UPDATE: resolved, see details below.

I've seen a few people commenting that with the 12/9 update M3 can fly up to 1,000m up from the HP rather than only 500m as before.
I have updated my M3C, yet the max altitude still shows as 500m (1,640ft).

I wonder if the limit is country/area-specific... I'm in the US.
Or am I missing something else?

A 1km limit would open some truly awesome opportunities for me as there are several pretty tall mountain ridges around with super sheer slopes. 500m is not nearly enough to scale them but 1 km just might...

Have You updated the app to 1.9.0?

Niknik Posted at 12-9 14:53
Have You updated the app to 1.9.0?

I think so, yes

maybe there is an airport closer than 50 km?

Look at the flysafe map on the website or in the app itself by clicking on the top left of the app home screen. You will notice that there are a bunch of new 500m altitude limit zones covering most areas. I believe you have to apply to unlock these like you would an authorisation zone.

Oldschool Posted at 12-9 15:33
maybe there is an airport closer than 50 km?

Oh, most likely. They are like mushrooms here…

MGreengrass Posted at 12-9 15:39
Look at the flysafe map on the website or in the app itself by clicking on the top left of the app home screen. You will notice that there are a bunch of new 500m altitude limit zones covering most areas. I believe you have to apply to unlock these like you would an authorisation zone.

Ah, that makes sense, thank you. I will check that next time I fly.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. Kindly please make sure that you configure your Max Altitude if you wish to fly beyond 500m. Launch the DJI Fly > Go to Settings > Safety > Flight Protection and then set the Max Altitude. Also, if you are within the restricted area, you may send an email to flysafe@dji.com for unlocking before the flight. Hope this helps. Thank you for your valued support.

found satellites and earned

I don't know exactly what happened, but after several back-and-forths between the home screen and safety, all of a sudden 1,000m (3K+ ft)  altitude became available.
Yoo-hoo!

MGreengrass Posted at 12-9 15:39
Look at the flysafe map on the website or in the app itself by clicking on the top left of the app home screen. You will notice that there are a bunch of new 500m altitude limit zones covering most areas. I believe you have to apply to unlock these like you would an authorisation zone.

When I set the geozone web site to look for Mavic 3 then I do see the 500m zones. It was 500m before. I don't understand what the zone is about. Is outside the zone 1000m? Everywhere was 500m previously. In the attached image we see the large grey circles that are 500m areas. Previously (dunno when it changed) there were no such altitude areas. Has DJI just vastly expanded where one must get permission to fly or is this just a matter that you are formally warned or maybe have to check off a box on the app while flying? Anybody know? It's snowing out so I won't know till this clears up in a few days.

Im really surprised they did this.   I can see so much abuse coming.  

… and of course just as I was going  to test this wonderful new 1km alt limit, the weather turned into rain and high winds…

DAFlys Posted at 12-11 02:33
Im really surprised they did this.   I can see so much abuse coming.

With all these new 500m grey coloured circles on DJI's Geo Zone Map, the only abuse you're ever going to see will be over very remote and rural areas

DAFlys Posted at 12-11 02:33
Im really surprised they did this.   I can see so much abuse coming.

Abuse? how? As far as I know (no experience yet) the 500m circles won't make much difference. It was 500m before. It's 500 now and it's just an altitude zone. Previously the world was an altitude zone (at least U.S.) of 500m. Now we have bubbles of 500 and apparently wilderness areas of 1000.  I see here in Alaska all the areas anywhere close to civilization are 500m but between towns I think the implication is we could get to 1000m which I will be super happy about as there are many hills that I could "climb" and stay 400ft over ground but be able to fly over legally with a limit of 1000m. Sadly one place I was hoping to fly over 500m is within a 500m altitude circle and its 15mi from the airport. The radius of the 500m circle seems to be about 30mi.  I don't know if that is set by DJI or the FAA...

Same here. Increased max altitude to 3,280 ft (1000m) and received and accepted the warning, yet it still will not go past 1,640 ft (500m).

Monkey007 Posted at 12-11 12:06
With all these new 500m grey coloured circles on DJI's Geo Zone Map, the only abuse you're ever going to see will be over very remote and rural areas

I hadnt seen that,  but wow.  they added a lot.  

digibud Posted at 12-11 17:42
Abuse? how? As far as I know (no experience yet) the 500m circles won't make much difference. It was 500m before. It's 500 now and it's just an altitude zone. Previously the world was an altitude zone (at least U.S.) of 500m. Now we have bubbles of 500 and apparently wilderness areas of 1000.  I see here in Alaska all the areas anywhere close to civilization are 500m but between towns I think the implication is we could get to 1000m which I will be super happy about as there are many hills that I could "climb" and stay 400ft over ground but be able to fly over legally with a limit of 1000m. Sadly one place I was hoping to fly over 500m is within a 500m altitude circle and its 15mi from the airport. The radius of the 500m circle seems to be about 30mi.  I don't know if that is set by DJI or the FAA...

Here we have VLOS rules so being able to fly to 1000m is fine if you're climbing a hill, but you're not going to be able to see it at that distance.   The CAA had previously limited VLOS to no more than 500m.

For clarification, the 500m altitude zones are all 50km radius circles around major airports. Makes sense. Thus, you can fly above 500m in very rural areas.

MGreengrass Posted at 2022-12-12 17:04
For clarification, the 500m altitude zones are all 50km radius circles around major airports. Makes sense. Thus, you can fly above 500m in very rural areas.

this gray zone is so wide it cover the entire city

I just checked at my house and i have 5 overlapping 500m zones above my property... looks like i wont be getting above 500m anytime soon.
I dont know why we have to apply to unlock if we are flying in sub-250g configuration. In Canada there is no restriction for sub-250g drones in regards to height. (i also hate getting the warning every time i go above 120m, it drives me insane.

djiuser_5l7HTU8AAZIN Posted at 5-31 07:30
I just checked at my house and i have 5 overlapping 500m zones above my property... looks like i wont be getting above 500m anytime soon.
I dont know why we have to apply to unlock if we are flying in sub-250g configuration. In Canada there is no restriction for sub-250g drones in regards to height. (i also hate getting the warning every time i go above 120m, it drives me insane.

Some of this stuff makes so little sense but there really isn't much to do about it. Sometimes it makes me think I should move to Alaska where ...oh...wait...nevermind.  .

Va salut : recent am cumparat drona Air 3 , inttebarea mea este : ca sa accesez o altitudine mai mare de 1000 trebuie sa fiu indepartat de Aeroport ? Imi permite max 500m in zona pe langa London UK

djiuser_kH44W8jMWmGz Posted at 9-4 11:19
Va salut : recent am cumparat drona Air 3 , inttebarea mea este : ca sa accesez o altitudine mai mare de 1000 trebuie sa fiu indepartat de Aeroport ? Imi permite max 500m in zona pe langa London UK

Greetings: I recently bought the Air 3 drone, my question is: in order to access an altitude higher than 1000, do I have to be far from the Airport? It allows me max 500m in the area near London UK
By law you are limited to a maximum distance/'height' of 400ft/121.9m from the closest ground the UK.
In London it wouldn't matter about the 500m vs 1000m height limit thing, both would irrelevant and illegal and probably highly dangerous to manned aircraft.

And that disregards whether or not of it is legal to fly a drone of the Air 3's mass ANYWHERE in or over the London area. You be well advised to check that for yourself.

While these are interesting posts I think most are failing to realize some important information.  1st is the fact that drones are light weight and requires enormous power to go beyond 1700 feet, 500 meters,  not to mention the wind will be much stronger the higher you are which could pull your drone farther than intended. Additionally,  most of your battery would be used up if you did actually manage to go beyond this height and should it run out of battery it would drop like a rock into someone or thing.
Then there is the issue of other air traffic in the form of planes.  I, for one, would not want to know that my drone was the cause of an air disaster!
Maybe, after hearing this I guess remote ID is a good thing after all!
Lastly,  for all who do not know about this,  if you are in a higher elevation you can still fly 400 feet higher,  or those who give the finger to obeying the law, 1600+ feet!