Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

MacBook Air M4

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 972 posts

Re: MacBook Air M4

#231

Post by nordsieck »

jghn wrote: post #218
petesergeant wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’m not surprised iPhones are struggling to obtain new market share. They just look like old and slow phones to most normal people now Literally the only people I know with non-iPhones are: * People who can't afford one * People who want a folding screen * People who are conceptually anti-Apple Apple have over 50% market share in the US, talking about "struggling to obtain new market share" seems bizarre.

* People who have been left behind by Apple's push towards phablets

> People who have been left behind by Apple's push towards phablets

It's my impression that Apple really tried to service this market - that last model was probably the iPhone 13 mini. I assume that there just isn't enough demand for smaller phones to justify the effort to develop them.

I was honestly hoping that we'd get a small phone as the iPhone SE 4. But it seems like that's not to be. At least, if the 16e is the closest we'll get to an SE in the near term.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#232

Post by stetrain »

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.

Because some people would pay the same price (or even more) as a MacBook Pro to have a great screen in a thinner, lighter laptop that shouldn't cost Apple that much more to make.

Like how the MacBook Air was originally a premium-priced product instead of an entry-level product in Apple's lineup.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#233

Post by smallmancontrov »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #189
crazygringo wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but even non-tech people I know are wondering why Android phones run smoother than iPhones. Stuff that would be completely unheard of purely because of how noticeable 60hz vs 120hz is. Are they? I'm a tech person and I can barely notice it at all. And I don't think I have a single non-tech friend who is even aware of the concept of video refresh rate. Whenever there's something that doesn't feel smooth about an int…

Yeah I think when they say non-tech people they mean a subset of people who know a bit about refresh rates (example being avid PC gamers for instance), but I'd still say the vast majority of people cannot tell 60 to 120. That or its not something they think about. Certainly if they had both side by side they may be able to notice a difference, but in everyday use it makes no real difference to the vast majority of pe…

They don't know the words but they definitely notice it. "Why is it so smooth/rough?"

Re: MacBook Air M4

#234

Post by walthamstow »

crazygringo wrote: post #186
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

It makes sense because that's who's upgrading. I've got an M1 Air and there's still no really compelling reason to upgrade. MagSafe and a nicer camera don't really justify it, especially when Continuity Camera is better than on the M1 or M4.

In the days before USB-C, MagSafe was great. Tripping on the cable and it snapping off safely was really cool.

These days, it's an anti-feature. I have USB-C for everything, why would I give that up?

Re: MacBook Air M4

#235

Post by stetrain »

bdcravens wrote: post #168

Is this the first Macbook Air to support multiple monitors? I'm kind of surprised that's not highlighted instead of buried down in the page.

The M3 series was able to support two external displays with the laptop closed.

M4 can do two external displays with the laptop screen active as well.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#236

Post by walthamstow »

trymas wrote: post #5

Anyone can comment on how Apple Silicon (M) MacBook Airs deal with heat? It’s fan-less design, so how does it compare with MacBook Pros with same M chips? Does it throttle often? Can you have it comfortably on your lap in summer? Or unless you’re running 1-hour long 4K rendering or machine learning training sessions - you’d never notice? UPDATE: what I am getting at - if you are developer and don’t care about screen…

I play Football Manager on my M1 Air and I've never felt heat. This is a game that used to turn my Intel MacBook Pro into a testicle roaster with 2 hour battery life.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#237

Post by boogieknite »

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.

few weeks back a professional ios dev looked at my m1 pro and ask why i had an air instead of pro. i might go air when i finally upgrade bc the new pros are giant compared to the m1

Re: MacBook Air M4

#238

Post by fsckboy »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #189
crazygringo wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but even non-tech people I know are wondering why Android phones run smoother than iPhones. Stuff that would be completely unheard of purely because of how noticeable 60hz vs 120hz is. Are they? I'm a tech person and I can barely notice it at all. And I don't think I have a single non-tech friend who is even aware of the concept of video refresh rate. Whenever there's something that doesn't feel smooth about an int…

Yeah I think when they say non-tech people they mean a subset of people who know a bit about refresh rates (example being avid PC gamers for instance), but I'd still say the vast majority of people cannot tell 60 to 120. That or its not something they think about. Certainly if they had both side by side they may be able to notice a difference, but in everyday use it makes no real difference to the vast majority of pe…

>Yeah I think when they say non-tech people they mean a subset of people who know a bit about refresh rates (example being avid PC gamers for instance)

no, he didn't say that. he said they comment on the difference between apple and android (their perception). you have to take that as a given.

that "it's because refresh rate" is his hypothesis, so yes argue that, but not by changing his evidence.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#239

Post by reustle »

mschuster91 wrote: post #217
_mlbt wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Battery consumption and antenna efficiency are two major pain points. iPhones suck battery like a horse drinks water when in hotspot mode, and the large surface area of even a small MacBook Air would allow for some pretty interesting antenna design. And it isn't really ironed out to behave in Germany where on a train you have frequent losses of phone connectivity. Every time it loses signal, the hotspot drops out and…

But that’s an ok tradeoff. They offer a cellular iPad, why not MacBook.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#240

Post by ericpauley »

Kerrick wrote: post #24

The 13” model is only $300 more than the M4 Mac Mini whether comparing the base models or the 32GB RAM options. That’s a pretty good value for a battery, screen, webcam, trackpad, and keyboard. The main thing you give up is the ability to connect a third large display when at your desktop, a few ports, and support for higher than 60Hz refresh rate on an external display.

I think it's highly unlikely that the M4 mac is actually limited to 60Hz for all external displays. I'm running a 1440 ultrawide at 100Hz on an M2 right now. Instead this is likely the maximum px*Hz configuration supported, and smaller or fewer monitors are supported at higher Hz.
Post reply on HN