With the M5 MacBook Air being released on the 11th I'm finally ready to pull the trigger on upgrading. I can get a M4 256/16 for 1398 aud or 1797 aud for the M5 512/16. do you think the $400 saving on the M4 is the smart buy? I have most of my files in the cloud so 256gb is more than enough storage for me.
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Upgrading From Intel MacBook Air
- Thread starter torana355
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I would get more storage. macOS occupies more space. For M4 or M5 it really depends on your use case. If you plan to run AI models internally, M5 is significantly better (I read somewhere it has much better GPU). For other purposes, M4 should be fine.
Just picked up a M4 512/16 with a good discount. Plan on keeping it for at least 7 years.
Loving the new Laptop but there is one downgrade and it's the Speakers, the 2018 MacBook Airs Speakers are noticeably louder and clearer.
Bazza1
macrumors 65816
The practical reviews I've seen (versus the 'ooh, something new' ones) comparing the M4 to M5 Air suggest that unless you're doing professional video, audio, photo editing or CAD - or gaming - the difference between the two is incremental, at best - and will likely not be seen by the 'average' user. RAM is always a consideration and you're looking at identical there. As for onboard storage - if it's a user's primary machine and they must have everything with them all the time, then yeah, the 512 is better. If, however, like you, they keep their stuff in the cloud (and / or stuff accessed less often in an external drive), the 256 GB is probably not a hardship.
(In my case with a 256 GB drive - I have 16,000 docs, 5700 pics, 5000 tunes and 169 movies on it - plus all the apps, iPhone backups, etc - and still have 95 GB free.)
I'd say save the bucks and go with the M4. If the discounts you are seeing is at retail, you might also want to check out Apple's own Refurb site for them, too. Aside from price, benefits include refurb units are individually checked (so arguably better than factory release) and free shipping. And they are eligible for full AppleCare.
I'd say your Intel Air suggests you're familiar with possible longevity of hardware - difference in support (hardware and software) only a little over a year apart on these two products.
(In my case with a 256 GB drive - I have 16,000 docs, 5700 pics, 5000 tunes and 169 movies on it - plus all the apps, iPhone backups, etc - and still have 95 GB free.)
I'd say save the bucks and go with the M4. If the discounts you are seeing is at retail, you might also want to check out Apple's own Refurb site for them, too. Aside from price, benefits include refurb units are individually checked (so arguably better than factory release) and free shipping. And they are eligible for full AppleCare.
I'd say your Intel Air suggests you're familiar with possible longevity of hardware - difference in support (hardware and software) only a little over a year apart on these two products.
The Battery Life on this machine is such a huge step up from the Intel Machine, Still on my First Charge and just hit 25 Percent Battery, 26 hours off the plug with 6 hours Screen On time.
I did a completely fresh setup. Took a while but I prefer to setup all my Phones and Computers this way. Also makes it easy as I use Google cloud for all my photos and documents and I steam my music.
Bazza1
macrumors 65816
For setup - Yeah, me too. Don't want to import old problems into a new device. Definitely the way to to go.
As for 'the cloud', I'm actually doing my darnedest to de-Googlfy my life - as well as not rely on 3rd Party companies out there somewhere to look after my stuff. When I am apt to use cloud storage (non-priority or sensitive), its with folks like Swiss-based Proton or, from Canada, Sync - those whose security and privacy standards are a little less 'casual' than Google, Microsoft, et al.
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Sh3ldon
macrumors regular
I use a Samsung S23 Ultra and thats where i take my photos and listen to the majority of my music so Google makes more sense for me. I do use iCloud to backup my Documents Folder and other Apple related stuff.
Bazza1
macrumors 65816
As torana355 points out, there may be cross-platform reasons to use different cloud storage options over and beyond iCloud.
And start using Apple devices (especially multiple devices on same account) on their default settings and many will find they're eating up a majority - if not all - of the meager 'free' tier of iCloud. Even before any serious user cloud storage has begun.
Other providers may have more substantial free tiers, cheaper paid/quantity ratios or - given their locations - better privacy and security controls over their product.