By Ian Lee

November 7, 2023
Last updated on March 6, 2024

Apple’s new M3 chip family available on Macbook Pros, Airs, and iMacs — see what this means for Parallels Desktop users

With Parallels Desktop for Mac, users will benefit from Apple’s M3 chip performance advancements and experience applications that run faster and more efficiently.

Users can rest assured that Parallels Desktop is authorized by Microsoft to run Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise in a virtual machine on an M3 chip Mac.

If you already own or plan to purchase a new Macbook Pro, iMac, or an Air with the M3 chip, know that you don’t have to give up your favorite Windows applications or any of their functionality.

You can still play many popular PC games as well.

Here are the Macs that have an M3 chip (as of this publication date):

Performance improvements will affect CPU and Graphics intensive workloads, especially if users switch from Intel Macs (note that you will need to reinstall Windows and apps).

Also, even though it has been reported that users are having a great experience with 8GB RAM configurations, I recommend users get more RAM, especially if they plan to multi-task work with videos or multiple virtual machines.

Do you have an Apple M3 chip but need to run Windows? Sign up for a free 14-day trial of Parallels Desktop to run Windows on your M3 chip.

What is unique about the Apple M3 Macs?

Apple’s M3 chip represents major strides in personal computing.

Apple’s M3 Macbook Pros, Airs, and iMacs are built on a 3-nanometer process, which enhances the speed and power efficiency of the chip by fitting more transistors into a smaller space.

The M3 machines boast the first 3-nanometer chips in a personal computer and marking the debut of a next-generation GPU architecture.

They offer dramatic improvements in performance with a faster CPU and Neural Engine and support for even more unified memory.

The latest line-up of Macs also includes ray tracing, mesh shading, and dynamic caching.

These M3 Macs are the most sustainable yet, meeting Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency.

M3 Macs offer up to 22 hours of battery life (the longest ever for a Mac), meaning they need to be plugged in for less time, resulting in less energy consumed over their lifetimes.

M series chip comparison charts: See how Apple M3 chips compare to M1 and M2

Curious about how the M3 chip stacks up against the M1 and M2 chips? I’ve put together Apple M3, M2, and M1 comparison charts.

Environment for Apple M2Max vs. M3 Chips

Hardware:

M2Max-powered (8+4)CPU 96GiB MBP,
M3-powered (4+4)CPU 16GiB MBP.

Software:

macOS 14.1.1 (23B2082),
Windows 11 22621.2715 / 2CPU / 8GiB

Results for Apple M2 Max vs. M3 chips

Single-core score:

Test	M2Max	M3	Δ
Horizon Detection	1800 ± 40	2100 ± 150	+16%
SQLite	1470 ± 30	1720 ± 30	+17%
HDR	1950 ± 20	2400 ± 100	+24%
Speech Recognition	1570 ± 60	1800 ± 200	+17%
Face Detection	2230 ± 120	2400 ± 200	+10%
Image Compression	1350 ± 13	1650 ± 30	+22%
N-Body Physics	1880 ± 40	2400 ± 300	+27%
Rigid Body Physics	1680 ± 30	2000 ± 100	+20%
Clang	1670 ± 40	1840 ± 130	+10%
Text Rendering	1660 ± 40	1970 ± 60	+18%
Machine Learning	1290 ± 60	1500 ± 200	+13%
AES-XTS	3040 ± 50	3870 ± 50	+27%
Camera	1400 ± 20	1760 ± 140	+25%
Structure from Motion	1270 ± 20	1550 ± 60	+22%
HTML5	1470 ± 40	1700 ± 140	+16%
Text Compression	1530 ± 20	1670 ± 20	+9%
Image Inpainting	2700 ± 40	3200 ± 400	+19%
Ray Tracing	2730 ± 400	3600 ± 100	+30%
PDF Rendering	1600 ± 100	2000 ± 100	+23%
Navigation	1500 ± 100	1670 ± 140	+11%
Gaussian Blur	1520 ± 20	1880 ± 150	+23%

These (computationally intensive) workloads consistently yield 10-30% better score on M3 than on M2.

Testing environment for Apple M1Max versus M3 chips

Hardware:

M1Max-powered (8+2)CPU 32GiB MBP,
M3-powered (4+4)CPU 16GiB MBP.

Software:

macOS 13.6 (22G120) – host (a),
macOS 14.1.1 (23B2082) – host (b),
Windows 11 22621.2715 / 2CPU / 8GiB.

Results for Apple M1Max versus M3 Chips

Single-core score:

Test	M1Max	M3	Δ
AES-XTS	2850 ± 20	3870 ± 50	+35%
Text Compression	1320 ± 80	1670 ± 20	+26%
Image Compression	1230 ± 10	1650 ± 30	+34%
Navigation	1440 ± 50	1670 ± 140	+16%
HTML5	1380 ± 40	1700 ± 140	+23%
SQLite	1390 ± 16	1720 ± 30	+24%
PDF Rendering	1550 ± 60	2000 ± 100	+26%
Text Rendering	1600 ± 17	1970 ± 60	+23%
Clang	1530 ± 40	1840 ± 130	+20%
Camera	1281 ± 40	1760 ± 140	+37%
N-Body Physics	1670 ± 30	2400 ± 300	+42%
Rigid Body Physics	1600 ± 30	2000 ± 100	+26%
Gaussian Blur	1430 ± 12	1880 ± 150	+31%
Face Detection	2080 ± 10	2400 ± 200	+18%
Horizon Detection	1720 ± 40	2100 ± 150	+22%
Image Inpainting	2550 ± 50	3200 ± 400	+26%
HDR	1880 ± 15	2400 ± 100	+29%
Ray Tracing	2500 ± 300	3600 ± 100	+44%
Structure from Motion	1190 ± 10	1550 ± 60	+30%
Speech Recognition	1400 ± 50	1800 ± 200	+32%
Machine Learning	1240 ± 30	1500 ± 200	+19%

These (computationally intensive) workloads consistently yield 20.40% better scores on M3 than on M1.

How to assess if a faster processor will improve performance using Task Manager

The Apple M3 chip family shows significant single-core and multi-core speed improvements over the previous M1 and M2 processors. 

If you want to determine whether upgrading to a Mac with a faster processor will enhance your computing experience, the Task Manager on Windows can provide valuable insights.

Here’s how to evaluate your current performance and understand the potential benefits of a faster processor using a Microsoft Windows virtual machine running under Parallels Desktop for Mac.

1. Run a workload that you want to improve

2. Access Task Manager from Windows Start Menu or using the processor icon in the VM title bar 

Hint: Ctrl + Shift + Esc

3. Monitor Current CPU usage:

Observe your current CPU usage in the “Processes” or “Details” tab. Pay attention to the percentage of CPU resources being used.
Identify CPU-Bound processes: Sort the processes by “% CPU” to identify which applications or processes consume the most CPU resources. These processes are potential candidates for performance improvement with a faster processor.
Look for consistency: Note if certain processes consistently utilize a high percentage of CPU. If some tasks are CPU-bound, a faster processor can likely accelerate their execution.
Check for CPU Core usage: In the “Performance” tab, monitor the utilization of individual CPU cores. If you notice that one or more cores are consistently maxed out while the others remain idle, your tasks may benefit from a processor with higher single-thread performance.

Leverage the performance and efficiency of Apple’s M3 chip for Windows and Linux

Windows and Linux users can now leverage the exceptional performance and energy efficiency of the M3 chip while seamlessly accessing their beloved operating systems through Parallels Desktop.

There’s no need to use multiple computers to access the applications you need — everything is accessible from your M3 Mac.

Parallels Desktop expands the capabilities of your M3 Mac even further; you only need to carry one laptop to get the best of both Mac and Windows.

It’s less hassle for you and more sustainable in the long run.

The synergy between Apple’s M3 chip and Parallels Desktop promises a winning combination that will likely surpass your expectations.

The Parallels team strongly emphasizes the quality of our software products and the user experience.

With the recent launch of Mac computers equipped with Apple M3 chips, I am committed to thorough testing and assessment involving our internal testing facilities and your valuable input.

If I find any issues, I will report the issues in the Knowledge Base.

If you happen to come across an issue with Parallels Desktop that can be reproduced on a Mac with an Apple M3 chip, kindly share your M3 experience on the forum. 

If you are not a current user, find out how Parallels Desktop lets you maximize performance and unlock the full power of your M3-powered Mac.

Do you have an Apple M3 chip but need to run Windows? Sign up for a free 14-day trial of Parallels Desktop to run Windows on your M3 chip.