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Windows Laptop Makers 'Worried' About New MacBook Air Impacting Sales
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They are not using a downgraded and/or slower SSD chip. The M1 256GB model used 2 128GB chips vs the M2 using a single 256GB chip. The single chip can't take advantage of parallelism so it will have less bandwidth.
I guess in the end the reason doesn't make a difference though. It will be slower at preforming certain tasks at certain times. You wont find this problem if you upgrade to more storage or more ram. I'd be suspect of anyone buying the base model and claiming to be a pro or power user.
Huge swathes of high end laptops (>=£1500) are bought by gamers.
It will be a decade or more before Macs are taken seriously as gaming machines, if ever.
The Wintel brigade have no fear IMO.
It will be a decade or more before Macs are taken seriously as gaming machines, if ever.
The Wintel brigade have no fear IMO.
I don't know too many people shopping for Windows notebooks at the $1000-1500 pricepoint who are not also gamers, these days. That Windows market has been largely ceded more toward the business world, where corporations have made their platform decisions and are buying Dell Latitudes by the pallet.
Now yes, there's a tiny amount of people who buy non-gaming, expensive Windows laptops -- but visit a typical Starbucks and you won't see these. Whenever I see a PC laptop in a coffee shop around here, it's either a $2400 gaming laptop, $499 BestBuy piece of trash, or clearly a corporate endpoint with asset tags.
Now yes, there's a tiny amount of people who buy non-gaming, expensive Windows laptops -- but visit a typical Starbucks and you won't see these. Whenever I see a PC laptop in a coffee shop around here, it's either a $2400 gaming laptop, $499 BestBuy piece of trash, or clearly a corporate endpoint with asset tags.
I can see the emptiness and despair in Justin Long's eyes as he holds that cheap Acer laptop...eyes filled with deep sadness.
maybe, but the fact that it can't do dual displays with apple silicon is a bit ridiculous and a reason an org I consult with will not use the Air, despite the demand and price point. there are hacky workarounds, sure
M2 is slower than an i7. What are you talking about?
Apple says new M2 chip won't beat Intel's finest
Apple's new M2 is a worthy sequel to the M1 but doesn't flat out beat Intel's best CPUs in performance.
www.pcworld.com
I doubt this will happen.
I think the M2 MacBook Air will be a Lemon due to HEAT. and NO FAN.
Look at the M2 MacBook Pro. It has 1 fan and still overheats.
I think the M2 MacBook Air will be a Lemon due to HEAT. and NO FAN.
Look at the M2 MacBook Pro. It has 1 fan and still overheats.
Indeed. It is almost 100% guaranteed that the Air will have the exact same arrangement. As will all the other M2 machines (whatever and whenever they may be) that start at 256 GB. It's a bummer, but even at 1/2 speed the SSDs are still very fast.
Frankly I'm not too enthusiastic about a 256 GB machine anyway; 512 GB seems like a much "safer" starting point for a machine with some future-proofing (especially on a laptop where adding external storage is much less convenient).
Yep. I’m tech savvy and love the latest and greatest but I just have very little need for a powerhouse computer. Essentially none. Web browsing and streaming constitute 95% of my personal computer use. And 70% of my web browsing is done on my phone. 10 years ago I would have never thought I wouldn’t need a desktop or laptop and I have almost reached that point. However, it is nice to sit down at a bigger screen and look up from time to time. The only thing that might change what I need is if I really start diving into music production. And even then my 2017 MBP will still probably hold out for a bit.
Much like Star Wars, PC manufacturers worrying about Mac sales is pure fantasy.
The tech press will always bad mouth Apple, it gets clicks, eyes on ads, revenue.
The only folks Apple has to be concerned with are those that are actually in the market for a computer.
I never said said the SSD chips themselves were slower or downgraded, just the SSD chip design that Apple chose in the base model M2 MacBook Pro. When a M1 13" MacBookPro runs about 200% faster at SSD read and write speeds in the base model, and then Apple's upgraded and better M2 13" MacBook Pro machine runs at half the SSD speed on the base model, that affects the swap speed from memory to SSD speed, and causes reduced app performance for anything needing larger than 8GB RAM on the base model. I first saw Max Tech point this out, then influencers like Marques Brownlee, Linus Tech Tips, and others focused on that slower speed SSD in their reviews. A computer company should never go backward in their SSD speeds, even if adding larger SSD size removes the problem. The majority of people just buy the base model that they can find in stores and do not upgrade the SSD size. I just hate to see Apple get creamed by reviewers and influencers over this issue.
The dent is caused by Apple's silicon which runs fast AND cool, unlike Windows competitors. I might be unusual here in actually liking and using Windows 11 on a homebuilt PC but I can't find a single Intel/AMD laptop that comes anywhere close to even a base model M1/M2 Mac. With Windows PCs you can't have fast AND quiet - those fans are going to run and run noisily.
Yes, but how many high end laptops are purchased, period? If there’s, say 500,000 sold in a year, then huge swaths of 500,000 is still less than 500,000. And 500,000 is not a significant part of the pc buying market.
Personal pet peeve: “In 2020, benchmarks revealed that the $999 MacBook Air with an M1 chip outperformed a $2,999 maxed-out Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro.”
I don’t care that much about how much better one Apple product is to another, I want to know if there is a competing non Apple computer that equals or betters the performance and what are it’s costs and drawbacks. I’ve already invested in my particular favorite computer/technology brand. What should I know about competitors that may make me switch (or not) based upon comparing that brands most similar products?
I don’t care that much about how much better one Apple product is to another, I want to know if there is a competing non Apple computer that equals or betters the performance and what are it’s costs and drawbacks. I’ve already invested in my particular favorite computer/technology brand. What should I know about competitors that may make me switch (or not) based upon comparing that brands most similar products?
intel dropped and continues to drop the ball. even their GPU is turning out to be a complete failure.
if apple wasn't so terrible at gaming/GPU's, they would probably dominate the market.
if apple wasn't so terrible at gaming/GPU's, they would probably dominate the market.
Not to worry, I'm sure the EU will force Apple to make their laptops worse so that PC manufacturers can compete.
Why would PC makers get specifically more worried now, as MBA was sold at the same price or lower before?
MacBook Air even being considered as a “workhorse” machine should raise eyebrows everywhere.
I think PC sales starting to decline should scare them a little more. Apple is in this boat, but them and Dell are (currently) the only two who have grown despite HP and Acer getting their backends hit with the door of a 5-6% decline. The reason for the surge was the remote work for COVID, now many companies have cooled their spending since the infrastructure is in place or their employees returned to the office with the new PCs.
Before the pandemic, how many people actually bought a PC? Many consumers just see their phones and tablets as PC replacements and have no need for one. Also, Intel has many years of bad press and products to thank for their slow march backwards. While I’m happy with my Ryzen 5 3600 build, Microsoft screwed over many of us with Windows 11.
Until Qualcomm gets their chipset out to these manufacturers, this will be one worry they’re stuck with until then. I hope AMD and Samsung will switch to Arm and let Intel stew in this pile on their own… with it’s own transformer in the power box.
Before the pandemic, how many people actually bought a PC? Many consumers just see their phones and tablets as PC replacements and have no need for one. Also, Intel has many years of bad press and products to thank for their slow march backwards. While I’m happy with my Ryzen 5 3600 build, Microsoft screwed over many of us with Windows 11.
Until Qualcomm gets their chipset out to these manufacturers, this will be one worry they’re stuck with until then. I hope AMD and Samsung will switch to Arm and let Intel stew in this pile on their own… with it’s own transformer in the power box.
Apple should rattle them even more and release a MacBook that is even cheaper as an entry model.
I don't see people who were not interested in a Mac before, suddenly being interested now. Sure, some will be but a significant shift? Doubt it, especially when budgets are tight for the majority of consumers and that is only getting worse, people are not suddenly prioritising expensive Apple products.