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MacBook Air M4

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Re: MacBook Air M4

#481

Post by achandlerwhite »

vvillena wrote: post #363
Keyframe wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in another, bizarre camp. I'd pay double whatever they're charging for if I could run linux on it utilizing all of the hardware. Also, if notch went away, but that's another story. Unless someone knows of laptop hardware that comes close to both performance, comfort, and battery which can run linux.

You can make the notch go away with third-party apps. On the Pro laptops the screen has miniLED backlighting, so the dark area stays purely black. Removing the notch this way leaves you with a 16:10 screen, so you still have more screen real state than in most other laptops.

don't even need third party apps -- just pick a 16:10 resolution and the menu bar will shift down.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#482

Post by ninetyninenine »

homefree wrote: post #459
ninetyninenine wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But what other advantage did this give them? Like name specific examples. Feel free to leave, but I honestly don't see where you're coming from.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#483

Post by nicoburns »

pishpash wrote: post #318
Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Just tried ProMotion vs. 60Hz on MBP, no/very little difference I can see. Sure it's just me but for me all the claims here are way exaggerated/psychological, almost like audiophiles being able to "hear" stuff that doesn't exist in a blind test.

I'm generally ok with 60Hz (the difference isn't that significant to me). But I can definitely see the difference in a head-to-head comparison with fast moving content. The easiest way to see it for me was to move the cursor around quickly. With 60Hz there are much more visible "jumps" between positions. With 120Hz it animates much more smoothly.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#484

Post by Aeolun »

crazygringo wrote: post #398
toxik wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not imagined though, I use my partner’s phone sometimes and every time I used it I thought it was broken because the UI jitter was so jarring at 60Hz. Actually I’m still not convinced her phone isn’t broken. Also her flashlight resets to the lowest brightness EVERY time it’s cycled.

> because the UI jitter was so jarring at 60Hz See this is what confuses me. If the UI jitter on their phone was "so jarring", it's not because it's 60 Hz. It's because the phone's CPU isn't keeping up. Like, nobody watches a video filmed at 60 fps and then watches their favorite TV show or a motion picture at 24 fps and says "the jitter was so jarring". And that's at less than half the rate we're even talking about!…

If you switch from 60hz to 30hz you absolutely notice. I wouldn’t think it’s wrong to say it is jarring.

30hz is still perfectly usable, but you constantly feel as if something is off. Like maybe you have a process running in the background eating all your CPU.

I imagine going from 120hz to 60hz is the same thing. It should be theoretically indistinguishable, but it’s noticeable.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#485

Post by potatoman22 »

Spunkie wrote: post #198
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.

Totally an anecdote, but my 8gb M1 runs fine with multiple browsers/tabs, VS Code, and Spotify all open. Usually performance is only an issue for me when working with larger ML models. I wonder why others are getting worse performance? Maybe it's the specific sites they're using?

Re: MacBook Air M4

#486

Post by turtlebits »

intrasight wrote: post #415
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem with the Framework 13 at this point is underwhelming battery life. I have one of the newly announced models reserved in hopes that the new CPU improves that to a reasonable degree, but if reviews come out and that turns out to not be the case there’s a substantial chance I’ll cancel.

I honestly don't understand battery complaints. Cafes have plugs. Airplanes have plugs. Were are people working for hours without power?

Once you can go through a full workday without having to charge, it's a game changer. Same reason why an Apple watch that can't make it a full day would be a dealbreaker.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#487

Post by Izikiel43 »

buildfocus wrote: post #437
homefree wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing close, Apple has better talent and the vertical integration gives them an edge (especially on performance per watt on their chip designs). Since the M series chips, there's been no other option if you care about quality. There are crappy alternatives with serious tradeoffs if for some reason you are forced to not use Apple or choose for non-quality reasons.

Is the performance gap so huge? Power efficiency yes, absolutely, but for peak performance last I saw the last AMD vs M3 benchmarks were a slightly slower single core, and a little faster in multicore. Doesn't seem as world changing as described.

It's a laptop, same performance with higher power efficiency means same performance with a much longer mobile uptime, which makes the Macbooks tiers above their competition.

And for data centers, same performance at better power efficiency means hundreds of thousands of dollars saved in power.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#488

Post by lostlogin »

ninetyninenine wrote: post #420
intrasight wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't understand battery complaints. Cafes have plugs. Airplanes have plugs. Were are people working for hours without power?

its a huge convenience to never need one.

Has anyone ever been disappointed to have long battery life?

Re: MacBook Air M4

#489

Post by turtlebits »

indymike wrote: post #369
ruuda wrote: post #247

My 4-year old Dell XPS 15 is up for replacement, but somehow no manufacturer aside from Apple is making laptop with decent specs nowadays? I want 2TB storage, a 4k (or close) HiDPI display, good build quality, and not a bulky gaming laptop. The XPS 15 was perfect, it had those specs, except it only had 1TB storage which is now full. I was expecting that to not be an issue 4 years later ... But now Dell discontinued X…

I've been using LG Gram laptops running linux. They are fantastic. My current daily drive is 3lbs, 17" display, 32GB RAM i7 CPU, and I bumped the SSD to 2TB. It is lighter than my 13" Macbook air and cost $1200 at Costco. Oh, and battery life is 14-16 hours of use.

Had to use one for a few weeks. Low DPI screen and horrendous touchpad.

Re: MacBook Air M4

#490

Post by caycep »

homefree wrote: post #411
ruuda wrote: post #247

My 4-year old Dell XPS 15 is up for replacement, but somehow no manufacturer aside from Apple is making laptop with decent specs nowadays? I want 2TB storage, a 4k (or close) HiDPI display, good build quality, and not a bulky gaming laptop. The XPS 15 was perfect, it had those specs, except it only had 1TB storage which is now full. I was expecting that to not be an issue 4 years later ... But now Dell discontinued X…

There's nothing close, Apple has better talent and the vertical integration gives them an edge (especially on performance per watt on their chip designs). Since the M series chips, there's been no other option if you care about quality. There are crappy alternatives with serious tradeoffs if for some reason you are forced to not use Apple or choose for non-quality reasons.

yes, it's apple and oranges. Apple is making a Veblen good. Dell/Lenovo are making lowest-cost/lowest-bid commodities
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