Nov 01, 2023 14:00:00

Apple's 3nm chip 'M3 Pro' has 25% lower memory bandwidth than the previous generation model

Apple's proprietary chips

``M3,'' ``M3 Pro,'' and ``M3 Max'' and iMac and MacBook Pro equipped with each chip were announced on October 31, 2023. Apple touts the M3 series as ``the most advanced Apple silicon ever,'' but the published spec sheet shows that the M3 Pro's memory bandwidth is lower than the previous generation model. It turns out that.

Apple M3 Pro Chip Has 25% Less Memory Bandwidth Than M1/M2 Pro - MacRumors
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/10/31/apple-m3-pro-less-memory-bandwidth/

The detailed specifications of the M3 series listed on the MacBook Pro specifications page are below. The M3 Pro is available in two models: ``11 CPU cores and 14 GPU cores'' and ``12 CPU cores and 18 GPU cores'', but both models have a memory bandwidth of 150GB/s.

Below are the results of displaying

a comparison table of ``14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro,'' ``14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro,'' and ``14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro'' on the Mac model comparison page. M3 Pro has a memory bandwidth of 150GB/s, while M1 Pro and M2 Pro have a memory bandwidth of 200GB/s. In other words, M3 Pro has 25% lower memory bandwidth compared to M1 Pro and M2 Pro.

Focusing on the number of CPU and GPU cores, both the M3 Pro and M2 Pro have a maximum of 12 CPU cores, but the number of GPU cores has decreased from the maximum 19 cores of the M2 Pro to the maximum 18 cores of the M3 Pro. You can see that Also, looking at the breakdown of high-performance cores and high-efficiency cores among the 12 CPU cores, the M2 Pro had 8 high-performance cores + 4 high-efficiency cores, while the M3 Pro had 6 high-performance cores. You can also see that it has changed to 6 high-efficiency cores.

At the time of article creation, detailed benchmark results for MacBook Pro equipped with M3 Pro have not been published, so it is unclear how changes in memory bandwidth and number of GPU cores affect performance.

The MacBook Pro equipped with M3 Pro is scheduled to be released on November 7, 2023. You can also check the details of MacBook Pro equipped with the M3 series in the article below.

Apple announces new 'MacBook Pro' equipped with M3 series - GIGAZINE