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

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

#511

Post by askonomm »

dodslaser wrote: post #441
nerdjon wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fixed my issue as well with a dock from UGreen and the DisplayLink software. Just unfortunate I had to do it.

I tried a DisplayLink dock once with my M1 Max MBP. It was incredibly laggy, pegged my cpu at 40%, and didn't let me set the correct resolution/scaling level for either of my monitors (horizontal 4k 32" and a vertical 4k 27", nothing exotic). A TB4 dock fixes most problems, but I have to hack the EDID to disable YCbCr and force RGB, or the colors look like absolute shit. The external monitors still look significantly…

> External display handling is easily the worst part of using a Mac for me.

Using more than is explicitly mentioned that is supported, you mean? I mean yeah, duh.

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

#512

Post by therealmarv »

freetime2 wrote: post #379
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?

A lot of USB-C monitors offer built-in usb hub support. So you would plug the monitors into the laptop, and the peripherals into the monitors.

my two 32" USB-C (displayport over USB-C) monitors do not have that

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

#513

Post by gnicholas »

jb1991 wrote: post #467
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I finally made the switch to Apple after being thoroughly frustrated with Windows laptops. It's not even close to a competition. Macbooks are just so far ahead of everyone else that you can't even compare them. Most Windows laptops have abysmal batteries, to the point that you can barely call them laptops. The trackpads are downright unusable. The keyboards are a hit or a miss. And for some reason, so many companies…

I'm still using an original M1 Air and the thing is used nearly all day for light casual web usage, and I only plug it in about two times per week -- the energy efficiency is no joke. This kind of battery life really spoils you and when you see other laptops that nearly require the plug charging all the time, tethered, you realize what a big deal these M chips are for true portability.

I end up forgetting my charger when I go on trips because 99% of the time when I unplug my laptop at home (to use in a different room), I never need the charge cable. It used to be 50% of the time I'd take the cable with me, so I could be somewhere else for 2+ hours. Now I so rarely bring the charger that it just doesn't even occur to me when I'm unplugging the thing to pack.

It's night-and-day compared to the Intel MBPs.

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

#514

Post by pquki4 »

lynguist wrote: post #464
yumraj wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, what’s worse is Apple, or is it random self-styled influencers , spreading the false narrative that Apple Silicon magically requires less RAM and people actually believing that.

No, but Apple tends to have faster RAM (way more bandwidth), faster SSDs, and macOS tends to have a better memory compression algorithm.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hmWPd7uEYEY

I am sick of people making claims without quoting any numbers about real-life performance.

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

#515

Post by dividedbyzero »

makeitdouble wrote: post #483
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I finally made the switch to Apple after being thoroughly frustrated with Windows laptops. It's not even close to a competition. Macbooks are just so far ahead of everyone else that you can't even compare them. Most Windows laptops have abysmal batteries, to the point that you can barely call them laptops. The trackpads are downright unusable. The keyboards are a hit or a miss. And for some reason, so many companies…

There's a volume zones of people who want "a laptop and nothing more", will pay for better materials and Apple has perfected that segment with a few caveats [0]. To your point, then comes the lower end ("just give me something cheap"), the corporate middle ("the same laptop as at work"), and the super high end (gaming, CAD, anything needing special software or a discrete GPU), with the outliers (linux etc) IMHO windo…

> For instance Lenovo or Asus definitely care about pushing laptops' limits and design. A lot. IMHO more than Apple.

It's a bit more nuanced. Lenovo/Asus seem to be experimenting a lot more, but more like by throwing (relatively) easy-to-build variations at the wall to see what sticks, then release a few more polished SKUs. Apple doesn't really do that, but they do attack those limits and design aspects they care about very aggressively and with a ton of resources (e.g. battery life pre-M1, manufacturing tolerances).

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

#516

Post by sva_ »

technothrasher wrote: post #406
izacus wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on, you're overexaggerating a bit. If you follow your pattern with Apple, you'll end up with a measly 8GB/256GB model which will only be useful for basic browsing. (And with more and more Electron apps, might struggle even with that once you hop onto a video call.)

> you'll end up with a measly 8GB/256GB model which will only be useful for basic browsing. I must be doing something wrong then. I've got one of those measly models and I do quite a bit more than just basic browsing without any problem. Video calls are the least of that, and they work fine.

> I'll have you know, my 2023 $1300 laptop is capable of doing video calls

Weird flex

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

#517

Post by Trollmann »

drooopy wrote: post #261
Trollmann wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in the EU? In Germany they ask for 1429€ for the configuration you specified.

That was my bad. I was looking at the 512 GB model + an additional 8 GB of RAM. Even so, €1429 for 16 GB of non-upgradeable RAM in 2024 is ludicrous.

Oh I agree, just thought that there was a place in Europe were the prices are even more outrageous.

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

#518

Post by jpalomaki »

skadamat wrote: post #408
rchaud wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that simple when there are multiple generations of each on sale, with wildly different prices should you change the storage or RAM toggle. The MacBook Air used to have a multiple USB-A ports plus video, now it 2 ports that have to handle everything. So now the dongle/no dongle question has to become considered as well.

Agreed that even Apple products have gotten confusing. But still 1-2 orders of magnitude less I feel than other laptops?

I think the lineup and config options on Apple laptops and tablets are carefully planned to make you spend more than you intially thought.

You start with the idea of cheap model, then start going the ladders up.

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

#519

Post by dangus »

itsoktocry wrote: post #474
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I finally made the switch to Apple after being thoroughly frustrated with Windows laptops. It's not even close to a competition. Macbooks are just so far ahead of everyone else that you can't even compare them. Most Windows laptops have abysmal batteries, to the point that you can barely call them laptops. The trackpads are downright unusable. The keyboards are a hit or a miss. And for some reason, so many companies…

> Macbooks are just so far ahead of everyone else that you can't even compare them. They are awesome, but not perfect. Way over-priced storage and RAM upgrades, can't connect multiple monitors unless you pay up, and you're stuck with MacOS. Any one of these could be reason enough for people to look elsewhere.

Price: if that’s the major qualm that’s not really a product flaw. The best product usually commands the highest price.

Stuck with macOS: technically not true, Asahi Linux exists.

Connecting multiple monitors: a legitimate negative limitation unusual at the MacBook Air price point, but still something that only a small fraction of consumer laptop buyers care about.

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

#520

Post by macinjosh »

Longhanks wrote: post #424
makeitdouble wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple continues to simplify the laptop naming scheme, we're at a point where it's simply: > Air OR Pro > Small screen OR big screen The weird part of that argument to me: to arrive to that point you've already made a ton of choices that need to be educated. You decided on the form factor: you don't want a convertible (neither a Surface like tablet + keyboard, nor something like a Yoga). You decided to forgo touch.…

In my experience, most people looking for "just a notebook" don't care about any of those things. They want a low maintenance, high performant (for day-to-day tasks, not gaming) portable computer with a great battery that runs Chrome, Office and Spotify, and comes with great customer service - nothing comes close to being able to bring your Mac to the next Apple Store.

And in my experience most people looking for "just a notebook" don't want to pay the prices Apple demands. Especially when they see prices on the non-Apple laptops.
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