M4 MacBook Air Benchmark Suggests GPU on Par With M4 iPad Pro

[ThailandToo]

Wouldn't be surprised if that stays as a MacBook Pro exclusive.

Possible but it’s available on iMacs and iPad Pros and one has a “pro” moniker but the other doesn’t. What I don’t get is there’s no standard configuration with the nanotexture. Has to be special ordered. Would be nice if Apple just included both as a good better strategy so people can decide without special ordering.

 

[Aeronauts]

So the new MBA will be a year behind the iPad Pro. There is something wrong when the iPad is more powerful that the Mac.

 

[maxoakland]

A GPU on par with an iPad sounds bad

 

[Mike Boreham]

Yes, with the announcement of the MacPros in the refurb store a few weeks ago. I priced a 14" M4 Pro MacBook Pro with 24GB of RAM, versus a a 15" M3 Air (Using it as a price comparison until the M4's were announced), with 24GB RAM and there was so little difference that I just decided to to with the refurb pro. Definitely not unhappy with the decision.

People buy Airs because they are silent, lighter, thinner, cooler etc .....so if these are not important to you it absolutely makes sense to get the Pro.

If the modest extra performance of the M4 vs M3 is actually important then they should also probably be getting a Pro.

 

[HJM.NL]

Is a shame it’s taken Apple so long to get these to the airs seeing as they were in the wild coming up to a year ago.

I’m tempted by a new air but don’t like the idea the tech is already so old!

Every serious hardware company is updating their whole lineup all together once the new chips comes available.
They often come with with better design and other new specifications.

Apple is taking a different approach and is spreading it out over years. Often just a chip swap and releasing products with 6 months inbetween to mask how lazy they’ve become. It’s time competition heats up and force Apple to take their products seriously.

 

[hajime]

Since Apple has been delaying the release for the M4 Air for so long and the M5 is in production, I am more interested in comparison with M5 iPad Pro.

 

[NT1440]

The original MBA had a fan. Would be nice if they still had fans, but I guess Apple needed a way to differentiate between MBA and MBP

That’s explicitly the point of the Air models.

Apple separates performance tiers by their the amount of heat can be dissipated. That’s how powerful these chips are, and the point of moving to AS. One architecture for the whole line, differentiated by how much heat can be removed.

From a logistics standpoint it’s a brilliant strategy.

 

[definitive]

"This is going to be our best and fastest MacBook Air ever!"

 

[BigJohno]

Well... yeah?

I mean they needed to come up with some kind of story for today's news.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Since Apple has been delaying the release for the M4 Air for so long and the M5 is in production, I am more interested in comparison with M5 iPad Pro.

• M5 iPad Pro: a little bit faster than M4 iPad Pro but limited by iPadOS
• M4 MBair: a little bit slower than M5 iPad Pro but more powerful courtesy of macOS

 

[paulvee]

why do you need 24GB ram? do you do 3D games?

There are many reasons why people might want to get 24GB of RAM - and lots more - such as large Photoshop projects, same with audio or even a large book in InDesign that has hundreds of large image files. Or video. Or serious rendering or compiling. It may not fit YOUR usage scenarios, but 16GB is not enough for many people who create things.

 

[Howard2k]

Probably also safe to assume that with Apple bumping the base spec to 16GB, and continuing to develop Apple Intelligence, we will see more and more local processing of AI type tasks. Particularly since the M4 also boosts a huge improvement in the neural engine. Those tasks may benefit from more RAM.

 

[Student of Life]

People buy Airs because they are silent, lighter, thinner, cooler etc .....so if these are not important to you it absolutely makes sense to get the Pro.

If the modest extra performance of the M4 vs M3 is actually important then they should also probably be getting a Pro.

Your also forgetting the beautiful screen, promotion, real hdr and now q-dot on the m4 MacBook pros.

 

[Lift Bar]

There are many reasons why people might want to get 24GB of RAM - and lots more - such as large Photoshop projects, same with audio or even a large book in InDesign that has hundreds of large image files. Or video. Or serious rendering or compiling. It may not fit YOUR usage scenarios, but 16GB is not enough for many people who create things.

More RAM enhances capability, particularly tasks like music production benefit from higher memory.

There’s a solid case for buying base-spec MacBook Airs, especially now that 16GB is standard. But the argument that you should buy only what you need for basic tasks like browsing and email is flawed. Any laptop with an SSD can handle those effortlessly. This problem was solved over a decade ago. Might as well get an old machine for less than a memory upgrade on any new MacBook.

No one needs a new MacBook for casual use. An M1 Air remains incredibly capable, and old Intel MacBooks, if you can tolerate the battery life, work fine for basic tasks. Or if all you do is browse the web, maybe a Chromebook?

 

[dominiongamma]

There were no M4 MacBooks Airs in the wild a year ago. That was the M3.

Even when the m3 came out it was dated

 

[Spock]

Wouldn't be surprised if that stays as a MacBook Pro exclusive.

It did come to the iMac so it is not impossible.

 

[mannyvel]

So fast you won't need another one for 7 years.

 

[verdi1987]

Did anyone here go from a 2019 intel mbp to a M3 air? How was it?

I had a 2018 Core i9 MBP and have an M3 Air (and an M3 Max MBP). The Air is leaps and bounds ahead of the Intel MBP. My Intel MBP fried itself within a year because of thermal issues. I also had an additional two keyboard replacements. No issues with the Air.

 

[noobinator]

I eagerly await a 16/512 M4 in Space Black.

 

[andiwm2003]

People buy Airs because they are silent, lighter, thinner, cooler etc .....so if these are not important to you it absolutely makes sense to get the Pro.

If the modest extra performance of the M4 vs M3 is actually important then they should also probably be getting a Pro.

Agree with the first part. However it makes sense to wait for the M4 even if it’s just a modest performance increase. Why buy a M3 now if you can wait? It always is better to wait as long as possible unless you have a good student discount resale scheme going.

 

[entropys]

A GPU on par with an iPad sounds bad

Don’t worry, the difference in performance will be noticeable compared with an M3 MBA.
While the jump from M2 to M4 in the IPP isn’t noticeable expect in benchmarks. I had(have) both and know.
MacOS takes advantage of the power, iPadOS does not.

 

[n-evo]

I mean they needed to come up with some kind of story for today's news.

And people are still clicking and biting. Myself included.

 

[DrJR]

No computer faster than my iPad M4. Runs at ludicrous speed.

 

[mrhansolo]

why do you need 24GB ram? do you do 3D games?

No. In the past year I have found myself using Photoshop to work on several 36"x48" projects. I also use InDesign and QGIS on my Mac. 24GB is probably overkill, as is the M4 Pro, but I've had the M1 Mini 16GB (that this machine is replacing) since it came out, and 16GB just became standard. The way I look at it, I want this MacBook Pro to last just as long and the extra 8gb of RAM can't hurt anything. Maybe by the time this machine is upgraded 24GB will be standard.

 

[vincedu69]

No. In the past year I have found myself using Photoshop to work on several 36"x48" projects. I also use InDesign and QGIS on my Mac. 24GB is probably overkill, as is the M4 Pro, but I've had the M1 Mini 16GB (that this machine is replacing) since it came out, and 16GB just became standard. The way I look at it, I want this MacBook Pro to last just as long and the extra 8gb of RAM can't hurt anything. Maybe by the time this machine is upgraded 24GB will be standard.

Yes 24 GB is definitely not overkill if you're doing all that. I also hesitated between a MBA and a MBP, I ended up with a MBP with 16GB of RAM and that's definitely the limiting thing. Not that I feel it's outdated already obviously, but it might not last as many years as I wished. I'll probably wait until that computer is outdated to upgrade, probably to a lighter MBA.
I'm still curious why you updated so early to get a machine "to last just as long" if you think that 16 GB of RAM is not preventing you from what you're trying to achieve - but you probably had other reasons.