MacBook Pro M3 Pro vs M3 Max - will 150GB/s memory bandwidth effect anything?

[AppleUser29912]

I want to upgrade from an intel macbook pro and a lot of people pointed it out that MacBook Pro M3 Pro has 150GB/s memory bandwidth vs 400GB/s memory bandwidth on M3 Max.

Does it make a lot of differences in performance?

I am thinking of keeping this laptop for at least 10 years so I want to max out of the performance stuff. M3 Max is 600$ more than the M3 pro.

 

[ColdCase]

Its only money

 

[Adult80HD]

I want to upgrade from an intel macbook pro and a lot of people pointed it out that MacBook Pro M3 Pro has 150GB/s memory bandwidth vs 400GB/s memory bandwidth on M3 Max.

Does it make a lot of differences in performance?

I am thinking of keeping this laptop for at least 10 years so I want to max out of the performance stuff. M3 Max is 600$ more than the M3 pro.

If you want ten years then cough up the $600. That's $5/month over that ten years.

 

[OrenLindsey]

I will say this again:
Do NOT get the M3 Pro chip. It is barely any faster than the M2 Pro (only between 10-15%, probably less, from Apple's graphs). It has lower memory bandwidth, like you said. It has less performance cores, and less cores overall. It is the smallest year-over-year upgrade for any chip they have made this year.
Instead, buy a refurbished M2 Max (if you can use the refurbished store). It is faster than M3 Pro, and will certainly last you 10 years. It will also have higher memory bandwidth, and if you are going to get any upgrades, they will be a lot cheaper on the refurbished store. Or, buy an M2 Pro if you think it will be enough. And of course, you can get the M3 Max which will be amazing. Whatever you do though, do not get M3 Pro.

 

[GMShadow]

No one here has asked, so I will: What exactly are you doing with it?

 

[xraydoc]

I want to upgrade from an intel macbook pro and a lot of people pointed it out that MacBook Pro M3 Pro has 150GB/s memory bandwidth vs 400GB/s memory bandwidth on M3 Max.

Does it make a lot of differences in performance?

I am thinking of keeping this laptop for at least 10 years so I want to max out of the performance stuff. M3 Max is 600$ more than the M3 pro.

All depends on what you're doing with your machine. If you're managing huge databases or large simulation datasets, then the difference in memory bandwidth might very well make a difference. Do you make a living manipulating large Photoshop or Lightroom projects? Then as they say, time is money. Multitasking with Mail, Word, Safari, PDF editors, PowerPoint, Zoom and such? Then the increased memory bandwidth will almost certainly have little to no noticeable impact on overall performance.

If you're a general user, like my last example above, you'll get more bang for the buck by boosting the RAM and/or the storage space for the difference in price than you will by adding extra GPU cores and internal bandwidth.
If you're a scientific or other large dataset user, then you'll want both RAM and bandwidth, so the Max version would make more sense.

 

[darkelipse04]

I will say this again:
Do NOT get the M3 Pro chip. It is barely any faster than the M2 Pro (only between 10-15%, probably less, from Apple's graphs). It has lower memory bandwidth, like you said. It has less performance cores, and less cores overall. It is the smallest year-over-year upgrade for any chip they have made this year.
Instead, buy a refurbished M2 Max (if you can use the refurbished store). It is faster than M3 Pro, and will certainly last you 10 years. It will also have higher memory bandwidth, and if you are going to get any upgrades, they will be a lot cheaper on the refurbished store. Or, buy an M2 Pro if you think it will be enough. And of course, you can get the M3 Max which will be amazing. Whatever you do though, do not get M3 Pro.

Early geekbench results (if real) are showing the m3 pro is actually faster than the M2 Max….

 

[Adult80HD]

Early geekbench results (if real) are showing the m3 pro is actually faster than the M2 Max….

Yeah there's a lot of naysayers here making judgments based on no real data besides core counts or memory bandwidth. This is a totally new architecture; you can't conclude anything without real-world testing results. I suspect they will tell quite a different story. Also, "only 10-15% faster" is actually really a lot compared to what we had been getting from Intel for years.

 

[Beau10]

Early geekbench results (if real) are showing the m3 pro is actually faster than the M2 Max….

Where are you seeing this? I just checked and don't see any 11/12 proc M3 machines.

Apple's presentation slides claimed maximum compute is even between M3 Pro and M2 Pro (and consequently Max).

 

[Beau10]

Yeah there's a lot of naysayers here making judgments based on no real data besides core counts or memory bandwidth.

They're making that judgement based on Apple's marketing. The slides for both M2 Pro and M3 Pro said up to 20% faster than M1 Pro.

 

[splitpea]

Geekbench tests very specific workloads. I don’t know to what degree their tests are bus-bound vs purely cpu-bound.

 

[darkelipse04]

Where are you seeing this? I just checked and don't see any 11/12 proc M3 machines.

Apple's presentation slides claimed maximum compute is even between M3 Pro and M2 Pro (and consequently Max).

Reddit, take it with a grain of salt.

Link, multiple pictures.

 

[swamyg1]

Reddit, take it with a grain of salt.

Link, multiple pictures.

Thank you for posting this! I've been so anxious about my M3 Pro order and this post helps 😅

 

[Beau10]

Reddit, take it with a grain of salt.

Link, multiple pictures.

Interesting, thanks! But the Geekbench for M2 Pro is off, the majority of entries are in the 14k area. 12k is binned M2 / unbinned M1 Pro territory.

So unless that initial entry is unusually low, we're probably seeing at best a few percent improvement, not 15% or so.

EDIT:

 

[Beau10]

Thank you for posting this! I've been so anxious about my M3 Pro order and this post helps 😅

They accidentally included the binned version (ref post above). It's pretty much a wash on compute, at least if this is a real result and is not unusually low.

 

[tivoboy]

I want to upgrade from an intel macbook pro and a lot of people pointed it out that MacBook Pro M3 Pro has 150GB/s memory bandwidth vs 400GB/s memory bandwidth on M3 Max.

Does it make a lot of differences in performance?

I am thinking of keeping this laptop for at least 10 years so I want to max out of the performance stuff. M3 Max is 600$ more than the M3 pro.

Just ONE data point,,, but I don’t think that there is much chance you’ll be keeping this laptop for 10 years.. so take that into context if that is your calculation. LOTS of HW and device changes coming in the industry and technology in that period of time, where you will most likely be upgrade a primary device in the next 5-7 years latest.

 

[tivoboy]

IF one is looking at say a 16” M3 PRO, WHAT is the best option for a prior generation M2 PRO and current discount? I was going to go for a 16” M3 PRO 32GB 1TB, really like Space Black, but not willing to pay too much for it. but I can’t find a prior gen M2 PRO similar config for much less.

 

[OrenLindsey]

IF one is looking at say a 16” M3 PRO, WHAT is the best option for a prior generation M2 PRO and current discount? I was going to go for a 16” M PRO 32GB 1TB, really like Space Black, but not willing to pay too much for it. but I can’t find a prior gen M2 PRO similar config for much less.

Can you access the Apple refurbished store in your country? Just search "refurb" on apple.com and you will find it. They have the best deals, and their products are really well refurbished. Basically new.

 

[swamyg1]

They accidentally included the binned version (ref post above). It's pretty much a wash on compute, at least if this is a real result and is not unusually low.

I’m more concerned about the unbinned version so this is good news to me.

 

[darkelipse04]

Interesting, thanks! But the Geekbench for M2 Pro is off, the majority of entries are in the 14k area. 12k is binned M2 / unbinned M1 Pro territory.

So unless that initial entry is unusually low, we're probably seeing at best a few percent improvement, not 15% or so.

EDIT:

View attachment 2306374

Missed that comment that it’s the binned version. Well darn!

 

[tivoboy]

Can you access the Apple refurbished store in your country? Just search "refurb" on apple.com and you will find it. They have the best deals, and their products are really well refurbished. Basically new.

I can, and would, and have, but 32GB models, or up from base don’t often appear there.

what is MOST interesting is that the early 2023 PRO M2 16” models, 32GB, upgraded SSD seem to be selling for essentially the SAME price as a newly released LATE 2023 model with tiny bit more ram, fewer performance cores, and whatever else is new. So, it seems apple has somehow SIDE graded the current M3 PRO models, maintaining channel inventory pricing and releasing a “new product” I probably will just wait till next year.

Time to sell the stock- oh wait, I sold already at $195… time to get ready to BUY the stock once we get <$160

 

[AppleUser29912]

Just ONE data point,,, but I don’t think that there is much chance you’ll be keeping this laptop for 10 years.. so take that into context if that is your calculation. LOTS of HW and device changes coming in the industry and technology in that period of time, where you will most likely be upgrade a primary device in the next 5-7 years latest.

My current laptop is macbook pro 2014 model 😅 It is still working great but I can't upgrade the OS and also the battery now needs a replacement, and some apps take long time to load. So I thought maybe this year is the year to upgrade.

 

[Beau10]

I’m more concerned about the unbinned version so this is good news to me.

The poster in that thread was not comparing like to like. Don't see how this could be good news (unless one is trying to justify an M2 Pro purchase) as it confirms there is no meaningful improvement on compute.

The M3 Pro is a sh*t sandwich just about any way you look at it compared to the M2... no improvement on compute, a moderate increase on GPU, slight increase in memory at the cost of reduced bandwidth, same battery life. Yes it's a bit cheaper but the M2 Pros on clearance are more so.

I get that this result was almost certainly arrived at by trying to reduce transistor count to improve yields, but I'm still shocked something like battery life isn't significantly improved given the process shrink.

A bit sore that this mess forced my hand to swap to a Max, but at least there perf is better than expected so it seems like a somewhat good value?

 

[tivoboy]

My current laptop is macbook pro 2014 model 😅 It is still working great but I can't upgrade the OS and also the battery now needs a replacement, and some apps take long time to load. So I thought maybe this year is the year to upgrade.

Functioning, and vulnerable to dramatic shifts and changes in technology are different.

 

[Beau10]

I am thinking of keeping this laptop for at least 10 years so I want to max out of the performance stuff. M3 Max is 600$ more than the M3 pro.

Just to note, Apple support is only guaranteed for 7 years IIRC. Yes it will still work beyond, but you may be vulnerable due to lack of security updates.