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Very pleased with my M3 Air - because I did it right

danpass

danpass

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jun 27, 2009
2,788
631
Glory
and by doing it right I mean:

13in
24gb RAM
1tb SSD
(and space grey)

For about 5 months I built this order, always getting the same result, $1,899.

Then one day the same configuration was $1,699.

Still, I hemmed and hawed lol. About a month more and I finally put in an Apple Finance order. (Apple Card payment plan with no interest).

Perfect weight, great keyboard. I know some people lose their minds about keyboards but I love it.

Perfect size screen.

I would add a USBC to the right side but having a dedicated power port helps when only two USBC ports are available.

It feels about the same weight as my iPad 11 Pro with Magic Keyboard but now I have the Mac OS that I love so much. I never forced iPadOS to work like Mac OS because I knew the limitations. But there were times I needed it to work that way so ultimately I decided that, No just ... No.

This is much better.

For iPad-like things I traded in my Pro 11 and went with the Mini A17.

So if you're on the fence with an Air, it's great but needs to be the higher spec model in my opinion to have the speed and flexibility.

-
 
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I also went for the M3 Air. I only use it for basic stuff, like browsing, emails, etc, so went for 16/512 option as I have a more powerful MacBook Pro 16 thats a high spec (64GB/2TB) which is used for more demanding stuff. The MacBook Air has always been a great machine IMO.
 
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iPads are consumption tools.

And it always amuses me when people try to turn it into a creation tool. iPadOS is too kludgy for that.

The whole "stuffing 10lbs of crap into a 5lb bag" situation.

Those YouTube videos are comical, with all the hoops people jump through, connecting keyboards/mice/trackpads to make an iPad work like a MacBook, and yet it is still sub-optimal.

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The Mini 6, meaning version 6 of the iPad Mini.

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danpass said:
iPads are consumption tools.

And it always amuses me when people try to turn it into a creation tool. iPadOS is too kludgy for that.

The whole "stuffing 10lbs of crap into a 5lb bag" situation.

Those YouTube videos are comical, with all the hoops people jump through, connecting keyboards/mice/trackpads to make an iPad work like a MacBook, and yet it is still sub-optimal.

-

The Mini 6, meaning version 6 of the iPad Mini.

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Click to expand...
I understand what your saying, but an ipad pro/air with magic keyboard and e.g. final cut pro/logic pro is a ‘creation tool’ is it not?
 
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I haven't decided if I'd want a right side USB or an SD reader like the 13" Air used to have.
 
GMShadow said:
I haven't decided if I'd want a right side USB or an SD reader like the 13" Air used to have.
Click to expand...
I bought Apple's USB-C SD reader a while back. Works great.

When I got my Macbook 12 i3, a million years ago, I bought Apple's USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter which still works great, though I donated it to mom and it lives full time on her Air 13 M2 that's connected to a keyboard and monitor lol
(bluetooth mouse)
 
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danpass said:
iPads are consumption tools.

And it always amuses me when people try to turn it into a creation tool. iPadOS is too kludgy for that.

The whole "stuffing 10lbs of crap into a 5lb bag" situation.

Those YouTube videos are comical, with all the hoops people jump through, connecting keyboards/mice/trackpads to make an iPad work like a MacBook, and yet it is still sub-optimal.

-

The Mini 6, meaning version 6 of the iPad Mini.

-
Click to expand...
iPads may be consumption tool or may be pro tool. It depends on who is using for what. For me I went with iPad Pro over MBA. MBA is no good for me. Enjoy your MBA.
 
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elmoss said:
No promotion, screen not bright enough, blacks grey, M3 v M4 iPad.

Plus Trading in a 11” pro for a mini 6 is well you know lol
Click to expand...
If OP doesn’t need all that, it’s good for them. But yeah personally MBA is no go for my needs, though my family uses a base M2 MBA. Different strokes for different people.
 
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Took the M3A13 on a trip recently.

Carried easily on the plane and set up easily at the destination. It was a simple matter to take video from the iPhone and bring it into Final Cut Pro.

A while back I chose to master the use of the trackpad so I no longer mouse anything. Editing on the laptop directly, vs being connected to a monitor and apple magic keyboard and magic trackpad (my home setup), was a breeze.

The M3A easily handled 4k120 iPhone 16 Pro video.

Here is that video if interested:

 
TechnoMonk said:
If OP doesn’t need all that, it’s good for them. But yeah personally MBA is no go for my needs, though my family uses a base M2 MBA. Different strokes for different people.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate on what your needs are that makes a MBA a no go, but an iPad Pro a go? Do you own any other computer, such that you don't need an additional one? Or do you use your family's MBA sometimes? I own both an MBA and iPad Pro (and mini 6 and MBP LOL).. so I am not putting down the iPad Pro. I am just curious on your specific use case. If I could have only one device, I would have to let go of my iPads. There are too many applications I use where a full keyboard and screen are required, as well as a fully functional file system, to give up a computer.
 
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danpass said:
and by doing it right I mean:

13in
24gb RAM
1tb SSD
(and space grey)

For about 5 months I built this order, always getting the same result, $1,899.

Then one day the same configuration was $1,699.

Still, I hemmed and hawed lol. About a month more and I finally put in an Apple Finance order. (Apple Card payment plan with no interest).

Perfect weight, great keyboard. I know some people lose their minds about keyboards but I love it.

Perfect size screen.

I would add a USBC to the right side but having a dedicated power port helps when only two USBC ports are available.

It feels about the same weight as my iPad 11 Pro with Magic Keyboard but now I have the Mac OS that I love so much. I never forced iPadOS to work like Mac OS because I knew the limitations. But there were times I needed it to work that way so ultimately I decided that, No just ... No.

This is much better.

For iPad-like things I traded in my Pro 11 and went with the Mini A17.

So if you're on the fence with an Air, it's great but needs to be the higher spec model in my opinion to have the speed and flexibility.

-
Click to expand...
Interesting but why not a MacBook Pro since you seams a heavy tasks user with 24gb of ram and 1tb!
 
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Astuces iOS said:
Interesting but why not a MacBook Pro since you seams a heavy tasks user with 24gb of ram and 1tb!
Click to expand...

You don't need the extra power of an MBP when you have more than 50 pages in Safari, but 24GB RAM will help a lot. Regarding 1TB storage, no matter what laptop you have, it's always nice to have more space for your files.
 
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