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I'll give you an example.

My wife didn't heed my advice and didn't wait 3 months for the iPhone 15 Pro, and got the 14 Pro. Now she doesn't have Apple Intelligence. I know it's not a huge loss at the moment, but with years to come, maybe this feature will become useful.

I'd personally either get a huge discount on the M3 Air ($500) OR buy a very old 2015 MBP for $100, work on it for 3-4 months, and then get the M4 Air. I definitely wouldn't buy the M3 Air for the full price.

With the 90 days return, if the M4 Air gets released in June (same as M2 was), you'll be very disappointed.
This is why I’m waiting until the M4 Air is released to see if I should make that my first MacBook or the M3, and to also see if I can score a discount.
 
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M4 chips are insanely good. I’d say it’s worth the wait if the op can wait.

They are, but all of the M series are insanely good. I have a selection from M1 to M4 Max. If you hold off 6 months for an M4, why not old off 18 months for an M5? At some point you need to commit or go without.

In the 3-6 months you spend "waiting" you could have been using a really nice machine that will easily last you 3-5 years at which point M6 or M7 (or later) will be out.

If you're a MacBook Air customer you're not as performance sensitive (or you'd be buying a Pro) so the non-benchmark difference between M3 and M4 in "general use" will be minimal. In "general use" the difference between my M1 Pro and M4 Max isn't massive outside of benchmarks. It's only when pushed, running the workloads I bought it to be able to handle.

In "general use" (i.e.. the web/video stuff an Air is aimed at) the chances are the battery life on any M series Air will last longer than you need to use the machine for in a single stretch of time.

When Mx+1 comes out, Mx doesn't suddenly become a boat anchor or noticeably bad. You're waiting until at least Mx+3 or later before the upgrade is worth it, in my opinion based on the history so far.
 
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