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MacBook Air M4

apple.com

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Re: MacBook Air M4

#451

Post by znpy »

mcgrath_sh wrote: post #42

I have considered going back to Mac after about 5-7 years on Windows/WSL, but the storage premium is just too much to swallow. If the $999 was a base 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, I'd consider it. I just added another 32GB of RAM to my 2020 built desktop for $50. You can get a 1TB crucial M.2 drive for $70. I know I'm comparing apples and oranges, but the storage cost is too much, and 256GB is much too little. Edit: to…

Not sure about your use-case, but nowadays i don't do anything fancy with my laptop.

So far I've decided that going forward I'll likely be getting a cheap baseline laptop (curretly eyeing a 16gb/512gb macbook air m4 or the upcoming framework 12) and then get some beefier desktop to remote into. i don't even need a gpu, the heavy stuff i do largely revolves around running virtual machines.

I did most of my work in a screen session running emacs on a 48cpu/192gb ram machine in a previous job, and I did some tests and remote desktop nowadays is pretty good (way above the "usable" threshold).

> That is essentially doubling the $999 cost.

yeah, it sucks.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#452

Post by meowkit »

ruuda wrote: post #395
tw04 wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not a surface laptop 7? https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/laptops/microsoft-surfac... Wtf is with the downvotes? It literally hits every requirement he had, and the surface laptops are some of the best windows/nix laptops on the market.

It seems I can configure it with at most 1TB of storage, and the display is lower resolution, but aside from that it does look like a nice device.

I have an M1 for personal use, and recently got a Surface L7 for work. Build quality wise, its the closet thing you're gonna find to a macbook that runs windows.

I also run a custom Windows desktop and a synology NAS, so I like to consider myself mostly agnostic.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#453

Post by seanmcdirmid »

GeekyBear wrote: post #443

I guess Apple has moved enough production out of China to supply US customers without needing to fear tarrifs, given the price cut.

Apple hasn't priced in tariffs yet, if the 20% tariff in China stays, then it will definitely affect their prices eventually. If they just have to move final assembly to another country though, they should be able to recover in a year or so as FoxConn opens up a factory in Vietnam (assuming Trump doesn't get specific about Chinese made components, but those should pale in comparison to South Korea/Taiwan's supplied products).

Re: MacBook Air M4

#454

Post by kllrnohj »

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.

how about because it's ridiculous that a $2200 laptop cannot correctly show photos taken by the company's own $600 phone? People mentioned being stuck at 60hz, but it's also one of the few remaining non-xdr displays that Apple offers.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#455

Post by mhh__ »

ljm wrote: post #41

They don't always hit the mark but I sort of miss the times when Apple would innovate more boldly with their devices. Apple Intelligence isn't it - it's just playing catch-up with a market that tries to slap AI onto everything it can think of. The hardware upgrades are always nice but there's nothing 'out there' like a touch bar or even a 'dynamic island'. Just more safe iterations.

This is what happens when you put the logistics guy in charge of the whole thing

Re: MacBook Air M4

#456

Post by margorczynski »

I would go for it but the subpar OS I'm forced to use with the computer puts me off completely. But I understand the logic behind it and that you don't make margins like Apple just peddling good hardware, that's a quick recipe to end up like IBM.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#457

Post by znpy »

kccqzy wrote: post #224
ndiddy wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of Apple's pricing strategy over the past few years is that since they have a monopoly on storage/RAM upgrades, they can price base model computers at margins below what they'd normally be comfortable with, and then gouge users on the upgrade costs to claw back some of those margins. That's how they're able to charge $400 for an extra 16GB of RAM.

I doubt it. In corporate environments I see so many base models being used. Most office workers do everything on SaaS web apps anyway; they only need sufficient RAM to run a browser and browser-based apps. Having small amount of storage is a feature not a bug, because it prevents employees from downloading too much company proprietary information onto their laptops.

> they only need sufficient RAM to run a browser and browser-based apps.

browser-bases apps are notoriously memory hogs, your point doesn't make much sense.

the truth is that apple get away with cheating a lot on their OS as they swap aggressively and do very aggressive swap compression.

the part about swapping aggressively is essentially overlooked by the entire industry: swapping to flash storage will wear it out faster, which is a huge issue when the flash chip is soldered and not replaceable. this will essentially create more e-waste (but they get to (happily) sell you a new laptop). so long for being green.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#458

Post by timeon »

gavinray wrote: post #394
gloxkiqcza wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you only ever travel by car? Serious question.

Mostly, but also take it when I fly, along with a mouse + mouse pad. The weight has never bothered me, usually the backpack with the laptop in it is the lightest bag and then I have a much heavier carry on as well.

So that makes sense it is not issue for you if you mostly travel by car. But it can be for those that use bike or public transport or just walk. (As example last time I used car about two months ago).

Re: MacBook Air M4

#459

Post by homefree »

ninetyninenine wrote: post #439
homefree wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have superior technology because they control the full stack and have taken more and more ownership of it over the years (most recently building their own modem in the iPhone 16e). They could design chips for an exact set of constraints (originally iPhones) and then expand that to the mac. Intel with x86 had to support legacy and tons of different devices (and bad leadership caused them to ignore efficiency and…

No they don't all their technology is equivalent to what's in the industry save their chips. Which btw is manufactured by TSMC so the chip itself is not vertically integrated.

My argument is they were able to develop the chip because of their control. The constraints allowed them that freedom and the constraints come from the top down integration and control.

I'll bow out here because I can just tell this won't be a worthwhile thread.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#460

Post by buildfocus »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #449
buildfocus wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I upgraded to the AMD board and the larger batteries and this improved significantly - 7/8 hours of real usage now, which for me is fine. On linux with minor tweaking. Depends what you need, but surely for most people a full workday without power is manageable!

Are those numbers with power saver mode turned on? For what this laptop is being used for I don’t need much muscle and would rather need to charge less frequently.

No, normal usage with no special power saver options. Turning off WiFi+minimal brightness+power saving etc pushes it further, but I'm rarely in a scenario where I want to do that for more than a couple of hours anyway.

I've heard Windows defaults or more advanced Linux games can do better, but at this stage I don't feel the need.

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