M3 vs M3 Pro (14' MBP)

Nachedel · August 6

I don't need the extra power of the M3 Pro at all, but it's only about a 100 USD difference with the student discount (Probably even less if I look around for deals). The latter seems like the obvious option but it does also eat through the battery faster.

Think the battery life on the M3 Pro depends on you winning the silicon lottery, there's just a ton of conflicting info on most of the forums I've looked through. Most interestingly PCmag reports the M3 Pro being able to go on for 30hrs, while the M3 can only manage 22; but every other forum post I've read, and video I've watched seems to prove otherwise.

Would be interested to hear what you guys think.

Agall · August 6

23 minutes ago, Nachedel said:

I don't need the extra power of the M3 Pro at all, but it's only about a 100 USD difference with the student discount (Probably even less if I look around for deals). The latter seems like the obvious option but it does also eat through the battery faster.

Think the battery life on the M3 Pro depends on you winning the silicon lottery, there's just a ton of conflicting info on most of the forums I've looked through. Most interestingly PCmag reports the M3 Pro being able to go on for 30hrs, while the M3 can only manage 22; but every other forum post I've read, and video I've watched seems to prove otherwise.

Would be interested to hear what you guys think.

The pricing with this generation has overlapping points between the M3 and M3 Pro. Which models are you looking at specifically?

Nachedel · August 6

16 minutes ago, Agall said:

The pricing with this generation has overlapping points between the M3 and M3 Pro. Which models are you looking at specifically?

M3: 8 core CPU, 10 Core GPU, 16 Core Neural Engine with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD +96W adapter = 1919 USD

M3 Pro: 11 core CPU, 14 Core GPU, 16 Core Neural Engine with 18GB of RAM and 1TB SSD +96W adapter = 2049 USD

igormp · August 6

2 hours ago, Nachedel said:

I don't need the extra power of the M3 Pro at all, but it's only about a 100 USD difference with the student discount (Probably even less if I look around for deals). The latter seems like the obvious option but it does also eat through the battery faster.

Think the battery life on the M3 Pro depends on you winning the silicon lottery, there's just a ton of conflicting info on most of the forums I've looked through. Most interestingly PCmag reports the M3 Pro being able to go on for 30hrs, while the M3 can only manage 22; but every other forum post I've read, and video I've watched seems to prove otherwise.

Would be interested to hear what you guys think.

The M3 Pro model has a bit bigger battery (like ~2Wh more), but uses more power.

I'd go with the Pro model just because of the extra 2GB of RAM.

I do have a MBP M3 Pro and the battery is fine. My M3 Max model, on the other hand, can eat through the battery in a couple hours or less if I'm pushing it hard.