M3 MacBook Pro First Look: Apple Scares Up Serious Performance

pcmag.com:

In times past, we've waited for years to see a new MacBook Pro. This time, we get two sets of new pro-grade Apple laptops only about 10 months apart. Apple has raised the curtain on its new line of 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the latest M3 processors inside.

Little has changed on the outside—just a new premium color and slightly brighter screens—leaving the spotlight for a first in Apple history: For the first time since launching its in-house M series processors, Apple has introduced all three versions of a CPU generation at once, the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max.

We were invited to see (but not touch or photograph) the new MacBook Pro systems firsthand before Apple's Oct. 30 announcement, complete with performance demonstrations showcasing the silicon advancements. Here's our hands-off look at what to expect from the new MacBook Pros when they arrive on Nov. 7.

While this revision is all about the new silicon, Apple squeezed in one premium-level change for the new models: fingerprint-resistant aluminum. The smudge protection comes from a new anodization process that forms a seal in the metal to dramatically reduce fingerprints on its surface.

Just about the only truly hands-on time I was allowed with the new MacBook Pro laptops was to test this: A few seconds of vigorously rubbing my fingers against the screen lid produced no smears or prints, but we'll test the feature more thoroughly in a full review. The fancy Space Black color is exclusive to the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring the M3 Pro processor or better. Here's hoping it trickles down into smaller-potato portables sometime in 2024.

Again, the marquee change in the latest MacBook Pro models is the M3 silicon inside. Based on what I saw during some