Hands-On With the 2024 M3 MacBook Air

[darngooddesign]

I don't understand why everyone is so enamored with the Macbook Pro screen.

I bought the 14" M1 model Macbook Pro when it first came out. I jumped on it. Finally, a replacement for my 2015 13" Macbook Pro. With Magsafe. But NO!

I saw a weird shimmering or glossiness on the screen. It's kinda hard to describe. It's especially noticeable when even slightly off axis. I couldn't stand it. Fortunately my daughter was eager to take it off my hands. I don't think the effect was because of the backlight PWM that people were complaining about, but maybe it was?

I recently went in to an Apple store with my old 2015 13" machine and compared screens against an M2 Macbook Air. Once I adjusted the newer machine to IIRC sRGB, the screens were very similar. I didn't feel the weird annoyance I previously had with the 14" Macbook Pro screen.

I now need to take my 2015 Macbook Pro back in and compare screens against the new M3 Macbook Air. Hopefully the display didn't change from the M2 version. My old machine is on its last legs, throwing up messages such as "Volume Hash Mismatch". I desperately need a replacement.

tl;dr: I like my old 2015 13" Macbook Pro screen much more than the M1 14" Macbook Pro screen.

Counterpoint. I basically made the same upgrade as you, 2014 instead of 2015 and 16” instead of 14”, and I love the screen. But you’re correct that people have different reactions to screen technologies, lots of people love the iPhone OLED screens, but there are also people who don’t. For some people the MBAs’ LED screens are better than the MBPs’ Mini_LED screens.

All that being said, I hope you love the M3 Air’s screen.

 

[DrWojtek]

Not really. This has nothing to do with the excellent AS chips; this is all about taking responsibility for the choices you make.

If you prioritized the benefits of the Airs — thinner/lighter than the equivalent MBP (13” Air to 14” Pro and 15” Air to 16” Pro), fanless, and excellent battery life — then you don't get to complain that they can’t handle the workflows which the Pros are better suited to. Similarly if you prioritized the benefits of the Pros — more powerful, more ports, active cooling, better screen, and better speakers — then you dont get to complain that they aren’t as thin and light as the equivalent Air.

That's *********. As per Apples marketing:

The moment you open your MacBook Air, it’s ready for whatever you throw at it. And no matter how intense the workload, it stays silent thanks to a fanless design. Whether you’re multitasking between apps, editing videos in iMovie, or playing Baldur’s Gate 3 in Game Mode, the M3 chip brings more speed and fluidity to everything you do.

—

In fact, it throttles like hell under said loads, and you’d get far more performance from a Pro model with the basic M3 and active cooling.

 

[darngooddesign]

That's *********. As per Apples marketing:

The moment you open your MacBook Air, it’s ready for whatever you throw at it. And no matter how intense the workload, it stays silent thanks to a fanless design. Whether you’re multitasking between apps, editing videos in iMovie, or playing Baldur’s Gate 3 in Game Mode, the M3 chip brings more speed and fluidity to everything you do.

—

In fact, it throttles like hell under said loads, and you’d get far more performance from a Pro model with the basic M3 and active cooling.

You’re totally right, Apple totally said that you should get a MBA for all-day 3D rendering.

If you are unable to make intelligent decisions based on your needs not wants, ask someone who can for advice.

 

[darngooddesign]

I have a feeling that Apple has not removed the indicator out of careful consideration for your workflow, but because the last Intel MacBooks (2016+) were disappointing laptops. Getting HDMI back already feels like an outlier.

Or they got rid of it because it’s only useful for people who do the same task all day long; while HDMI never stopped being useful in corporate environments.

 

[brofkand]

I just can’t get used to the notch. It’s so stupid. It still doesn’t seem real. An Apple that still had taste wouldn’t have shipped a laptop with a notched display for no reason.

 

[darngooddesign]

I just can’t get used to the notch. It’s so stupid. It still doesn’t seem real. An Apple that still had taste wouldn’t have shipped a laptop with a notched display for no reason.

More vertical screen space for application windows without physically increasing that laptop dimension. There are multiple ways to hide the notch if it bothers you.

 

[brofkand]

More vertical screen space for application windows without physically increasing that laptop dimension. There are multiple ways to hide the notch if it bothers you.

They could have moved the webcam up to the top bezel like it was in the last generation of designs. Even if they had to do a notch (they didn’t) why does it have to be an inch wide and a quarter inch tall? It doesn’t.

 

[darngooddesign]

They could have moved the webcam up to the top bezel like it was in the last generation of designs. Even if they had to do a notch (they didn’t) why does it have to be an inch wide and a quarter inch tall? It doesn’t.

This is what is in the notch, but really if you would prefer a thicker top bezel to the notch just hide it.

 

[brofkand]

This is what is in the notch, but really if you would prefer a thicker top bezel to the notch just hide it.

View attachment 2357465

A webcam, and light sensors. Nothing new.

How do you “hide” the notch? Other than using apps in full screen mode all the time anyway.

 

[darngooddesign]

A webcam, and light sensors. Nothing new.

No one said the Notch contents were new, you just asked why it wasn’t smaller.

How do you “hide” the notch? Other than using apps in full screen mode all the time anyway.

You can hide the Notch with:

A dark wallpaper.

A custom wallpaper with a black menu-bar area.

The ‘Top Notch’ utility turns the menu-bar background black, but you still see it in Launchpad.

The ‘Lunar’ utility can move the top of the screen down so the old menu-bar is empty black space; this hides it everywhere. On MBPs it lets you turn on the HDR brightness which is good for bright environments. It also lets you dim the screen further than MacOS’ darkest setting.

In Settings > Displays, if you show all resolutions you can choose one which decreases the screen height. For example, if I choose 1728x1080 instead of 1728x1117 on my 16” MBP the notch is hidden everywhere.

The Notch is a non-issue if you dislike it.

 

[darngooddesign]

I was responding to someone else who used that same slogan.

Sorry… you’ve changed my mind. 😁

 

[brofkand]

No one said the Notch contents were new, you just asked why it wasn’t smaller.

Right, my point was they could have fit a webcam and sensors in the bezel like other laptop makers do (and like Apple did before they decided to notch the display).

 

[darngooddesign]

Right, my point was they could have fit a webcam and sensors in the bezel like other laptop makers do (and like Apple did before they decided to notch the display).

Just hide the notch and it will be like they did put those things in the bezel.

 

[Corefile]

This is what is in the notch, but really if you would prefer a thicker top bezel to the notch just hide it.

For goodness sake. When Dell can design a built-in camera doing 1080p with better quality into a tiny bezel then it's more that Apple hardware designers just suck.

 

[brofkand]

Just hide the notch and it will be like they did put those things in the bezel.

I'm not interested in running utilities, too many instances where I've relied on a utility like that or some other that ends up causing issues down the road - but I'll try changing the display resolution on my work MacBook Air next week.

 

[brofkand]

For goodness sake. When Dell can design a built-in camera doing 1080p with better quality into a tiny bezel then it's more that Apple hardware designers just suck.

Exactly - my point was Apple could have fit what they put in that notch in the bezel - other OEMs do it. Apple just doesn't have any taste anymore.

Steve Jobs threw an iPod in an aquarium to show it had empty space inside and could be made smaller.

Tim Cook just lets them put in bigger and bigger camera bumps, and bigger and bigger notches, without care for how silly it starts to look.

 

[6749974]

I have a M1 MBA. Are the newer M3 MBA displays still the same or there has been some sort of improvement?

The M2 & M3 MBAs are the exact same; both have only slightly better screens than the M1 MBA:

• Added 100 nits (+25%) of brightness [unscientific comparison shot]
• Added 10 bit (8-bit + FRC) [makes shading and gradients more accurate; learn more here]
• 1100:1 contrast is now 1400:1 [this is no huge deal but notable that there is an improvement]
• And of course the extra 1/3rd inch added to the vertical axis (where the menu bar now sits, into the notch)

None of this creates a drastic enough difference but its a nice little bump in display improvement, when you add it all up. The next bump in the Air line will come in 2027, supposedly, when Apple incorporates OLED, and I expect will warrant a minor redesign.

I have no use of the Macbook Pro but was tempted by all the reviews online saying the screens are so so much better.
I guess for SDR content it is not really that much better?

For SDR, I don't think the mini LED adds much benefit.

For SDR, ProMotion does add "smoothness" to moving windows and animations, but it fails to make motion clear (which is the main promise of 120Hz monitors). That will be fixed with OLED in 2027 because the pixel response of OLED is less than 1 ms by nature (so well under the 8.3 ms threshold).

The one reason to switch to MacBook Pro is if you want to watch TV and Movies in native 24 fps, because the ProMotion display feature is that it can slow down to 48 Hz, which is an even multiple of 24—so it will show you 2 of the same frame, then 2 of the next frame, then 2 of the next frame—and its a smooth continuation of motion. Where as 60Hz cannot divide 24 fps into it evenly, so it does something called "3:2 pulldown"—where it will show you 3 of the same frame, then 2 of the next frame, then 3 of the next frame—and so its not as smooth in motion. Your brain gets used to it—your average person doesn't notice—but theres no denying that 48Hz or 120Hz can play TV and movies as intended when its shot in 24 fps (most scripted dramas like Breaking Bad are). If you're a college student (for example) that your only screen is a MBP, and you're are big movie Aficionado, maybe its worth it to use a MBP for that if you can live with the blooming...

But for regular macOS work and general media/computing, the MacBook Air display is excellent. I won't consider switching until Apple brings OLED to MacBook Pros (ETA 3 years).

 

[6749974]

Steve Jobs threw an iPod in an aquarium to show it had empty space inside and could be made smaller.

lol

Steve Jobs’ Aquarium​

“One of my favourite Steve Jobs stories was the time the engineers working on the iPod brought their finished prototype to him in his office. He said it was too big, they needed to make it smaller. They said it was as small as they could make it, it couldn’t be made any smaller. So he took the prototype over to his aquarium and dropped it in. The iPod sank to the bottom, and as it did, tiny little bubbles came out. ‘See those bubbles,’ he asked. ‘They’re air inside the iPod. Make it smaller.’​

​

“Another story about Steve Jobs was when they brought the prototype for the iPad 2 to his office. The engineers told him it was faster than the first iPad. He took it over to his aquarium and dropped it in. ‘Look how slowly it sank,’ he told them. ‘Make it faster.’​

​

“One time a newly hired intern had been sent out to get Steve a sandwich. When she brought it to him, he looked at it. ‘I thought I ordered the beef on rye,’ he asked. She told him it was indeed beef on rye. He took it over to his fish tank and dropped it in. ‘Does that look like beef on rye?’​

​

“He was always dropping things in that fish tank. We couldn’t stop him. We told him he had to stop, he wouldn’t listen. It was full of stuff that shouldn’t be in an aquarium.​

​

“The fish had all died years ago. One had been crushed under an early generation iMac. The others were all poisoned. He didn’t care.​

​

“It got to the point where there was no room for anything in the fish tank. When we emptied it after he died, we found a body in there. We never found out who it was.”​

[Source]

 

[pianophile]

I refuse to ever carry a laptop over 2.9LBS.

Me, too. Imho, I won't really be happy in this regard until/unless Apple produces another laptop like to the 12" 2015 MacBook. Just 2.03 lbs... so light....

MacBook "Core M" 1.2 12" (Early 2015) Specs (Early 2015, MF865LL/A*, MacBook8,1, A1534, 2746): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook "Core M" 1.2 12" (Early 2015). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

 

[mvdrl]

I have a M1 MBA. Are the newer M3 MBA displays still the same or there has been some sort of improvement?

I have no use of the Macbook Pro but was tempted by all the reviews online saying the screens are so so much better.
I guess for SDR content it is not really that much better?

I had an M1 MBA (with the older tapered body) and bought an M2 MBA 13" - the screen is much brighter on the M2. Maximum 400 nits on the older Air, and 500 nits on the newer, to my eyes made a big difference.

 

[bgillander]

If you, in the real world, use your computer for actual work like video exports and compiling code, yes, of course you’ll see a difference. And if you don’t, why even have a laptop? You can surf and email from the phone.

Hey, you were the one saying you had absolutely no idea. I didn’t disagree with you, I simply told you my experience with my real world use of the actual M1 versions of the Air and mini. Handbrake exports slow down a bit on the Air after a few minutes, but are still much faster than my old Intel, so I don’t find it bad. If I’m doing a queue of Handbrake encodes I would likely switch to the mini, but if I just want to convert a single file, it isn’t worth the time for me to change machines. Handbrake doesn’t run well on my phone, though.

If you are constantly running compiles that take over 4 minutes, or constantly exporting videos, the mini would probably be better for you, and it is cheaper, too. I personally don’t usually find that to be the standard workflow on a notebook.

 

[M3gatron]

8GB ... lol... I don't even understand why they are selling machines like that. It is a strategy to depreciate models quicker to sell new machines more often. Plain and simple.

The reason is very simple. To force uses to pay their overpriced prices for RAM and Storage.

8GB RAM and 256GB Storage are smartphone specs.
I did an exercise recently, looked at laptops in 2 computer stores and it took me some time until I was able to find a Windows laptop with 8GB ram and are generally cheap(500-600$ with VAT included), almost every time you can upgrade the RAM anyway and the storage is often at least 512Gb even if it has 8GB RAM.
Realistically if you buy a computer to use it for a few years and 8GB is not future proof at all and you are running into limitation with it now, so in the future it will only get worse.

 

[bgillander]

The reason is very simple. To force uses to pay their overpriced prices for RAM and Storage.

8GB RAM and 256GB Storage are smartphone specs.
I did an exercise recently look at laptops in 2 computer stores and it took me some time until I was able to find a Windows laptop with 8GB ram and are generally cheap(500-600$ with VAT included), almost every time you can upgrade the RAM anyway and the storage is often at least 512Gb even if it has 8GB RAM.
Realistically you buy a computer to use it for a few years and 8GB is not future proof at all and you are running into limitation with it now, so in the future it will only get worse.

I guess you didn’t look at the Microsoft Surface Laptop lineup?

 

[DrWojtek]

Hey, you were the one saying you had absolutely no idea. I didn’t disagree with you, I simply told you my experience with my real world use of the actual M1 versions of the Air and mini. Handbrake exports slow down a bit on the Air after a few minutes, but are still much faster than my old Intel, so I don’t find it bad. If I’m doing a queue of Handbrake encodes I would likely switch to the mini, but if I just want to convert a single file, it isn’t worth the time for me to change machines. Handbrake doesn’t run well on my phone, though.

If you are constantly running compiles that take over 4 minutes, or constantly exporting videos, the mini would probably be better for you, and it is cheaper, too. I personally don’t usually find that to be the standard workflow on a notebook.

I can understand that last part about notebook workflow. I use my laptop docked in clamshell 95% of the time.

I just realized I can keep my old 2018 MBP when I get a new mini and use it to TeamView / other solution into the mac mini at home as long as I have an internet connection. Mac Mini M3 performance on my laptop. Can't believe I didn't think of this solution before. Might as well have kept my old 6700K hackintosh and done this on a cheaper laptop instead of getting my MBP in 2018.

 

[M3gatron]

Because 8GB is plenty for may users and allows a lower price point for an entry level machine.

Calling it "plenty" in any context when even 10 browser tabs are enough to saturate those 8GB is quite a stretch. I can open more browser tabs on my phone without saturating the RAM, LoL
Anyway, RAM and Storage don't have anything to do with lowering the starting prices as they are not expensive components and apple who buys them in bulk most likely pays less for 8GB/256GB now than they did 3 years ago for example.
The reason they still keep around the 8GB/256 configuration is to make the much more expensive 16GB/512 variant more attractive. Also almost the entire price difference for the better specked Air vs the base variant is pure profit for Apple.