I do think 24/512 is the sweet spot for the M4 MBA
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Anyone buy the M4 Macbook Air with 32GB of RAM?
- Thread starter Mity
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I actually went for the M4 MacBook Air with 32GB of RAM a few months back, and it's been a solid choice for me. I needed the extra RAM for intensive tasks like video editing and running multiple virtual machines, and it handles them smoothly.
One of the things I really appreciate is its portability and battery life, which I find better suited to my on-the-go lifestyle compared to the MacBook Pro alternatives. The performance is impressive for an Air model— it feels almost on par with the Pro for most of my tasks except maybe the most graphics-intensive ones.
Regarding thermal management, I've noticed it gets warm during extended heavy use, like rendering videos or compiling large codebases, but not alarmingly so. In everyday use—like browsing, streaming videos, and using productivity apps—it stays cool. I think some of the reports you mentioned might be from stress tests, which are not typical of standard daily tasks.
Overall, if you value portability and don't need the absolute peak performance of a Pro model, the M4 MacBook Air with 32GB of RAM is a fantastic option.
One of the things I really appreciate is its portability and battery life, which I find better suited to my on-the-go lifestyle compared to the MacBook Pro alternatives. The performance is impressive for an Air model— it feels almost on par with the Pro for most of my tasks except maybe the most graphics-intensive ones.
Regarding thermal management, I've noticed it gets warm during extended heavy use, like rendering videos or compiling large codebases, but not alarmingly so. In everyday use—like browsing, streaming videos, and using productivity apps—it stays cool. I think some of the reports you mentioned might be from stress tests, which are not typical of standard daily tasks.
Overall, if you value portability and don't need the absolute peak performance of a Pro model, the M4 MacBook Air with 32GB of RAM is a fantastic option.
I did as well, a midnight 15" 24/512. I can't see where 32GB would make a huge difference for me. I do some 4k video editing with files from my Lumix S5IIX and a lot of photos as well. I haven't had any issues with the thermals at all so far. I haven't had any swap at all with the memory and the pressure has been great no matter what I've been doing.
Gaming with compatibility layers (GPTK, DXVK, DXMT, D3DMetal, Mesa, etc.).
Some games are memory hogs by itself while some others still have memory leaks when not running natively.
I came from a MacBook Pro M1 Pro 16" that I wished had more than 16G of RAM. When considering the 15 Air I was in doubt between 24 or 32. Since I want this computer to be my main driver (teaching, coding, ML tasks) I went for the 32GB.
I am currently writing on it. I have 14GB of free RAM, 14% pressure and Safari is using around 3GB and VSC 1.2GB. I could have saved some money but since I had to go CTO (512GB is not enough) I went for 32GB.
Very happy with it. Currently using around 4W total power with display at 7/16 and a Ethernet adapter, bluetooth to earphones. The migration through Time Machine was a breeze, even tough I had on a HDD and it was around 420GB of data. Took around 5h30 to complete with OS update.
This is my second day (and first complete workday) with it. I could not be happier, it is super fast compared to the already fast M1 Pro, but much more energy efficient (I get 12h on the previous machine but with a 99Wh battery). Still assessing the battery life on this one. Oh, and I am using it with energy saver on as I was on the previous one when on battery.
I thought I would miss the screen of the 16. Promotion, deeper blacks and all... gimmicks. It would be good to have a better panel on the 15, but not at the cost of energy and cost. As for size, it is just a smudge smaller than the 16, only noticeable side by side (all well as the superior blacks in Pro panel). One thing I done was place a screen protector in "glass" and matte finish. The Brotect Airless Matte was my choice and honestly I prefer the Air screen now to the Pro. Don't know about nano option on the new ones, but I get the screen rather dirty with specs and spit from talking in classes. I am appreciating the setup so far!
Best to you all,
PN
I am currently writing on it. I have 14GB of free RAM, 14% pressure and Safari is using around 3GB and VSC 1.2GB. I could have saved some money but since I had to go CTO (512GB is not enough) I went for 32GB.
Very happy with it. Currently using around 4W total power with display at 7/16 and a Ethernet adapter, bluetooth to earphones. The migration through Time Machine was a breeze, even tough I had on a HDD and it was around 420GB of data. Took around 5h30 to complete with OS update.
This is my second day (and first complete workday) with it. I could not be happier, it is super fast compared to the already fast M1 Pro, but much more energy efficient (I get 12h on the previous machine but with a 99Wh battery). Still assessing the battery life on this one. Oh, and I am using it with energy saver on as I was on the previous one when on battery.
I thought I would miss the screen of the 16. Promotion, deeper blacks and all... gimmicks. It would be good to have a better panel on the 15, but not at the cost of energy and cost. As for size, it is just a smudge smaller than the 16, only noticeable side by side (all well as the superior blacks in Pro panel). One thing I done was place a screen protector in "glass" and matte finish. The Brotect Airless Matte was my choice and honestly I prefer the Air screen now to the Pro. Don't know about nano option on the new ones, but I get the screen rather dirty with specs and spit from talking in classes. I am appreciating the setup so far!
Best to you all,
PN
How can there possibly be a "sweet spot" for memory and storage when everyone has a different use for their computer? Makes no sense to me. 24 is absolutely too low for my needs. 36/1T fits my needs and the needs of may others. If all I wanted to do was read my email and use the internet, 8/256 would have been fine.
I believe you took my post out of context. When I say sweet spot, I mean that it's a great balance of specs without too high of a cost. It means there will be people who need more, and are willing to pony up the cash, and it means there will be people who need less. I never mentioned 8/256 in my post....not to mention, they don't even make that anymore, so there's that.
Do you know the trick where you can divide each "square" of brightness level into four individual steps? Perhaps with that you could make it just right.
If you press Shift and Option keys, then as usual adjust the brightness with the key in the top row, it turns each "square" into four smaller squares. IIRC same works for volume.
This even works on my 2015 Intel MBP, so it must work on many Macs.
Great to see your post (and some others). I currently have similar: An early 2015 MBP
I carry my laptop with me often, so really don't want the chunkier Pro. Currently have 16GB/1 TB and am straining at the seams, so planning on an M4 Air 32 GB/2TB. I'm not one to carry (or even store) extra drives for more space. Right now I have a bunch of things off the computer to save space and it's like they don't exist.
As far as RAM, I don't do anything crazy; but, I have a terrible "tab" habit I need to support.
(Only reason I haven't ordered yet is with the somewhat extended delivery time-frame, I haven't been able to coordinate an arrival with having time to get it up and running within the 14-day return period in case something is wrong.)
Being old and old school, I always opt for as much memory as I can afford. In the case of a laptop that simply cannot be upgraded with more RAM after it's been built it seemed a no-brainer to get 32GB. At least I should be good for any software needs in my foreseeable future. As for the SSD, I stopped at 1TB since it's dirt easy to add more external storage if needed. In fact, instead of porting all my pictures and documents over from my Dell Inspiron I just dumped it all on a 1TB external SSD that I plug in whenever I need access to those files.
Ron
Ron