What do you all use to manage and deploy your Macs?The M3 MacBook Air is everything to enterprise IT departments.
We have approximately 5000 Macs in our fleet. The fact that up to 70% of these Macs intended for non-developers and non-power users can now eventually be a $1200 M3 MacBook Air, instead of a $2000+ 14" MacBook Pro, is huge and keeps the Mac ecosystem more in line with our costs on our standard Dell Latitudes -- still more money upfront sure, but not "twice as much" money. And where the Dells last 3 years tops, we run the Macs for up to 5, lowering TCO below Windows.
Why did we go with Pros before? Dual displays is non-negotiable when there's 11,000 desks each with 2 displays to light up.
We ordered 400 of these already to refresh employees on rapidly aging Intel hardware.
it is useless in real world scenarios but it is a benchmark. the idea is that it runs exactly the same across different hardware. you me and everyone else are not going to use their devices in the same way so yeah it's meaningless but it's still good to get an idea of performance improvements.Ah, Geekbench. Useless numbers that don't really mean anything to anyone. As with the specs of most products they don't mean much until you get in the drivers' seat and get a feel for it. An export time of a 5 minute 4k clip from Final Cut or the time spent converting a 100k+ polygon mesh in Fusion into Brep would be more useful as a benchmark.
We use Jamf Pro for management, JamfConnect for identity/SSO, and also deploy Tanium (since our Windows side uses it for patching) for up to the second realtime info.What do you all use to manage and deploy your Macs?
Good to know, thanks for your insight here! We are expecting many more MacBooks in our environment by the end of this year so I'll definitely look into getting Jamf for our enterprise.We use Jamf Pro for management, JamfConnect for identity/SSO, and also deploy Tanium (since our Windows side uses it for patching) for up to the second realtime info.
I really miss actual reviews, like the ones Anandtech used to do, after using the device for more than 10 minutes, including deep down analysis of the silicon, etc.
These are not more than brief hands-on if not pure superficial bullet-list cheerleaders running against the embargo timer.
Even consumer reports can be iffy though.Me too! It’s near impossible to find an objective review these days - for a computer, mattress, stroller, etc. Consumer reports is still around, but doesn’t get the Apple “special deliveries” before the embargo period is lifted. Maybe that’s better, since these video “content creators” are really just a paid marketing front end for Apple.
"Thus far, it's clear that the anodization blocks most fingerprint smudges, and the M3 looks better than an M2 in the Midnight color. However, Midnight is a harder color to block all of them, as I am still seeing some, specifically on the top and bottom cases of the 15-inch. That being said, on the inside around the keyboard and on or off the trackpad, it does a really good job of stopping them."
if price is the same then it really depends.Trying to decide between the 15" Air with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB HD versus 14" MBP with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB HD....price with education discount is the same. Would trade in my early 2020 Macbook Air (16 GB RAM, 512 HD), $375 trade in value.
Leaning towards the MBP...
I haven't watched a lot of Mac related videos over the last decade but holy bananas the last few days of watching Mac youtube videos has been awful. So much clickbait ("MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE", "I RETURNED MY MAC HERE IS WHY!", "THE TRUTH ABOUT MACBOOKS - YOU'LL BE SHOCKED!", "DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS", etc).The utter disgusting faces of Apple shills in those videos, so scared to question the great Apple on anything for fear of being black listed.
This is very wrong, Apple continue to control the narrative on their latest boring upgrade and this sellouts continue to tell you its the best thing since sex.
by the time non shills get their hands on one, people are over it.
This gives you a insight into their attitude and how they handle criticism.
Just wait until all of these people are replaced with ChatGPT.I really miss actual reviews, like the ones Anandtech used to do, after using the device for more than 10 minutes, including deep down analysis of the silicon, etc.
These are not more than brief hands-on if not pure superficial bullet-list cheerleaders running against the embargo timer.
Apple wants you do use their Studio Display with built in Camera (the worst I've ever used) and external Magic Keyboard with TouchID to solve these two limitations.The issues around the lid needing to be closed, disabling the camera and touch ID, to use a second monitor are really, really clumsy and stupid.
It feels like the product leads for Mac hardware are asleep at the wheel and don't give a **** about the usability of the product at this point.
Agreed. I'm guessing Apple got a lot of feedback that dual monitor support in clamshell mode was important.The M3 MacBook Air is everything to enterprise IT departments.
We have approximately 5000 Macs in our fleet. The fact that up to 70% of these Macs intended for non-developers and non-power users can now eventually be a $1200 M3 MacBook Air, instead of a $2000+ 14" MacBook Pro, is huge and keeps the Mac ecosystem more in line with our costs on our standard Dell Latitudes -- still more money upfront sure, but not "twice as much" money. And where the Dells last 3 years tops, we run the Macs for up to 5, lowering TCO below Windows.
Why did we go with Pros before? Dual displays is non-negotiable when there's 11,000 desks each with 2 displays to light up.
We ordered 400 of these already to refresh employees on rapidly aging Intel hardware.
Get the Pro. The Air gets overly expensive in 'usable' configurations, since they're all custom (Z-model/spec) builds, which is nonsense circa 2024.Trying to decide between the 15" Air with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB HD versus 14" MBP with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB HD....price with education discount is the same. Would trade in my early 2020 Macbook Air (16 GB RAM, 512 HD), $375 trade in value.
Leaning towards the MBP...
I wish you were joking but I wouldn't be surprised if this is why Apple imposed this software limitation.Apple wants you do use their Studio Display with built in Camera (the worst I've ever used) and external Magic Keyboard with TouchID to solve these two limitations.
It's in order to make the excellent Touch ID sensor and trackpad inaccessible which in turn boosts sales of overpriced apple keyboards and trackpads. I mean, why pay for one Touch ID sensor when you can pay for two?I wish the main screen would just go dark when you plug in 2 external displays. Much simpler and easier to discover. I don't understand why the lid has to by physically closed.
What are you using for MDM? One solution across Mac and Dell, or dual solutions?The M3 MacBook Air is everything to enterprise IT departments.
We have approximately 5000 Macs in our fleet. The fact that up to 70% of these Macs intended for non-developers and non-power users can now eventually be a $1200 M3 MacBook Air, instead of a $2000+ 14" MacBook Pro, is huge and keeps the Mac ecosystem more in line with our costs on our standard Dell Latitudes -- still more money upfront sure, but not "twice as much" money. And where the Dells last 3 years tops, we run the Macs for up to 5, lowering TCO below Windows.
Why did we go with Pros before? Dual displays is non-negotiable when there's 11,000 desks each with 2 displays to light up.
We ordered 400 of these already to refresh employees on rapidly aging Intel hardware.
The Macs are on Jamf. The Windows machines are on InTune. Both run Tanium.What are you using for MDM? One solution across Mac and Dell, or dual solutions?