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So what model MacBook Air are you running? Thinking of upgrading of staying?

Technerd108

Technerd108

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Oct 24, 2021
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So I have an M2 MBA and it has been pretty much the perfect laptop for what I use it for. I really don't have huge list of things I would like to have upgraded. People go on and on about the screen. If you get a Pro model you get mini led. Great now I have blooming because it is still an issue with mini led. Micro Led would be perfect and might even be better than OLED since you don't have burn in issues but mini led just isn't there in my personal opinion. I actually prefer IPS but what I would really like is better overall consistency in the screen, 120hz/90hz refresh rate and a higher contrast ratio. Those improvements would really be all I want. M3 over M2. M3 is a decent upgrade but is it enough of a boost to upgrade to an otherwise identical machine??

What I am seriously considering though is the M3 15" MBA. This would probably be my dream machine. BUT I don't know as the 13.6" is the perfect medium between screen size and maximum portability which is one of the things I love so much about the air. But if the weight distribution is the same as the 13" it should feel the same just a little bigger. But the 13.6" is pretty much at the perfect overall weight. Any more and it is too heavy and any less and it is too flimsy.

So what model air do you have? What do you like about and what would you like to see improved?

If you have an air are you thinking of upgrading to another air? How many current air owners would be tempted by a 14" MBP with a regular M3?? Why? What about pricing? Does it make more sense to get a Pro and why? Does it make more sense to get an Air and why?
 
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MacBook Air 2020 M1
I like everything and this was an upgrade from a
2010 MacBook Air in still using today.

as afar as what I can change is really nothing, maybe an older version of OS
I would not upgrade until the support stops, and even them I think our M chips will last longer than Intel.

I hoped this helped!
 
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M1 MacBook Air with 16 GB of ram (the literal only reason why I can use this thing.) I likely won't need to upgrade it at least for another year. I want to try to get 5 years out of it, so I'll even try to hold onto it for another two years.

In plus, the 2019 iMac I recently got works really well as a main computer (which honestly surprised me, given it's over 4 years old), so my M1 is now more of a secondary machine, which makes it less necessary to upgrade it.
 
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Technerd108 said:
So I have an M2 MBA and it has been pretty much the perfect laptop for what I use it for. I really don't have huge list of things I would like to have upgraded. People go on and on about the screen. If you get a Pro model you get mini led. Great now I have blooming because it is still an issue with mini led. Micro Led would be perfect and might even be better than OLED since you don't have burn in issues but mini led just isn't there in my personal opinion. I actually prefer IPS but what I would really like is better overall consistency in the screen, 120hz/90hz refresh rate and a higher contrast ratio. Those improvements would really be all I want. M3 over M2. M3 is a decent upgrade but is it enough of a boost to upgrade to an otherwise identical machine??

What I am seriously considering though is the M3 15" MBA. This would probably be my dream machine. BUT I don't know as the 13.6" is the perfect medium between screen size and maximum portability which is one of the things I love so much about the air. But if the weight distribution is the same as the 13" it should feel the same just a little bigger. But the 13.6" is pretty much at the perfect overall weight. Any more and it is too heavy and any less and it is too flimsy.

So what model air do you have? What do you like about and what would you like to see improved?

If you have an air are you thinking of upgrading to another air? How many current air owners would be tempted by a 14" MBP with a regular M3?? Why? What about pricing? Does it make more sense to get a Pro and why? Does it make more sense to get an Air and why?
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I posted in another similar thread that I will update my M2 MacBook Air to the M3 MBA the minute it is available. I got loads of guff from the usual suspects about wasting money etc.

My reasoning is pretty simple. I can sell my M2 24 GB/1 TB 13" MBA for around $1000 which makes my cost about $2/day so far. I make my living writing software but I also need a very portable laptop so the M2 13" MBA is perfect. I can build my current contract project in about 6 seconds (it's a React web application running on an embedded system.) I do these builds many times a day. So even shaving 1-2 seconds off this time is valuable to me. Certainly it's worth a couple of dollars a day. And it will continue to be valuable to reduce build times until it is virtually instantaneous.

I'm not much tempted by a 14" MacBook Pro because of the weight. The thought of lugging around 3.5 lbs every day just puts me off. I'd love a M3 Max MacBook but that just isn't possible without the added weight for the fan/cooling system.
 
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I have an M1 air (with 16bg ram). I recently got an M3 max for work and, honestly, unless I push the m3 max with computing tasks that require a lot of cores and ram, I do not really notice any important difference. And I really love that it is a completely silent machine. I cannot think of any reason to replace it any time soon.
 
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Early-2020 Intel MBA, i5 8GB. No plans to upgrade - it's working perfectly.

I even recently completed a master's degree involving (basic) coding and machine learning on it. I can always spin up something in the cloud if I need serious resources.
 
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There is no reason to upgrade from M2 MBA if it serves your needs, unless you need more RAM or storage.

As for the M3 14” MBP, its a bit of a lemon in the lineup… the only improvement its having compared to MBA is better screen and one cooling fan. If already, get the base M3 Pro version because you’ll get much more for your money - better CPU, more RAM options, two cooling fans, more connections, supporting two external screen…
 
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Unless you've become the next Spielberg or Graphics designer there is no need to upgrade. I just bought a studio and love it but I've gone overkill with the spec and I'm just home user who does basic video and photo edits. I got it to replace my 2014 iMac which still runs great but was bugging me not being able to run the latest OS.

in hindsight, I wish I waited a bit longer.
 
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JamesMay82 said:
Unless you've become the next Spielberg or Graphics designer there is no need to upgrade. I just bought a studio and love it but I've gone overkill with the spec and I'm just home user who does basic video and photo edits. I got it to replace my 2014 iMac which still runs great but was bugging me not being able to run the latest OS.

in hindsight, I wish I waited a bit longer.
Click to expand...
Yea, I got sucked in with Apple Silicon. I had a 2020 27" Imac that was just fine. I got impatient when the Studio came out (in wanted Apple Silicon in a desktop), traded it in and got a Mac Studio. I should have just kept the 27" or gotten a Mac Mini.
 
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dizmonk said:
Yea, I got sucked in with Apple Silicon. I had a 2020 27" Imac that was just fine. I got impatient when the Studio came out (in wanted Apple Silicon in a desktop), traded it in and got a Mac Studio. I should have just kept the 27" or gotten a Mac Mini.
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ha I'm glad I'm not alone!
 
dizmonk said:
Yea, I got sucked in with Apple Silicon. I had a 2020 27" Imac that was just fine. I got impatient when the Studio came out (in wanted Apple Silicon in a desktop), traded it in and got a Mac Studio. I should have just kept the 27" or gotten a Mac Mini.
Click to expand...
The Intel HD 4000 graphics is the worst-performing Metal-supported graphics chip to ever exist. It's at the bottom of all benchmarks, and it is literally THE WORST-PERFORMING Metal-supported graphics processor.

Now, why do I bring this up? It seems so unrelated. But, I will say, I owned a 2012 Mac mini from 2018-2020, and it had the Intel HD 4000 graphics. The machine could hardly play back raw (NO color grading, effects, no nothing) H.264 1080p footage in Resolve, and 1080p H.265 would stutter. 4K was obviously out of the question.

So, as I attempted to edit videos on said 2012 Mac mini, things just were far too frustrating. Apple Silicon was literally my only way out. Had Apple Silicon not become a thing, who knows what I would've done... probably would've ended up with a PC if I have to be honest.

And now look where I am now—using a 2019 iMac (how random!) as my main computer, with my M1 as a secondary machine.

Soooo, I've explained how I was "saved" by Apple Silicon, but honestly, that 2020 iMac might've done you justice for at least a few more years. My 2019 iMac is working just fine.
 
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I'm an M1 Air owner that routinely looks at buying a 14" MBP. Mainly for the screen and 120Hz - I don't push my Air performance wise as it is.

But man, my Air is just such a great size and still a solid performer. Buying a MBP would really just be some retail therapy, rather than anything that made a lot of sense. :)
 
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Mine is the M1 8/512 configuration . I purchased recently the 8/512 M2 MBA open box from BB for my wife. I like both. that said, I have been watching the M3 rumors especially for the 15 inch MBA. I will probably get a 16/512 configuration next upgrade.
 
I have a M2 Air and it's been great. Have no reason to upgrade to anything else. My wife got the 15 Air and I'm not a fan of it. It's too large and the sides next to the keyboard with no speaker holes look ugly. Since Apple hooked up the warranty for three years from this month even though I've had it for shy of a year I'll be keeping it.
 
I have an M1 Air with 16GB of RAM. It is a complement to my M1 Max MBP and my Air is used as a travel computer. I got it almost a year ago and it's been fantastic for my needs. I have AppleCare+ on it until early 2026, so probably won't upgrade until then.
 
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13.6” M2 Air, not budging. Will add a 14” Pro down the line, but I love this M2 with a passion. Gonna run it into the ground like I have with all my previous Macs. The form factor is such a joy to use, and iterative year over year updates don’t get me. I like to wait it out and feel a massive upgrade.
 
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Rocking the M1 Air,

I got 8 GB of Ram because you could not get Apple Silicon and 16 GB at the same time just by walking in the Apple Store when I desperately needed a new laptop (which is absolutely dog water that you cant do it with a MBA today)

And I needed a new laptop.

And 8 GB of ram is showing itself now,
And I need more.

I think I am getting a new MacBook for my birthday (march) and this will be handed down to my dad who is rocking a 2015 Asus that is showing its age.
 
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13" M2 MacBook Air + 24GB RAM + 1TB SSD.

I will upgrade it to a 15" OLED MacBook Air whenever it arrives. If it takes 5 years to put OLED displays in these things, then so be it.
 
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13" M2/16GB/1TB. Personally it's my 3rd unibody machine since 2009 (though the household has other MBAs as well), and it is by far the best computer I have ever owned. It's got 1TB due to me being somewhat cloud-averse, and the 16GB is a knee-jerk attempt at futureproofing that is probably overkill for what I do. For that matter, the M2 is overkill, too.

If past experience holds, I expect to replace it in 2030 or so. Whatever magical super-compelling feature Apple could put in a laptop to cause me to upgrade before the M2's EOL hasn't been invented or even rumored yet.
 
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I have the base M2 13.6" MBA, and it does everything I need. It is a great computer. I bought it about 1.5 years ago, and I'll keep it until Apple releases a new MBA design. Typically, Apple sticks with a design for about 4-5 years, so I figure on keeping it another 3.5 years +/-.
 
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iAppleOrchard said:
Rocking the M1 Air,

I got 8 GB of Ram because you could not get Apple Silicon and 16 GB at the same time just by walking in the Apple Store when I desperately needed a new laptop (which is absolutely dog water that you cant do it with a MBA today)

And I needed a new laptop.

And 8 GB of ram is showing itself now,
And I need more.

I think I am getting a new MacBook for my birthday (march) and this will be handed down to my dad who is rocking a 2015 Asus that is showing its age.
Click to expand...
I don't know what Apple stores are near you but I could always get the 16GB/1TB in stock in my area stores.
 
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