So, this is probably the least most exciting MacBook Air to be released in The Last 5 Years. I mean, with the exception of a few small changes, we’ve kind of seen it all already. And it results in one fundamental problem: just how much improvement can you squeeze out of each new generation when the first one, the M1 MacBook Air, was already so good and such a huge improvement over the previous Intel MacBooks? Also, big thanks to Lean for sponsoring part of this video, but more on that later.
Audience Analysis:
First of all, I want to talk about the core audience of the MacBook Air. Because let’s face it, here on Tech YouTube, we all get really sweaty and nerdy over things like core counts or GPU performance or fancy graphs. But the reality is, 90% of MacBook Air buyers simply walk into an Apple store, ask what is a good laptop for everyday use like emails, web browsing, or maybe taking notes at college or something, and 10 minutes later, they walk out with a MacBook Air. Those activities I mentioned are what the vast majority of people use a MacBook Air for.
Performance Evaluation:
Now, of course, it’s possible to do more intense things like edit photos and videos, maybe even some gaming, and I’ll get into that later. But yeah, you get the point. So, the absolute top criteria for the M3 MacBook Air are: A) How good is it at those everyday things, and B) How good is the battery life? Let’s start with everyday performance. Now, some people wrongly expected a huge performance jump like what we got when Apple phased out Intel in favor of their own silicon with the M1 back in 2020. But those huge jumps every single year are unsustainable. And I think it’s worth mentioning that when the Air was running Intel, the performance jumps from generation to generation sucked and honestly weren’t even noticeable at all. And the M3 is merely a refinement of Apple silicon that was already really good.
Comparison Testing:
I usually have quite a few apps open at the same time. I mean, two email clients, Slack, Notion, Excel, Spotify, and on top of that, usually 10 to 15 browser tabs. And I remember on the Intel MacBooks, I would get some lag and the dreaded beach ball of death every now and then, particularly during animations that happen when you minimize an app or enter Mission Control, for example. Not anymore. My experience was smooth, and it was very difficult to throw enough at the system to get it to display any signs of stress. So, as a little test, I reformatted an M1 and an M2 MacBook Air, installed the latest version of macOS, and tested all three side by side. These are all the base models, by the way, with 8 GB of RAM. The M3 was just barely quicker to open apps or load web pages, but in real life, there’s effectively no difference. The only way to find any noticeable performance differences between the three is by doing specific intensive tasks.
Battery Life Enhancement:
Now, one interesting new change is that the M3, for the first time ever, can output to two external monitors. Now, I wouldn’t necessarily call this an improvement because you have to close the lid of the MacBook in order to output to the second monitor, losing access to the trackpad and Touch ID. But you at least get the option of both. Now, all of this good stuff aside, there’s one big elephant in the room, and that’s the fact that the M3 MacBook Air only comes with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Even my phone has more than that.
Concerns about RAM and SSD:
Now, it is kind of a bait and switch by Apple, right? And Apple knows this. They know that most people don’t want or don’t need to upgrade the RAM or SSD, and they know the ones that do either will pay it anyway because they don’t have a choice or will upgrade to the next version up or the 14-inch pro versions. So, why would Apple offer cheaper upgrades or ship the MacBook with those bumped-up specs in the first place?
Price Analysis:
Speaking of price, the M3 Air starts at $1,099 versus the M2 starting what the original M1 MacBook Air sold out 4 years ago or $999. And curiously, although Apple has officially stopped selling the M1 Air on their own website, you can still grab it brand new for between $650 and $699 from retailers like Best Buy. And this kind of puts the M3 in a weird place, right? Like you have the almost identical M2 you can pick up lightly used for a few hundred less or a brand new M1 for close to half the price. So, although I 100% recommend the M3, it is a great laptop, the fact that those other versions exist really make the purchase decision less clear.
So, I made a video comparing all three of them in detail so you can pick which one suits your needs better and which one you should spend your hard-earned cash on.
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The M3 MacBook Air is probably the least exciting Air to be released in the last 5 years. It’s so similar to the previous version that unless you look closely, you won’t notice it. Still, there’s some differences that should be taken into consideration before you buy one.
Here are the best MacBook Air deals I could find online:
⮕ M1 MacBook Air: https://geni.us/m1air
⮕ M2 MacBook Air: https://geni.us/m2macbookair
⮕ M3 MacBook Air: https://geni.us/m3macbookair
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00:00 Introduction
00:30 Who Is The MacBook Air For?
01:39 Everyday Performance
03:51 Laifen Electric Toothbrush
05:23 Battery Life
06:38 Dual External Monitors?
06:59 Anodization Seal Is A Gimmick
07:15 Expensive RAM and SSD Upgrades
09:59 Pricing Is Weird
#macbookair #laifen #laifenwave
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Disclaimer: Some of the above links are affiliated, and we may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Get your Laifen Wave electronic toothbrush now! ⬇
⮕ Official website: https://bit.ly/48JBKsr
⮕ Amazon ABS White: https://amzn.to/3V4OHtq
⮕ Amazon Aluminum Alloy: https://amzn.to/3TnfWOD
I use it for DJing. I just got the M2 MacBook Air. It works amazing. Also, I do photography and simple video editing. M1 was an amazing chip. I wanted the 15” MacBook Air. It the best time ever to get a MacBook Air. Get 16 ram and you will be set!!
M1 macbook air is still going strong! i'll check out the M7 or M8 air whenever it comes out lol
Most used apps on my Macbook Air M2 Base:
1. Safari Browsing (60%)
2. Xcode development (30%)
3. Photo editing (10%)
Day to day shit, I use it for everything except gaming and dev (don't ask why, ram is trash).
M2 Air 24GB unified. SW Architect / developer. 3x backend IDEs + 3x frontend IDE + builds.. No prpoblems at all
I have a base i3 Macbook Air (Still on Intel) for middle school (Homework, watching Youtube/Netflix, occasionally Minecraft)
Hobbyist photographer here. the Macbook Air M1 (upgraded to 16G Ram and 512G SSD) is my main machine for basically everything other than gaming. Mostly using Lightroom for my photo workflow. Mostly fine and performing well, until I use its new AI denoising function, which can slow down and warm up the machine quite a bit. For the record, it takes 1 min per photo (26M Raw pic) ri complete the said AI denooising function, comparing to 10 second on a windows laptop with RTX 4060 Mobile, Gen 12 Core 7 + 32G Ram. Still decent tho.
Because people keep buying them. Unupgradeable laptops
I used it for things on web browser mostly. seams low hdware demand, but the ram is the fucking restrains… i open tons of pages at the same time, i need it, and also i need to edit online document… discord also open, RAM RAM RAM… 8GB RAM = 8GB RAM universaly, there is no bullshit of my-8GB-RAM = their-16GB-RAM
Im a DJ, I use my base M1 MBA to play live 6/8 times a month since nov 2022. Never an issue, incredible machine.
This may not be a surprise to most but M1 users will likely not need a new machine until an M7 or M8 Mac release. M1 was a leap in computing. Every other release has been marginal at best.
Porn…
I am a math and computer science teacher from Ukraine, living 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the front line. I use a MacBook Air M1 base model along with an iPhone 12 Mini and an AirPods Pro 2. These are the most expensive purchases I have been able to afford in the last 9 years of teaching.
Use ms office and teams. Then tell me 8gb is enough. Hang out in teams meetings all day and tell me battery life is not an issue. Bottom line is inefficient apps need more than the base model delivers. It’s not about video editing. For $1100 you can get brand name windows laptop with 16” touchscreen with 16gb/512gb. The air is a luxury item, it should not be shipped in a crippled configuration in my opinion.
M1 MBA 8GB RAM. Python web dev, numbers spreadsheet, notes, online learning, youtube, web surfing. It's possible with 8GB RAM if you understand how the OS works. But that means I've to limit myself to 1 desktop in mission control, restart the laptop almost daily to purge the RAM usage by "Windowserver" and have not too many apps opened at any one time.
i use my m1 2020 air for dailly websurfing, writing my letters, reading books and content, sometimes email, sometimes coding, sadly no gaming 🥲. something which i used to do on my previous windows laptop. quiet happy though with the mobility, work capacity, the fluid and premium experience. would have been a complete experience if and only the gaming aspect would have been as good as the windows laptops. that would have been awesome. 🤩
M1 was such a massive leap that people STILL want an M1 air
I have a 16/512 m3 mba. I use it for lighter work like studying, 2d game development, coding small assignments. It’s great but it’s only downside for me is the screen size when I need more. For everything else I either use my 16in mbp or my gaming laptop. Still think if i only had one a 14in mbp would be the ticket.
I still have my 2019 Macbook pro 13 inch. It is more than capable for my needs (photoshop, XD). I'll upgrade when absolutely necessary.
I don't think most users would be upgrading every generation. Maybe every 2-3 generations. For users on the M1 MBA, I would think they would be upgrading to the M3 or M4, and that's if they even need to. I'm on an M1 Mac Studio and there's no way I needed to upgrade to the M2 Mac Studio, even if the M3 Mac Studio came out next month I'd skip that too.
i have a base model m1 macbook air and i edit a lot of raw sony photos in lightroom for my business, it’s been keeping it up pretty well.
when i have the money i’d love to upgrade to the m3 or whatever latest model, but i don’t mind getting another air. the performance is more than fine for me, it even handles some iphone 15 pro 4k video editing very smoothly.
These youtubers are making makbook air videos out of nothing
I’m poor, I’m from Poland, I am rocking iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Gen 5 (2019) and an M1 MacBook Air, I’m happy with all these aforementioned devices ❤
Constant YouTube streaming, lots of tabs open, emails, shopping and social media. Previously though, I was doing extensive gene and phylogenetic analysis along with bioinformatics , microbiology & biochemistry research. 8gb Ram would not have held up .
Thank you for the video ☺️
The toothbrush looks fantastic- definitely always best to use an electric toothbrush! Mine was a lot more expensive and so are the head replacements!
Love seeing fellow Australians doing so well with tech channels on YouTube! ☺️
I use the M2 macbook air for medical school, light music production and occasional gaming e.g. minecraft
I have the og MacBook m1 air. been using it for about a year. i mainly use it for coding and content consumption. if any one is buying a MacBook Air try to buy the 16 gb ram version … I have the one with 8gb and it has only 1 gb left in ran, but it still runs smoothly but if you are going to do some serious work on It opt in for the 16 gb or more.
12gb ram should be the standard not 8
If you can’t afford the m3, get the m1
If you can afford the m3, get the m3
If you are cheap and can afford m3, go for m2
I maybe only miss ProMotion display with my M3 air
Actually just upgraded from 13” M2 air to 15” M3 air for bigger screen (both 16/512). The 13” was just to small for me. I work in marketing and have several online side hustles along with some music production, a lot of productivity/multitasking work. The air is more than enough for all of this.
Why Does Apple KEEP Doing This?
Do you mean why Apple keeps solding the RAM and SSD and make an expensive planned obsolescence laptop?
Soon or later RAM and SSD will fail and there is no option to repair those components and a whole new computer is gonna be throw to the trash.
I use my M2 MBA 16GB/1TB for programming and browsing internet
8GB/256GB was laughable 12 years ago already, Apple is pathetic
Yay, first like and comment!🤭