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Who is getting an M3 MBA 13"?

Technerd108

Technerd108

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Oct 24, 2021
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I have an M2 MBA and I have been very happy with it. If the only difference between the 13.6" MBA with the new M3 chip but nothing else is it worth it to upgrade?

I don't really have any compelling reason to get rid of my M2 MBA.

What are your thoughts/plans?
 
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
 
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jdb8167 said:
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
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I don't normally hear this type of response from air owners but it is a testament to how powerful the new airs are.

So what is the new M3 chip going to do that the M2 can't and how much faster will it be? Does that small amount of performance justify the hit in depreciation?

Cost of ownership must be important in a business and I would think buying a new laptop yearly would be an unnecessary expense with little benefits. A 2-3 year plan would probably be a minimum of time most companies keep a laptop.

But if you can get the math to work out in your favor all the best to you! I would get a new model every year too.
 
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Unless they ‘tune’ the MBA to be more efficient with the M3 vs M2 then I see very little gain with a simple chip upgrade. MBA doesn’t have the thermals to justify yearly updates since the short burst performance isn’t enough to warrant an upgrade.

MBA should be updated every other year in its current design.
 
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Sheepish-Lord said:
Unless they ‘tune’ the MBA to be more efficient with the M3 vs M2 then I see very little gain with a simple chip upgrade. MBA doesn’t have the thermals to justify yearly updates since the short burst performance isn’t enough to warrant an upgrade.

MBA should be updated every other year in its current design.
Click to expand...
I was kind of thinking along the same lines but I prefer Apple keep doing what they are doing by releasing a new model with just a chip upgrade for those who may have an older mac and want to upgrade.

Apple is basically giving people the choice even though a yearly spec bump is probably not even needed. It would piss me off if M4 was released and the "new MBA" had M3 in it. So I can't fault Apple at all here.

I am more asking for those of us crazy nerds on MacRumors what we are going to do and why. There is no right or wrong answer and it is always a good time to buy a Mac if you can afford it. Lol
 
For me, If Apple were to release one "Pro" feature to the rest of us peasants than I might upgrade and that would be Promotion. If I could get M3 and Pro motion on a MacBook Air then I would upgrade for sure.

I don't care about Mini-Led. I actually prefer IPS but 120hz would be nice. It is not needed but it would be nice as my MacBook Air and iPad air are the only devices I have with 60hz screens. The iPad air actually would benefit more than the MacBook as it is not noticeable as the iPad is when scrolling. But it would be nice. There is nothing at all preventing an air from having even a 90hz screen instead of full 120hz would be a benefit and could still be a difference between the Pro and Air.

Otherwise M3 would be nice but as said the burst performance is just not enough. In another year or two that might change but for now M2 is still more than good enough. So I will be skipping a M3 air this year unless some trade in deal magic happens but I doubt that highly. I am not spending hundreds to upgrade a cpu alone on a perfectly good laptop. In certain circumstances I would but not this time. I think M4 or M5 will be a significant upgrade over M2 and then I will probably upgrade. By then they may have improved other things on the laptop that would make a purchase more compelling.

That being said I look forward to seeing people give their reasons pro or con and would love to see reviews on the new models when they release and people get them. Always exciting to see the differences in real life! And I am excited for those who get a new Mac. It is a fun experience most of the time!
 
If anybody thought the M3 speedup will significantly help them
they should probably just get a 14" pro right now.

I'd upgrade if they put an OLED screen in it, maybe 2 more ports on the right side.
 
Technerd108 said:
I have an M2 MBA and I have been very happy with it. If the only difference between the 13.6" MBA with the new M3 chip but nothing else is it worth it to upgrade?

I don't really have any compelling reason to get rid of my M2 MBA.

What are your thoughts/plans?
Click to expand...
No reason to upgrade only for the M3 chip. But if you need more RAM or storage, then thats different story.
 
jdb8167 said:
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, how the new M3 chip will help you making more money over the correct MBA you having?
 
jdb8167 said:
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
Click to expand...
So the less of an upgrade it is the better?
 
Sheepish-Lord said:
Unless they ‘tune’ the MBA to be more efficient with the M3 vs M2 then I see very little gain with a simple chip upgrade. MBA doesn’t have the thermals to justify yearly updates since the short burst performance isn’t enough to warrant an upgrade.

MBA should be updated every other year in its current design.
Click to expand...
Considering they basically only change the chipset, they should update the MBA every year. Some people upgrade this year and then 2 years later, others upgraded last year and want to upgrade next year. People should be able to upgrade whenever they see fit.
 
Technerd108 said:
For me, If Apple were to release one "Pro" feature to the rest of us peasants than I might upgrade and that would be Promotion. If I could get M3 and Pro motion on a MacBook Air then I would upgrade for sure.
Click to expand...
sounds like the new basic M3 MacBook Pro is for you then.
M3, Pro Motion, and already exists.

I don’t think pro motion or any display changes to the MacBook Air are rumored until 2026 at the earliest.
jdb8167 said:
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
Click to expand...
Just curious, if it’s about maximizing the resale value of your current air, why not sell it right now while it’s still the latest model, and opt for the low end M3 MBP?
Going with the exact specs you have right now (M3, 24 GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD) it’s only $200 over the 13 inch air to go for the 14 inch pro.
And you’re not just getting an M3 like you will Once the air gets updated, you’re getting an M3 with a better display, more ports, active cooling and, according to Apple, an additional four hours of battery life over the Air.
 
I’m waiting on M3 MBA's because if I’m gonna drop over £2K I might as well get the latest (currently have no laptop and cannot use MBP Mini-led). Will get 24GB/1TB, undecided on the size of the screen.
 
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jdb8167 said:
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
Click to expand...

That doesn't make a lot of sense in that context. Seems more like self justification lol

If an M3 drops this year I'll probably be looking to replace my mom's late-'21-purchase M1, though I'm hoping - probably in vain - that she hasn't beaten it into complete submission in 3 years like she usually does, so that I can replace it with an M4...
 
Technerd108 said:
I have an M2 MBA and I have been very happy with it. If the only difference between the 13.6" MBA with the new M3 chip but nothing else is it worth it to upgrade?

I don't really have any compelling reason to get rid of my M2 MBA.

What are your thoughts/plans?
Click to expand...
Most folks who need upgrading of an M2 MBA would need to go to MBP which is much better in every aspect (especially available RAM) except weight. The exception would be those folks who want the 13" smallest possible size.
 
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jdb8167 said:
I will update my M2 24GB/1TB 13” MacBook Air the minute they are announced.

I use my MBA to make money. It’s a no brainer. And the closer the M3 is to the M2 the more valuable the M2 is for resale value.
Click to expand...
You are the exact reason why I keep buying apple shares.....keep it up and waste your money to make me richer!!
 
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Just picked up the 15" MBA M2. I expect the M3 will have better battery life, but not enough reason for me to do anything. As someone else mentioned, a 120Hz screen would be nice as well.

These machines are too expensive to replace all the time.

R
 
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They'd have to make some serious changes to make me even consider letting go of my M2 Air. This machine is as close to a perfect computer for my needs as I've ever found, and I don't really need any of the performance improvements that would come from an M3 chip.
 
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1096bimu said:
If anybody thought the M3 speedup will significantly help them
they should probably just get a 14" pro right now.

I'd upgrade if they put an OLED screen in it, maybe 2 more ports on the right side.
Click to expand...
I was very tempted by the new M3 Pro 14" as it has everything I would need and more.

BUT I love the light and small footprint of the 13.6" air. I love not having to worry about fans. I love the battery life. I am not a fan of min led. But Promotion, more ports, slightly bigger screen would be things I like and having a regular M3 means I won't be wasting CPU power on things I don't use.

In the end the cost just wasn't worth it but I think the M3 MBA has to have a considerable cost advantage over the 14" MBP or it will not do well. Since they sort of narrowed the gap between air and Pro they have to use cost to get people to upgrade.

For me, the next laptop I get the regular M3/4 MBP 14" is looking very tempting as an upgrade over my current air but even the nicer current M3 14" is not a compelling enough upgrade compared to my 13.6" M2 MBA. I will probably do my best to run this machine into the ground. An advanced 5nm node on laptops is still cutting edge and 3nm even more so. So I don't feel like there is any bottleneck at this point. When I start to feel like the cpu is a bottleneck then I will upgrade or if some tech like OLED or 120hz IPS and more ports I may jump but if the design stays the same for the next few years then I think I will be keeping this Mac for a while. A cheap Mac mini with M3 down the line might be an idea. Been years since I had a desktop....
 
Technerd108 said:
I was kind of thinking along the same lines but I prefer Apple keep doing what they are doing by releasing a new model with just a chip upgrade for those who may have an older mac and want to upgrade.

Apple is basically giving people the choice even though a yearly spec bump is probably not even needed. It would piss me off if M4 was released and the "new MBA" had M3 in it. So I can't fault Apple at all here.

I am more asking for those of us crazy nerds on MacRumors what we are going to do and why. There is no right or wrong answer and it is always a good time to buy a Mac if you can afford it. Lol
Click to expand...
It may have better battery performance? That said, I also use mine (M2, 24GB RAM) for work and see no reason to upgrade.
 
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