Today, Apple dropped the M3 Silicon lineup that brings impressive power to the MacBook Pro and iMac 24″. It’s interesting to me that Apple is clearly competing with itself. If you haven’t seen the presentation, I embedded it below.
I’m not going to bore you with all the juicy specs. You can find them HERE, and the presentation does a good job with the impressive stuff.
One of the first things I noticed while watching the fast-paced prerecorded event was how Apple was comparing the benchmarks to the M1 series. I personally have the M1 Max MacBook Pro, and it’s a wonderful computer that has enough power for my video editing needs. I also added a Studio Display, making it my portable and main driver. This is something I wouldn’t have been able to do prior to the M1.
This article isn’t about specs but more so my impressions on what Apple has done with this release and, furthermore, the M series Macs. As I said, I have an M1 Max MBP, and it’s great for all the reasons we love a portable laptop. It runs forever and doesn’t burn my legs when using it. Ah, the simple things. Let’s not forget it’s powerful with Thunderbolt 4 external options for drives, and monitoring is great.
Something Missing?
Noticeably missing is the iMac Pro, iMac 27″ with M3 Max, and a Mac Pro M3. Earlier this year, a 31″ iMac was rumored. While we saw a Mac Pro in a group pic, it wasn’t included in this release cycle. I say cycle because they are coming. The only question is how much power you need and whether you are willing to pay for it. As is, if you are editing video, these beast computers are not going to make life that much better, but super users who do a lot of CGI and compositing will always want the best. Hey, who likes rendering?
Shot on iPhone
It seems we all hang around after the end to see some extras, and Apple did deliver a whopper. The whole event was shot on iPhone 15 Max.
That is one big flex! But hey, with a lighting director and film crew, an iPhone can look good, right? Apple already has marketed the iPhone 15 Pro as a “pro” camera in the video for pop star Olivia Rodrigo. Again. Add the production value of a large commercial, and you will get good results, or just use great lighting.
It looks like the new Blackmagic Camera app was used as well.
I got away with a lot during the pandemic shooting my wife live anchoring from home with an iPhone and Dejero setup. It’s all about the lighting. I made changes to the setup every night—those were some crazy times.
I do have to admit the 15 Pro camera is impressive, but we all know they didn’t just use the retail setup to capture the presentation. Great marketing! And kudos to the crew. 😀
Edited on?
Also interesting is how the statement also included “Edited on a Mac,” but not specifically Final Cut Pro. Ouch! I’m a Premiere Pro user, and that even stung me.
All in all, the new releases are very impressive. Did you notice no Touch Bar on the MBP?
I think if you are still using an Intel-based Mac, it’s time to move over because yes. The weather over here is pretty darn good, but that thing I mentioned about cost? A fully loaded 8TB storage, 128GB unified memory 16″ M3 Max MacBook Pro cost $7,199.00.
I’m a happy Apple Mac user, and the new M3 Silicon is impressive. For us long-time Mac users, it’s nice to feel like you don’t actually need to upgrade yet. Well, unless you are rocking an Intel Mac. Oh, come on, just upgrade already! Maybe get the Space Black one…
