Apple testing new MacBook Pro with M3 Max chip, says report

Apple's M3 chip is said to deliver both performance and efficiency boosts.

Next-generation Apple MacBook Pro to feature either the M3 Pro or M3 Max chip (Image credit: Apple)

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Apple is internally testing as many as six different Macs, all based on the M3 chips, which will be announced in phases over the next two years. A Bloomberg report on Sunday revealed that Apple is working on a chip with up to 40 GPU cores for a new high-end MacBook Pro.

The upcoming M3-based MacBook Pro (Mac 15,7, Mac 15,8, J514 and J516) is also said to be available in two sizes — 14-inch and 16-inch, featuring either the M3 Pro with 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU or the M3 Max with 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU.

NEW: Apple is now testing the M3 Max chip destined for next year’s MacBook Pros. The company is planning a 16 core CPU (12 high-performance + 4 efficiency cores) and a 40 core GPU for its maxed-out laptops. https://t.co/3XsWHTGnnz

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 7, 2023

Similarly, Apple reported to be working on M3 MacBook Air in both 13-inch (Mac 15,1 and J513/J613) and 15-inch (Mac 15,2 and J515/J615) form factors, featuring the same M3 chip. While the number of cores remains unchanged on the baseline M3 when compared to the M2, the new chip is expected to offer a hybrid CPU cluster, consisting of four efficient and four high-performance cores with a slightly higher clock speed.

It is also said that Apple iMac mini might get a significant boost in performance, where, unlike an M2 iMac mini with just 8 GB of RAM on the base mode, the upcoming M3 iMac mini will offer 24 GB of RAM, paired with an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. Apple is also evaluating an all-in-one iMac (Mac 15,4, Mac 15,5, J433 and J434) and a 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mac 15,3 and J504) with the same M3 chip.

The upcoming M3 processors are said to be fabbed by TSMC N3 node, which is said to improve power efficiency, hence, despite the higher clock speeds, the new M3 processors are said to be more efficient than the 5nm M2 processors.