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

Post by Meninoyo » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 7:28 PM UTC

jm4 wrote: post #301

skadamat wrote: post #160

I'm still very bummed with Apple's strategy in using # of supported external displays as a feature to gate laptops. I had to return a decently spec-ced M3 Macbook PRO 14" because it only supported 1 display (base M3) and pay more for M3 pro even though I don't need the extra horsepower. And now the base M3 Air's support 2 displays? This is wild

I think even worse than that is that they still only put 8 GB RAM in the base and middle options.

Post by bowsamic » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 7:30 PM UTC

samatman wrote: post #85

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, 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…

Post by therealmarv » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 7:33 PM UTC

Post by miles » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 7:34 PM UTC

brocket wrote: post #354

skadamat wrote: post #160

I'm still very bummed with Apple's strategy in using # of supported external displays as a feature to gate laptops. I had to return a decently spec-ced M3 Macbook PRO 14" because it only supported 1 display (base M3) and pay more for M3 pro even though I don't need the extra horsepower. And now the base M3 Air's support 2 displays? This is wild

I feel like I accidentally discovered a huge hack for this by upgrading to a 49" DQHD monitor. It's the exact same resolution as two 27" 1440p monitors so it's like any Apple silicon chip has always supported dual external displays. And it was a much better overall value compared to buying 2 displays + over-specced macbook.

Post by freetime2 » Mon, Mar 04, 2024, 7:36 PM UTC

therealmarv wrote: post #375

This Laptop has two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. So how do I connect two external monitors + e.g. a USB Hub to this laptop WITHOUT buying an expensive Thunderbolt Dock??? Are there adapters available? Is it only this one with HDMI from Apple? https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MUF82AM/A/usb-c-digital-a... are there others with USB-A with Displayport or USB-C Display connection?