M3 MacBook Pro vs M1: Worth upgrading?

The new M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max Apple Silicon power the latest MacBook Pro laptops. Along with more powerful and efficient CPUs and GPUs, these MacBook Pros enable up to 128GB of memory, have brighter screens, improved battery life, and a new space black finish. Join along for a detailed comparison of what’s different and new with the M3 MacBook Pro vs M1 MacBook Pro lineup and some help answering the question, is it worth upgrading?

We’ll focus below on M3 MacBook Pro laptops vs M1 MacBook Pro machines but we’ve got a M3 vs M2 guide too:

• M3 MacBook Pro vs M2: What’s different?

M3 MacBook Pro vs M1 MacBook Pro laptops

CPU, GPU, memory, neural engine

The M3 Apple Silicon chips feature configurations with 8 to 16-core CPUs, 10 to 40-core GPUs, and 8 to 128GB of unified memory.

Here’s the breakdown of the M3 specs vs the M1 Pro and M1 Max:

Apple says the M3 chip efficiency cores are up to 30% faster than the M2 family, and up to 50% faster than the M1 family.

For performance cores, the M3 family is 15 and 30% faster than M2 and M1, respectively.

And Apple says rendering on M3 is up to 1.8x faster than M2 and up to 2.5x faster than M1.

Apple also says the M3 chips represent the “Largest leap forward in graphics architecture” with Dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading.

Display

The M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro laptops featured the same display as the 2021 M1 Pro/Max models with the Liquid Retina XDR Display, ProMotion with up to 120Hz refresh rates, an increased resolution/pixel per inch density, and slimmed down bezels.

Now the M3 MacBook Pro models feature one main improvement – a 20% brighter screen that displays SDR content at up to 600 nits. Apple highlights that matches the Studio Display for consistent brightness.

Same as the M1 and M2 models, the latest MacBook Pros come with a notch at the top center of the display for the 1080p FaceTime camera.

Face ID has still not arrived with the M3 MacBook Pro laptops.

M3 MacBook Pro I/O

The M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pro laptops feature the same ports and same layout as the M1 and M2 Pro and Max MacBook Pro.

That includes an HDMI port, SDXC card reader, and MagSafe. There are also 3 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C 4 ports.

However, the M3 MacBook Pro comes with one less Thunderbolt 4 port – the one on the right side has been removed.

But like M2 Pro and M2 Max, M3 Pro and M3 Max take external display support further than the M1 with an upgrade from the HDMI 2.0 to 2.1 port that supports up to 8K output at 60Hz. That also allows for multichannel audio output.

Two more upgrades include WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Colors, size, and weight

Physical dimensions are the same between the M3, M2, and M1 MacBook Pro laptops. But now this time around for the M3 Pro and Max models is a new space black color available alongside silver.

Leaving the new color for the high-end, the M3 MacBook Pro is only available in space gray and Silver.

Here’s the full breakdown of colors, size, and weight:

Battery life

• The new 16-inch M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pro laptops offer 22 hours of video playback on a single charge (up from 21 hours with M1 Pro/Max)
• The new 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro offers 22 hours of video playback on a single charge (up from 17 hours with the M1 Pro or Max MacBook Pro)
• The new 14-inch M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pro offer 18 hours of video playback on a single charge (up from 17 hours with the M1 Pro or Max MacBook Pro)
• The new MacBook Pro models continue to feature fast charging – up to 50% charge in 30 minutes (with 96 W brick for 14-inch and 140W for 16-inch)

Here are more details on the battery life of the new MacBook Pro laptops:

Price

The base configurations are cheaper with the M3 option this time around and near the same for many of the M3 Pro/Max vs M1 Pro Max builds.

But custom builds are more expensive with up to 128GB memory and upgraded chips. The M3 MacBook Pro machines can be maxed out at up to $7,199 – $1,100 above the M1 MacBook Pro top-end.

M3 MacBook Pro vs M1 conclusion

Reasons to buy

If you’re a pro (or aspiring pro) who needs the latest and greatest from Apple, the upgrade could be worth it. And the M3 MacBook Pro laptops will be very impressive for those who are coming from an Intel MacBook.

Reasons to pass

But for those who already have an M1 (or M2) Pro/Max MacBook Pro and/or don’t have workflows that require the absolute best performance, it’s likely the best fit to keep what you have.

Deciding on specs

For those unsure about which M3 MacBook Pro specs to pick, you can get the same 11, 12, 14, or 16-core processor with the M3 Pro and M3 Max in both the 14 and 16-inch models. The main difference in cost is the upgraded GPU power including the more capable media engine and increased external display support with the M3 Max chip.

When it comes to unified memory, if you have medium to heavy workflows and/or plan to keep your new MacBook Pro for several years (or more), going with 36GB or more will likely be worth the upgrade.

You can find the new MacBook Pro at Apple, Amazon, and other retailers soon.

Thanks for reading our M3 MacBook Pro vs M1 MacBook Pro comparison!