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MacBook Air Purchase

S

stockcerts

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 29, 2007
1,305
29
Pensacola, FL
Merry Christmas. I have a four year old MacBook Pro (with Intel), and I'm considering replacing it soon with a MacBook Air with M3. My MacBook Pro is a 13", and I will probably splurge for the 15" as I no longer use a desktop Mac.

Does anyone here know when the next model Air is due out...which may have an M4? I'm trying to decide if it's worth waiting a little longer if the next model is coming out soon.

Thanks in advance!
 
stockcerts said:
Merry Christmas. I have a four year old MacBook Pro (with Intel), and I'm considering replacing it soon with a MacBook Air with M3. My MacBook Pro is a 13", and I will probably splurge for the 15" as I no longer use a desktop Mac.

Does anyone here know when the next model Air is due out...which may have an M4? I'm trying to decide if it's worth waiting a little longer if the next model is coming out soon.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
A M4 MBA is expected around March. If you are not in a hurry, I would suggest to wait, M4 is much better than M3 in both single- and multi-core performance - the latter is actually on par with M3 Pro 12C.
 
stockcerts said:
Merry Christmas. I have a four year old MacBook Pro (with Intel), and I'm considering replacing it soon with a MacBook Air with M3. My MacBook Pro is a 13", and I will probably splurge for the 15" as I no longer use a desktop Mac.

Does anyone here know when the next model Air is due out...which may have an M4? I'm trying to decide if it's worth waiting a little longer if the next model is coming out soon.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Rumors say early 2025, which would be between January to March/April of the year. But I think it will be released in a couple of weeks time, i.e. by mid January.

Expecting not much to change. A new M4 processor and maybe Center stage camera. Maybe it is better to wait for a few weeks before purchasing. M3 models are also very good and nothing wrong in buying it and might find some good discount too.
 
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I'm in a similar boat.

Assuming you're based in the US, the best discounts for the M3 Air (16GB/24GB RAM base models) have been $100 less than Apple's normal EDU pricing. The M4 Air is right around the corner (Jan - early March). If you can wait, the CPU bump from M3 to M4 alone is worth $100 more. In addition, the M3 Airs will drop further in price if you feel like the M4 updates aren't attractive enough for, say, $200 more (assuming the M3s get an additional $100 discount).

My amateur guess for M4 Air updates based on the M4 iMac and Mac Mini launch is:
- M4 8-core base CPU model (16gb RAM, 256gb SSD) and a 10-core CPU for upgraded SKUs (512gb+ SSD, 16/24gb RAM)
- 12MP Center Stage Camera
- Dual external monitor support with lid open
- Increased display SDR nits and Nano Texture display option for the upgraded SKUs (like iMac M4)
- Possibly new color options (Space Black?)

- Unlikely: a third TB4 port on the right side but it might encroach on the base M4 MacBook Pro's differentiating features
- Extremely unlikely: ProMotion (120hz) or ProMotion "lite" (90hz) but only in a scenario where the base iPhone 17s and the iPad Air also get this feature, starting with the Macbook Airs.

Hope this was helpful.
 
stockcerts said:
Merry Christmas. I have a four year old MacBook Pro (with Intel), and I'm considering replacing it soon with a MacBook Air with M3. My MacBook Pro is a 13", and I will probably splurge for the 15" as I no longer use a desktop Mac.

Does anyone here know when the next model Air is due out...which may have an M4? I'm trying to decide if it's worth waiting a little longer if the next model is coming out soon.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Ja wait for the M4 if possible. If not, the M3 is fine.

The nice thing about the M3 (and M4 I presume) is they come with 16 GB RAM on the base models.

One review, I think it may have been a macrumors review, found the 13" more useful than the 15".
 
Worth mentioning, the M3 13" is actually 13"6.
I often miss the size of my 2013, 2018 MBA, and Joni and gang.

The 2024 MBA is of course better, and with slimmer bezels too, and it would be really great if it was a bitt smaller. But Apple sells what they do, in different times.

2025 M4 will be with some upgrades, of course, but with same size.
 
Should be imminent. We know M4 MacBook Air will likely ship with macOS 15.2. This puts it in the January or February timeframe.
 
If you can wait, the new refresh really does seem immiment. March would be my usual guess but the new model showed up in the macOS code so it could be end of January. But I’d wait unless you stumble upon a really good deal.

I got my mom the 16GB/256 M3 MBA for Christmas and managed to get it for $850 from Best Buy during Black Friday - a solid $250 off MSRP and $150 off education store (the $750 16GB M2 was an even better deal and would’ve been fine for mom but I just splurged b/c YOLO) and at that kind of savings, I had zero qualms about buying a computer near the end of its retail lifecycle (tho presumably the M3 will continue to be sold as the M2 has). The 15” models haven’t had the same deep discounts but I'd be on the lookout, especially as retailers might look to clear out stock

That said, if the M4 can support 2 displays at once with the lid open, depending on your use case, that might be worth the wait even more than any performance uplifts, especially since you’re coming from an Intel MBP.
 
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