I’d say Tim Cook’s Apple is far more tiresome.
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Review: Two Weeks With the M3 MacBook Air
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In the list you propose for most customers the last option (M1) would be the preferable option. 8GB of RAM is just not acceptable in a 2024 machine, no matter how one spins it. You can read emails, sure. But if reading emails it’s all you do than the best advice is not to buy a MacBook at all. 256 GB storage although usable if you don’t have any data to store other than a few pictures and text documents again it’s hard to justify at that price. Considering the performance increment between M1 and M3 is lacklustre for the vast majority of consumer is preferable to have double ram and storage and give up that meagre cpu upgrade.
Literally. Buying Apple products now is just plain hard work.
I always find it amusing and unbelievably sad (to the point of being pathetic) how so many people feel the need to dump on Apple/Tim Cook because the latest [insert product name] is just an incremental update and not worthy of people buying – as though EVERYONE is so incredibly egotistical and flush with cash that they toss away a perfectly good one year-old computer just to have whatever the latest update of that product from Apple is.
By the way, I'm still looking for the "review" the headline of this article promises. Two weeks with a new Mac and "photo editing, video editing, and tasks that require a little more power, even the base model M3 MacBook Air with 8GB Unified Memory is more than enough for many people" is all the writer can come up with?
I use my M1 mbp for video editing. I upgraded from an intel 2020 mbp. The jump in performance, thermals and battery life exceeded my requirements to the extent that I can’t see myself upgrading for another 1-2 years.
This is when I expect macs to have game changing machine learning gpus for LLMs.
You might want to tell that to Tim. Nothing we can do.
It’s simple really. If you have money, you buy what you want. If you don’t have money, you need to think between M3 / M2 / M1.
People who have money buy M3 because it’s new model.
People who have to save money buy M2 or M1.
If someone doesn’t have money it doesn’t mean people with money shouldn’t buy M3. They can and will buy it just because they want one. No other reasons needed.
People who have money buy M3 because it’s new model.
People who have to save money buy M2 or M1.
If someone doesn’t have money it doesn’t mean people with money shouldn’t buy M3. They can and will buy it just because they want one. No other reasons needed.
I'm really confused about MKBHD's argument. Is it "don't upgrade from the M1 or especially M2"? Because, well, duh. Is it "if getting a new laptop, the M3 is great but don't get it because the M1 and M2 are also fine"? Like, the BTO option pricing is the same for the M2. So yeah, you could configure the M3 with 16 GiB RAM and 512 GB SSD, and spend 1.5k. Or you could do the same with M2 and save… $100. That's it. At that point, does the difference even really matter? Might as well flip a coin and either spend 7% more, or spend less and get a 7% worse computer whose support will end a little sooner.
I think I'd understand better if the M3 were $250 more at the same configurations. But it isn't.
While technically correct, though I never pay attention because eventually fashion recycles and even broken clocks are right twice a day, this is the exception that proves my point that tech is not the fashion world, though Apple tries so the spirit of what I was saying is true that it’s naive to expect tech to reinvent itself each year. 🖖
Luke miani makes the same point you do, the buy last years model only makes sense for the off the shelf models with steep discounts. And by default that’s self selecting people who don’t want the more offered by BTO.
It could be supported longer… could, not certain
Your download speed is dependent on your network and otherfactors, you rarely if ever get max speeds
Id say the issue is being connected during flights is more of a concern, if you're in business where time really is critical.
Yep.
I'm skeptical the difference between Wi-Fi 6 and 6E is something the average Air user is going to notice. And for your scenario, the far more likely bottleneck is not the Wi-Fi, but the Internet connection behind it.
I see no reason to believe Apple won't cut off M1 a year or two sooner than M3.
Unlike fashion etc items, tech doesn't yet see the need to recycle old ideas (apart from retro-games - which meet a different need). 56K ISDN anyone ? 5.25in floppys ?
The M1 Air is less than four years old. What's the criticism here? What's lacking in the M3 Air?
It varies by model. I was approximating.
My general point still stands that there is little excuse for Apple to stop updating M1 devices in 2026. We’re two years away from the last Intel Macs hitting their 6 year mark, so it’ll be at least 3 years till we have a solid answer, probably. I’d be genuinely surprised if M1 Macs don’t get updates for 2+ years longer than Intel.
Not sure I get why buying Apple products is such hard work. A huge number of consumers are simply looking for a good reliable computer for everyday use (i.e. college, office, and home use). The MBA offerings seem to fit the bill in a portable package with incredible battery life. You can get a new M3 MBA with education discount for $999, or wait for better sales at big retailers.
These computers will easily last you 5 years, after that you can trade it in for $150 or sell it for more. That's $850 for 5 years of productive use. That's $3.25 per week or one cup of drip coffee per week at Starbucks. All for a device that is central to your education and/or work. Why is this so difficult?
I'm not sure why you are quoting me .. or why you're sharing this in a MacBook Air thread?
Happy for you with the upgrade though!
What is MKBHD's agenda for his conclusions in this video?
I can't see any particular upside on either side of the opinions on this topic
What data do you have to support that opinion?
I've never found him to be lacking credibility at all
In fact - he's big enough now that I'm more in the camp that he can say whatever he wants and get away with it.
Apple isn't cutting him out of access or review units -- no way.
They've actually made it easier for me personally
Apple keep locking everything down and trying to gouge your eyes out on component upgrade pricing...
..so I buy nothing!
Problem solved!
