of the MacBook Pro M3’s port layout.
MacBook Pro M3 design
There’s nothing new here since the launch of the M2.
You get the same Liquid Retina XDR display that you had on older models of this laptop. It reaches a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a brightness of 1000 nits. Some consumers (like me) have been waiting patiently for Apple to make OLED displays, but here we are. If you’re happy with the Retina display, you’ll enjoy your content as much as ever. But that gives you one less reason to upgrade to this series.
Similarly, expect the same keyboard you’ve been getting for a few years, including full-size function keys and a Touch ID button. The keyboard does not bring any new surprises, so you can expect the good and pleasant MacBook typing experience that we are all fans of. The touchpad is as responsive and fluid as before, with an impeccable multi-touch operation that never stutters.
MacBook Pro M3 performance
As smooth as ever.
The 14-inch variant with the M3 chip features an 8-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core neural engine. This is intended to (and is sufficient to) handle your daily computing needs. I was with this machine last week and used it for everything during those days. I think it’s redundant to say that my workflow was as smooth as ever because what else can you expect from a MacBook Pro?
But then again, you would have pretty much the same experience even if you were on the M2 version or even the M1. When Apple tempts us with performance improvements, it doesn’t take into account that those statistics might not translate into an actual significant improvement in terms of user experience for the average consumer. If you don’t game or do creative work, the MacBook Pro M3 is a great everyday laptop.
As for benchmarks, we see fairly modest gains, with the MacBook Pro M3 scoring a single-core Geekbench CPU score of 3,129 compared to 1,965 on the MacBook Pro M2. Similarly, this MacBook’s Cinebench 3311 GPU score compared to 1260 on the M1 is a considerable increase, especially if you plan to do some light video or photo editing.
If you’re into gaming, the Macbook Pro M3 offers modest gaming performance, with games like Lies of P and Resident Evil Village running reasonably well at medium settings. As nice as it is, you are limited in the type of games you can play, as many AAA game titles are not available on Mac.
MacBook Pro M3 battery, speakers and camera
The speakers and battery are considerably better and the camera is the same as before.
The M3 MacBook Pro features the same six-speaker sound system as its M2 predecessor. You get two tweeters for a clear soundstage and four force-cancelling woofers. And if you consume Dolby Atmos-compatible content, you can also enjoy spatial audio. I YouTubed for hours on this machine, watching everything from vlogs, sports, TED talks, and songs.
I was quite impressed with the powerful bass and wide soundstage. I wasn’t expecting that push in the bass that I would normally expect from a dedicated speaker. Whether it was a song or a narrative, everything had depth. Dialogue on the M2 MacBook Pro sounded a little “tinny,” but Apple took that complaint seriously. Even the dialogue on this machine was layered and featured an excellent sound image.
You get the same 1080p camera as you did on the M2 and M1 versions, and it’s pretty good. The colors are rich, sufficiently saturated, and vibrant. The results are not as blurry as they usually are on laptop webcams. The lens is precise enough to exactly capture the texture of your skin.
Furthermore, despite negative reactions in various online forums, Apple decided to keep the notch it introduced in 2021 on the 2023 MacBook Pro M3. Consumers have long complained about how it takes away from the sleek design or how the computer laptop looks like an enlarged iPhone. It’s not a deal breaker anyway and if it bothers you, having a dark wallpaper helps.
Macs being incredible in terms of battery life is nothing new. We all know that Windows laptops don’t even come close. The company promised a whopping 22 hours on the machine and they weren’t exaggerating. I noticed an approximate 10% drop every two hours during my use. The drop would vary slightly depending on the type of activity you did. That’s equivalent to more than 20 hours of use. This is a pretty good upgrade, considering that the MacBook Pro M2 Pro lasted 16 hours and 40 minutes.
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