If you have spare money sure... If you don't have the money or are on the fence about it financially wait. Not many people can afford to just drop 1300-2000 on a laptop though just because they have yellow memory pressure. I went from a 2015 MacBook Pro to a 2021 MacBook Pro only because I absolutely needed it.
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Should I buy M4 MacBook Air?
- Thread starter Astuces iOS
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Even if I sell the M1 I cannot afford the M4, I would like to but no… and even if I could… I think I will go for MacBook Pro m4 normal only and not m4 max…
That’s a good point, I am curious about m4 MacBook Air upgrades… is only going to be m4, thunderbolt 4, 20h battery and 12mp cam… Other features like a better display, an extra usb-c port and more might be good !
I do not have issues with my Mac yet but some tasks take a bit of time… I might also check reviews and test the new MacBook Air at Apple Store ….
Oh ok, well the thing is that the MacBook Air m4 might be too similar than the MacBook Pro m4 and the extra money might be not worth...
Why do you need a 2TB SSD? That really bumps up the price.
I recently replaced my Intel 2020 MBA with the M4 Pro (512, 16 - the lowest combo) for around $1,500. It was cheaper than my friend's high-specced M1 MBA.
Even my 256, 8 Intel MBA got me through a master's degree in medical informatics, with various database and python/ML stuff. Very basic stuff though, so it depends what you mean by "started coding".
I recently replaced my Intel 2020 MBA with the M4 Pro (512, 16 - the lowest combo) for around $1,500. It was cheaper than my friend's high-specced M1 MBA.
Even my 256, 8 Intel MBA got me through a master's degree in medical informatics, with various database and python/ML stuff. Very basic stuff though, so it depends what you mean by "started coding".
I do not need 2tb internal, I already have a 2tb external ssd (that's what I meant to say), you made a good upgrade but why should I get the m4 MacBook Pro over the upcoming m4 MacBook Air?? Aren't the performances similar? The price difference is around 650$ CAD
I use a MBP M2 Pro with 16GB of RAM and the RAM pressure gets to yellow almost always and I use it for coding almost exclusively (using Android Studio, comparable to XCode). Sometimes it turns red, and only then I sometimes notice it's a tad slow on the fancy animation when switching apps. That's it. I noticed that Firefox or Chrome opened tabs would take most of the resources, so closing a browser once a week or so saved enough memory for me and the RAM pressure is not high any more.
On the chip side, I picked a MBP over a MBA for the power. Now that I know what the new M chips are worth and I can see that the chip NEVER gets used at 100% (well for coding at least), I know any Mx chip is likely just fine (for coding). And the progress Apple makes is impressive enough that a M4 MBA will probably be comparable to a MBP M2 Pro (comparable, not the same).
If you check out videos on the web that compare compile time between Mx Pro and Mx chip (so a Macbook Pro vs a Macbook Air), you'll see the difference is hardly noticeable (like <10s on a minute or more).
So upgrading might not make the compilation THAT much faster.
If you do end up upgrading, the RAM seems your limiting factor. It is the most important part to upgrade, pick 16GB minimum, 24GB or more will make your laptop future-proof (32GB would probably last you 10+ years). As it seems your budget is not that extensible, check refurbished deals, wait for deals at non-Apple retailers (on Black Friday or Boxing day we could see sweet deals this past year), or get the chip of the previous generation (Macbook Air with M2 is still 100$ cheaper than M3, so you can invest in 8GB more of RAM and run your iOS simulator smoothly rather than saving 0.3s on every build). Now that Apple finally made 16 GB the new normal, my bet is you can expect better second-hand deals in a year or so.
If portability matters often, get a MBA. If it matters less, get an older second-hand MBP. If it doesn't matter and you already have a second monitor, find a second-hand Mac Mini M2/M2 Pro with 16GB+ RAM, and keep your MBA for the rest of the time.
On the chip side, I picked a MBP over a MBA for the power. Now that I know what the new M chips are worth and I can see that the chip NEVER gets used at 100% (well for coding at least), I know any Mx chip is likely just fine (for coding). And the progress Apple makes is impressive enough that a M4 MBA will probably be comparable to a MBP M2 Pro (comparable, not the same).
If you check out videos on the web that compare compile time between Mx Pro and Mx chip (so a Macbook Pro vs a Macbook Air), you'll see the difference is hardly noticeable (like <10s on a minute or more).
So upgrading might not make the compilation THAT much faster.
If you do end up upgrading, the RAM seems your limiting factor. It is the most important part to upgrade, pick 16GB minimum, 24GB or more will make your laptop future-proof (32GB would probably last you 10+ years). As it seems your budget is not that extensible, check refurbished deals, wait for deals at non-Apple retailers (on Black Friday or Boxing day we could see sweet deals this past year), or get the chip of the previous generation (Macbook Air with M2 is still 100$ cheaper than M3, so you can invest in 8GB more of RAM and run your iOS simulator smoothly rather than saving 0.3s on every build). Now that Apple finally made 16 GB the new normal, my bet is you can expect better second-hand deals in a year or so.
If portability matters often, get a MBA. If it matters less, get an older second-hand MBP. If it doesn't matter and you already have a second monitor, find a second-hand Mac Mini M2/M2 Pro with 16GB+ RAM, and keep your MBA for the rest of the time.
it is a huge upgrade if you choose m4. More than just basic 16 gb ram, the m4 processor, but you can hook up more high definitelion mornitors!!!!!!
Sorry, I haven't looked at the configurations lately, and I forgot the latest crop of Macbooks have gotten absurdly expensive.
I don’t have the place for monitors in my house, I also have MacBook Air m3 at home
Well, this depends how much the Air costs, as it's not released yet 😁
If the difference is as you say, then yes the Air would probably be a good choice. I'm assuming, like the Pro, it'll be slightly better value than last year's as it'll come with 16GB RAM rather than 8.
When the Air is released, this forum - and loads of other sites - will no doubt run decent comparisons between the M4 Pros and Airs. Generally, the Pro will have a slightly brighter screen, 14" vs 13", more ports, faster processor, heavier, more expensive.
I think the MacBook Air m4 will be the same price as the m3 right now… yes the MacBook Pro will still have :
- 512gb base ssd
- better display
- better speakers
- better connectivity (ports for example)
- Fans
But I don’t think this is worth for 650$ more (cad)… Ok the MacBook Pro M4 PRO might be worth if you are a professional but this is like more than 1000$+ and I don’t need it. I hope MacBook Air m4 wouldn’t be a small update too…
How about buying a used/refurbished MBP M3 Pro instead?
I was waiting for the M4 15" Air to be released (to replace an M1 Mini used as a "portable" device, don't ask, I've not seen an Apple laptop I've wanted since the 2012 17" MBP) but once the Air is specced up to 24GB RAM/512Gb SSD, it will be only £6 cheaper than a MBP 14" M4 Pro (on sale at John Lewis, assuming the M4 Air is the same price as the M3) ... same RAM/SSD specs, so I've not bothered waiting and got the replacement last week
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Delta? Sound like a human and just say "difference" my guy
Without any discounts, the 14” MBP M4 with 24GB RAM/512GB costs €370 more than the 13” MBA M3 with the same specs. So assuming the price stays the same for the new 13” MBA M4 with the same RAM/storage, that's quite big difference.
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For most people, the extra 370 euros might be not worth… The extras of the pro aren’t indispensable and also people may prefer the lighter MacBook Air…
By the way guys I asked someone who has a new Mac mini with 16gb of ram and 16gb of ram seams perfectly fine for him (he can run Xcode and a simulator without any ram pressure) A good thing to know because I was considering 24gb of ram… I might get 512gb ssd instead if the m4 air is interesting…
Sorry about that price difference in Canada, but I just picked up the M4 MacBook Pro (upgraded to 1tb ssd) from Best Buy for $1615. The M3 MBA with 1tb is $1499, so strongly felt the $116 got me a much better processor (base M4),vastly better screen, better ports, and true dual monitor support with the screen open. Even if Apple is able to maintain the same price for M4 as M3 MBA, I still get that incredible screen and better ports.