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Apple Announces New MacBook Air Models With M3 Chip

I'm a Windows user that will be moving back over to Apple (used Apple last around 2006), so I was excited for this new announcement.
I just priced out the M3 15" MBA 24GB RAM & 1TB SSD and it's $3,400AUD, with 7 days free AppleCare, and then approx. $250 for three years. I know the these work so much better than intel, but on the surface the prices are so steep for those specs.

Judging from the comments here, I think I might look into a used M1 or M2 MBPro with similar specs. More ports and there doesn't seem to be a noticeable performance boost with the M3. Or at least with my work, I probably won't notice it.
 
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Reminded said:
I'm a Windows user that will be moving back over to Apple (used Apple last around 2006), so I was excited for this new announcement.
I just priced out the M3 15" MBA 24GB RAM & 1TB SSD and it's $3,400AUD, with 7 days free AppleCare, and then approx. $250 for three years. I know the these work so much better than intel, but on the surface the prices are so steep for those specs.

Judging from the comments here, I think I might look into a used M1 or M2 MBPro with similar specs. More ports and there doesn't seem to be a noticeable performance boost with the M3. Or at least with my work, I probably won't notice it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, keep an eye on the Apple refurb site. There's not a very compelling reason to buy the M3 MBA.
 
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bigpoppamac31 said:
Looks like the M2 MBA are now even less expensive on the Apple refurb page. Better to get one of those or spring for the M3? Coming from a 2015 MBP 15".
Click to expand...

Just still a tough sell for me on a loaded up 15" M2 MBA refurb

$1800 for 60hz screen, only 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD (which the fastest NVMe out there are like $160-200 on Amazon)

Screenshot 2024-03-04 154811.png
 
turbineseaplane said:
16gb across the board would cost Apple absolutely pocket change ... but those juicy component upgrade profits
Click to expand...
In my case, it’s actually hurting Apple that they didn’t bump the specs. I would have bought the new air if it came with 16/512 and upped the ssd to 1tb for 200.
Those are my current specs on an m1 air but I would have loved a fresh battery, more battery time and that MagSafe to keep it powered while having two devices plugged in the tb ports.
However, common sense forbids me paying more for my current specs than what I paid for three years ago just to get some qol improvements.
So I’m sitting this one out as well, and will continue until the wheels fall off on my current air.
But I am sure Tim Apple knows what’s up and has all the data in his excel sheet…
 
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johnnytravels said:
So I’m sitting this one out as well
Click to expand...

Right there with you my friend
Another year of passing on any Mac purchase it looks like

Repurposed my i7 8700 Hackintosh build for Windows 11 w/ an RTX 3070 (sold my RX 6800)
Still have my 2015 MBP 15", but the battery swelling is starting to become an issue, so who knows how long that has.

Edit/Update: New battery coming on Friday for my 2015 MBP! Excited to also repaste the CPU while I'm in there. Also going to try out a different SSD (1TB from Timetec), for fun
 
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Ubuntu said:
True, but sadly these days I find myself preferring mechanical keyboards.
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I recently tried out my M1 iPad Pro with my mechanical Logitech keyboard, and Logitech M3 Mouse. Granted I would not haul this all to a coffeeshop, but for longer trips I would. I'm guessing those with a MacBook could do the same if they felt the mechanical keyboard and mouse was an advantage for certain uses.
 
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bgillander said:
Yeah, those chips are made out of sand, and that stuff is free at my local beach! What a scam! /s
Click to expand...
The fact is that the 8 gb ram chips are so cheap at this point that yes, the 200 dollar up charge is essentially pure profit. There’s no other explanation. They charge it because people pay it. If you want a new apple you have to play the game.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
Right there with you my friend
Another year of passing on any Mac purchase it looks like

Repurposed my i7 8700 Hackintosh build for Windows 11 w/ an RTX 3070 (sold my RX 6800)
Still have my 2015 MBP 15", but the battery swelling is starting to become an issue, so who knows how long that has.
Click to expand...
I did bite the bullet a couple years back. M1 Max 16 inch 2TB. I hated how much it cost but the 2015 was just chugging and making it harder for me to do my job. It’s an amazing machine to be sure but that price hurt. A lot.
 
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profcutter said:
The fact is that the 8 gb ram chips are so cheap at this point that yes, the 200 dollar up charge is essentially pure profit. There’s no other explanation. They charge it because people pay it. If you want a new apple you have to play the game.
Click to expand...
I used to gripe about their RAM pricing back when it was just standard DIMMs. Now that it is part of the CPU module, I actually have a bit more sympathy in that it is a fair bit more complicated to the supply chain and not just something I could easily pop in myself.

That said, yes, companies put things together and try to make as much money as they can from that assembly. That is how business works, and every other computer company charges as much as they think they can, too. If you look at sale prices versus retail, you get some idea how much they will charge you if you are willing to pay it. Amazingly, Apple apparently has enough appeal to get near that retail price.
 
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profcutter said:
I did bite the bullet a couple years back. M1 Max 16 inch 2TB. I hated how much it cost but the 2015 was just chugging and making it harder for me to do my job. It’s an amazing machine to be sure but that price hurt. A lot.
Click to expand...

Whoa! Sweet ride! Congrats!
No objection to any of the hardware from me ... I just can't stomach/justify the costs at this point.
 
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