MacBook Air With M3 Chip: Reviews and Unboxing Videos

[cawgijoe]

Trying to decide between the 15" Air with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB HD versus 14" MBP with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB HD....price with education discount is the same. Would trade in my early 2020 Macbook Air (16 GB RAM, 512 HD), $375 trade in value.
Leaning towards the MBP...

 

[The Phazer]

The issues around the lid needing to be closed, disabling the camera and touch ID, to use a second monitor are really, really clumsy and stupid.

It feels like the product leads for Mac hardware are asleep at the wheel and don't give a **** about the usability of the product at this point.

 

[ghstzch]

The M3 MacBook Air is everything to enterprise IT departments.

We have approximately 5000 Macs in our fleet. The fact that up to 70% of these Macs intended for non-developers and non-power users can now eventually be a $1200 M3 MacBook Air, instead of a $2000+ 14" MacBook Pro, is huge and keeps the Mac ecosystem more in line with our costs on our standard Dell Latitudes -- still more money upfront sure, but not "twice as much" money. And where the Dells last 3 years tops, we run the Macs for up to 5, lowering TCO below Windows.

Why did we go with Pros before? Dual displays is non-negotiable when there's 11,000 desks each with 2 displays to light up.

We ordered 400 of these already to refresh employees on rapidly aging Intel hardware.

What do you all use to manage and deploy your Macs?

 

[krspkbl]

Ah, Geekbench. Useless numbers that don't really mean anything to anyone. As with the specs of most products they don't mean much until you get in the drivers' seat and get a feel for it. An export time of a 5 minute 4k clip from Final Cut or the time spent converting a 100k+ polygon mesh in Fusion into Brep would be more useful as a benchmark.

it is useless in real world scenarios but it is a benchmark. the idea is that it runs exactly the same across different hardware. you me and everyone else are not going to use their devices in the same way so yeah it's meaningless but it's still good to get an idea of performance improvements.

people need to be informed of how much better something is and get a baseline. it will help inform buying decisions but ultimately you need to use the product the way you want to and decide for yourself.

right now i think 16GB will be enough for me but maybe once i start using it then i'll think yeah i need more RAM. i doubt it but it's possible.

 

[Blackstick]

What do you all use to manage and deploy your Macs?

We use Jamf Pro for management, JamfConnect for identity/SSO, and also deploy Tanium (since our Windows side uses it for patching) for up to the second realtime info.

 

[Macalway]

If you don't like (or hate) the 'reviews'/plugs don't watch them. Just a suggestion LOL

I kinda respect working people. The problem is credibility. Almost all are not reviews but advertisements, where the company is paid indirectly. I tend to mute these, and ya know they're getting much more prevalent, everywhere.

 

[ghstzch]

We use Jamf Pro for management, JamfConnect for identity/SSO, and also deploy Tanium (since our Windows side uses it for patching) for up to the second realtime info.

Good to know, thanks for your insight here! We are expecting many more MacBooks in our environment by the end of this year so I'll definitely look into getting Jamf for our enterprise.

 

[applesith]

The 2 monitor support is really awesome. I have an M2 13" and only need single monitor support at the moment because my desk will not accommodate 2. But this is a reason for me to upgrade when that changes in the future.

 

[brofkand]

I really miss actual reviews, like the ones Anandtech used to do, after using the device for more than 10 minutes, including deep down analysis of the silicon, etc.

These are not more than brief hands-on if not pure superficial bullet-list cheerleaders running against the embargo timer.

And never anything negative to say because if they give the product a negative review they'll be off the reservation.

 

[SmugMaverick]

The utter disgusting faces of Apple shills in those videos, so scared to question the great Apple on anything for fear of being black listed.

This is very wrong, Apple continue to control the narrative on their latest boring upgrade and this sellouts continue to tell you its the best thing since sex.

by the time non shills get their hands on one, people are over it.

This gives you a insight into their attitude and how they handle criticism.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Me too! It’s near impossible to find an objective review these days - for a computer, mattress, stroller, etc. Consumer reports is still around, but doesn’t get the Apple “special deliveries” before the embargo period is lifted. Maybe that’s better, since these video “content creators” are really just a paid marketing front end for Apple.

Even consumer reports can be iffy though.

My Ford Fiesta (with a dual clutch transmission) that cost Ford something like 4 billion with a "B" dollars, initially got a green check for reliability, and my Bolt EV gets a red down-check for reliability because 100% of the cars had a battery recall, which is part of the drivetrain, and they treat it the same as if every car needs a new engine.

 

[k1121j]

Om so glad i have seen this review i was worried the laptop was not coming with stickers..

 

[Sowelu]

So this quote is interesting:

"Thus far, it's clear that the anodization blocks most fingerprint smudges, and the M3 looks better than an M2 in the Midnight color. However, Midnight is a harder color to block all of them, as I am still seeing some, specifically on the top and bottom cases of the 15-inch. That being said, on the inside around the keyboard and on or off the trackpad, it does a really good job of stopping them."

It has been mentioned (a few times) on this forum that Apple is only using this new anodization process on the lid, not the bottom or the keyboard deck (where it needs it most, IMO). I believe it was said that this was 'confirmed' when the M3 MacBook Pros were released. This quote, however, suggests that Apple is indeed using this anodization seal on all parts of the chassis, as they should.

Can someone with a Space Black MacBook Pro weigh in here? Hopefully M3 Midnight Airs will be reaching MacRumors Forum members soon for some real world feedback on this topic, too.

 

[krspkbl]

Trying to decide between the 15" Air with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB HD versus 14" MBP with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB HD....price with education discount is the same. Would trade in my early 2020 Macbook Air (16 GB RAM, 512 HD), $375 trade in value.
Leaning towards the MBP...

if price is the same then it really depends.

14 vs 15" display - not a huge difference but if you want the biggest screen and good value get the 15" Air.

standard LED display vs Mini LED - MiniLED is technically better but still has issues. I'd rather deal with a "glowing" screen than deal with blooming.

512GB vs 1TB storage - 512GB is more than enough for me. I'd probably do fine with 256GB but I want the faster SSD speeds. Would you prefer more storage?

SD and HDMI ports - if you have devices with SD cards or connect to HDMI displays get the MBP. if you go with the Air you gotta live the dongle life.

Active cooling - good for heavier workloads or light gaming. if you're just doing basic stuff with the odd photo/video editing or whatever then get Air.

 

[krspkbl]

The utter disgusting faces of Apple shills in those videos, so scared to question the great Apple on anything for fear of being black listed.

This is very wrong, Apple continue to control the narrative on their latest boring upgrade and this sellouts continue to tell you its the best thing since sex.

by the time non shills get their hands on one, people are over it.

This gives you a insight into their attitude and how they handle criticism.

I haven't watched a lot of Mac related videos over the last decade but holy bananas the last few days of watching Mac youtube videos has been awful. So much clickbait ("MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE", "I RETURNED MY MAC HERE IS WHY!", "THE TRUTH ABOUT MACBOOKS - YOU'LL BE SHOCKED!", "DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS", etc).

I've been trying to find useful information but it's like wading through **** trying to find any useful information.

 

[lindros2]

I really miss actual reviews, like the ones Anandtech used to do, after using the device for more than 10 minutes, including deep down analysis of the silicon, etc.

These are not more than brief hands-on if not pure superficial bullet-list cheerleaders running against the embargo timer.

Just wait until all of these people are replaced with ChatGPT.
They're giving a really good endorsement and validation for why these are useless.

(very different from deep reviews from mid-1990s, when we [me included] spent days to weeks reviewing hardware like actual reviewers - making sure to uncover things that separated us from glorified fanboy "influencers")

 

[Sowelu]

The issues around the lid needing to be closed, disabling the camera and touch ID, to use a second monitor are really, really clumsy and stupid.

It feels like the product leads for Mac hardware are asleep at the wheel and don't give a **** about the usability of the product at this point.

Apple wants you do use their Studio Display with built in Camera (the worst I've ever used) and external Magic Keyboard with TouchID to solve these two limitations.

 

[KPOM]

The M3 MacBook Air is everything to enterprise IT departments.

We have approximately 5000 Macs in our fleet. The fact that up to 70% of these Macs intended for non-developers and non-power users can now eventually be a $1200 M3 MacBook Air, instead of a $2000+ 14" MacBook Pro, is huge and keeps the Mac ecosystem more in line with our costs on our standard Dell Latitudes -- still more money upfront sure, but not "twice as much" money. And where the Dells last 3 years tops, we run the Macs for up to 5, lowering TCO below Windows.

Why did we go with Pros before? Dual displays is non-negotiable when there's 11,000 desks each with 2 displays to light up.

We ordered 400 of these already to refresh employees on rapidly aging Intel hardware.

Agreed. I'm guessing Apple got a lot of feedback that dual monitor support in clamshell mode was important.

In any case, the $1499 model (likely readily available for $1350-$1400 with discounts) with 16/512 is my standard "recommended Mac" for most.

 

[lindros2]

Trying to decide between the 15" Air with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB HD versus 14" MBP with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB HD....price with education discount is the same. Would trade in my early 2020 Macbook Air (16 GB RAM, 512 HD), $375 trade in value.
Leaning towards the MBP...

Get the Pro. The Air gets overly expensive in 'usable' configurations, since they're all custom (Z-model/spec) builds, which is nonsense circa 2024.

If my emergency Dell XPS 13 includes 16/1TB for $1299, so should Apple with the Air.

 

[krspkbl]

Apple wants you do use their Studio Display with built in Camera (the worst I've ever used) and external Magic Keyboard with TouchID to solve these two limitations.

I wish you were joking but I wouldn't be surprised if this is why Apple imposed this software limitation.

They could just turn the display off to free up the bandwidth but there is no reason why the lid shouldn't stay open. It's easier for them to force you to close it than code in the ability to turn the screen off.

 

[GraXXoR]

I wish the main screen would just go dark when you plug in 2 external displays. Much simpler and easier to discover. I don't understand why the lid has to by physically closed.

It's in order to make the excellent Touch ID sensor and trackpad inaccessible which in turn boosts sales of overpriced apple keyboards and trackpads. I mean, why pay for one Touch ID sensor when you can pay for two?

 

[lindros2]

The M3 MacBook Air is everything to enterprise IT departments.

We have approximately 5000 Macs in our fleet. The fact that up to 70% of these Macs intended for non-developers and non-power users can now eventually be a $1200 M3 MacBook Air, instead of a $2000+ 14" MacBook Pro, is huge and keeps the Mac ecosystem more in line with our costs on our standard Dell Latitudes -- still more money upfront sure, but not "twice as much" money. And where the Dells last 3 years tops, we run the Macs for up to 5, lowering TCO below Windows.

Why did we go with Pros before? Dual displays is non-negotiable when there's 11,000 desks each with 2 displays to light up.

We ordered 400 of these already to refresh employees on rapidly aging Intel hardware.

What are you using for MDM? One solution across Mac and Dell, or dual solutions?

The 2019-spec MBP and MBA are sadly not practical (fast/battery life) in business, and we had to replace our i3 MBA (don't ask who recommended those) a couple years ago.

 

[FrankySavvy]

In Apples defense, most people who use two displays will be docking their MacBook Air and have a keyboard and mouse anyway. If you need more support then you should be buying a Macbook Pro.

 

[stefanovago]

Why did you show benchmarks for the 10-core GPU version? Since this isn’t a pro model I guess most people will go for the entry-level configuration

 

[Blackstick]

What are you using for MDM? One solution across Mac and Dell, or dual solutions?

The Macs are on Jamf. The Windows machines are on InTune. Both run Tanium.

There's an effort to get Macs over to InTune since Microsoft has been improving their product, but without an SSO/identity component to replace Jamf Connect, which remains missing from Microsoft, we can't switch over. If they can get their act together, it might be a 2025 project.