Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Buying an M3 MacBook Air instead of M4/M5

A

azn319

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hello everyone,
i'm new here.

I'm thinking about buy my first MacBook Air but I don't know which model I have to choose.
Basically, I would use it for web browsing, Excel, PowerPoint, Word and office work (no editing video and images, no coding) but I would like to have a strong battery life and smooth navigation.

I found a MacBook Air with Apple Silicon M3, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD priced at 815 euros and I'm thinking to choose it instead of a M4 because the latter would costs 1059/1199 euros with same specs.

What do you think, guys?
Many thanks, cheers
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alameda
A perfectly valid choice for your use case. The only disadvantage is that the M3 might very well (but nobody outside of Apple really knows) stop receving macOS updates before the M4 does.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kayak49 and azn319
Basic75 said:
A perfectly valid choice for your use case. The only disadvantage is that the M3 might very well (but nobody outside of Apple really knows) stop receving macOS updates before the M4 does.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know that.
I'm a bit worried about that but I think that it will be supported 5-6 years at least, am I right?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alameda
Hi guys, thanks for your help.
I ordered it, this will be my first MacBook even if I used my sister's MacBook Pro 13-inch Retina in the past!

I paid 829€ and choose the midnight colour 'cause I love it more than sidereal gray, celestial and gold. 🙂 Hope it will be everything okay!
 
  • Like
Reactions: casperes1996
I bought my wife a used M1 MBA & was so impressed that I bought a 15" M3 MBA 16GB/512GB on eBay for £650 & was so impressed that I bought a 15" M3 MBA 24GB/1TB on eBay for £825 & sold the other M3 MBA for £700. This MBA is the best laptop that I have ever used & a great upgrade from my 2015 15" MBP. It's going to last for many years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe and azn319
Hi guys,
I received the MacBook Air M4 yesterday and I found it simply wonderful especially the midnight colour.
Honestly, I don't appreciate this new Liquid Glass on macOS, it's too much similar to iOS which I don't like too and miss the good old Yosemite UI design 'cause I prefer more flat and minimal user interfaces.
Also, the absence of the backlight key on the keyboard made me perplexed.

Anyway, do you have some suggestions to take advantage of macOS? It's my first Mac and I don't own an iPhone or iPad (I have a Xiaomi 17).

Thank you!
 
azn319 said:
Anyway, do you have some suggestions to take advantage of macOS? It's my first Mac and I don't own an iPhone or iPad (I have a Xiaomi 17).
Click to expand...
I recommend SnazzyLabs on YouTube. He has a series of videos with macOS tips. I don’t agree with all but I do agree with the vast majority
 
  • Like
Reactions: azn319
Hi guys, after one week of intensive use, I still appreciate my MacBook Air. I like its design, build quality, performance and battery life even if I'm not a heavy user like a web designer, programmer or videomaker.
I use it for web surfing, whatsapp, Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel and PPT) and Visual Studio Code for developing light customized template for a WordPress website. I love the quality of the display and integrated speakers too.
Now, I'm in doubt about buying an iPad or not 'cause I bought recently an android based smartphone (Xiaomi 17), what do you think guys?
I don't want to spend much money; I will probably use an iPad for web browsing, watching movies, listening to music and fast editing/writing documents, Excel sheets and PowerPoint slides.
 
azn319 said:
Hi guys, after one week of intensive use, I still appreciate my MacBook Air. I like its design, build quality, performance and battery life even if I'm not a heavy user like a web designer, programmer or videomaker.
I use it for web surfing, whatsapp, Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel and PPT) and Visual Studio Code for developing light customized template for a WordPress website. I love the quality of the display and integrated speakers too.
Now, I'm in doubt about buying an iPad or not 'cause I bought recently an android based smartphone (Xiaomi 17), what do you think guys?
I don't want to spend much money; I will probably use an iPad for web browsing, watching movies, listening to music and fast editing/writing documents, Excel sheets and PowerPoint slides.
Click to expand...
It's a strange choice to match a MBA with an Android phone plus an iPad. I have an MBA plus an iPhone 16 Pro Max so don't need an iPad.
 
nigelbb said:
It's a strange choice to match a MBA with an Android phone plus an iPad. I have an MBA plus an iPhone 16 Pro Max so don't need an iPad.
Click to expand...
Because I don't like the new iOS particularly. I was a fan of iOS 7/8 and macOS Yosemite, this new Liquid Glass looks very bad to me.
But, I decided to sold my Xiaomi 'cause I couldn't appreciate its HyperOS user interface. I was thinking about buying an iPhone 17 base model.
 
a little update: my MBA M4 still rocks, I love it! But... I decided to buy my first iPhone! I choose the iPhone 17 with 256GB of internal memory, fog blue color and paid it 790 euros including protective tempered glass and a free silicone cover 🙂
Can't wait for it!
 
azn319 said:
Hi guys,
I received the MacBook Air M4 yesterday and I found it simply wonderful especially the midnight colour.
Honestly, I don't appreciate this new Liquid Glass on macOS, it's too much similar to iOS which I don't like too and miss the good old Yosemite UI design 'cause I prefer more flat and minimal user interfaces.
Also, the absence of the backlight key on the keyboard made me perplexed.

Anyway, do you have some suggestions to take advantage of macOS? It's my first Mac and I don't own an iPhone or iPad (I have a Xiaomi 17).

Thank you!
Click to expand...
The air has a backlight keyboard
 
azn319 said:
Hi guys, after one week of intensive use, I still appreciate my MacBook Air. I like its design, build quality, performance and battery life even if I'm not a heavy user like a web designer, programmer or videomaker.
I use it for web surfing, whatsapp, Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel and PPT) and Visual Studio Code for developing light customized template for a WordPress website. I love the quality of the display and integrated speakers too.
Now, I'm in doubt about buying an iPad or not 'cause I bought recently an android based smartphone (Xiaomi 17), what do you think guys?
I don't want to spend much money; I will probably use an iPad for web browsing, watching movies, listening to music and fast editing/writing documents, Excel sheets and PowerPoint slides.
Click to expand...
Ipad seems redundant. And it has the same liquid glass design
 
  • Like
Reactions: azn319
1BadManVan said:
yea, i would be looking into this, backlit keyboard is standard on the air. Hopefully just a setting that was disabled or i would be exchanging it
Click to expand...
I know it has backlit keyboard. I said that all new MacBook - both Pro and Air - have backlit keyboard but they don't come with a specific key that allows you to set it on/off.
My MBA works flawlessly, even the backlit keyboard🙂
 
azn319 said:
I know it has backlit keyboard. I said that all new MacBook - both Pro and Air - have backlit keyboard but they don't come with a specific key that allows you to set it on/off.
My MBA works flawlessly, even the backlit keyboard🙂
Click to expand...
I see. But you can add a slider to the menu bar:

www.appsntips.com

How to Adjust MacBook Keyboard Brightness in macOS Ventura | appsntips

Here is how you can manually adjust keyboard brightness in macOS Ventura on your M1 and M2 MacBook Air and 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
www.appsntips.com www.appsntips.com
Screenshot 2026-03-30 at 10.25.32.png
 
azn319 said:
a little update: my MBA M4 still rocks, I love it! But... I decided to buy my first iPhone! I choose the iPhone 17 with 256GB of internal memory, fog blue color and paid it 790 euros including protective tempered glass and a free silicone cover 🙂
Can't wait for it!
Click to expand...
I think that is an excellent choice. You will be very pleased with the integration between phone and Mac. I thought this was a gimmick at first, but it is so convenient to read texts on my Mac while working. Sharing the Notes and Calendar is also very useful.

On the other hand — using iPad for MS Office and other productivity apps is a very disappointing experience for me. There are people who do it and love it, but it is a very different and much more limited computing experience.

For instance, MS Word and PowerPoint docs can be edited, but not all tools and features are available. In my work, I very frequently need to draw various flowcharts and iPad just doesn’t cut it for me. And, I’m not interested in learning new ways to do it in order to suit the limits of the device.

Long story short: MacBook Air plus iPhone is the killer combo. And a Thunderbolt dock for home connectivity is fantastic.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: azn319
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back