Curious if anyone went the route of getting a (partially or fully) maxed out M4 Macbook Air with 32GB of RAM instead of opting for a Macbook Pro. What do you like and not like about it? How is thermal management? YouTube reviewers are saying that this gen gets hot quickly but I'm not sure if that's when they're stress testing or from "normal" use.
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Anyone buy the M4 Macbook Air with 32GB of RAM?
- Thread starter Mity
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I purchased the 24gb 13" Air and it tackles anything I throw at it. In my opinion anyone looking at the 32gb model of the Air really should be considering a pro. I can't think of any situation where 32gb ram is going to make a huge difference over 24gb. The computer will thermal throttle before it makes use of that much ram/memory
I opted for 32GB memory to allow headroom for Photoshop and VMWare. Accessing physical memory is going to be faster than paging virtual memory out to SSD storage. I can add fast external storage and have - my 2TB OWC 1M2 USB4 external drive is as fast as the internal drive - but I only have one chance to add memory and that is at configuration time.
Thermal management kicks in when the CPU/GPU core utilization is kept at a high level for an extended period of time and is not strongly correlated with memory usage. I do not experience CPU throttling in my usual use of either this computer or the 24GB/2TB M2 MBA that it replaced. On the other hand I have owned several Intel-based Macbook Pro computers over the years and found the fan noise to be annoying. Silence is golden.
Thermal management kicks in when the CPU/GPU core utilization is kept at a high level for an extended period of time and is not strongly correlated with memory usage. I do not experience CPU throttling in my usual use of either this computer or the 24GB/2TB M2 MBA that it replaced. On the other hand I have owned several Intel-based Macbook Pro computers over the years and found the fan noise to be annoying. Silence is golden.
I went for the 24GB/512GB and so far runs perfectly fine without any memory pressure. Running two Parallels VM (4vCPU,8GB RAM), Chrome with avg 5 tabs open, also streaming Youtube/YouTubeTV hooked up to an Apple Studio Display with no issues. Impressive little machine for the cost. I thought about the 32GB model but figured I'd try the 24GB first. I can't justify going to the 32GB at this point.
I got the 15 inch MacBook Air with 32GB of RAM because I do some video and photo editing. The extra screen space is nice and I maxed out the ram for video editing. The reason I didn't get a MacBook Pro is I have trouble with the screen. Don't get me wrong. It's a great looking screen but I am sensitive to PWM. Google it, and here is a link to a thread if curious:
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The PWM frequency is higher than on the phones, but that and the promotion just trigger my eyes and nervous system.
So far, I haven't done any big projects with the MacBook Air but I just got it. Perhaps a 32 gig of ram is overkill, but I wanted to max it out because the MacBook Pro is simply not an option for me unless I always plug into a bigger display. And in that case, I would just get a Mac mini or a Mac studio.
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The PWM frequency is higher than on the phones, but that and the promotion just trigger my eyes and nervous system.
So far, I haven't done any big projects with the MacBook Air but I just got it. Perhaps a 32 gig of ram is overkill, but I wanted to max it out because the MacBook Pro is simply not an option for me unless I always plug into a bigger display. And in that case, I would just get a Mac mini or a Mac studio.
24/512 for me. I had a 16/512 M1 previously. The more memory you have, the more you will use. Idle memory is wasted memory. My rule of thumb is 8GB above the base, or higher if specifically warranted by application requirements. I am running some LLM stuff and considered 32GB but it's just for fun so 24GB seems like the right compromise for me.
I went with 32 GB RAM as I am planning to keep the machine for a very long time (my goal is to achieve a decade just like with my previous mid-2015 MBP). I feel like the current base configuration of 16 GB will no longer be enough in about 3-4 years given that apps will get more and more demanding. At that point 24 GB will become the norm, although it might take even longer than that for Apple to increase the base memory size (just like they kept 8 GB for a super long time).
I went with the 32GB 13" to replace a M2 Max 32GB used purely for productivity use case. With multiple windows opened, O365, Safari, Edge etc. I find that I average a swap use of 8GB before having to restart.
If I were to get one, it would be for the screen size and form factor. The 16" MBP would be overkill and too expensive for my needs, while also being heavier and bulkier. I probably won't come close to needing 32gb given the nature of my work, but the cost isn't really that prohibitive for me.
Can't speak about the heat (I am still on the M1 MBA; maybe the new MBA design is somehow worse in that regard?).
15 inch. I find it to be the perfect size for a laptop.
I am not doing anything intensive at the minute (still setting up the machine) and it already eats 20 GB of RAM according to Activity Monitor. Really glad I went with the 32 GB RAM option as I'm going to limit SSD swap.
Still in my return window, so trying to decide if I want to swap my 13" for a 15". Thanks for the info
Maxed out my 13" M4 Air. 32GB + 2tb. This is from a MBP 2017 3.1 16GB 1TB. I need a machine I can take anywhere and do a bit of everything. Video, Audio, 3D. I wanted to get a MBP, but they're really thick and chunky. I wanted plenty of disc space (1TB isn't enough with photos, video, samples etc). Arrives next week, hope I've made the right choice..!
I used the exact same reasoning when analyzing the MacBook line-up! Also, this thing is completely silent and has no moving parts, which to me matters a lot.
300% the right choice. I got the 15 inch with 1 TB of SSD. (I'm not going to store a lot of stuff internally, but programming tools will still use a good portion of storage space.)
I'm only missing the illuminated Apple logo as I'm coming from a mid-2015 MBP, but this doesn't really matter.
I went 24. I feel like if you go 36, you're probably in Pro territory anyway.
Thanks! Yes I was agonising about the 2tb thing. I use 1tb on my Mac Studio M1 and MBP. My reasoning was that these machines spend all their life tethered to another 2tb ssd and mass storage. But it's purely a personal use case thing. The 13"/15" thing – hmm, well I'll see. I'd love 15" but I'm hoping the 13" will just make it that bit more compact (as long as my eyes handle it)!
Not true. Having optimal RAM lets apps and the OS run most smoothly, using cache without constraints. That maximizing operational effectiveness does not necessarily make maximum heat; the opposite is more likely. And fully adequate RAM allows multi-tasking to work most ideally, allows greedy web tabs to have minimal impact, etc.
I do agree that folks (IMO wisely) moving up in RAM amounts probably should also be moving to the far superior MBP. Not so much for fear of throttling, since the MBA is indeed a powerful computer, but rather for all the other good things that MBP brings (except for the MBP's heavier weight).
As to noise, my M2 MBP with 96 GB RAM has literally never kicked the fans in when operating on the battery. Only in desktop mode driving three displays and heavy multi-tasking images work can I ever make the fans even briefly kick in; and then only if it it hot outside.
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I came from 8gb m1 airbook, the basic 16gm ram is good enough for my busienss suites like photo editing, tiktok videos and more
Bought my wife the M4 base MBP with 16gb memory. She wanted the screen for movie watching, along with her design work for her side business. The M4 with 16gb chews through all of her use case without hiccups
Went from a M3 8GB/256GB to a M4 32GB/1TB. Sold my Studio M1 Max. The MacBook Air does everything my previous Mac did.
I'm not doing super heavy stuff like video editing or gaming. Just many things at the same time: Xcode, multiple Android Studio instances, virtual phones, lots of browser windows. Especially Android emulators need RAM.
I don't look at the price of the upgrades, and the total price for this 'sleeper MBA' was acceptable.
I'm not doing super heavy stuff like video editing or gaming. Just many things at the same time: Xcode, multiple Android Studio instances, virtual phones, lots of browser windows. Especially Android emulators need RAM.
I don't look at the price of the upgrades, and the total price for this 'sleeper MBA' was acceptable.
I bought one too (M4 32GB 1TB) but and I'm kind of regretting my purchase. The screen on my M1 16GB 1TB looks better in some way. I know that sounds weird but the M4 MBA is really bright and when I lower the brightness, it becomes too dim. I'm also having issues with the speakers. I know the M2+ gen had speakers relocated and the sound of the M1 is much louder and fuller. The 32GB of RAM is really impressive though! And the WiFi on the M4 MBA is twice as fast, according to OOKLA. But the M1 MBA is almost perfect.
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I am sorry for your experience.
I would take your MBA back to Apple and compare with other MBA in the store the speakers and screen. If they are all about the same then you have a decision to make. But I have a hunch something is off. It is possible that the display models might have better screen or speakers? Heck I would bring my M1 and the new M4 with me and compare the display model with my units. If my new model wasn't up to snuff either in the speaker or screen I would have Apple reorder a new model for me and keep doing it until they get it right.
It could just be the speakers were better on the older M1 and it could be the screen was better but I have had the older m1 13" MBP with a similar screen to the new air and a m2 air and the screens are very similar. The older m1 might feel a little richer?
Sound was certainly better on the m1 MBP 13" but I find the sound on these 13.6" MBA to be decent. Not super loud nor super bass but enough to hear clearly in most situations.