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Should I buy M4 MacBook Air?

Yup 16GB of RAM is totally fine. My personal take is that 24GB, if it's not much more expensive when you buy it, would give you the extra year or two of comfortable usage, a few years down the road. But indeed I'd value the 512GB a bit higher than that.

I upgraded from 8GB RAM/256GB of storage when I did (and from an Intel chip) and my feeling today is: the chip (M2 Pro) is by far the most powerful I've ever had, 512GB storage gives me enough comfort that I don't have to clean up my laptop every other month. For both of these, it will probably be enough in 5 or 10 years, unless I want to train ML models on my laptop. And the RAM is good today, but I can get a glimpse of the limit once a week (and I expect I'll have to change to a MBA in a few years), hence my recommendation to pay the extra 200CAD to get it (ideally you would find a deal with a lower price difference). Your M1 8GB RAM laptop will probably lose 100$ in value by next year, and if you pick 16GB RAM today and change again in 5 years, you would probably lose 100 or a few more by upgrading.

But if you don't feel frustrated with coding today when you use your laptop, stick with it and when you start earning some more money next year with coding, spend the extra 200$ then.
 
dalestrauss said:
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.
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Yeah but for example in my case in Canada I don’t have that best buy deal and I don’t need 1tb of storage so the MacBook Air is way cheaper for me… oh and I also don’t like the MacBook Pro because it’s not 1.3kg like the MacBook Air and the air fits on my stand!
 
vincedu69 said:
Yup 16GB of RAM is totally fine. My personal take is that 24GB, if it's not much more expensive when you buy it, would give you the extra year or two of comfortable usage, a few years down the road. But indeed I'd value the 512GB a bit higher than that.

I upgraded from 8GB RAM/256GB of storage when I did (and from an Intel chip) and my feeling today is: the chip (M2 Pro) is by far the most powerful I've ever had, 512GB storage gives me enough comfort that I don't have to clean up my laptop every other month. For both of these, it will probably be enough in 5 or 10 years, unless I want to train ML models on my laptop. And the RAM is good today, but I can get a glimpse of the limit once a week (and I expect I'll have to change to a MBA in a few years), hence my recommendation to pay the extra 200CAD to get it (ideally you would find a deal with a lower price difference). Your M1 8GB RAM laptop will probably lose 100$ in value by next year, and if you pick 16GB RAM today and change again in 5 years, you would probably lose 100 or a few more by upgrading.

But if you don't feel frustrated with coding today when you use your laptop, stick with it and when you start earning some more money next year with coding, spend the extra 200$ then.
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512gb of storage seams a good option for me, I asked someone and we told me 16gb was enough for him (using Xcode and simulator) Before buying the m4 MacBook Air, I will check improvements because I don’t want something only slightly better than the m1 MacBook Air… for example if it doesn’t have battery improvements I might not buy it… I want m4 chip with 10 cores cpu, battery improvements, 12mp camera with center stage and deskview and more if possible…
 
DeepSix said:
I'd wait for M5 in 2026. Only a year away.
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I think I will go for the base model of the MacBook Pro m4... The upgrade will be better for me than buying a m4 MacBook Air... I bought the m1 MacBook Air after the release of the m2 MacBook Air so buying the m4 for the design, magsafe... isn't very justifiable... If I buy a MacBook Air m4, the only reason is the performance... By getting the pro model, the purchase is more justifiable... By the way, the family has a 15 inch m3 MacBook Air (a Mac that we shares) Getting m4 will not be a very good upgrade but getting the m4 MacBook Pro is a very good upgrade...

Some might say : I could get a 1tb and 24gb of ram MacBook Air but I already have a 2tb ssd... And 24gb of ram might not be worth for me... 16gb seems ok. By the way 8gb of ram is still going to be supported for a long time since there is a m3 MacBook Pro with 8gb of ram...
 
Oh yes if portability matters, go with the MacBook Air. The Macbook Pro definitely feels a bit bulkier, every time you lift it (so if you take it out every day...)
I would expect battery improvements on the M4 MacBook Air, since the MacBook Pro had some with the M4 chip. So that's worth waiting a few months.

As you already have a M3 laptop, try it and see how you're feeling about it regarding the performance. The M4 won't make a big difference. Cheat and switch the M1 and M3 laptops :) when your M1 laptop REALLY feels slow.

Also for Canada, Best Buy and Amazon (and probably London Drugs) have deals once in a while. Best Buy definitely had cheaper MacBook Air and Pro around Black Friday and Boxing Day (last week). Wait for another sale, ideally wait for next Black Friday, they offered about 250 CAD off the 16GB M3 MacBook Air.
Honestly, save your money for a bit, you'll save literally hundreds of dollars. Learn coding instead, that's gonna bring you more $
 
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vincedu69 said:
Oh yes if portability matters, go with the MacBook Air. The Macbook Pro definitely feels a bit bulkier, every time you lift it (so if you take it out every day...)
I would expect battery improvements on the M4 MacBook Air, since the MacBook Pro had some with the M4 chip. So that's worth waiting a few months.

As you already have a M3 laptop, try it and see how you're feeling about it regarding the performance. The M4 won't make a big difference. Cheat and switch the M1 and M3 laptops :) when your M1 laptop REALLY feels slow.

Also for Canada, Best Buy and Amazon (and probably London Drugs) have deals once in a while. Best Buy definitely had cheaper MacBook Air and Pro around Black Friday and Boxing Day (last week). Wait for another sale, ideally wait for next Black Friday, they offered about 250 CAD off the 16GB M3 MacBook Air.
Honestly, save your money for a bit, you'll save literally hundreds of dollars. Learn coding instead, that's gonna bring you more $
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Actually I am available for the apple education price, I will get that… also I will not wait to much since people may not buy my MacBook Air m1… I also know that the MacBook Pro isn’t like the air but I don’t care a lot about portability…

And exactly because you say m4 couldn’t make a big change, I would buy the pro for this reason… actually getting an Air M4 couldn’t make a huge difference but the MacBook Pro has the m4 chip, a fan, a 10 cores cpu (not sure a 100% the air will have it) and a 10 cores gpu… So the MacBook Pro is more a little bit better in performances but a big upgrade from even m1 or m3 is the 16gb of ram !! (I didn’t have them) so this can help me a lot!

Of course MacBook Air m4 could have battery improvements but I do NOT expect better than 20h… the MacBook Pro is at 24h so an 4 hour extra ! The MacBook Pro has also other advantages like better speakers, better screen, better connectivity and more…
 
DELLsFan said:
Agreed. Maybe by then Apple's base storage and U-RAM configurations for their Macs will have increased to 32GB / 1TB. :p
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Waiting one year will limit me in my tasks, by the way I also started coding (I have some apps on the App Store) so that’s why I fell the MacBook Pro is good !
 
anyone know when apple usually puts out a date for these MacBook airs to become available? Will it just show up on apples website one day or is there usually a press release with a date?
 
randomdude84 said:
anyone know when apple usually puts out a date for these MacBook airs to become available? Will it just show up on apples website one day or is there usually a press release with a date?
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These MacBooks might come on their website on a random day…
 
randomdude84 said:
anyone know when apple usually puts out a date for these MacBook airs to become available? Will it just show up on apples website one day or is there usually a press release with a date?
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If you're referring to the upcoming M4 or any other new model, there will be a video or press-release announcement, and it will swiftly be shared on the Front Page of MacRumors. https://www.macrumors.com/
 
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helloapple1 said:
How can you do this?
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I calculated again my money and I sold my MacBook Air m1 for better than expected… So I bought the MacBook Pro M4 ! By the way don’t forget I was ready to make an upgrade like 512gb of storage on the m4 air and I am eligible to the educational price so I benefited about that too (the education price discount is better on MacBook Pro)
 
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Astuces iOS said:
I calculated again my money and I sold my MacBook Air m1 for better than expected… So I bought the MacBook Pro M4 ! By the way don’t forget I was ready to make an upgrade like 512gb of storage on the m4 air and I am eligible to the educational price so I benefited about that too (the education price discount is better on MacBook Pro)
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You made the right choice. Some people on here seem to be sarcastic with you saying wait for M5 and such other comments.

In my personal opinion it is always best to get the latest chip on any respective Apple device. If I were thinking of buying a new MBA I would have waited for m4 since it is going to be released spring of this year most likely. If Apple had just released M3 and M4 was a year or so away then it wouldn't make much sense.

I have a M2 MBA 13" and I really love everything about it but the screen having low contrast is probably the biggest weakness. It is still a great IPS display but I still prefer mini led. Having had a couple of laptops with OLED displays I have come to the conclusion that the mini led display Apple uses on the MBP's is the best compromise available at this time and prefer it to OLED.

The 14" MBP with EDU discount with modest specs can be very close in cost to the 13", 15" MBA and although it is not as comfy on the lap, the much better screen, more ports, and better speakers make it worth the extra cost. It is also built like a tank which is good for durability.

Now you have the best of everything in a small package that will last you for many years. In my opinion M1 was a great chip but it had some limitations. Compared to the old Intel models it was a huge leap. You can't expect that type of leap year over year from the same chip design. That being said every year I feel like the improvements in m series is pretty significant. Some iterations more than others but just two gens later the difference is pretty significant and worth upgrading for some and at the same time if you like to keep your Mac a long time, things have never been better!
 
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Technerd108 said:
You made the right choice. Some people on here seem to be sarcastic with you saying wait for M5 and such other comments.

In my personal opinion it is always best to get the latest chip on any respective Apple device. If I were thinking of buying a new MBA I would have waited for m4 since it is going to be released spring of this year most likely. If Apple had just released M3 and M4 was a year or so away then it wouldn't make much sense.

I have a M2 MBA 13" and I really love everything about it but the screen having low contrast is probably the biggest weakness. It is still a great IPS display but I still prefer mini led. Having had a couple of laptops with OLED displays I have come to the conclusion that the mini led display Apple uses on the MBP's is the best compromise available at this time and prefer it to OLED.

The 14" MBP with EDU discount with modest specs can be very close in cost to the 13", 15" MBA and although it is not as comfy on the lap, the much better screen, more ports, and better speakers make it worth the extra cost. It is also built like a tank which is good for durability.

Now you have the best of everything in a small package that will last you for many years. In my opinion M1 was a great chip but it had some limitations. Compared to the old Intel models it was a huge leap. You can't expect that type of leap year over year from the same chip design. That being said every year I feel like the improvements in m series is pretty significant. Some iterations more than others but just two gens later the difference is pretty significant and worth upgrading for some and at the same time if you like to keep your Mac a long time, things have never been better!
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I have the MacBook Pro now and I am very happy, it's better for everything !!
 
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sdfox7 said:
TLDR, no you shouldn't because the M5 will be out in 8 months and the M4 will be trash.
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M4 trash? Never... Ok the m5 will be better but it doesn't mean the m4 will be trash... Also after 8months you might say oh just wait an extra year, it will have a redesign and blablabla.... You are not considering that the upgrade is useful for me, waiting 8 months is long and it will take more time to do my projects... I am not only coding but I also make videos with Final Cut Pro and run some other heavy programs.
 
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