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Benchmarks show new MacBooks are blazers
Almost as fast as high-end Mac Pro!
Leander Kahney
November 02, 2023
When Apple introduced the revamped Mac Pro in June earlier this year, it said the M2 Ultra chip that powered the pricey high-end computer was a beast.
“It is a monster of a chip,” said Apple’s Jennifer Munn, Director, Engineering Program Management, during its unveiling at WWDC23.
Munn described the M2 Ultra as the “most powerful chip ever created for a personal computer.”
Fast forward five months, and new benchmarks show that the Mac Pro (which starts at $7,000) is only a hair faster than one of Apple’s new M3 laptops.
Geekbench scores show that a new MacBook Pro with a M3 Max — the chip in the middle of the M3 pack — is almost as fast as the Mac Pro’s M2 Ultra.
Apple silicon is now advancing so quickly, the company is obsoleting its own ‘monster’ chips introduced only months before. There are caveats to this, of course, but it’s still mighty impressive.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Shipping times for Apple’s new M3 machines are already pushing into late November.
Woot! has a big blowout sale of about 50 Apple accessories, with as much as 90% off some items.
If you regularly have to pay the same monthly amount, here’s how to quickly set up repeat payments using Apple Cash.
We have a special discount on several SwitchEasy MagEasy accessories, including the hot Skin Silicone Magnetic Apple Watch band. Just enter the code cultofmac at checkout.
We hands-on review a curious laptop sleeve that will also wirelessly charge your iPhone, AirPods and other accessories.
Need something new to stream? These are the 15 best shows on Apple TV+.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
A message from Cult of Mac deals team
A message from Cult of Mac deals team
Tweetz o’ the day
Noticed this easter egg in the Apple event when he said “it’s wicked fast”
— 🅳🆈🅻🅰🅽 (@DylanMcD8)
4:10 AM • Nov 2, 2023
Are they (cat eyes like?) Apple Car headlights and is this an Apple Car in the Apple Park flyover during the event? Apple did show the 2nd gen AirPods with “Hey Siri” in a keynote long before they were launched.
— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser)
11:24 AM • Nov 2, 2023
One more thing ...
It’s easy to throw stones at Microsoft. They’ve clearly fallen from their dominance. They’ve become mostly irrelevant. And yet I appreciate what they did and how hard it was. They were very good at the business side of things. They were never as ambitious product-wise as they should have been. Bill likes to portray himself as a man of the product, but he’s really not. He’s a businessperson. Winning business was more important than making great products. He ended up the wealthiest guy around, and if that was his goal, then he achieved it. But it’s never been my goal, and I wonder, in the end, if it was his goal. I admire him for the company he built—it’s impressive—and I enjoyed working with him. He’s bright and actually has a good sense of humor. But Microsoft never had the humanities and liberal arts in its DNA. Even when they saw the Mac, they couldn’t copy it well. They totally didn’t get it.
Today’s poll
Do you find Apple silicon advances exciting or depressing? |
Results from yesterday’s poll: Should I upgrade my 24-inch M1 iMac to the new M3 model?
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