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MacBook Air M4

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Re: MacBook Air M4

#191

Post by electrograv »

ragazzina wrote: post #178
electrograv wrote: post #131

I really wish Apple would make a MacBook Air variant with display quality on par with the iPad Pro or MacBook Pro (ProMotion/120hz and XDR/HDR, at least). The screen quality is the only reason I currently use the Pro despite its chunkier weight, since the local compute/memory of the Air is already plenty for me (and most users). The iPad Pro proves that weight and battery life is no excuse here for the lack of state-…

>I really wish Apple would make a MacBook Air variant with display quality on par with the iPad Pro or MacBook Pro >The screen quality is the only reason I currently use the Pro Well why should they, you already bought the more expensive one.

I’ve considered trying an ultralight PC laptop with a superior screen. But the sad state of reality is that:

(1) Windows these days feels like a constant battle against forcibly installed adware / malware.

(2) Linux would be great, but getting basic laptop essentials like reliable sleep/wake and power management to work even remotely well in Linux continues to be a painful losing battle.

(3) Apple’s M series chips’ performance and efficiency is still generations ahead of anyone else in the context of portable battery-powered fanless work; nobody else has yet come close to matching apple here, though there is hope Qualcomm will deliver more competition soon (if the silicon’s raw potential is not squandered by Microsoft).

Just because Apple’s competition has been complacent and lagging for many years, doesn’t render irrelevant any feedback to Apple regarding what professional laptop users would like.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#193

Post by baq »

bartvk wrote: post #148
whstl wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the Intel customers are still the ones they're trying to target Definitely. I have ZERO rational reasons to upgrade from my lowest-spec first-gen Air M1. I use it everyday and speed and battery life are still way more than I need.

I had someone tell me "an Air? You're a developer, you need a Pro" and I thought to myself, well this Air is frankly amazing.

The extra ram in a pro comes in handy at a certain scale, but the price tag is oof.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#194

Post by pqtyw »

Spunkie wrote: post #188
latexr wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What does "23x faster" even mean The measurements are in the linked footnote, they tested the “Super Resolution” upscaling feature of Pixelmator Pro.

The point is that benchmark is pretty useless and likely does not line up to what a user that is still running a intel air would expect the word "faster" even means. When normal users are thinking "faster" they are really thinking about snappiness/responsiveness, not number crunching.

Those benchmarks seem to be more GPU based as well. e.g. something like Geekbench (not that it's necessarily that representative either) is just 2-3x faster.

https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-apple_m4-vs-intel_...

Re: MacBook Air M4

#195

Post by antasvara »

_mlbt wrote: post #66
kotaKat wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that migrated to the M1 Macbook Air from a Mid-2014 Macbook Pro... the Intel customers are still the ones they're trying to target, amusingly. If they'd just give me onboard mobile connectivity, I'd upgrade to the next Air sooner, otherwise this thing will run until it dies... and maybe some day they'll start comparing performance against their original M1.

I see a lot of people requesting cellular modems in MacBooks, but the integration with iPhone hotspot connectivity is so good that I don’t really see the point of it for most people.

The integration is fine, but it's not perfect. It kicks my wife off her iPhone Hotspot every time she closes the lid on her laptop. It also burns the battery on her iPhone, which is a concern in the exact situation you'd want cellular connection (places with no wifi often don't have outlets either).

Anecdotally, I've also seen her get issues when going from an area with bad connection to an area with good connection (iPhone will disconnect).

The experience with a non-iphone is also not seamless, though that's to be expected.

Point being that reliable and easy cellular access on a MacBook would be a pretty nice improvement. This is especially true given how much of what people do on computers relies on the internet these days.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#196

Post by knowaveragejoe »

kome wrote: post #97
metayrnc wrote: post #6

After getting the initial M1 Air, I am still struggling to find a reason to replace it. Still going strong with no hiccups!

After getting my 2015 macbook air 11' I am still struggling to find a reason to replace it. Still going strong with no hiccups!

Do you use it as a laptop, or is it hooked up as a desktop for the most part? If the former, I'd try one of the M series in the same role and see if you notice a difference in ergonomics.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#197

Post by rsynnott »

kotaKat wrote: post #19
permanent wrote: post #3

This is amazing, yet silly to state "Up to 23x faster performance [4]" [4] against, 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based MacBook Air

As someone that migrated to the M1 Macbook Air from a Mid-2014 Macbook Pro... the Intel customers are still the ones they're trying to target, amusingly. If they'd just give me onboard mobile connectivity, I'd upgrade to the next Air sooner, otherwise this thing will run until it dies... and maybe some day they'll start comparing performance against their original M1.

> the Intel customers are still the ones they're trying to target, amusingly.

Yeah, particularly for the Air that makes complete sense, though. Consumer laptops tend to get replaced pretty slowly. I'll be upgrading from a _2016_ MBP (though not to the Air, given the lack of the 120hz screen; going to go for the Pro).

Re: MacBook Air M4

#198

Post by Spunkie »

metayrnc wrote: post #6

After getting the initial M1 Air, I am still struggling to find a reason to replace it. Still going strong with no hiccups!

Everyone I know that got an M1 cheaped out on the 8gb model and are now struggling to use a browser with heavy sites and multitasking(zoom) at the same time.

But also apples upcharge on RAM is disgusting, so it's hard to blame them for picking the lowest spec model.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#199

Post by d_silin »

Man, Apple laptops even with all their quirks are light-years ahead of the median. I have a reasonably modern ThinkPad and MacBook Air M3 with similar specs, so I can feel the difference.
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