Here's a Look Inside the New M4 MacBook Air

[FlyingDutch]

Your use case is even less common. A very small percentage of users ever upgrade.

And you said that based on what evidence?

 

[ignatius345]

Is the camera really 4K? I haven't seen that anywhere. That would be very useful with center stage. As long as you are in a bright place of course.

They are calling it "8 megapixels". 4K resolution (4096x2160) yields about 8.8 megapixels so... it's close?

Having just moved from the M1 to M4 iMac, which both had the same camera resolutions as their MacBook Air counterparts, I will say it's a lot nicer. Background effects are more fluid, image feels nice and bright, and the new 8 MP enables that Center Stage effect.

For what it's worth, I tried Center Stage on a work call and my coworker said it "looks like something exciting is about to happen, but then it's just still you sitting there". LOL. Fun effect, but kind of distracting for work calls.

If you ever get a chance to do a FaceTime call over Apple TV, using your phone as a camera, Center Stage works really nicely there. It pans around the room and keeps you framed if you move around. Pretty cool for family calls.

 

[ignatius345]

Exactly. That was my comment about Apple making Mac as disposable devices. Apple user since 1990 here, I sold my last MacBook in 2020, disgusted by their policy. You are out of storage ? Buy a new one. You need more RAM ? Buy a new one. Even if everything else is still fine for your needs, like keyboard, screen and CPU.

All devices are disposable. Just depends on the timeline.

 

[MacFarmer]

I was in the store to check it out. I do not like the blue color at all. Bring some brave colors! Quite a few people in my circle want some nice distinct colors. Not these 4 shades of grey.

And on topic side, my powerbook titanium was much more repairable, except for screen. That was a B@#$! + thousand more screws

 

[Miss Terri]

Just buy what you need up front. I haven't upgraded a computer for at least 15 years.

That's not always possible though. For example, if I had bought an M2 MBA (which is only a couple years ago!), it would not have been available with, say 32GB of RAM or a 2TB hard drive. Today's M4 MBA is available with both of those things. But to get them you have to get rid of your otherwise just-fine-and-dandy M2 and buy a brand new M4, vs. just putting more memory or storage in the M2 you already have (and the physical form factor is the same on both, so it could fit).

On all my previous Mac laptops, I was able to upgrade as technology made it possible (e.g. put an SSD in my 2010 once they became available even though it only came with a spinning hard drive and there was no SSD option when purchased). Upgraded RAM when it became available. Etc.

So sometimes one CANNOT simply "buy what they need upfront."

But even if you can: This forces everyone to buy a totally maxxed out machine, when maybe they will never even need it. But you almost "have to" because otherwise what if your needs change? (Tho many times they won't and you would have been fine.)

Or, as mentioned above, sometimes it's not possible to "buy what you need up front" because it doesn't exist yet.

 

[Reason077]

Have you purchased a Windows Laptop recently?

Know what their RAM is? Soldered.

It is not just Apple anymore.

Indeed, soldered RAM does seem to be becoming common in Windows laptops, particularly the ultra-compact type ones like Dell XPS.

Sockets take up a lot of space and add a potential failure point, so there is some justification from a design, and manufacturing optimization perspective.

And Apple, at least, have an additional excuse because building the RAM into the SoC allows performance gains that would not be possible with socketed RAM.

 

[cjsuk]

That's not always possible though. For example, if I had bought an M2 MBA (which is only a couple years ago!), it would not have been available with, say 32GB of RAM or a 2TB hard drive. Today's M4 MBA is available with both of those things. But to get them you have to get rid of your otherwise just-fine-and-dandy M2 and buy a brand new M4, vs. just putting more memory or storage in the M2 you already have (and the physical form factor is the same on both, so it could fit).

On all my previous Mac laptops, I was able to upgrade as technology made it possible (e.g. put an SSD in my 2010 once they became available even though it only came with a spinning hard drive and there was no SSD option when purchased). Upgraded RAM when it became available. Etc.

So sometimes one CANNOT simply "buy what they need upfront."

But even if you can: This forces everyone to buy a totally maxxed out machine, when maybe they will never even need it. But you almost "have to" because otherwise what if your needs change? (Tho many times they won't and you would have been fine.)

Or, as mentioned above, sometimes it's not possible to "buy what you need up front" because it doesn't exist yet.

A lot of what ifs and hypothetical scenarios there.

I generally doubt many people push any of their hardware that hard or have that many performance critical applications and that most of the purchases are status and or paranoia.

I exclude a few professional users who will undoubtably have enough income to justify and rationalise future requirements.

So my primary machine is an ass end 16/512 M1 Pro 14” MBP. I can’t find anything that will break it. I may have to wait a few more seconds on a workload than my M4 mini (bought because a backup machine is more important than a fast one) but meh it’s not worth upgrading. That’s most people. Even unprofessional users.

We waste more time replying to forum threads than we lose on not upgrading.

 

[Miss Terri]

A lot of what ifs and hypothetical scenarios there.

I generally doubt many people push any of their hardware that hard or have that many performance critical applications and that most of the purchases are status and or paranoia.

I'm not even sure what you mean. But for example I'm about to buy a new computer because my current 1TB internal storage drive is not large enough for my uses. I could not have "simply bought what I needed at the time" because at the time 1TB was the largest possible BTO hard drive.

If, like on my last MBP, I could just upgrade the interal storage, then I could continue on with this computer.

I can't imagine this is "hypothetical" or rare.

Then too, it gets me again from the other direction: I will be buying the top end BTO MBA. Do I need that much power and storage right this minute? No. Will I in future? Probably not. But the only choice is to buy it all now since it can't be upgraded. (Or just continually buy new machines even though that wouldn't otherwise be necessary.)

I feel like it boils down to this hasn't affected you, or your typical use case. That's great! But you are not everyone.

This is just the way it is now with Macs and I accept that. Doesn't mean I love it, or that it's rare or hypothetical though.

 

[cjsuk]

I'm not even sure what you mean. But for example I'm about to buy a new computer because my current 1TB internal storage drive is not large enough for my uses. I could not have "simply bought what I needed at the time" because at the time 1TB was the largest possible BTO hard drive.

If, like on my last MBP, I could just upgrade the interal storage, then I could continue on with this computer.

I can't imagine this is "hypothetical" or rare.

Then too, it gets me again from the other direction: I will be buying the top end BTO MBA. Do I need that much power and storage right this minute? No. Will I in future? Probably not. But the only choice is to buy it all now since it can't be upgraded. (Or just continually buy new machines even though that wouldn't otherwise be necessary.)

I feel like it boils down to this hasn't affected you, or your typical use case. That's great! But you are not everyone.

This is just the way it is now with Macs and I accept that. Doesn't mean I love it, or that it's rare or hypothetical though.

So you completely underestimated what you were going to use. So did I. When I hit that wall a while back and had a clear out rather than let the problem persist further.

From 4TB down to...

 

[Miss Terri]

So you completely underestimated what you were going to use. So did I.

I'll re-state this one more time, after which I will assume there is just no way to get a concept through.

I did not UNDERESTIMATE what I was going to use. I bought the absolute top-of-the-line BTO configuration that was available. At the time that was a 1TB hard drive. There was NO larger option at that time.

Since that cannot be upgraded, in order to get a larger hard drive now I need to buy an entire new Mac.

Back when you *could* upgrade, in contrast, there was the option to put in a larger hard drive, which I have done in the past.

An example is my 2010 MBP. It came with a spinning hard drive. Only option when purchased. I was able to not only install a larger capacity drive, but make it an SSD at the same time. Glorious, and gave that machine another 5 years of perfect functionality. And added snappiness.

I can't imagine I'm the only one this applies to. But somehow you cannot seem imagine that anyone is different than you.