LocalLLaMA

🤢

Facepalm

Apple is increasing differentiation amongst their chips. Previously the Pro and Max different primarily in GPU cores. Now they are also differentiated in CPU cores and memory bandwidth.

I was disappointed to see that the M3 Maxs memory bandwidth is the same, on paper, as the M2 Max, but I'm also mindful of the fact that no one functional unit was able to use all the available memory bandwidth in the first place, so I hope that the M3 will allow higher utilization.

We'll see once people get their hands on them.

It won't be long before there are cheaper PC's with wide memory buses. AMD or Intel with lpddr5. Probs be 150-200 MB/s. AMD probs the better option (they also have their own AI accel now).

For AI, that will make these Pro configurations considerably less compelling. Which isn't a bad thing, Apple is overpriced.

Apple got these out to take advantage of sales before the new ARM based chips hit the market for Windows. Personally I would hold off on any new laptop purchases unless totally necessary. The M1 family is still incredibly powerful and at a steep discount now. Apple is touting the M3 performance gains but in reality these gains only impact a very small percentage of heavy users. I don't see the M3 impacting sales that much.

Apple is generally very pricey and stingy with RAM. I don't understand it since RAM isn't that expensive.