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Buying a MBA, will the base configuration be enough for me?
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Couldn’t have said it better myself.
My folks ran a 2019 iMac i3 with the base specs until this year. They bought the M3 iMac, but went nuts on the specs, I said bigger hard drive and not so much the RAM. They run a 16GB/1TB one now, my dad love it, but very overkill for web surfing, email, Quicken and other low end tasks.
I was surprised the i3 made it since I had to dive into tasks and legacy drivers that were making it slow.
Your folks were wise to ignore your advice to go for "bigger hard drive and not so much the RAM." A new box is by definition for the future. SSD capacity is easy to add externally to a desktop box if needed (which it usually is not when storing the text-only usages you list). RAM OTOH is not upgradable, and 16 GB is a basic future minimum, not "very overkill."
Agreed, I would upgrade Ram anyway before I upgraded local ssd space. External SSD's are dirt cheap these days. Ram you are stuck with
Yeah, they’re the types that still close out apps when they’re not using them. Safari is typically open on its own. 16GB is very overkill for them. If 12GB is the future, it’ll still be overkill for their use case. Quicken isn’t a resource hog either.
Counterpoint.
It may be easy to add an external SSD, but it's a nuisance in actual use. It's a hassle connecting it, finding space for it (classroom chair, airplane counter, couch, etc.), dangling it, schelpping it, etc. If one has lots of photos, videos, and annotated PDFs that one wants quick access to, it's far better to have a built-in large SSD.
With the large storage space built in, you don't have to hunt up the SSD, there's no risk of leaving it somewhere (on vacation or out and about), and you can be sure your storage is always with you.
If the best camera is the one you have with you (i.e., in your iPhone), then the same is true about the best SSD being in your Mac. (Personally, I think the former is a dubious proposition, while the later is well worth following!)
It may be easy to add an external SSD, but it's a nuisance in actual use. It's a hassle connecting it, finding space for it (classroom chair, airplane counter, couch, etc.), dangling it, schelpping it, etc. If one has lots of photos, videos, and annotated PDFs that one wants quick access to, it's far better to have a built-in large SSD.
With the large storage space built in, you don't have to hunt up the SSD, there's no risk of leaving it somewhere (on vacation or out and about), and you can be sure your storage is always with you.
If the best camera is the one you have with you (i.e., in your iPhone), then the same is true about the best SSD being in your Mac. (Personally, I think the former is a dubious proposition, while the later is well worth following!)
I returned my Pro 14". This is simply a couch machine, browsing in the evening. Occasionally watching some tv on it, emailing, iMessage. I had buyers remorse over spending that much on a pro. Returned it and bought the base 13" MBA on sale for $849 at Best Buy. Tickled with this machine. Super portable if need be and does everything I need it to do, and is very snappy in everyday basic use. Plus the ROI is much higher on the lower end models of each tier.
And five or seven years from now that same base model machine will be doing just fine for your needs. Your workload is not going to increase by 25% in five years. Thus, what works now, will work in the future.
That is for the M3. Sale at Best Buy. Sale price is $899 but I am a plus member so that makes the price $849. Super happy with that deal on an M3
That converts to $300AUD cheaper than the EDU price here so not bad.
My 16/512 I got for $160AUD below EDU price, but I get $200 tax back too.
Did you get midnight?
I was tossing up the M3 pro too but even on sale would of been another a $1100AUD.
That is terrific. My base M2 MBA is the best computer I have ever owned, so I hope you are just as happy with your M3 MBA.
Thanks, I really think I will enjoy this machine for sure. I thought about the 15" but with the current sale, it was another $250 just for the size basically, as the 2 extra GPU cores wouldn't mean much for my use case
Not currently, I have in the past but just not my thing. You on the midnight air? I love the color out of the box but after being used it looks horrible to my OCD
yeah, not really finding FP a issue, I mainly use at home. I just love the colour.
I got this today for a bit of protection for a trip I am going on.
Keeps the colour and no prints at all.
Compatible for MacBook Air 13.6 inch Case M4 M3 M2 2025 2024-2022 Release Model A3240 A3113 A2681, Sturdy Protective Plastic Hard Shell Case Cover for MacBook Air M2 13 inch - Midnight Clear
Soonjet Compatible with MacBook Air 13.6 inch Case 2024 2022 2023 New M4 M3 M2 [100% Match Official Color] [Ultra Thin Armor] Protective Hard Shell Translucent Matte Cover for Laptop Model A2681 A3113
www.amazon.com.au
I am not big on cases, but I do love the midnight color when it's fresh. If they keep the midnight when M4 drops in the spring, and if I upgrade, maybe I'll consider the midnight color. I almost want a second base MBA to use for work when I have meetings and trainings vs lugging my windows brick laptop around, or buying an iPad for note taking. If I do pick one up now, ill try midnightyeah, not really finding FP a issue, I mainly use at home. I just love the colour.
I got this today for a bit of protection for a trip I am going on.
Keeps the colour and no prints at all.
Compatible for MacBook Air 13.6 inch Case M4 M3 M2 2025 2024-2022 Release Model A3240 A3113 A2681, Sturdy Protective Plastic Hard Shell Case Cover for MacBook Air M2 13 inch - Midnight Clear
Soonjet Compatible with MacBook Air 13.6 inch Case 2024 2022 2023 New M4 M3 M2 [100% Match Official Color] [Ultra Thin Armor] Protective Hard Shell Translucent Matte Cover for Laptop Model A2681 A3113www.amazon.com.au
Literally just did the same - well, I didn't return it. Bought an MBP M2 Pro 16Gb/512Gb mainly for the ProMotion screen because the MBA's temporal dithering gave me headaches; then I found out about Stillcolor over @ LEDStrain.
Traded it in on a Midnight Blue MBA M3 15" 16Gb/512Gb and will be putting it through its paces this evening after I spend time tweaking the display....but I know a few people who have MBAs, had headaches, and now use Stillcolor and all of them report that tweaking the display and installing the applet have resolved their headache issues.
What is stillcolor?Literally just did the same - well, I didn't return it. Bought an MBP M2 Pro 16Gb/512Gb mainly for the ProMotion screen because the MBA's temporal dithering gave me headaches; then I found out about Stillcolor over @ LEDStrain.
Traded it in on a Midnight Blue MBA M3 15" 16Gb/512Gb and will be putting it through its paces this evening after I spend time tweaking the display....but I know a few people who have MBAs, had headaches, and now use Stillcolor and all of them report that tweaking the display and installing the applet have resolved their headache issues.
It's a program that 'persistently' disables temporal dithering upon login.
Interesting reading! Does that means, it is still better to keep on using Intel MacBooks? Do their screens have that terrible LED strain too?