Anyone upgrade from an M1 Air to an M3 Air?

[Mity]

You'd use your MacBook Air closed so that you could use two external monitors? I personally never use a laptop connected to a monitor without also having the laptop open as well (the more screens, the better), but to each their own!

I can see that working out in school or a place with space constraints but I prefer not to use a laptop keyboard if I don't have to. I always dock my laptops so I can use my preferred peripherals.

 

[Mity]

I have a MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, I do a lot of astrophotography processing using Pixinsight... I also "suffer" from memory pressure... I brought a MacBook Pro 16" to replace it, but returned it because I wasn't seeing much of a performance boost to justify the extra $$$$$, perhaps the M1 does such a fantastic job of paging from the 8GB to the 1TB SSD that for me, 8GB of RAM is fine.. I want Apple to keep the 8GB option out there for people like me who do not want to fork over $200+ for a limited performance boost

That's really odd. The 16GB Air did relieve my memory pressure quite a bit when opening multiple YouTube pages. What spec 16" did you buy?

Check out ArtIsRight's YouTube channel as he does a lot of tests related to photography: youtube.com/@ArtIsRight/videos

 

[JPack]

Reviewers don't recommend it. Not much difference in performance. They say wait for M4.

 

[ctjack]

Reviewers don't recommend it. Not much difference in performance. They say wait for M4.

Agreed from m1 not worth it.

 

[August West]

What would possess anyone to upgrade from an M1 to a 3.

Upgrade from 13" to 15".

 

[DrCC]

This is my M1 Air 16GB with 621 open Safari tabs . Plus Messaging, Whatsapp, Mail, etc. Past 500 Safari tabs I am starting to notice some struggles. I am waiting for an M3 Air 24GB to ease things a bit.

 

[geta]

This is my M1 Air 16GB with 621 open Safari tabs . Plus Messaging, Whatsapp, Mail, etc. Past 500 Safari tabs I am starting to notice some struggles. I am waiting for an M3 Air 24GB to ease things a bit.

Damn, that's a lot of tabs (and swap)! Is this your normal usage? If so, I think an MBP with 36GB (or even 48GB) RAM would be a better option... but looking forward to hearing if your new M3 MBA with 24GB RAM made a big difference.

 

[Mity]

This is my M1 Air 16GB with 621 open Safari tabs . Plus Messaging, Whatsapp, Mail, etc. Past 500 Safari tabs I am starting to notice some struggles. I am waiting for an M3 Air 24GB to ease things a bit.

But those Safari tabs haven't loaded anything, correct? They don't have content playing/cached.

 

[Yebubbleman]

So many people claiming that 8GB RAM is more than enough... so obviously you are doing something wrong. 😂

Those people are obviously ignoring their memory pressure. Basic workloads on 8GB of RAM with any recent macOS release will definitely entail yellow memory pressure (if not red) on the regular.

Nobody has been saying that.
I have no idea why this is such a hot topic in this forum. Different people have different workflows and needs. People’s needs may be comfortably met with 8GB, 128GB, or anything in between.

8GB is debatable, and honestly, that debate really is needlessly contentious on these forums as it is.

 

[h.gilbert]

If it's just based on the posts on this forum, a lot.

No one on this forum has said 8GB is enough for everyone. Stop stirring the pot.

 

[geta]

No one on this forum has said 8GB is enough for everyone. Stop stirring the pot.

Enjoy your base model with 8GB RAM, just don't complain in couple of years when you need to buy new one because it starts stuttering.

 

[Torty]

Enjoy your base model with 8GB RAM, just don't complain in couple of years when you need to buy new one because it starts stuttering.

In a few years there is the M6 with all the bells and whistles, 2nm, redesign, smaller bezels, better display, more external displays etc… maybe he is happy to upgrade then.

 

[torana355]

Those people are obviously ignoring their memory pressure. Basic workloads on 8GB of RAM with any recent macOS release will definitely entail yellow memory pressure (if not red) on the regular.


8GB is debatable, and honestly, that debate really is needlessly contentious on these forums as it is.

That's simply untrue. My memory pressure does not leave the green, some of us have light workloads. If your memory pressure is in the red doing light tasks you most likely have an issue with the hardware or software.

 

[Torty]

That's simply untrue. My memory pressure does not leave the green, some of us have light workloads. If your memory pressure is in the red doing light tasks you most likely have an issue with the hardware or software.

I too think it's some buggy SW which grows takes memory and doesn't free it. They always need to be closed and restarted again. There is a lot of bad coded SW out there.

 

[h.gilbert]

Enjoy your base model with 8GB RAM, just don't complain in couple of years when you need to buy new one because it starts stuttering.

I used to do some fairly intensive stuff on my old Intel 8GB model without issue. I only browse and use Office now with my 8GB M1 Air. It won't stutter in a few years. You don't really know what you're talking about.

 

[za9ra22]

Enjoy your base model with 8GB RAM, just don't complain in couple of years when you need to buy new one because it starts stuttering.

I have 2Gb in my 2006 MacBook Pro 17-inch. Works perfectly, not a stutter in sight. I was even going to use it to write this reply to you, but damn, this 8Gb 15-inch MBA is so good to use I didn't want to set it aside for a minute.

 

[DrCC]

.

 

[DrCC]

Damn, that's a lot of tabs (and swap)! Is this your normal usage? If so, I think an MBP with 36GB (or even 48GB) RAM would be a better option... but looking forward to hearing if your new M3 MBA with 24GB RAM made a big difference.

I think 64 GB would be the way to go for me. But, for my needs, a MacBook Pro is way too chunky, heavy and big. I would love a mini MacBook 12" Pro, there is a rumour about it and I hope it comes true. Until then, an M Air will run fine for me even with lots of swap.

But those Safari tabs haven't loaded anything, correct? They don't have content playing/cached.

No. Inactive tabs are on pause, not playing.

 

[Torty]

I think 64 GB would be the way to go for me. But, for my needs, a MacBook Pro is way too chunky, heavy and big. I would love a mini MacBook 12" Pro, there is a rumour about it and I hope it comes true. Until then, an M Air will run fine for me even with lots of swap.


No. Inactive tabs are on pause, not playing.

More interesting would be a screenshot of acitivity monitor and memory usage of the processes.

 

[jinnyman]

I don't plan to upgrade anytime soon. My main M1 Max MBP is still going strong, and I've added M1 Air solely as a content viewer machine on the go.

I do have a company issued workstation (Windows machine), and as for work, I do use my iPad Pro much more. The most work I throw at my main Mac is processing of my personal photos (60 mega pixels). M1 Max is more than enough.

 

[mlody]

So I guess your wife is also a lovely person , but our usage is completely different.

She indeed is

 

[mlody]

I am considering a jump from M1 to M3 for my wife because our daughter is looking for an upgrade.
Our daughter currently has a base MBP Retina 13-inch Early 2015 - 8 GB and 256 GB. She does not need anything fancy and because her system is getting long in the tooth, we were planning to trade-in her old system and then giving her my wife's M1 Air (also base).
The only reason I am considering M3 for my wife is because the base storage in M3 is now on par with M1, unlike M2 which were half the speed; otherwise, I would look for a deal for M2 Air. Given that we would go with base 8 GB for my wife, the storage speed might be a factor with page swap etc. Alternatively, we could go for M2 16GB/256 GB but at the end that config would be more expensive than M3 base, hence the most logical option is to go from M1 base to M3 base. She might also be interested in 15-inch model, but that is something we need to see in person; so if that would be the case, she would go from M1 base to M3 15-inch base.

After going back and forth and looking for deals, I ended up with M2 16/512 instead of M3 8/256. I was going to get her M3 16/256 but we didn't feel like waiting 2+ weeks, so we went with M2 refurb model which arrived the day after we placed the order. She is happy as she can be. Our daughter is also enjoying her M1 so all in all, good upgrades all together that should last a long time.

 

[Ma2k5]

What would possess anyone to upgrade from an M1 to a 3. Its giving charity money to apple without it even being a tax deductuble!!

I do mainly dev work and my m3 air outperforms my M1 Max 16” MBP to my surprise.

 

[dmk1974]

I recently replaced my M1 MBA 13 with a base M2 MBA 15 (Costco deal for $1000). I really like the larger screen on it along with the better cam (despite the notch) and speakers. Really is a fine machine. However, the "old" M1 13 still works great and is so perfectly nice and compact.

Maybe I'll return the M2 15 to Costco and wait for the Apple back to school promo in ~June to get the M3 version (which if $150 GC back like last year, would only net $50 more than the Costco M2).

 

[geta]

I recently replaced my M1 MBA 13 with a base M2 MBA 15 (Costco deal for $1000). I really like the larger screen on it along with the better cam (despite the notch) and speakers. Really is a fine machine. However, the "old" M1 13 still works great and is so perfectly nice and compact.

Maybe I'll return the M2 15 to Costco and wait for the Apple back to school promo in ~June to get the M3 version (which if $150 GC back like last year, would only net $50 more than the Costco M2).

Unless you plan on getting more RAM and larger storage or you really need the dual screen option, I wouldn't bother switching because power wise the difference is so minimal between the M2 and M3.