I’m a reluctant hardware upgrader, but finally got an Apple Silicon machine. And I’m really, really noticing what others have said:
It’s snappy. Very snappy.
It’s snappy in a way that raw speed can’t explain. My perfectly fast Intel machine has lots of little pauses and lurches and burbles that are just…gone. Waking, launching things, plugging in the external display, all just poof! happen.
Why? Again, it’s not just CPU/GPU speed. It feels like there was some OS resource contention, some gear-shifting, some human-scale try-and-wait timer, that’s now eliminated.
Anyone have insight into why this is? I’m genuinely curious.
(It is also worth mentioning that on the CPU/GPU front, the M3 Max is just stupid fast.)
Because nobody asked, other quick thoughts on the new M3 MBP vs my 2019 Intel MBP:
I miss the old machine’s weight (~0.2 kg / 0.5 lbs lighter) and its shape. The curve of the case was so elegant.
The new keyboard is magnificent, even vs post-butterfly MBP.
As much as I wanted to like it, I don’t miss the Touch Bar, with one exception: adjusting brightness on multiple displays.
Dedicated SDXC port: why?? I’d rather have another Thunderbolt.
The notch bothers me •far• less than I’d expected.
All in all: lovely machine, a pleasure to work on, not without tradeoffs (nothing is), but I’m happy I upgraded now.