New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip • Hacker News Board

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#141

Post by jwagenet » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:26 PM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #114

justinclift wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I'm ok with getting 2nd hand business grade models off Ebay. They're generally pretty good (and cheap). But a lot of people (especially the less technically inclined) will only buy brand new, which I think is for safety. Anyway, 2nd hand laptops on Ebay can be both really good and in that price range. :)

I'm not sure it makes sense to compare new laptops with used laptops, especially since the latter generally don't come with any sort of warranty. And when you're buying off ebay (and can't inspect beforehand, like with craigslist/nextdoor), you don't even know for sure if it will work on day 1.

I think for the general public this is a reasonable comparison, since the performance is good enough for most things on a 2 year old eng pc for less than half the msrp. I would expect most corporate refurbs on eBay to be moderately reputable, and eBay is know to be consumer friendly.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#142

Post by kjkjadksj » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:26 PM UTC

ramesh31 wrote: post #72

Still locking 16GB behind the top tier option. Seems like the only way they keep MBP sales from cratering.

MBA in the last few releases has just been a gimped macbook pro vs a totally different paradigm of product as it was when steve jobs pulled the first one out of a manilla envelope. The weight difference isn’t even that significant anymore its like a half pound or so. Eat a big burrito for lunch and you’re carrying more than that around all day.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#143

Post by iddan » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:26 PM UTC

Since October, I've replaced my M-series 14" Macbook Pro for a M-series Macbook Air and I'm pretty glad with it. I can do almost anything I could have done with my Pro (Figma, coding, Docker) with so much less weight on my shoulders (commuting to work, working in cafes, etc).

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#144

Post by askonomm » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:26 PM UTC

joshmlewis wrote: post #101

It's fascinating they used Excel in the product photos instead of Numbers. I wonder who actually uses Numbers these days? Or any of the Apple "productivity" apps for that matter.

I do. They are there and work just fine for my regular bleb use cases. I also edit Word files in Pages and export to Word just fine. Same with Numbers.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#145

Post by theultdev » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

justin66 wrote: post #115

sempron64 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can also pay $400 for a number of acceptable alternatives, and about $600-$700 for a machine with a discrete GPU. It is probably the best laptop in the $1K price range for laptops that don't have a GPU, but that's basically it. The main problem with the non-Apple laptop market is that there is a mind-boggling number of confusing models, SKUs, processor/gpu variants, etc., and wildly variable physical quality…

> But you can also pay $400 for a number of acceptable alternatives I would pay more for an acceptable alternative - no fan, Windows 11, good battery life, top quality screen, no gimmick features (touchscreen! detachable screen! whatever). No such thing exists, as far as I can tell.

Don't forget the touch pad / gesture recognition.

You can tell Windows laptops are general computers, the hardware fires off the gesture recognition and gives the command to the OS, so you swipe, it's recognized, then you get the action.

On Mac, the gesture is registered as it's happening, you can pull the screen, cancel, flick it, etc.

Not to mention the convenience of taking it to any Apple store and the battery life.

I game on Windows, host on Linux, and travel with Apple.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#146

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

NBJack wrote: post #110

dbbk wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can guarantee you that most people buying the $999 laptop have 5 Chrome tabs open and don't store files on their computer. 8GB/256GB is fine.

That's a bold statement. Videos, music, photos, all of these add up fast. I have encountered plenty of family and friends needing help when their storage is exhausted. Then there is the ever increasong bloat of software, web apps, etc. that chew through RAM. If this isn't a daily driver, sure. It is fine. But for those where this is their only computer, this is a lot of money for an 'entry level' model that can't do…

[deleted]

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#147

Post by carlesfe » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

blehn wrote: post #118

I really wanted to love the 13" Air but two things made me switch to the Pro after trying it for a few weeks. One is that the internal speakers suck in comparison to the Pro. I 'm not looking for audiophile quality from laptop speakers, but the Pro speakers are good enough for casually watching youtube videos, TV shows, podcasts, etc, whereas the Air speakers are harsh and tinny. The second is that the default resolu…

I have an Air and I felt like its speakers were pretty decent, but my wife bought a Pro and they're just incredible.

Sometimes I hear her watching some movie or show a few rooms away, and I can never know if she's watching it on the TV or on the Pro just by the audio alone. Those speakers do fill the room, and them some.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#148

Post by DataDive » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

sempron64 wrote: post #69

ketzo wrote: post #49

The degree to which Apple has kinda just “won” laptops is nuts to me. $999 for an 13-inch M2 Air is just bonkers. You can easily pay $1500, even $2000 for Windows laptops that are hotter, heavier, AND slower.

But you can also pay $400 for a number of acceptable alternatives, and about $600-$700 for a machine with a discrete GPU. It is probably the best laptop in the $1K price range for laptops that don't have a GPU, but that's basically it. The main problem with the non-Apple laptop market is that there is a mind-boggling number of confusing models, SKUs, processor/gpu variants, etc., and wildly variable physical quality…

Oh yeah?

Please link to a model, just one in the 500-600 range that is comparable to a 1K Apple model.

I have owned half a dozen Windows laptops in the past, in all kinds of price ranges, cheaper and far more expensive than a Macbook Air.

None were even remotely comparable to the build quality and practicality of a Macbook Air. This was true even in the Intel CPU era. In the M processor era, the gap only increased.

You cannot even do research on a good Windows laptop because the makers constantly change the model numbers to confuse the customer and hide the flaws of these systems.

You buy a Windows laptop then either the screen, the battery life, the touchpad or the keyboard will suck ... maybe all four.

The sole reason to buy a Windows laptop and put up with all these flaws is playing games. If you need that you will put up with all that crap.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#149

Post by dataworm » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

zuhsetaqi wrote: post #11

input_sh wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it's still limited to two monitors, but now one of them doesn't necessarily need to be the internal one?

Seems like it. Which is a huge win in my opinion. To bad the base MacBook Pro M3 14" doesn't have that feature

It doesn't because the M3 has two dedicated DP outputs. O̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶u̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶T̶h̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶b̶o̶l̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶.̶ ̶O̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶M̶3̶ ̶M̶B̶P̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶P̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶H̶D̶M̶I̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶v̶e̶r̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶m̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶p̶u̶t̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶p̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶t̶t̶e̶r̶.̶ ̶O̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶M̶B̶A̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶p̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶u̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶p̶u̶t̶.̶ The M2 also has a routable output, you can connect two USB-C displays to an M2 Mac mini if you don't use the HDMI port. It's unclear why Apple didn't enable that feature on the M2 MBA.

Edit: I had a brainfart and forgot that both ports are routable. It's market segmentation or stupidity like with the M2 MBA.

Re: New 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Air with M3 chip

#150

Post by jiqiren » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 5:27 PM UTC

rfoo wrote: post #131

samatman wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But you can also pay $400 for a number of acceptable alternatives, and about $600-$700 for a machine with a discrete GPU. People love to say this without linking to a model. That's because the models in this price range are obviously not in the same weight class as a MacBook. Edit: Weight class and weight-of-laptop are not the same thing. I don't know how to explain the idiom "weight class" so that the more... lite…

> same weight class as a MacBook Except that there are plenty? As long as you avoid Dell it's easy to find a good deal. Oh, and I prefer plastic. Aluminum adds weight for nothing.

lol reply guy didn't leave a model name either...