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Apple Announces New MacBook Air Models With M3 Chip
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None that I know uses one.
Not sure what thatās supposed to mean. But why not? Keep up good OS support for a few more Intel Intel/AMD models so long as the hardware meets the requirements for Metal.
Not to mention, MetalML works on those cards too.
Yet at the same time, still sell M1, M2 models, making money still, while showing off the benefits of buying the highest end.
Whoa the excitement from Apple. That crept out like a silent fart hope that is the big Spring Release people have been talking about, pretty sad if it is. Also where is all the talk about the M4 chip nothing from Apple or the main fanboy sites, maybe people need to get major realize chip upgrades are not usually a yearly thing. Apple is getting older and not moving as fast.
I suspect the next big announcement for MacBooks (pro at least) will be OLED displays. Theyāre a little behind the times, because premium PCs have had it for a long while. I think apple may have misjudged how long it would take to commercialize microLED, or maybe theyāve just been doing their thing, charging the same for older tech because they can.
I was an intel MacBook Air owner, waited years for a good upgrade. Apple Never delivered. Instead I bought an i9 Samsung Galaxy Book Pro with 1TB and 16GB of RAM. Apple offers a measly 256GB HD and 8GB of RAM in 2024. Apple truly hates their customers. There is no reason a laptop over 1k should come with 256 sad GB. This isnāt the year 2000, we are in 2024 1TB should be the standard. Apple wants 1700 for the same 1TB, 16GB setup, thatās high robbery! Iām not going to buy another Mac until Apple starts selling them with 16GB RAM standard!
A problem is that the tax rate in the US varies by state, county and city. There is not a single uniform rate. And to further complicate it, some states (e.g.; California) have a rule that bases the sales tax rate based on where you live, not where you make your purchase.
2 external display support is huge. Finally Apple!
honestly, all these machines now are so good. Even my little Samsung galaxy tab 9 FE plus does an amazing job.. hard to find anthing relly that cant do most of what people now need...
Either you were not actually buying computers in 2000 or have a short memory, as 1 GB RAM and a 20 GB hard drive (not SSD) would have been high end on a notebook at that time, while 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD would have been unattainable. They also were rather expensive, relative to today.
I am an Intel MacBook Air owner and even the M1 Air was a great upgrade. Do I wish the base model came with more RAM and storage for the same price, of course, but the base model is still far more functional than my Intel Air ever was with the same configuration.
MacBook Air M1 to MacBook Air M2: 20 Months
MacBook Air M2 to MacBook Air M3: 19 Months
MacBook Pro M1 Pro to MacBook Pro M2 Pro: 15 Months
MacBook Pro M2 Pro to MacBook Pro M3 Pro: 9.5 Months
Yes, I know it is only 2 chips, but the simple math of multiplying the 1/8th size that was incorrectly quoted still seemed like it would be far more accurate pricing than the initial part you quoted.
I cannot find pricing on that part and the Samsung page indicates it is only sampling currently, so please post the link you are quoting for pricing, since it is fairly strange that it is available on a part not yet in production.
Like you, I do not have the exact part number, but I searched Samsung's LPDDR parts for a 64Gb part that is actually in production and found K3LK7K70BM-BGCP. If you do a search on that part you should find that it is available on AliBaba for pricing around (and often much over) $20 a piece (you should also find a few listings where it looks like $6 because they aggregate parts, but if you select the correct option of the actual part, it should rise to $19.88.)
That gives pricing of around $40 for the two chips required, which is actually closer than I expected to the linear scaling 800% I suggested.
Ok fair enough, but at what quantities are we talking about? If you get 2 copies of the chip itās 20 dollars. How about 5000? 10000? 50000? Thatās what Iām talking about regarding wholesale pricing. Appleās not going on Ali express and buying parts piece by piece. Theyāre buying in mass quantities. Imagine how much it would cost them to buy m3 max chips one at a time from TSMC.
If I use DigiPart for pricing as you did, I see the pricing quoted there starts at $46 and drops to $30 in quantity, so $60 for the two chips if I use your source. I'm not sure why you guys seem to think LPDDR is cheap, but your assumptions are way off.
I used digipart because it took about 10 seconds to find a (incorrect, mind you) part number, not because it was definitive. The question was, how much does it actually cost Apple to put 2 8GB chips on the board instead of 2 4GB chipswhen theyāre charging 200 dollars for the privilege. Iām sorry but I simply donāt believe theyāre paying anywhere near 200 dollars, or even 20 dollars for the chips in the quantities weāre describing. I guess weād need an inventory sheet to know for sure. The point is that the up charge for RAM is intense, and not necessary considering the overall margin apple gets from both prebuilt and CTO models. I get it, thatās profit, and thatās capitalism. But at some point it would be nice to know there was some limit.
Well, the main problem then is that you are thinking a company is going to sell you a part they use in an assembly for anywhere near the cost they pay for that part. I've worked in manufacturing and that is not how manufacturing works, because every company would go broke very quickly if they did that. You might want to start looking at everything you own and think about the actual cost of materials. Try creating a business where you sell everything for what you paid for it or less.
Yes, Apple charges a premium, and I would love if they lowered their prices, but the ridiculous numbers people throw around with a total lack of reality is truly frustrating. Saying Apple pays a dollar for something that costs 20 times that amount just makes these complaints sound ludicrous and actually makes me more sympathetic to Apple. I'd be happy if they lowered their prices by 10%, but why would they if everyone would still complain because they think there is no cost to make anything. Realistic complaints make sense to me, and there are many to be made, but complaints that have no basis in realistic pricing are just noise.
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Depends what you have now. I think the next big update to the MBA is when they put an OLED screen on it, in three or four years. Incremental updates all the way until then.
I actually think that the M2 Air at the cheaper price point might be the better value if you don't use more than one external display. Not sure anybody will notice the performance difference between M2 and M3 in real world use.
There's been rumors of a 12" too. I had forgotten that.
But of course Apple release the 13" first.
Ah well, I'm gonna clean out my old MBA, which could take some time.
See if anything about the 12" will surface during that time.
Otherwise a new 13" it will be.
But of course Apple release the 13" first.
Ah well, I'm gonna clean out my old MBA, which could take some time.
See if anything about the 12" will surface during that time.
Otherwise a new 13" it will be.
What I meant was Apple are trying to showcase their M3 against the Intel laptops is like comparing an F1 car's capabilities to one from the 1990's. Obviously it is leaps and bounds in terms of performance and there are comparing it to the Items chips to sound better. "60x speed's compared to Intel" sounds more convincing in a sales and marketing term compared to "a little faster than an M2 chip but not by much".
Apple are beginning to milk the cow as hard as they can, compromising on innovation.
Q: If I want to connect two 4k monitors (on 60Hz) to a hub or dock, what do I need?
- Will a USB-C dock/hub suffice?
- Or do I need a Thunderbolt dock/hub? Thunderbolt 3? Thunderbolt 4?
- What brands/models would be good choices?
A lot of the usual noise about what Apple could have done, should have done and didnāt do, but what we got Monday was largely exactly what was expected.
New MacBook Airs 13 and 15 with M3 with about 15-20% performance boost over M2 models and some hardware tweaking. The surprise news was the ability to connect two external monitors for the M3 Airs as well as for M3 Pros (with a software update)āsomething people have been clamouring for for awhile now. Also no changes in price which also largely expected.
I admit I thought the M1 might linger for awhile longer because I didnāt expect the M2 13 Air to replace it as the new entry level model, at least until/if Apple releases an even lower cost MacBook. But an M2 Air as entry level is not a bad deal particularly with an anodized coating to fix the fingerprint issueāsomething that should have been done earlier with the M2 models.
I think some perspective is lost over these current MacBook Airs. Go back 3-4 years when you had to choose from Intel MacBook Airsāthey were really not much to write home about and you paid a premium for the experience. Apple silicon has completely transformed and redefined the MacBook Air. This is now a very respectable machine, and if you want the same performance in a Windows device you have to pay at least this kind of money and yet still wonāt have this build quality as well as battery life. Seriously in the Intel days no one would consider even light video editing or 3D modelling on a MacBook Airānow you can do it if you need to.
All the whining about supposed lack of innovation is just stupid noise from spoiled someones I suspect donāt really know what the word innovation means and how it works. Introducing gimmicks as pointless features few actually use and/or donāt last is not real innovationāTouch Bar anyone?
New MacBook Airs 13 and 15 with M3 with about 15-20% performance boost over M2 models and some hardware tweaking. The surprise news was the ability to connect two external monitors for the M3 Airs as well as for M3 Pros (with a software update)āsomething people have been clamouring for for awhile now. Also no changes in price which also largely expected.
I admit I thought the M1 might linger for awhile longer because I didnāt expect the M2 13 Air to replace it as the new entry level model, at least until/if Apple releases an even lower cost MacBook. But an M2 Air as entry level is not a bad deal particularly with an anodized coating to fix the fingerprint issueāsomething that should have been done earlier with the M2 models.
I think some perspective is lost over these current MacBook Airs. Go back 3-4 years when you had to choose from Intel MacBook Airsāthey were really not much to write home about and you paid a premium for the experience. Apple silicon has completely transformed and redefined the MacBook Air. This is now a very respectable machine, and if you want the same performance in a Windows device you have to pay at least this kind of money and yet still wonāt have this build quality as well as battery life. Seriously in the Intel days no one would consider even light video editing or 3D modelling on a MacBook Airānow you can do it if you need to.
All the whining about supposed lack of innovation is just stupid noise from spoiled someones I suspect donāt really know what the word innovation means and how it works. Introducing gimmicks as pointless features few actually use and/or donāt last is not real innovationāTouch Bar anyone?
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I am with you. This update is about what I would have expected as a spec bump on a model that is in the middle of its design life. There is no way Apple was going to change the form factor or design, since the current model isn't even 2 yrs old (less for the 15in), and Apple's typical MBA re-design cycle is 4-5 years. The two external monitors was a pleasant surprise. Otherwise, a typical spec update to an already terrific laptop.
I am a long time fan of the MBA. It has been my go to computer for over a decade. So, I am happy to see Apple continue to update and improve this computer.
Same here. Still use a base 2020 intel MBA, and it works fine for what I do(light browsing+frontend work).