I bought my M2 Pro MBP like a few weeks before they announced the M3s. I was watching the keynote and actually yelled "DAMMIT" when they showed off MY new computer with a faster SoC and in black. 😂
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First Benchmark Result Surfaces for MacBook Air With M3 Chip
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The id do not indicate anything about size, the M2 13" MBA is "Mac14,2". Apple haven't updated their ID page for Mac Book airs yet. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102869
I haven't owned a Mac in about 14 years but I have stopped thinking of them as laptops. I know they are still laptops of course lol but I just mean I see them more like a smartphone. Hardware is locked down with no way to upgrade it and finite life span because of OS support. Apps will stop working and you'll eventually not get security updates.
You could (can?) still find laptops that will let you upgrade the hardware and when Windows becomes too demanding you can install Linux. With Mac you are stuck with the hardware it came with and once Apple drops support with MacOS then you're out of luck. I get why they do it but it sucks.
In a way smartphones are disposable. You only expect to use one for 4-5 years. It's the same for Macs.
So yeah...get the highest spec you can afford.
The minimum I'd recommend is M2, 16GB, 256GB. 8GB is only acceptable if you are only browsing the internet, streaming music, watching videos. For everything else get 16GB. You'll know if you need 24GB RAM. If you need fast transfer speeds get 512GB SSD minimum even if you could deal with 256GB capacity.
You could (can?) still find laptops that will let you upgrade the hardware and when Windows becomes too demanding you can install Linux. With Mac you are stuck with the hardware it came with and once Apple drops support with MacOS then you're out of luck. I get why they do it but it sucks.
In a way smartphones are disposable. You only expect to use one for 4-5 years. It's the same for Macs.
So yeah...get the highest spec you can afford.
The minimum I'd recommend is M2, 16GB, 256GB. 8GB is only acceptable if you are only browsing the internet, streaming music, watching videos. For everything else get 16GB. You'll know if you need 24GB RAM. If you need fast transfer speeds get 512GB SSD minimum even if you could deal with 256GB capacity.
build to order.
apple offers basic configurations and they let you upgrade the processor, ram, storage, etc.
And superior single-core performance... if this (plus SSD speeds) are really about the same then the point has been reached for me to switch... I have a heavy workload and my MBP M1 Max is the first machine that handles my workflow with a bit of headroom... if I can have that in the Air then I'm all over it (was assuming it'd be the M4 or M5 before I'd transition... travel a lot and the MBP16 if def a bit chonky).
what do you use your MBP M1 Max for?
This is my first Mac since 2012 but just curious what these M-series chips can do. I'm not going to be doing a lot of demanding stuff on the new Air but want to get an idea of how far I could push it. I'm planning to buy Affinity Photo 2 for Mac to do my photo editing. Not sure what is the best Video editor for Mac. On PC i use Shotcut and have started learning DaVinci Resolve. I mostly work with basic videos shot on my iPhone but have recently been playing about with ProRes Log. I don't need to be able to do that kind of work on the Air because I can use my PC for that.
Because some people still have them and would like to know the performance difference?
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Browsing MacRumors and writing goofy comments is going to be so snappy now. 
Cause there are a lot of Intel Macs out there, and Apple is trying to temp them to upgrade.
Hardware is not upgradable, and after 10 years or so you will not get the security updates, that is an issue, but what apps stops working? And you can install Linux on the ARM-based Apple machines, both VM and bare-metal. By your definition there are not many laptops left in the market, lol.
Again... i've not owned a Mac in a long time so I am mistaken because I'm not totally up to date. That was just what I knew.
I read that Apps will stop being supported after some time. Like on iOS where you need a certain version so I assumed it was the same for MacOS.
I know you can run a VM but I didn't know you could install Linux on "bare-metal". I remember running Windows through bootcamp and I thought with Apple Silicon that it was difficult or not possible to run Windows on these systems. So I was mistaken, again, assuming it was the same for Linux.
Thanks for correcting me.
I am mostly interested in finding out if there is going to be any sort of improvement to the price of the M1 MacBook Air because it is still prohibitively expensive.
I want a cheapie laptop that is not too elegant, but runs great with that same super efficient CPU power and has a long lasting battery. I don't care how stylized it looks just stick it in some ugly thing make it cheap and yeah that's a laptop right there.
@krspkbl , 850 euros for bottom tier hardware from 4 years ago is prohibitively expensive. If I am enticed to buy something, it needs to be at the right price. I am open for a discussion rather than your passive aggressive emoji.
I want a cheapie laptop that is not too elegant, but runs great with that same super efficient CPU power and has a long lasting battery. I don't care how stylized it looks just stick it in some ugly thing make it cheap and yeah that's a laptop right there.
@krspkbl , 850 euros for bottom tier hardware from 4 years ago is prohibitively expensive. If I am enticed to buy something, it needs to be at the right price. I am open for a discussion rather than your passive aggressive emoji.
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Anybody know how to @ the author/editor of this story Tim Hardwick?
Should be "Geekbench 6" according to the results page they linked to:
Apple don't sell M1 Air anymore?
the lowest spec model is the 13" M2 with 8/256GB. At least here (UK) it is.
Apple is set on having 999 being the starting price for the Air so if the M1 Air is still being sold (new from apple) then it'll be 999 for the oldest/cheapest model.
For people like me who are still on Intel Macs and want to see what the upgrade path looks like.
Sounds like you’re describing a higher end Chromebook.
I think it’s a great idea and would prevent Apple from completely losing the education market.
Apple discontinued it.
Purchase what inventory is left on store shelves (so to speak) or buy it used.
Best Buy has it for $749.
Actually many people still haven't moved to Apple Silicon yet - the comparisons are practical in that regard.
There are certain features that newer versions of the OS implements, so some developers will likely at some point opt out to support older code base if you want upgrade their software, but it does not work the same as on iOS where you are bound to the App Store. (Although I am sure some people in Apple are in pain because of this).