48 Hours With the M3 MacBook Air Base Model: Has Anything Changed?
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- This is the 13in M3 MacBook air, it looks exactly the same as the 13in M2 MacBook air, but there’s a few key differences. I’ve got both in my hands right here, so let’s talk about it.
Affiliate Links to Products Mentioned in Video:
M3 MacBook Air: amzn.to/43e26S5
M2 MacBook Air: amzn.to/3wPJKuJ
M3 Pro MacBook Pro: amzn.to/49NloAa
Physically, almost everything about the M3 2024 version of the MacBook air is exactly the same as the one released in 2022. You probably wouldn’t be able to tell I was using M2 MacBook air footage mixed into this if it wasn’t a different color. The only difference is the M3 Chip, and a new anodization method Apple is using to make the finish on the Midnight color way less fingerprinty. For context, the M2 MacBook air in Midnight is such a fingerprint magnet. If the FBI wanted to match fingerprints, they’d only have to look to see if the suspect ever touched a midnight macbook air. It’s that bad. The M3 air is supposedly better, but I only have the M2 version here. That being said, I warn everyone interested in the midnight version of this laptop, to consider how the area around the ports will hold up, because plugging in charging cables, or accessories could wear them down, revealing the raw metal underneath. Again this is on the old version, so I have no idea how these will wear on the new anodized midnight color, but time will tell. But besides that, everything else about the M3 Macbook Air feels just like the M2 Macbook air. Speakers sound similar, screens look similar, webcam looks similar, keyboard and trackpad feel similar. The list goes on.
So instead of focusing on what’s the same, let's talk about what the M3 brings to this laptop, it’s a little faster than the outgoing model, and plays games a little bit better. That’s really the main advantages here.
Performing general everyday tasks on the M3 Macbook air feels similar to the previous model. Everything works as intended, things open fast and for my general productivity tasks, it works great, until you really start to push it in more intense tasks, in video editing I see hitches here and there for a 4K workflow.
I don’t recommend this for gaming, just due to how few games are currently supported on macbooks, but the air does okay for a thin and light laptop while gaming. The SSD in the M3 MacBook air starts 256GBs and the 256 GB SSD itself is slow, just like the M2. The 8GBs of ram is not great to be honest and because of that, if you do more intensive tasks, including gaming which needs ram for both the cpu and gpu, the machine goes into swap, which means it uses its SSD as extra ram. But SSDs are significantly slower than ram, and the SSD in the M3 Macbook air already isn’t super fast, and SSDs wear down over time. My suggestion for this laptop, is to try to get 16GBs of RAM if you can. I don’t believe in extreme futureproofing. But these M series MacBooks have had a good history of staying really good for a long time now. I’d recommend it, if you want to have a good time with this machine in 4-5 years from now. That being said, Apple doesn’t make it easy to get that 16gbs of ram. Their default configuration, the models that ship the fastest, require you drop $1600 to get the M3 Macbook air with 16GBs. You could do a custom config that keeps the 256gb SSD and bumps the price $200 for the extra ram, but that takes more time to ship. Also, major retailers like Best Buy do not sell custom Apple configs and only the default ones. But I noticed that you can get the custom configurations from more niche retailers like BH Photo or Adorama. So just some food for thought.
The last thing to note is that with this M3 chip, the M3 MacBook air is now able to use two external displays at the same time if the lid of the laptop is closed. Previous versions of M series Macbook Airs did not. If you open it up, it will default to just a single external display and the macbook’s display. So if you can’t decide between the 13in and 15in MacBook air and you primarily use external monitors. You might want to save $200 and just get the 13in. The 15in is more valuable for people who need the extra screen real estate on the go, and if that’s not you, you can save a decent chunk of change.
The SSD uses 2 nand chips now on the base 256gb M3 Macbook Airs now. So the SSDs are faster now compared to the M2.
True. Of course, anyone who only needs 256GB probably doesn't care about the dual channel SSD access. Everyone who does is very likely to upgrade to 512GB or more.
@@nunuvyurbiz123 anyone who needs 16/512 will buy M1 Pro 14"
Does this help with the RAM after used Apple's nand chip?
The beauty of the M1 MBA vs the M2 or M3 MBA is that the M1 didn’t heat up like crazy and then have to throttle. It was able to sustain performance longer without slowing down to cool down. It’s an interesting point because throttling down means losing that very power we pay for to get the newer processor.
I think Apple fixed the slowness with 256 GB SSD in M3.
Not really, the M1 is still way faster
@@j3sv1nin terms of write speed that is the case, but at least they reverted back to dual nands
@@j3sv1nno noticeable
2 x 128GB flash ssd
Why is no one talking about this?
Thanks for another informative video. I think for the person who is going to be using the laptop for simple day-to-day tasks the base model M2 MBA will be more than adequate. However, something that is frequently overlooked in the discussion of memory is how long these things last. That extra $200 for 16GB of memory spread out over four or five years becomes pennies per month.
I just bought the 16GB but $200 for 8GB is such a crock!
not pennies, like $4 actually.
The intro price should be for a 512gb ssd and 16gb ram... and the upgrade prices need to be cut by 50%... it's insane that a 15in macbook air with 1tb ssd and 24gb of ram costs $2300... do you know what $2300 gets you on the windows side? Like my god apple, please stop.
Actually asking Apple to have 16GB/512GB base at £1100 when all premium ultrabooks Windows (with only an iGPU) machines start around £1500-1600 sounds like you are flexing or have no idea how the market works. Why would Apple have to lower prices to £1100 and not the XPS 14 or the Galaxy Book4 Pro (or the upcoming LG GRAM and Surface Laptop)? Could it be that is the equilibrium price of 512GB/16GB is £1500-1600 for premium ultrabooks and you are just having unrealistic expectations?
I never see Windows reviews with you complaining, so I think it is anti-Apple. All Apple does is also offer cheaper options for those of us that have used 8GB for 30 years and have no issues and who like me use minimal storage (
No windows laptop that costs more than 1000$ comes with 256gb of storage or 8gb of ram and even if they do most likely you can upgrade them. I despise apple's business practices and dont understand people deffending them @andyH_England
@@albabzel4405 My Galaxy book3 Pro 360 from last year came with 8GB/256GB and was £2050. Dell could not have 8GB/256GB this year as Core Ultra has minimum specs of 16GB/512GB, so their price has gone up to £1600. But both 12th & 13th gen XPS 13 had the base 8GB. Dell now sell both of these for people that cannot afford 16GB variant and 13 Gen is £1000 ($1200). So please do not post fake news, as it is easily disproven.
Never had a Windows laptop that lasted 10 years and counting, so yeah, I stay with Mac
Just bought the m3 with 16gb ram and 256gb storage as I was tight on budget but I always carry external ssd with me so I don’t have any issue and this thing is super fast
Can you share which dock did you use that allows 2 monitors?
I did upgrade from M2 to M3 MBA but it was to get a 15" mostly. I figured if I'm buying, I might as well get the latest & greatest.
Have you received it? Ours is supposed to be here later this month
Is the sound quality the same as on M2 Air? I'm asking because i felt M2 Air was a step back compared to M1 Air, which had better sound (wider Stereo)
Hi, he said it was same sound as m2, but could have been overlooked
Yeah, MBA M3 13" sound is pretty bad, sounds like mono because speakers reflect the sound in middle against the screen, MBP 13" had much better and wider sound stage. Also M3 gets pretty hot for lap usage.
Hi, I'm a student and I'd like to know if the M3 base model is capable of doing tasks for research, ms excel / google sheets, docs, ms teams, jamovi, tableau, canva, and figma (only light use/free version)? My workflow revolves around these applications and let me know if its feasible. Also, what browser would you recommend (aside from safari), that is not heavy on ram?
Hey, i'm a ui/ux designer who's currently taking a master's degree in design, so we basically use similar apps. I just bought the 16GB/512GB M3 Macbook Air last week. Initially, i considered getting the base model (8GB/256GB) because it was more affordable, but I had some reservations since the base model didn’t seem like it would be enough. So, I ended up watching tons of reviews and comparison videos between the base model and the 16GB/512GB version.
After watching several vids, I'd say the 8GB model would still be sufficient for light tasks but would suffer when multitasking (for example: opening several figma files while browsing, listening to music, and opening excel all at the same time). If you have the money, the ram upgrade would def benefit you bcs it allows u to work on heavier projects while multitasking. However, if you're sorta low on funds i'd suggest going for the M2 model with bigger ram.
Hope this helps!
Is that a single cable with two thunderbolt 3/4 connectors at 4:07? Can you provide a link to that cable?
I upgraded a macbook air from 2011 with opencore still the greatest laptop ever, but I also ordered a M3 macbook, will this be the Crown beater?
If I wanna use only Lightroom should be good with 8gb ram?
What did you end up deciding and did it work out for you?
my first upgrade in a while also, coming from the 12" Macbook. Been great all this time, but now showing some slowing down signs
Wait, what? Slowing down, this early?
@@shivammalhotra8697 its already 8 years old almost 12" MacBook, basic tasks are still okay, but multi apps/projects it breaks a bit
@@shivammalhotra8697 I guess he means the 12 inch old macbook is showing signs of slowing down
Can this be edited using Adobe Premier Pro?
I have 3.5-Y-O base MB Pro 13 M1 and it is as fast as when new and RAM management is fantastic. 8GB is easily enough but I do not game, or use RAM-intensive apps. Mainly office, browser, email, social media, watching media, etc. It has no issues, so 8Gb is a great price and works brilliant. My usage shows that with RAM compression and swap the M2 MB Air can easily handle 10-12GB of light apps before you need to jetsam app RAM cache or start using slower flash storage. The M3 has dual NAND in the 256GB SSD so that would mean 12-14GB of light apps RAM usage before it needs to touch flash storage (it uses dRAM first). That would be enough for the vast majority of light users. which as the MB Air is fanless is the target audience; basically a premium "Chromebook" that has a better OS.
But, if you can afford it, 16GB is always useful as Macs work by pre-loading cache into RAM for faster access, so more RAM equals more cache for preloading. For example, my 16GB MB Pro M1 will have 12GB of RAM in use versus 7GB on my MB Air with the same apps open. The extra 4-5GB is simply preloaded cache that can be jetsam or moved to swap if the system needs more hardwired RAM.
another great informative video. Curious is there a link to the golden wallpaper on your Mac?
It wasn't really that informative IMO, especially for a seven minute video. Basically all we got was "you should get 16GB RAM". He could've said that right at the start boom done.
Much more portable than the Pro 14, I think the Pro is more capable but the Air is perfection.
I got the starlight 15 inch MacBook Air with 16 gb ram and 512 gb ssd so it will last me 5-7 years for college and trading in my MacBook Pro 2020.
which bachelors u studying i just bought 8gb ram 256gb ssd 15” i am studying law and im hopeing the same to last for 5-6 years
SSDs going as fast as how money on my wallet went...
Should I trade my MacBook m1 8gb 256gb for $455 and get the M3 16 gb 512gb? Thoughts? Thanks!
Yes. I would.
Hey should i get a MBA M2 13 INCH 16gb 512 gb or MBA M3 15 INCH 8gb 256gb ( for nursing school )
M1 is still great for me
I’ll keep my macbook 2011 until something better comes out
Let say my job is just reading pdf documents, writing in Word and browsing the web. I will connect this to an external monitor. So should I opt for 8gb or 16gb. I know most people will say just get the 16gb for future proofing but thats a 600 dollars difference! I can do so many things with that money.
Always 16 GB
Just get the M2 Air refurbished like I did. Lol
It cant be opened with one finger.
I will stay with the M2 I´ve bought it a few weeks ago and thought to change it at Apple but finally the differences don't worth it. I have an iMac as main machine and also use an iPad 9 so this M2 just fits for me and it is a very good laptop. I do photo editing on this machine and it is very capable. So for the moment no change until the M4, M5 will come.
Wallpaper link
Most people upgrading from the M1 or M2 are doing so to get the 15-inch version of the MB Air, which may be a good enough reason.
As for pricing you are looking at it the absolute wrong way. To buy a MB Air M3 16gb/512GB costs $1500. That would not change if it was the base model. Instead Apple uses demand side economics to increase sales by offering lower configs at lower prices to attarct people that cannot afford $1500. Sound business. Why would you want Apple to stop doing this. And before you say Apple should lower the 512GB/16GB price, you should compare with XPS 14, LG GRAM, Surface Laptop, Galaxy Book4 Pro. All their premium 2024 ultrabooks with 512GB/16GB are around £1500-1600. Maybe, as Windows has 90% of the market share, you should be asking them to lower proces not a smaller OS like Apple?
Extreme future proofing? Bro 😂
I have the MBP 2019. Should I get the Air M3 or Pro M3?
yes
Yes because you are missing a major upgrade from Apple their silicone m1 m3 chips
@@raijamshed2315 wish they continue the touchbar it's useful for my productivity
I have MacBook Pro 2020 and am upgrading to the air m3
@@laurengrippaldi7424 great i hv got m3 air and its superb portable
Bought it cause my Intel MacBook Pro was dying. Just sucks that it has only 8gb of RAM, but for my usage it's OK. Good old Total War games run just fine on it. The most impressive, coming from an Intel Mac, is the battery. My GOD! It last like 10x longer (no joke) than my last Mac :O ! It's sooooo satisfying. And the fact that I can use it on the couch or on a pillow without having to worry about blocking the fan is nice.
It does not only have 8GB, it has 16GB or 24GB. So RAM is not your problem it is that it will cost you £200 to upgrade to 16GB. But if you buy an XPS 14 or Galaxy Book4 Pro 14-inch, they start at 16GB/512GB and cost £1600!
Is it worth to upgrade form intel i7 16gb 16 inch to 13 MacBook Air M3 ,16gb? Or jump to macbook pro 14 with 16gb, my work on Lightroom/photoshop and a light video editing in 4k ?? Whats your opinion
Air is fine. Pro is a overkill
If those are just light work / hobby, stuff, the Air should be able to handle it just fine. Sure, it may be a few seconds or minutes slower than the Pro, depending on work you throw at it. But, you should be fine with it unless you have special needs for what the Pro offers exclusively. The Pro comes with a SD card slot and a better and bigger screen while the Air does not. You can obviously buy a dongle, but that is an additional thing to buy and carry. For the vast majority of people, the Air models should be fine. The only issue is that once you start upgrading components such as RAM and SSD, it gets dangerously close to the Pro territory, which is by design.
I bumped mine to 24 gigs ram, hope it is good
You should have bought the Pro then
@@abdinasirmusa8777 Nah, for the purposes I need the Air for it is absolutely perfect.
For Pro I will wait for the M4
Where is your snowcapped mountain wallpaper from??
I think the M3 should really have waited until after WWDC - imagine having bought just the new M2 (like I did with my MacBook Pro MAX) and 10 months later they go like: Well it sucks to be you here is the M3 Max. There has to be a more predictable release rate, these are very expensive laptops. Apple does not want to do CES or any type of show, so we never know when we should wait or upgrade.
Well 2 weeks ago I bought the M2 15 inch... I'm extremely disappointed cause the laptop was in the market around 8 months, and then suddenly M3 was out and my Mac was 150 euros cheaper so I just lost 150 euros and the possibility to have the latest chip
The rumours had been out for many months, in fact since Apple release the M3 MB Pro 14 in Q3/2023. So it was expected Q1/2024. The M2 was a stop-gap due to the delay at TSMC of their 3nm chips. So it was always going to be a shorter upgrade cycle. But I do understand where you are coming from, but as an M2 owner you are not missing much apart from paying extra, and within a cycle of a model, that is always a risk.
@@alexandross_g Exactly my point, I had the same with my M2 MBP last year. I like my laptop a lot, so I am less disappointed because I bought the M2Max, and it is superfast. But it is the same as it happened in 2019m I don't understand why Apple is doing this. For resale, I have lost already 1500 dollars here in Canada. Each time I tell myself that it is the last time.... but I must be a sheeple... lol
yo I can't just buy 16 gb of ram. in my country it's not EVEN CLOSE to a 200$ upgrade. it's around 500$ JUST FOR an EXTRA 8 GB OF RAM. What should I choose ? M3 macbook air 8 gb or a windows laptop ? I make music in FL Studio and simple photoshop / video editing.
8gb shared ram is criminal tho x.x
Along with 256SSD
There is a 512GB/16GB option so it isnt criminal, it is an added choice which no 2024 Windows ultrabook offers!
@@andyH_England 512 gb is awfull 1tb/16 should be the minimum
I cant believe how similar u look to David So lol
Its notch looks so bad.
I'm your 51st like!
I’ve had the M1 Air since launch and it’s worked flawless up til December.. that big update has made the charging wonkey and I’ve had three kernel panics. All I do is stream CZcams ..
It’s in almost perfect shape other than that. Thought about tazing it in for an M3 but I realized there’s no way I’m giving this laptop up.
The M3 is an M2S lol.. just a fixed version of a rushed product.