Apple M3

Apple M3 is a series of ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., 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.

Apple M3 Series

General information
Launched	October 30, 2023; 18 months ago (2023-10-30)
Discontinued	M3 Pro and Max: October 30, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-10-30)
Marketed by	Apple Inc.
Designed by	Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer	TSMC
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate	4.05 GHz (performance cores)[1] 2.75 GHz (efficiency cores)
Cache
L1 cache	Performance cores 192+128 KiB per core Efficiency cores 128+64 KiB per core
L2 cache	Performance cores M3 and M3 Pro: 16 MiB M3 Max: 32 MiB M3 Ultra: 64 MiB Efficiency cores M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M3 Ultra: 4 MiB
Architecture and classification
Application	Desktop (iMac, Mac Studio), notebook (MacBook Air, MacBook Pro) and tablet (iPad Air)
Technology node	3 nm (N3B)
Instruction set	ARMv8.6-A[2]
Physical specifications
Transistors	25–184 billion
Cores	8–32 (4–24 high-performance and 4–8 high-efficiency)
Memory (RAM)	LPDDR5-6400 memory (8–512 GB)
GPU	Apple-designed integrated graphics (8–80 core)
Co-processor	NPU: 18 TOPS
Products, models, variants
Variant	Apple A16
History
Predecessor	Apple M2
Successor	Apple M4

Release

Apple announced the M3 on October 30, 2023, at its Halloween-themed Scary Fast online event,^[3] along with models of the iMac and the MacBook Pro using the M3.^[4][5][6]

Design

The M3 series is Apple's first 3 nm design for desktops and notebooks. It is manufactured by TSMC.^[7][8]

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

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.^[11]

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 15.8 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). ^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14]

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.^[6]

Variant	CPU		GPU			NPU		LPDDR5-6400 memory		Transistor count	TDP (W)	used in
	P-cores[a]	E-cores[b]	Cores[c]	EU	ALU	Cores	Performance	Controllers[d]	Bandwidth
A16	2	4	5	80	640	16	15.8 TOPS	4	51.2 GB/s	16 billion	8	iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max / iPhone 15 / iPhone 15 Plus
M3	4		8	128	1024		18 TOPS	8	102.4 GB/s	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	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	92 billion	78
	12		40	640	5120			32	409.6 GB/s
M3 Ultra	20	8	60	960	7680	32	36 TOPS	64	819.3 GB/s	184 billion	140	Mac Studio M3 Ultra
	24		80	1280	10240

1. Performance Cores
2. Efficiency cores
3. Each GPU core has 16 execution units (EUs) and 128 arithmetic logic units (ALUs)
4. Each LPDDR5-6400 memory controller contains a 16-bit memory channel and can access up to 8GiB of memory.^[13]

See also

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