Going from an M1 to an M3

[MacCraig Pro]

Hey all,

My M1 MBA bought launch week in 2020 started to stutter in my use case, so I decided to upgrade when Apple announced the M4.

However, I saw on the refurbished store that M3's were being sold in my country for £759 and I decided to go for one of those instead.

I've gone from a base model M1 with 8Gb RAM to a base M3 with 16Gb RAM and all I can say is wow, this thing is phenomenally quick. Certainly a lot quicker than I was expecting.

However, I am doubting myself whether I've made the right choice having seen video and posts on here. Is there really truely any discernible difference between and M3 and an M4? Apart from a better camera and small trivial things?

 

[bellflyer14]

Hey all,

My M1 MBA bought launch week in 2020 started to stutter in my use case, so I decided to upgrade when Apple announced the M4.

However, I saw on the refurbished store that M3's were being sold in my country for £759 and I decided to go for one of those instead.

I've gone from a base model M1 with 8Gb RAM to a base M3 with 16Gb RAM and all I can say is wow, this thing is phenomenally quick. Certainly a lot quicker than I was expecting.

However, I am doubting myself whether I've made the right choice having seen video and posts on here. Is there really truely any discernible difference between and M3 and an M4? Apart from a better camera and small trivial things?

Faster CPU benchmarks, but you may not notice that in day to day. Better camera, now 12 megapixel, and the ports are thunderbolt 4 vs 3, resulting in faster transfer speeds, and you can now hook two external displays while leaving the lid open.

 

[Howard2k]

110% NPE improvement which might become a factor as Apple expands Apple Intelligence.

Many people on here seem to take great pride in boasting how they've turned off Apple Intelligence but it looks like a feature with a huge amount of potential to me, even if it's super underwhelming to date.

 

[CalMin]

Is there really truely any discernible difference between and M3 and an M4? Apart from a better camera and small trivial things?

Depends on your workload but I doubt it’s noticeable at all with day to day stuff. Is a Porsche faster than a Prius? Technically yes but not when you’re only driving to the shops. Same applies here. If a few seconds here and there on large 4k render projects would improve your life then ok- but since you use an Air, I doubt that’s what you’re doing.

Save the money imo.