MacBook Pro M3 (14 & 16): You're Being Misled

Apple's M3 processors are amazing a true Marvel of engineering they're faster and they're slightly more efficient but what Apple has done in how they've packaged and priced these processes in these new Macbook Pros is pure corporate greed at the expense of hurting a lot of their core users for some people one of these new Macbook Pros with M3 is a good buy and a decent step forward but for many others these new laptops will actually be worse than buying an older MacBook Pro with M2 or even M1 firstly in many of these new M3 MacBook Pros Apple has substantially reduced memory bandwidth performance of a laptop is a result of several factors it doesn't matter how fast a processor runs or how many GPU cores you have if access to memory is the limiting factor this will definitely affect creators in a big way when you edit a photo or video that is compressed which is what you do all the time it has to be decoded manipulated and then re-encoded these tasks are built into Apple's media engine so that they run fast but if you don't have enough memory to store the data that is needed or you don't have fast enough access to that data your computer will be slowed and it is this later one also known as memory bandwidth that is the issue here let me show you a real world example of this using a very common Creator task rendering a video my older MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro chip beat out my new Macbook Pro with the M3 Pro chip that's because my older M2 model has 200 GB of memory bandwidth whereas my new one has less 150 and that is why PC laptops come with faster ddr6 memory for their Graphics accelerated tasks instead of the slower ddr5 memory which is what is used for general purposes look this is the number one point of misinformation that I see from YouTubers who have no fundamental understanding of Technology many of them will look at performance differences between Mac laptops and interpret them incorrectly either they will not be able to explain why one supposedly faster Mac doesn't actually perform better or what's worse still they will tell you that the reason is due to something else like not having enough memory which results in you spending money on something that isn't actually going to speed up the task you're doing but what happens if you aren't a Creator or just don't care about these kinds of tasks you're just interested in raw processor performance on the surface Apple's M3 cores are a decent amount faster than their older ones but Apple has changed the mix of cores in the M3 Pro range for example the 12 core Pro used to have eight performance cores and four efficient ones the new M3 Pro which also has 12 cores now has two performance CES less and instead has two additional efficiency cores this means that if you want the best possible CP performance you're now forced to upgrade to an M3 Max processor this just wasn't the case with the older M2 MacBook Pro range you could buy an M2 Pro with 12 cores and relax knowing you had the best possible CPU performance yet didn't have to upgrade to a more expensive Max chip which may have Tech that you just don't need such as a 40 core GPU and rate tracing but Apple will certainly charge you for this extra Tech most people that I know who buy a MacBook Pro are creators doing 2D tasks like photo or video editing or they're programmers who require CPU performance or they're just people looking for an all round good laptop none of these use cases will see any benefit from a 40 core GPU and Ray tracing that tech only benefits people doing high-end 3D rendering or playing AAA games on their Mac yet apple is bundling this Tech in to make you feel like you're getting something extra for the money you're spending look I get that apple is trying to make a push to gaming but they shouldn't be forcing people to pay for something extra that they just don't need or want especially if it's the only way to get something that they do need like higher memory bandwidth or better multi-core performance Apple should have released a separate MacBook Pro called the gaming Edition which includes all these GPU cores and other 3D rendering Tech or just made these Graphics cores an independent upgrade in the Windows laptop space this is the equivalent of saying to get a fast processor you must buy the highest end dedicated Graphics which massively increases the price and here's what makes me hate what Apple's doing even more because there are such incremental improvements between each model and the upgrades you have this endless feeling of missing out say you want to buy an entry-level MacBook Pro with M3 for $1,600 well it only has 8 gigs of memory so you really want to upgrade it to 16 but now you may as well spend the extra money to get the M3 Pro equipped MacBook as that model comes with 18 gig of memory an extra performance core a second fan to keep it cool it's more than one external Monitor and an extra Thunderbolt Port but now you're missing out on memory bandwidth as this year's M3 Pros as I said have less as well as the crazy CPU performance available in these M3 Max processors so you kind of want to upgrade again to a Max chip but to get the full benefit out of this chip you need to get it in a 16in version if you're spending all this money you Max will spend a little more to upgrade to the highest end Max chip as that's the one with a full memory bandwidth all of a sudden you're spending $44,000 this just wasn't the case with the M2 MacBook Pros the difference between the models wasn't as incremental most people who bought a base model could just relax knowing that they weren't missing out next I don't have to tell most of you this but Apple releasing a Pro laptop in 2023 which cost $1,600 with 8 gigs of memory is pure arrogance and simply misleading to Consumers who just don't know better look there will be people out there who say ooh it's unified memory and Apple is so efficient you don't need more than 8 gigs guys I have two degrees in computer science with 20 years professional experience working in Tech that is crap unified memory does not give you more memory than a comparable Windows laptop memory is memory and it's how much data and application uses and what applications you run that determines how much you need in fact it may actually give you less to work with because now some of this memory will be used by Graphics the only major thing it does is give your your processor access to faster memory as unified memory is closer to the speed of ddr6 memory versus ddr5 that Intel and AMD processes currently use but that doesn't help as much if memory bandwidth is being reduced anyway moral of the story yes you can run Pro applications for simple projects with 8 gigs of memory but you really should not be buying a new laptop in 2023 for such a price with an obvious limitation Apple are misleading their non-ex Savvy buyers by calling this a pro laptop knowing that these buyers will be back at Apple to purchase another laptop sooner than later and for the users who do know better charging you $200 for an upgrade that should cost 20 is an outright disgrace and by the way I do have a video on how much memory you need which I'll link down below and yes I am totally aware that the M3 MacBook Pro 14 with 8 gigs of memory is really just a replacement to the olda MacBook Pro 13 and it's better than that laptop for a similar price but folks come on that Macbook Pro 13 was ancient it's like arguing that you should buy a horse because it's faster than walking when you should obviously buy a car this doesn't excuse Apple from what they're doing here next in certain lighting conditions this new space black color looks a little dark brown in other conditions dark gray regardless the color just doesn't look all that good but yes it is significantly more fingerprint resistant when compared to the dark midnight colored MacBook Air and by the way the cable is space black but the charger is still white which kind of ruins the over aesthetic moral of the story just buy the silver model also it's been 2 years since these chassis were released the oversiz notch is still there many Mac applications run in the menu bar that's how you access them having more screen real estate here would definitely help as otherwise applications just disappear if you run out now I have said a lot of negatives but there are definitely some good models to buy for certain people if you're just looking for a good all round laptop or are wanting solid performance and you aren't doing creative workloads say you're a programmer I do like the M3 Pro configuration of the MacBook Pro 14 and 16 a lot the change in the mix of cores will actually benefit you as the improved per core performance of M3 makes application snappier and somewhat makes up the difference of having less performance cores this results in the M3 Pro Models having significantly better battery life for high performance tasks and moderately better battery life for light tasks you also get less fan noise when the laptop is under load and a cooler filling laptop plus you now get 8 gigs of memory compared to the 16 you got before all for the same price in the 512 gig of storage model and for $100 Less in the one terabytes of storage model for creators who are doing 3D rendering these new laptops are great but for most of you who are doing just 2D work unfortunately you've been punched in the gut by Apple with their nuke to memory bandwidth even if you can spend the huge amounts of money required to get the highest end M3 Max processor it is not necessarily a good upgrade its pros are that it is significantly faster in multi-core performance and slightly faster in single core it now comes with a fantastic 48 gigs of memory and it is the only one that hasn't had its memory bandwidth nerfed but there are a lot of common creative tasks that as I said just don't use any of this additional Hardware either they are heavily using the media encoding engine or in some cases they're just single core based so you just don't see that much performance benefit in the real world going from an M2 processor to an M3 plus the huge increase in CPU multicore performance of the M3 Max chips comes with a cost it is not solely due to the improved 3 nanometer process or the design improvements most of it is by cramming more performance cores into the laptop this results in the M3 Max having much louder fan noise underload than the M2 Max and it also has shorter battery life when running performance tasks but a minor plus of the louder fan noise is that the laptop does feel a couple of degrees cooler when underload another thing to be aware of is that there seems to be some price creep going on my MacBook Pro 16 with the highest end M3 Max chip 48 gigs of memory and 1 tabt of storage cost $4,000 my older MacBook Pro 16 with the highest end M2 Max chip cost $3,900 $100 less although that laptop only came with 32 gig of memory but I did get it with 2 tby of storage so overall for creators doing 2D work unless you're buying the highest end M3 Max chip which as I said has some downsides you're probably better off buying one of the older M2 MacBook Pros hopefully on a sale make sure to check out the links we have below the video which have the best sales prices that we can find and yes we regularly update them and finally Gamers Apple's apparent New Market if you're looking for the best MacBook to Game On buy a PC laptop instead sorry but you just don't need to be one of Apple's early adopters here and those people will watch this video and still buy a Mac anyway a couple of last notes about some configur ation you may be considering if you are considering one of the entry-level MacBook Pro 14s with M3 and upgrading it to 16 G memory please keep the following in mind it's normally easier to find discounts on a base model MacBook than on a custom configuration so you may find the price difference between these two options is minimal to non-existent compared to the M3 config the M3 Pro as I already said earlier in the video has many additional benefits and I would suggest just getting that one if you're considering the MacBook Pro 14in upgraded to an M3 Max chip please don't you aren't going to get the full benefits of that processor as the 14-in model it just can't effectively call it it's the only laptop that we tested that can't sustain its performance over time and has to be throttled it kind of behaves like an Intel processor it also gets loud and feels hot but one thing I did notice while testing the 14-in MacBook with the M3 Max chip is that there are massive diminishing marginal returns of feeding these M3 Max processors more than say around 40 wat of power as you can see my 10-minute torture test the M3 Max's power in my 14-in MacBook drops by 34% but only results in an 8% drop in CPU performance it left me wondering what would happen if Apple camped the MacBook Pro 16 CPU the one with the M3 Max chip at 40 WS of power we'd probably get a lot less fan noise and better battery life for a marginal drop in performance and that would have been very nice well let's wrap this M3 launch is an absolute confusing mess that stinks of corpor greed you'll see YouTubers wetting their pants over incredible benchmark scores but for most people where it really matters in real world use these M3 MacBook Pros don't bring all that much to the table for some people yes they do deliver more but for many people they deliver the same or less the only models that I feel are a true upgrade are the MacBook Pro 14 or 16 with an M3 Pro chip and even then that's only for those whose tasks aren't dependent on memory bandwidth and if that is you unfortunately you'll have to to upgrade all the way to the highest end M3 Max MacBook Pro 16 but at that point there are some real benefits to not bothering at all and just looking for an older M2 MacBook Pro on sale and as always try to avoid wasting money on Apple's overpriced upgrades you probably don't need them if you like this video you know what to do smash the like button get subscribed and tell your friends about this channel it will help us grow and that means that we can create more content for you plus as I always say it makes my dearest mother very proud till next time go do something awesome with your day and I will catch you later

Channel: Just Josh

Views: 587,232

Keywords: MacBook Pro M3, MacBook Pro M3 Review, MacBook Review, MacBook Pro M13 14, MacBook Pro M3 Pro, MacBook Pro M3 Max, MacBook Pro 14 M3 Pro, MacBook Pro 14 M4 Max, Macbook Pro 16 M3 Pro, MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max, M3 vs M3, MacBook Pro M2 vs M3, Best Apple Laptop, Best Laptop for Students, Best Laptop, Best Laptop for Programers, Best Laptop for Coders, Best Laptop for Data Science, Best Laptop for Machine Learning, Best Laptop 2024, Best Laptop 2023, Black Friday Sales, Deals

Id: Fv78mPxRp9A

Length: 13min 34sec (814 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 19 2023