I don't think we need an m3 iPad anything until the iOS is heavily updated, but we wouldn't mind updates on other products such as the Studio and iPad mini.I wouldn't mind seeing a 12' MacBook again, and a thin 17' MacBook Pro.
Why? What's hard to understand in the sentence smaller cluster node and energy efficiency?
In a mobile device energy efficiency is the most important part. Roughly a decade ago we've had in my former company a ARM workshop and the guys from ARM elaborated own their view on mobile devices es - they acquired all kinds of smartphones, wrote a small test program opening mails, browsing the web and playing casual games to see how long the same amount of energy would enable mobile computing.
In Tier view not the strongest µIC was the best but the one with the most tasks to be completed.
In other words efficiency.. So let's have a look at the current M2 vs. M2 comparison with respect to snipping the least amount of energy from the battery? ( remember - the amount of energy stored in the battery is all you'll have using your mobile device ):
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* In a mobile device you want the least amount of electrical power consumption => the more the heavy duty µICs can idle ( after finishing a heavy tasks ) the better it is
* The M3s are not much more powerful than the M2 µICs but they are more efficient and thus are much better for mobile devices
* The hardware accelerated raytracing and mesh shading are also contributing to more efficiency as well as 3 nm vs 5 nm with lower core voltage
* GPU optimizations will enable longer and more efficient media consumption and added AV1 decoding for e.g. YT
* 15 % faster neural Engine - here also more efficiency and more power in case needed
* On top of that the M3 offers better dynamic caching => which can yield in more efficiency too
* More efficient display with OLED also improves battery life - utterly important for mobile devices
* Last but not least core voltage - the 3 nm cluster node has a significantly lower core voltage compared to 5 nm and the generated heat is U^2/R - we can assume that the resistance roughly stays the same => less power conniption again
So let's see what the different areas mentioned before will benefit for the mobile computing:
A) Mails and light browsing => small short tasks and thus can be handles with strong efficiency cores and then idle again => Will benefit significantly from the M2 vs M2
B) Casual gaming => hardware accelerated raytracing and mesh shading will lower the workload of the GPU and thus enable longer battery life too
C) Video and image processing => The coprocessors like AV1 decoding and high power cores willl help to do professional tasks occasionally on mobile devices.
D) OLED will further reduce the display energy consumption and contribute to a smaller and most of all better mobile device.
I can't see why the iPP 2024 should not get the M3 µIC? In fact it is the device with the most benefit from such a µIC in the complete lineup at Apple beside the AVP ( which was arguably too early in spec freeze to benefit from this µIC architecture. We'll probably see the AVP2 with the M4 or M5 with 2 nm cluster node and ever enhanced feature set.
Mobile devices have much more benefit from the latest technology than the desktop variants and thus they should benefit first from all new technologies. The iPhone is that successful due to the under the hood enhancements in µICs. This enables developers to utilize more useful GUI elements and helps to use your mobile devices much better and longer - which is the endgame in mobile computing.
The Studio will probably get a completely new developed M3 Ultra since the current M3 does not have interconnect on the MAX variant. A studio hardly makes any sense without the utmost in GPU and CPU count. Putting a M3 MAX in it would not help owners of an M3 Ultra in any way.
On the other hand side the iPad mini is good as it is - I use mine for very light tasks and it is o.k.ish - this is no device for video editing or intensive gaming - btw - the iPhone max slowly grows in display size in the direction of the iPM o_O
All in all I think the M3 is the perfect match for the iPP 2024 and maybe we're even getting the N3E instead of the N3B process - who knows?
Further interesting background can be found here ('https://www.anandtech.com/show/18833/tsmc-details-3nm-evolution-n3e-on-schedule-n3p-n3x-deliver-five-percent-gains').
Hope that helps a bit to understand why the M3 is the perfect match for any advanced mobile computing devices living on a limited battery budget. The OLED iPP will be an amazing devices for years to come and it will hopefully get 4 TB too :cool:
Side remark - I would not hold my breath waiting for any 12" or 17" devices - they hardly make any sense - 17" its too heavy and too large and 12" is too small to do real macOS tasks with many windows - an iPad with it's different usability makes much more sense on the go. Beside that the AVP is more than a replacement for any big screen - cant wait to get mine in Europe to pair it with my MBP 14" and get a super giant screen in case wanted / needed
Just my 2 Ct
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