M3-powered MacBook Pro and iMac now available in South Africa — prices up to R93,999

The M3-powered MacBook Pro laptops and iMac all-in-one computers are now available in South Africa.

Apple unveiled the new models during its “Scary Fast” event on 30 October 2023.

While the company has retained the designs of the devices from their predecessors, it has promised big upgrades in performance and graphics with its first 3-nanometer chip.

Apple said the M3 chip family is 35% faster than the M1 series for standard computing tasks while providing 65% better graphics performance.

It comes in three options — the standard M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max.

The standard M3 boasts eight CPU cores and either 8 or 10 GPU cores, depending on the model.

The M3 Pro version either boasts a combination of 11 CPU and 14 GPU cores, or 12 CPU and 18 GPU cores, depending on the model.

The M3 Max also comes in two derivatives — one with 14 CPU and 30 GPU cores and a more powerful 16-core GPU and 40-core GPU combo.

Model range on offer in South Africa

The laptops and all-in-one computers are available from multiple authorised retailers.

There are nine distinct configurations of the new MacBook Pro available and three builds of the new iMac.

At the iStore, owned by Apple’s official distributor in South Africa — Core Group, prices for the most affordable MacBook Pro start at R37,499.

This gets you a 14-inch model with the standard M3 chip, 512GB SSD storage, and 8GB unified memory.

At the other end of the spectrum, the top-specced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max chip will set you back R75,499.

The 16-inch equivalent is priced at R81,999, while a more powerful M3 Max model with the 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU combo costs a hefty R93,999.

The M3-powered iMacs are available with a cheaper M3 chip that sheds two GPU cores, or the standard M3.

The former is the most affordable and can only be configured with a 256GB SSD and 8GB unified memory for R33,799.

Two versions of the model with the standard M3 chip are available — one with a 256GB SSD and another with 512GB storage — for R38,999 and R44,299, respectively.

It should be noted that all these prices don’t include discounts for trade-ins of older models.

The table below provides a breakdown of the prices of the various configurations of the M3-powered MacBook Pro and iMac from iStore in South Africa.

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