Apple Testing 'M3 Pro' Chip With 12 CPU Cores, 18 GPU Cores [Gurman]

Apple is testing a new 'M3 Pro' chip with 12 CPU cores , 18 GPU cores, and 36GB of RAM, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

So what does the M3 look like? Well, at least one version in testing has 12 CPU cores, 18 graphics cores and 36 gigabytes of memory. That's according to data collected by an App Store developer and shared with Power On. The CPU, the chip's main processor, is made up of six high-performance cores that handle the most intensive tasks and six efficiency cores that kick in for operations that need less power.

Apple is purportedly testing the M3 Pro on a future Macbook Pro running macOS 14.0 and Gurman thinks this will be the base configuration of the next year's MacBook Pro.


If the M3 Max gets a similar spec bump, it could feature 14 CPU cores and more than 40 graphics cores. Doubling that, the M3 Ultra could get 28 CPU cores and over 80 graphics cores.

Apple is able to add these additional cores due to the 3nm manufacturing process developed by TSMC. Although, the company has purportedly struggled with ramping production, Apple is expected to unveil its first 3nm M3 chips as early as this year.

My belief is the first Macs with M3 chips will begin arriving toward the end of the year or early next year. While the first 15-inch MacBook Air with an M2 chip is set to arrive this summer, the company is already working on M3-based iMacs, high-end and low-end MacBook Pros, and MacBook Airs, I'm told.

Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for updates.