The Apple M3 is a series of ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple, part of the Apple silicon series, as a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) for its Mac desktops and notebooks and the iPad Air tablets. Released in late 2023, it is the third generation of ARM architecture intended for Apple's Mac computers after switching from Intel Core to Apple silicon, succeeding the Apple M2. The M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max were introduced on October 30, 2023, and were followed by a workstation ship, the M3 Ultra, in March 2025.

Release Apple announced the M3 chip family on October 30, 2023, at its Halloween-themed Scary Fast online event, along with models of the iMac and the MacBook Pro using the M3 chips. The M3 Macbook Pro introduced a new “Space Black” finish, the first new color for the Pro line since 2015.

Design

The M3 series is Apple's first 3 nm design for desktops and notebooks. It is manufactured by TSMC.

CPU

M3: 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores M3 Pro: 11- or 12-core CPU with 5 or 6 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores M3 Max: 14- or 16-core CPU with 10 or 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores M3 Ultra: 28- or 32-core CPU with 20 or 24 performance core and 8 efficiency cores

GPU The redesigned GPU includes features like Dynamic Caching, Mesh Shading, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

The Dynamic Caching technology allocates local memory in real time. Unlike conventional approaches, Dynamic Caching ensures that only the precise amount of memory required for a task is used, thereby optimizing memory usage and potentially enhancing performance and efficiency. This is particularly beneficial for graphics-intensive tasks, where dynamic memory allocation can be critical.

Supported codecs on the M3 include 8K H.264, 8K H.265 (8/10bit, up to 4:4:4), 8K Apple ProRes, VP9, JPEG and AV1 decoding.

NPU The M3 contains dedicated neural network hardware in a 16-core Neural Engine capable of executing over 18 trillion operations per second, which is faster than the A16 Bionic's 17 trillion operations per second NPU seen in the iPhone 14 Pro series.

AI Apple specifically targeted AI development and workloads, both with the Neural Engine and with the increased maximum memory (128 GiB) of the M3 Max, allowing AI models with high numbers of parameters. Apple claims a 15% performance improvement for AI workloads on the M3 (compared to the previous generation M2).

Memory

The M3's Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) is similar to the M2 generation; M3 SoCs use 6,400 MT/s LPDDR5 SDRAM. As with prior M series SoCs, this serves as both RAM and video RAM. The M3 has 8 memory controllers, the M3 Pro has 12 and the M3 Max has 32. Each controller is 16-bits wide and is capable of accessing up to 4 GiB of memory.

The M3 Pro and 14-core M3 Max have lower memory bandwidth than the M1/M2 Pro and M1/M2 Max respectively. The M3 Pro has a 192-bit memory bus where the M1 and M2 Pro had a 256-bit bus, resulting in only 150 GB/sec bandwidth versus 200 GB/sec for its predecessors. The 14-core M3 Max only enables 24 out of the 32 controllers, therefore it has 300 GB/sec vs. the 400 GB/sec for all models of the M1 and M2 Max, while the 16-core M3 Max has the same 400 GB/sec as the prior M1 and M2 Max models.

Other features Other components include an image signal processor (ISP), a NVM Express storage controller, a Secure Enclave, and a USB4 controller that includes Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 support.

Products that use the Apple M3 series M3 MacBook Pro (14-inch, Nov 2023) – 10-core GPU MacBook Air (13-inch and 15-inch, Mar 2024) – 8 and 10-core GPU iMac (24-inch, 2023) – 10-core GPU iPad Air (7th generation, 2025) – 9 core GPU

M3 Pro

MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch, Nov 2023) – 14- and 18-core GPU

M3 Max

MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch, Nov 2023) – 30- and 40-core GPU

M3 Ultra

Mac Studio (2025) – 60- and 80-core GPU

Variants The table below shows the various SoCs.

Variant CPU GPU NPU LPDDR5-6400 memory Transistorcount TDP(W) Used in P-cores E-cores Cores EU ALU Cores Performance Controllers Bandwidth Max capacity A17 Pro 2 4 6 96 768 16 35 TOPS 4 51.2 GB/s 8 GB 19 billion 8 iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max 5 80 640 iPad Mini (A17 Pro) M3 4 8 128 1024 18 TOPS 8 102.4 GB/s 24 GB 25 billion 20 MacBook Air M3 9 144 1152 iPad Air M3 10 160 1280 MacBook Air M3 / MacBook Pro M3 M3 Pro 5 6 14 224 1792 12 153.6 GB/s 36 GB 37 billion 27 MacBook Pro M3 Pro / M3 Max 6 18 288 2304 M3 Max 10 4 30 480 3840 24 307.2 GB/s 96 GB 92 billion 78 12 40 640 5120 32 409.6 GB/s 128 GB M3 Ultra 20 8 60 960 7680 32 36 TOPS 64 819.3 GB/s 256 GB 184 billion 140 Mac Studio M3 Ultra 24 80 1280 10240 512 GB

See also Apple silicon GoFetch – security vulnerability within the Apple M3 first disclosed in 2024

References