The M3 MacBook Air "Problems"

My review of the M3 MacBook Air vs M2 MacBook Air. Addressing concerns around the 8GB RAM and double external screen limitations.
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[@Dave2D]

Some clarifications/details as to why I say “it’s just the nature of these chips” The M1/M2/M3 only have one display controller for handling external displays. These display controllers take up a large amount of space on the silicon. They are even bigger than performance cores. See here: ibb.co/7r0Z0SB The reason why they are so big is because Apple separates their display controller from their GPU. Qualcomm does this as well on their Snapdragon chips. These display controllers can process a lot of stuff without leaning on the GPU. This helps alot with power efficiency on ARM chips. If Apple wanted to add more display controllers to handle more external displays, they would have to make a die trade off. They would either have to reduce the number of CPU or GPU cores, or they’d have to make the base chips larger. IMO neither of these options are worth it for adding an extra external display on the MBA. Another thing - thermals. Let’s say they did add another display controller on to the base chips. When connected to an external display, these controllers put out heat. On a MacBook Pro, it’s a non issue. but on a fanless MacBook Air you do not want another source of heat. These laptop already have limited thermal headroom. We’d see the threads of “my MBA throttles when I have connect it to external displays” like the 2019 MBA. Lastly, there is the option of using a Display Link adapter to get more displays going. I’ve run 3 displays on an M1 MBA with them. These use software to get the CPU cores to handle video output. You can even split your 5K output to multiple displays using this adapter. It works but they have CPU overhead. Static images have very CPU use. Video has very heavy CPU use. DRM content has issues using this. (Netflix/Disney/etc) It’s not an elegant solution but it TOTALLY works and if you need more external displays, it’s a good option. However, I see some commentary that talks about how this Display Link solution is evidence that Apple could easily add more displays. I don’t agree. This is just Display Link doing it’s thing. It’s very cool but it’s not the same as display controllers on the chip. Hope that helps!

[@cameronbosch1213]

Then that's pretty poor display controller design then. Even the 2020 Intel MacBook Air was better in that regard. Apple isn't changing because they control macOS with an iron fist, and of course they want users to pay more for those features. That's utterly ridiculous imo.

[@dm2060]

If there are engineering limitations then the price should reflect that. You shouldn't make excuses for a 1000+ USD device supporting only 1 external display.

[@jorgeguzman8083]

I think the thing that sucks about the displays is that Apple only begrudgingly supports displaylink. They disable a bunch of features because display link is apparently "screen recording". I don't think the display thing would be so frustrating if they fully supported external gpus.

[@josephjoestar515]

@@cameronbosch1213 I won't cocksuck a trillion dollar corporation, but "Then that's pretty poor display controller design then". I'm pretty sure you, some random guy on the internet, don't know better than the very intelligent engineers at Apple. Apple has always been the master at price ladders. If you really need more, then they want you to spend more. These are still fantastic laptops for most people out there.

[@GreatTaiwan]

Been MacBook pro 14 get overheated / slower with 2 displays (mine included since day one)

[@ChippyGaming]

The nose test is vital, can't understand why more reviewers don't do it

[@nayabtanzim]

chippy's a tech nerd?

[@ventilate4267]

​@@nayabtanzim usually comes with the territory

[@munzutai]

​@fantaguyrealIf this is your strategy for growing, you might as well quit now.

[@flightevolution8132]

@fantaguyrealQuit, if that’s your strategy

[@ChippyGaming]

@@nayabtanzim Yeah all I do is watch tech videos aha I’ve been watching Dave in particular since his like 4th video

[@Marckiller2n]

The issue is not whether 8 GB ram is enough or not. It costs so little nowadays that it makes no sense to have anything under 16 GB considering it is soldered. It is a problem that doesn't exist.

[@morten1]

True. And I'm sure it would cost Apple very little to bump up the base model to 16GB

[@tenthhokage8564]

Apple have data scientist showing them the dollar lost from pp who need to upgrade from 8gb ram every launch

[@luckylucson]

My understanding is the RAM is integrated into the CPU but I don't know how much more efficient that is versus just putting normal RAM (which to your point is reasonable in cost). I'm happy with my M2 Macbook Air but the RAM is definitely a sour point

[@keerthan7558]

​​@@luckylucson yes you are correct. Apple silicon design limitation is that u can't use so-dim rams as they are significantly slower and inefficient. People do understand this but ssd doesn't need to be soldered for this neither should memory upgrades be so expensive

[@nitrobear]

And his argument was just wrong. You can open safari and three tabs and you can already see the laptop struggling with its swap. There's no way you can justify 8GB at this price point either, and it's just criminal that Dave is trying to (between some heavy quotes) "defend" it by saying that users won't notice a difference 6 years from now. It's just that it's just multiple issues in one. It's too expensive to carry that amount of storage. It's too expensive to carry that amount of RAM. And the SoC is just too powerful to waste it in such a paltry amount of RAM. This hardware is going to turn itself into e-waste 5 years from now just because we can't upgrade it in the future. And that's one of the reasons every single reviewer should be criticizing these laptops as heavily as possible. We've already seen the M3 on the MBP struggle and even crash in many real world programs and benchmarks just because it's being heavily bottlenecked by its lack of memory. And I can't argue this enough, an unified architecture means that the 8GB on this macbook are going to get filled faster than anywhere else, because you're trying to push whatever the heck many pixels these "beautiful" displays and icons and what else the laptop needs, compared to something with a proper dedicated GPU.

[@Shm0by]

The face rub test should become a staple metric in laptop reviews from now on

[@navjyothkannottil8144]

Or he may have cut it lol

[@karlernstbuddenbrock371]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@redesignedlife777]

I wouldn’t wana rub my face on it. Just eat some Doritos or fried chicken. Lick your fingers and then grab the laptop.

[@minagalexe]

Yes, but I think that for the Apple products there is another part that function better...

[@teohyc]

Non-Pro models of M1, M2 and M3 Macbooks can run up to 3 external displays when you install DisplayLink driver. I have tested and it works, although I used a Minisopuru display adapter to achieve the result. The point is, it's a software limitation.

[@thenubianspeaks4329]

Thank you, someone who has over 3 millions subscribers should know that, but it all about perception.

[@chmun77]

Using DisplayLink will put stress on the CPU. I have seen tests showing that the CPU usage shot up when using DisplayLink. So, it is not the ideal solution comparing to Windows machines. Which is kind of disappointing especially when Apple keeps boosting how power their M chips are.

[@jimstearns1938]

Thanks! Good info delivered with a sense of humor!

[@L3G3ND4RYiNDI4N]

I’m a medical student, I use the M2 MacBook Air w/8gb RAM. I usually have multiple tabs for studying and research. Sometimes I need to delete tabs because of memory usage. I still think this is “normal” use, and it’s really disappointing that Apple thinks 8gb RAM is still a viable baseline.

[@JMGauthier]

Are you using Chrome or Safari?

[@sanitygone-l9y]

@@JMGauthier either way, 8gb ram on a laptop that costs $1200 USD is highway robbery.

[@eeli3]

doesn't it just go into swap memory? im typing this from a m1 base model air with like 50 chrome tabs open lol seems to be working fine

[@dechubasco830]

Same, I am an Engineering student, I know it's a stupid choice but I like the flexibility of carrying a lightweight device with me but god damn I open 1 tab of some google doc and the ram struggles to do anything.

[@JMGauthier]

@@sanitygone-l9y Yes it is. But the poster already spent the money so I'm trying to assist.

[@TheLeafyo]

Installing call of duty takes €154 worth of storage from your hard drive. The pricing is absolutely insane.

[@pieterrossouw8596]

If that disappoints you you've got a nasty surprise coming when you try and run it...

[@h.goyal2616]

why would u install cod on mba anyway?

[@TheLeafyo]

You're right. Why do anything on a macbook.@@h.goyal2616

[@smallqwaro]

Yall should chill out, blud(OP) is just tryna make a point

[@hacob2004]

To be fair I think that is equally insane from COD that their game is so huge.

[@godminnette2]

"It's just the nature of the hardware." Dave, this is the third generation. It's been a complaint for this long. They could have designed the hardware of the M3 to keep up with the competition considering the price of these devices, instead of just compromising.

[@adityamwagh]

Apple doesn’t have competition, they are the only ones with computers with MacOS.

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@@adityamwaghNot true. There are literally dozens of Windows competitors!

[@A_GodApple]

but you would have to most likely redesign the whole part thats works on the display output, which probably makes it cost more. really its not that big a deal, the 8GB ram is a wayyyy bigger issue

[@cameronbosch1213]

They're doing it to make people upgrade. Not doubt about it.

[@kenneth_romero]

@@cameronbosch1213he means for hardware that can run macOS easily. sure you can make a macintosh but the general consumer will not go through the hassle of making that work. reason why apple won the lawsuit against Epic because "they offer a unique experience with the hardware and software they sell". if macOS was open or even apple silicon was sold to other companies, they would innovate a lot faster due to growing market demands.

[@stefaandutil5920]

It's not "just the nature of the hardware", it's the nature of Apple. This is intentional. Yes the hardware can't support multiple screens, but that's because it was designed that way. This should be called out not shrugged away.

[@ZhuJo99]

One display controller takes as much space as two performance cores. That means less chips on wafer, and that means higher price. More display controllers also means more transistors and thus, more heat. Apple would not be able to use these chips in passively cooled Air and especially, in iPad. Not at all. For what reason they would do that? For minority of people?

[@lbgstzockt8493]

@@ZhuJo99 Yes, the display controller is large, but Apple could just make the die a few square millimetres larger to accomodate it. Yes that would make it expensive, but I doubt the SoC is the most important part of the final product. As for the transistors: If they are not in use they consume no power, so there is no issue. Even if they run I would suspect the actual processing to kick out more heat, which could be dealt with by using a thermal solution that was actually worth something, the M3 is already overheating in a fanless case. And as a bonus they could use the ones with a broken display driver in the iPads, which cannot take advantage of two external monitors anyways.

[@ZhuJo99]

@@lbgstzockt8493 you should then go and advice Apple engineers on what to do. Remember, there are just few top processor designers who fluctuate between companies. From Intel to AMD to Nvidia to IBM then to Apple, Google, Amazon and so on. So people from Apple used to work in these companies, now they work for Qualcomm. Wonder why such people do not make decisions based on advices from KZbin and reddit then?

[@griffin8062]

"Nature of the hardware" would at least make sense if Apple was forced to buy chips from another company, but they design their SoCs in-house

[@AndyMilne]

Apple would like you to buy the pro model if this is something you need. I did, its great.

[@rubik8529]

4:26 Yes true there are 2 issues with the 8gb/256gb variant 1. 8gb 2. 256gb

[@devilkid1991]

Both non upgradable and the Ram is shared,

[@ch3vr0n123]

so you can skip it ;)

[@ZaXTheAlien]

other upgradable laptop, buying 16GB SODIMM RAM stick: $50

[@piotrd.4850]

@@devilkid1991 In terms of storage you at least have NAS, external drives, cloud.... in terms of RAM, trully screwed.

[@ravisoni1386]

I love the fact that Dave starts video without any warm up. It's always straight to point.

[@morten1]

yeah. Too many videos on YT are full of long presentations, explanations and word salad just to fill out a video with more content

[@mariovega4581]

The first three minutes of this video saved me from wasting my money on this thing faster than any other tech reviewer could be possibly capable of.

[@Daslicey]

I'd prefer an intro compared to calling not able to run 2 external monitors is a win

[@PixelVogue]

yeah other youtubers need the hit that 10 min mark with all their BS!

[@dandansfu]

And doesn’t just praise after praise Sadly those videos still got a lot of views Coz I guess many ppl love watching over dramatic over stylized KZbinr

[@alter-ego-]

"eats my soul looking at that configuration" is an accurate way of putting it.

[@1991DannyW]

I have a Mac Air M2. With a DisplayLink docking station (I have a Dell branded one) it does allow more than 1 external monitor - worth knowing 😊

[@rahz_k]

How? On my dell branded, I've tried to have 2 hdmi outputs and only one display will be powered

[@FreemanEvents]

I don’t understand why they are still shipping with 256GB storage, when my 2012 MBP base model shipped with 750GB HDD. Clearly there is an agenda to push people to buy cloud storage. The price jump to a 1TB machine is ridiculous.

[@PeterdaPanda]

The biggest problem is charging $1099 for a laptop with a measly 8GB RAM and slow 256GB Storage, which is highway robbery.

[@jayhuda7524]

but it'll outperform your 2k laptop with 16 GB RAM. Instead of looking at pure numbers, we should look more at the actual performance.

[@PeterdaPanda]

​@@jayhuda7524 still not a valid excuse. Charging that much for components that only add a few dollars in costs is clearly a scumbag behavior.

[@PixelPulseEdits]

​@@jayhuda7524at least it's modular and I can swap RAM/SSD

[@jooplin]

@@jayhuda7524256GB is literally a defective product. SSDs writing cycles are limited. If your SSD dies you can’t replace it and need a expensive repair or a new MacBook. Small RAM makes this problem even worse. No one would complain about this config if you could at least replace the SSD

[@Wilbur-em1hw]

@@jayhuda7524 Yeah in specific use cases. Also a computer with more ram and ssd is more future proof. You have to look at pure numbers. 256gigs for a laptop at this price is a joke. 8 gigs of ram for the macbook pro is a joke too considering the fact that it is going to be used for ram heavy apps and multi tasking.

[@samsung40_media87]

I don't ever want 8GB, but that price jump is so shocking I ended up not buying a macbook

[@rashedkhanmelon2453]

Me too 😂

[@robert29ti]

it's called a scam

[@steamerbansal8265]

I see why

[@colindavidch]

The ram and storage pricing is something that I can’t get over because it’s highway robbery how much they price 8gb of ram or 256gb of extra storage. You can look up how much companies charge for ram and storage and it’s pennies compared to what apple is charging you and they are definitely paying less then that because they are buying in massive quantities

[@LawlessNate]

I bought RAM for a laptop recently $110 got me 32 gigs of RAM. That's as a consumer buying just two sticks at one time; the big companies that buy in bulk get way better deals than that.

[@rare6499]

My MacBook Air from 2011 had a 256GB SSD. I’m very disappointed that 13 years later Apple thinks 256GB is a reasonable base model size along with 8GB. It’s comically poor.

[@Maghoumi]

Thanks for coming back Dave2D! We missed you!

[@denisruskin348]

Imagine a mid range 2024 laptop starting with 256GB of storage.

[@jooplin]

With storage that is not replacable

[@MichaelGGarry]

I see 17 Dell laptops, all around the price of the MBA, some cheaper, some more expensive all with 256GB of storage and most with 8GB of ram. Funny that.

[@李里-j4t]

😂 Only Apple can do！

[@James_David]

Apple was shipping the 13-inch MacBook Pro with 128GB ssd for $999 in 2018.

[@yesyes-om1po]

@@MichaelGGarry where

[@Kurazaybo]

They got Dave on the "8GB is enough" thing, I've lost faith in humanity.

[@rocketmunkey1]

Judging by the comment section being very aware of the Ram and storage issues, its not humanity we've lost faith in, its KZbin content creators.

[@yippeekyay]

k​@@GOOD_FARMER

[@GreatTaiwan]

@@GOOD_FARMERwindows sucks more but doesn’t change fact my 16GB maxed out M1 Pro (all cores and GPU paid extra for it) gets slower when opening more than 12 tabs and 1 VSCode 16GB for basic web dev (which’s in my Dell xps I run front end with multiple back end that is heavy spring apps (Java) (and also pytho) with bunch docker container) and still cheaper my Dell xps for work with Linux on it MacBook could definitely do better (the only department it’s doing phenomenal is the power.. yes lives longer but it’s way slower) Apple pro MacBooks that costed me more than 2200$ is not really that powerful U truly need 32 min I can’t even imagine using chrome or 5 6 safari tabs with 8gb

[@sarthakshende9]

​@@GreatTaiwanwhats your tech stack?

[@TestName286]

To be fair, the average user is pretty low power. It's basically a phone with a keyboard to them.

[@philamonhemstreet8632]

My work gave me the 8GB m2 model. Even for with just super basic stuff open, web browser, word, excel, slack, and a couple other electron apps, I was getting “out of memory” errors and the system was prompting me to close applications. The web is getting heavier all the time. 8GB is not acceptable on a $1000 laptop.

[@andyH_England]

That is a buyer error. Your company cheapening out rather than testing whether 8GB was enough for your workflow. Common sense is a requirement when choosing a laptop! My elderly parents are fine with browsing and watching YT on 8GB, but a business machine with your workflow should be at least 16GB!

[@vikrambalaji4126]

@@andyH_England "erm 🤓🤓 dwis is actuaway a bywer ewwor"

[@philamonhemstreet8632]

@@andyH_Englandit is buyer error 100%. But also, why is Apple selling a computer that is incapable of the most basic workflows for $1000 dollars? In my opinion, they are trying to trick their customers into buying a substandard product. The base model MacBook Air is a bad product. It’s deceptive, it’s marketing in bad faith, and it is disgusting coming from the RICHEST COMPANY IN THE WORLD.

[@ezBeanie]

@@andyH_England Haha of course its the buyers fault for not spending even more money xD

[@andyH_England]

@@ezBeanie Sadly, as you get older and understand life more, you will see that if you want more or better, you have to pay more. Who would have thought!

[@jbountalas]

I'm a former Mac guy (intel based), so my perspective might be a bit out of date, but here goes. Back in the day, if you used your Mac for work, you often used Outlook for email. If you were like me and made your living as an Exchange admin, you needed the features of the PC version of Outlook, so you ran a PC emulator of some sort, which required a fair bit or extra RAM. Nowadays, Outlook for Mac may have caught up feature wise, but the majority of my work apps are now web based, which means multiple browsers, each with multiple tabs open. Long story short, 8 GB doesn't cut it. Add in an enterprise instant messaging client, which is not web based and is resource hungry, and you pony up $200 for 16 GB, but it soon starts to look pretty cramped. The only other option is 24 GB for this model at an additional $200? So you spend $400 to bump your memory up by 16 GB. Check out the price for 16 GB of DDR 5 laptop memory at any of the online retailers and tell me Apple doesn't know how to make money.

[@raghavkaushal7561]

Thank you! I was waiting for this comment. Exactly! The web browsers and the web itself have become heavier. I don't understand why Apple and a lot of reviewers beholden to them pretend that 8GB of RAM is perfect for a laptop used for web browsing, opening up Electron Apps, Word, Excel & PowerPoint etc. I have Legion 5 with 16GB of RAM for which I bought 2x32GB RAM sticks( total of 64 GB RAM) for 175 CAD$. Apple charging 200 USD for a paltry 8GB of RAM upgrade from 8GB to 16GB is daylight robbery

[@jbountalas]

@@raghavkaushal7561 Exactly. I know the RAM is soldered on the Mac Books, but the price is still not reasonable.

[@zoezebra4013]

for professional work you need macbook pro, not air. the air is mainly just for normal users who want to check emails, browse the web to find information, write a document, open pdf. will fit educational market too. is 8gb good enough for those? yes - will be.

[@vhateg]

@@zoezebra4013 I have a lot of colleagues still rocking their M1 Air for programming work. It depends a lot on your definition of "Pro". Heavy photo/video editing? sure, might start to struggle. Heavy multitasking, with coding and stuff? As long as you have the RAM, still good. Pros are also those that write documents, and that doesn't take that much.

[@yousawnothing644]

It's criminal to only start with 8GB of base RAM.... RAM is not THAT expensive that they can't add more

[@maZec31]

"I upgraded my Asus G14 2023 from 16GB to 64GB using a non-binary 48GB DDR5 module, and also added a 2TB Samsung 980 SSD. Even with these upgrades, the total cost was still less than $1500. In comparison, a similarly configured Macbook 14 Pro would cost five times more (in my country). Does not make a sense to me to buy Macbook.

[@andyH_England]

Does it run macOS. That is the main reason I buy MacBooks as I much prefer Macs. I wont go into the reasons but it is a litany of Windows disasters that has severed my respect for Windows OEMs.

[@clickbaitpro]

​@@andyH_EnglandDamm.. Year's later you're still simping for Apple 😅 Glad you're alive though

[@andyH_England]

@@clickbaitpro thanks! Hanging on in there the best I can.

[@Wilbur-em1hw]

@@andyH_England N yet the world runs on Windows and apps made for it. The more expensive versions of windows laptops are just as fast as a Macbook if not faster.

[@andoletube]

Sounds like BS to me. More like 3x more, max. It's not 5x more in any country. You need to make your point with facts, not fiction. Name your country if you want to prove your point.

[@messicomps344]

so disappointed by the thing starting at 8/256 AGAIN.

[@andyH_England]

Just ignore that config. If they had base `16GB/512GB they would have been £300-400 more expensive so it is not that you are missing out on anything.

[@yesyes-om1po]

@@andyH_England thats not how that works at all, for 300 dollars I could buy 128gb of RAM, and still have money leftover.

[@Jdnicks00]

All laptops are doing 8gb RAM.

[@andyH_England]

@@yesyes-om1po Can you name me a 2024 Core Ultra ultrabook with which you can do that? Core Ultra laptops use LPDDR5X (the fastest) and are non-modular. Do you know why you're spreading misinformation?

[@sihamhamda47]

@@andyH_England 8/256 to 16/512 should cost only 30 bucks more, as RAM and SSD chips are very dirt cheap nowadays. Apple are pumping those upgrade prices way too far

[@Aggress92]

$350 windows PC with integrated graphics from 2008: can drive 3 total displays and 2 external displays with absolutely no issue $1300 apple laptop in 2024: why do they allow 2 external displays for free? it's too good! (I get what Dave was saying, I just think that Apple deserves to be called out for this limitation way more than they have been, coming from someone who bought both an m1 and an m3 machine)

[@Foggl343]

I can run two external displays with my phone lol

[@llamaeatingpie]

Yeah Dave misses the mark so much this video is the coldest take on the planet.

[@Noggles10]

I run my M1 Air with 2 external screens and the internal screen no problem. Bought a Dell USB C dock and a specific set of drivers on my MacBook and everything worked great the first time I plugged it in.

[@alexanderloh2402]

I ordered a MacBookAir M3 16GB 1TB model in March and within 2-3 months the logic board completely failed on me. Extremely light usage as this was a spare computer for me. Computer suddenly could not start up. A logic board replacement was done. Several months later, the speakers started having hazy sound and a clicking sound. Apple diagnosed this as a hardware issue (no fault of mine). I asked for a replacement unit since this appeared to be a lemon unit. “Senior Advisors” started quoting the Service Agreement to me and informed me that there was no consumer law protection in Singapore. Good to know Apple has such stellar customer service.

[@thudang5298]

2020 M1 Air user here, and 4 years later, this is still more than enough computer, with little to no fall off in performance in day to day computing - including for work (which requires a lot of web browser tabs). We can argue the value for money at today's prices all we want, but the product is holding up very well. I'm an PC and Android user, but Apple continues to make such a strong argument for their hardware (and ecosystem) that it's still really hard to recommend otherwise unless you have a specific use case. For thin, light, reliable, Apple silicon is still a very hard thing to beat, and the perceived Apple tax doesn't seem so bad years later when everything still works great.

[@thenubianspeaks4329]

Agree!!!

[@JamesJohnLam]

Tim Cook's apple is selling a premium product, at premium prices, with old tech components

[@dandansfu]

And it starts to show Roman empires don’t collapse one day and not saying apple is going to fall apart NO they won’t yet But based on stock price , sentiment from comments , sales figure You can see ppl r finally starting to see and get tired of the BS cook is Sadly cook can easily leave and still be wealthy and rich and happy There is a saying where I am from , it’s hard to preserve wealth past 3 generations because 1st works hard work the most ( Steve jobs ) to build the wealth 2nd generation ( cook ) never have to work hard like first one. Enjoy the success and money 1st one leave. Never have to do much but due to nature of never have to really work hard , it starts to decline and leaves Then leaves the 3rd generation which has to really push it through Same thing kinda happen with Microsoft too and we all know what a joke Steve was Cook was not as bad as him but you get the idea

[@wonderbread6100]

Its just the nature of the hardware bro. Mine came with old features that his didnt have.

[@danielvogler2797]

"its just the nature of the hardware bro" well the nature of windows laptop hardware is useful cheap reliable and consistent campatible@@wonderbread6100

[@phil-l]

The M chips outperforms any Intel or AMD cpus on half the power 🤷‍♂️

[@dandansfu]

@@phil-l still doesn’t give them excuses to limit that and that’s what Apple does all the time did something better and can do other things that are common or already exist for a while , but purposely limit them Also part of reason is the TSM chips. If instead of Apple , other companies secure Tsm chips , it may be different

[@5530aslan]

Prices for upgrades of M3 macbook air 15 are disappointing. Was considering to buy one, but the configuration I need costs crazy $1700 (16GB, 512GB), so now considering to move from my macbook pro 2019 to a windows laptop.

[@torjalaenjir5322]

2019 ? Bro I have a MacBook Pro retina from 2015 and I’m still happy with it. Now I’m starting to think about an upgrade

[@Gurenn83]

Same. I am planning to buy an Asus 14x OLED which is way cheaper and does the job. I am getting sick of this entry level 8GB/256GB configuration trend. And Apple is wondering why their macbook sales are going down - I find it really funny.

[@LawlessNate]

I spent about $1700 on my laptop and it has 32 gigs of RAM and 2tb of storage with an x86 chip that performs similarly to the M2 chip in terms of horsepower and power efficiency. If I had bought from a different brand I probably could have had a similarly specced laptop for around $1,000.

[@EndWokenessAtAllCost]

@@LawlessNate Oh Really? Which chip offers even comparable battery life to M3 and power per wattage ?

[@LawlessNate]

@@EndWokenessAtAllCost The 7840u under load. Also, if you think that battery life is as simple as 'just look at the processor' then you're wrong. The M3 chip is power efficient, but the battery life of apple laptops is due to significantly more than just its processor. Apples to apples, the 7840u, as in just the processor, is about as power efficient as the M3.

[@KSiggaardA]

We had the problem as well with the single external monitor on the docks at my workplace. Our IT department "solved" it with DisplayLink docks. Again can't compete with true multi monitor support.

[@AlexTanMcRAlexTanHaoNam]

you know what you did have a good solution for just go with the refurbished MacBook Air M2 with 16Gb ram but yes but not all country apple websites does have the refurbished shop or category. Living in Malaysia, yeah here do have authorized seller like Apple Switch or Apple Machines which is authorized dealer or seller but they doesn’t offer full benefits of official Apple Store experience especially Apple Care Warranty and issues solving and including the refurbished units too.

[@booptidyscoop7790]

My man deaged by 15 years

[@HeliumFreak]

So Apple was complaining that intels small performance increase each gen was not good ... And now they do the same :D Either its harder than they thought it was or its intentional

[@andyH_England]

You rarely have massive gen leaps year on year; that is only for people living in their dream world. The major leap was Intel to M-Chip, and now, 15-20% improvement year-on-year is very good. I really do not understand some people's expectations; wild!

[@lbgstzockt8493]

Chip design is incredibly hard and Apple has some of the best engineers in the world, the fact that we are even seeing these gains the past few years is quite an accomplishment, especially in such a power constrained system.

[@dilraj8842]

It was a chip size issue when they switched from intel

[@Pingwinho]

They were complaining about intel not delivering the promised 7nm architecture, which caused the entire 2016-2019 MBP design to fail due to bad thermals.

[@RichWithTech]

New hair looks way better you just got 20 years younger!

[@ill_at_ease]

Bro honesty you look younger, I love long hair but looks suits you the best

[@imcyrahalasan]

I appreciate how Dave focuses on discussing "other" topics instead of solely talking about laptop specs whenever new models are released. It makes sense, especially since there are times when there aren't significant upgrades in design or hardware.

[@AndrewGeleff]

The cost of upgrades is my biggest issue. I have been debating an M3 MBP for software development, but feel like I could be just as fine with a M3 MBA with 24GB of RAM. Once I get to that 512GB/1TB storage configuration with max RAM, I’m close to the MBP spec price anyway. At that point, I feel like I’m choosing form factor and display quality. I may very well just bite the bullet, get the Pro, and plan on keeping it for a year longer than I would the Air.

[@patrikfloding7985]

Being fanless is a major advantage IMO.

[@AndrewGeleff]

@@patrikfloding7985 Not from a throttling perspective.

[@Ronniezim]

The design the upgrade paths to push people into this exact situation. Just went through it myself.

[@recordedanemone6399]

Ima say, 2024 laptops have definitely given some competition, especially the hp spectre 2024

[@hautwater]

16gb is most definitely needed now a days. most people aren't buying these laptops just to see emails and a google search every now and then, anything past that with 8gbs makes the experience noticeably worse. if ur typing a paper with multiple google tabs open you will see bottlenecks that shouldn't exist at that price point.

[@vacc1001]

I typed a paper out last month on my 8 gigs M2 Air with tons of browser tabs, word, notion, apple music and docker running two containers doing ETL jobs. I found no issues. What bottlenecks are you talking about?

[@heroninja1125]

@@vacc1001 That won't last for long. It doesn't seem like your computer is struggling but everything that cannot be put onto RAM will be instead ssd swapped. This is going to damage your SSD over time and cause it to slow down/break.

[@vacc1001]

@@heroninja1125 For what definition of "over time"? Give me a number. I've had this for close to 2 years now and don't see any differences. Also SSD Swap is there precisely for that reason. You sound like you're parroting something you read off the internet. Educate yourself.

[@SuperSviki]

@@vacc1001 So your experience is representative of everyone else's? There are multiple comments of people with m2 products that do struggle with 8gb's, but I guess all of them are lying while we're supposed to only believe you. Not to mention the FACT that apple did this on purpose, since they charge 5 times the industry standard for ram and memory upgrades. At this point if you're not familiar with apple tactics, then you're clearly an idiot.

[@br4infrezz339]

​​@@vacc1001SSD have limitation of read and write, because of SSD running every time your ram full its going to consume SSD life span, so if your SSD broken, you have to buy new laptop because of soldered SSD, such a waste for good chip, you may not noticing but in the future it Will happend because SSD have limit read and write.

[@VfxRaptAnime]

Uncle disappeared for a month with no s24 ,oneplus 12, nothing phone 2a or mwc2024 videos and appeared back like nothing happened.

[@Conqueror25]

FUIYOH!

[@keerthan7558]

he has a life lol. And none of those products are anything special, all reviews have already covered everything that's there to.

[@ricktp6821]

​@keerthan7558 this Mac ain't special either, but what do I know.

[@conreo]

The main issue of macbook is MacOS, specialy the UI, anti ergonomic, anti multitasking... Require literally 20 different 3rd party apps (lost of them paid app) to make it usable.

[@ajfromca]

I manage a MacOS environment for my employer. The multi display limitation pretty much sank the M1/M2/M3 base devices. Sure DisplayLink is a thing, but that is extra steps and touch. Each step and touch is a chance for a user to call the Helpdesk for support. M3 MBA having Multi Display native is causing us to consider it. Now to see if they back port this to the MBP14 M3, and the M2 devices (which also have the hardware changes required for this to work).

[@akashneogi]

Too broke to even watch this

[@tipusensei]

No​@fantaguyreal

[@omeysalvi]

Bro 😢

[@JuanJimenez.]

A good majority of us are broke

[@perseus31]

Second hand M1 Air got you bro..

[@mastroitek]

I mean, we are talking about an entry level machine starting at 1100$ but the first real sensible config (512gb SSD, 16gb ram) goes for 1'600$. Even having the money would be difficult to justify such a purchase....

[@FrankThompson-iw5fy]

Still using my M1 Mac air and got no complains over all these years. The battery is still at 95%. Still looking good over all these years and have absolutely no plans or extra money to jump on a newer macbook M2 3 4 5 6 7....

[@faraz1926]

I got my Macbook air M1 in 2021 and my battery maximum capacity is 88%. i dont know if i should be worried lol. when did you get yours?

[@thekittyspy]

Kind of curious what kind of battery cycles you have on it? I have the same M1 air (2020) and about 620 cycles on it so battery at full charge is 86%.

[@FrankThompson-iw5fy]

@@faraz1926I pre-ordered mine right when it was launched, so it's safe to say I got it on day one. 88% is still pretty strong. Probably you used it more than me. I wouldn't be concerned tbh.

[@FrankThompson-iw5fy]

@@thekittyspy sorry, no clue. Guess I gotta check.

[@FrankThompson-iw5fy]

@@benjiro8793 you're right. I would prolly upgrade to a newer one only if it's ridiculously better than the one that I have. Also, only if I truly need more power or memory or something. So far, this one performs very well.

[@joshp6061]

1:10 Dave you’re willing to rub devices against your face this is why your tech reviews are _unparalleled_

[@cf6978]

Guys, can you imagine this BOY is actually 44 years young?

[@linked3]

He looks like he'd be in his twenties in this vid, ngl

[@briannguyen9217]

Nah looks like 30s lol

[@thenubianspeaks4329]

What does that have to do with the quality of his reviews. who cares

[@alexbelikov6660]

​@thenubianspeaks4329 the reviews quality is so good it's keeping Dave young, cos he is constantly bathing in the good vibes and the audience's gratitude and appreciation, and all those likes and subs😊. And he is also Asian Canadian. That's your recipe of youth combo.

[@joeking433]

Seriously?

[@dil6969]

The 8/256gb Macbook Air is a decoy product. They know a significant percentage of people will eat the insane added cost of 16gb and 512gb+ of storage. They get to advertise a starting price that seems reasonable, until you arrive the configurator and read the fine print. Even a $550 Steamdeck comes with 16gb of ram and a 512gb ssd. I'm sick of Apple's shit. If they're going to make the device 100% non-upgradeable and a nightmare to repair, the least they can do is offer a sensible base model.

[@TerranViceGrip]

Dont defend costcutting measures, critical functionality should always come first.

[@ayanoakune]

1:36 bro casually puts laptop into pocket

[@deanhantzis9630]

Dave2D's take in this video is mind boggling. I don't even think I need to explain why.

[@Annette_Hons]

If you plug the MagSafe power adapter to your MacBook Air you can use one or two displays WITH the MacBook closed! Most reviewers do not tell you this, you must have your MacBook attached to the power cord to use monitors with the MacBook closed.

[@jakobthoma3726]

Also with the m2?

[@SalemTechsperts]

I thought I was the only one that filmed myself smashing my face into laptops! But seriously, 70% isopropyl and a microfiber cloth is what I use to clean grease off these.

[@PandaMoniumHUN]

Baseline 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD = artificially inflating prices of the usable models = not buying.

[@cylltndn7935]

8 gig is enough for the most people ... decided who? I personally would like to have 16, because, as you said, upgrade can't cost so much, and the fact that Apple is treating its customers as a cattle, is insane. I have my zephyrus G14 Ryzen 9, 16 GB, 1 TB SSD, Radeon RX 6700S for just 1450 euro

[@w2385-i2s]

LOL, Apple latest 15" laptop has 8GB RAM & 256GB storage for $1,299. My 6 year old PC 15" laptop has 32GB RAM and 1.5TB storage for $700.

[@ck3plays]

You clearly never owned a Mac. Overall longevity of Apple devices last double the lifespan of Windows. I’m not biased as I use both but with for the average user of this laptop, that’s plenty for years to come.

[@Historyfreak-f7o]

I never had a PC last 10 years. Mac OS is soooo much easier to use. If I need tech support, I can get it with a phone call……for free.

[@w2385-i2s]

@@Historyfreak-f7o I'm still using my 12 years old PC laptop with MS updates.

[@w2385-i2s]

@@ck3plays Mac don't last because the SSD is solder on. SSD has a lifespan.

[@ck3plays]

@@w2385-i2s LOL. Bro my MacBooks last beyond 6+ years. Recent Windows computers I’ve had crapped out within 3 years. Gone through 2 Windows since 2019 already.

[@Beartato1989]

I just got the 14in M2P MacBook Pro for 1400 at Costco, it was well worth the wait because at Christmas it was at 1600. The warehouse was trying to get rid of them and at the time both Costco in my area had 2 left when I bought mine. There is such minimal separation from previous and new generations it doesn't make sense to buy the latest unless it has 1 koller feature

[@Sequel7]

Isn’t the base m4 faster than the M2p?

[@masak1506]

An honest review that is straight to the point. Thank you, Dave!

[@barrupa]

The thing with the 8GB of RAM is that once those are filled OSX will start hammering your swap partition with massive read and writes which will not only reduce the speed of your drive, but also it's life-span, which is especially concerning on a soldered SSD. Although this issue still happens on Linux or Windows, at least they let you adjust the swappiness value, something that is unavailable on MacOS.

[@Bill-Rink]

Dave's hair is amazing today, of courses his reviews are always the best.

[@lordofthesevenkingdoms]

1:33 you need apple cloth to wipe the smudges. your fabric ain't compatible bruv.

[@shinichihiroshi5328]

I'm a fan of Apple. Got their watch, phone and earbuds but do not have their Macbook. Why? Well their prices are just insane, for the same amount of money - You can get a much, much better laptop.

[@johnnymaccool9828]

I picked up a brand new MacBook m3 15 “ Tuesday morning and returned it Tuesday afternoon , sure hope the next iPad shows some real improvement !

[@benrolle622]

I love the way you structure your reviews a lot of times when I watch reviews I'm kind of like okay cool but I don't really care but with your reviews they are concise and usually answer most of the questions I have without wasting my time thank you for that :)

[@brookvillekansas90]

The mental gymnastics necessary to be a happy M3 customer is unreal.

[@Malc180s]

Bizarre take. Maybe look at your weird bias...

[@erickauffmann_official]

The new standard should be 16gb ram and 512gb storage 😢

[@robertolopez9483]

Then Apple will start them at 1700$ +tax and +accessories 😂

[@pimvdh877]

For my personal use, the M3 13" base model is going to be replacing my 2015 macbook. Which has the same specs, 8GB and 256GB. The old macbook still works, I simply feel that after 9 years I want a new one. The macbook is simply going to be used for everyday use around the house or travels. For the heavy loads, I got a M1 Studio sitting in my office. I feel for the target audience, the base model works just fine and for those who want a bit more, buy the upgrade. Want even more, voila, you reached the Pro lineup

[@SonniiTea]

Im currently using a base model 14" M1 Pro Macbook Pro for work (personal device that is used for my company's work) and although I love it, I don't feel comfortable traveling with it since it is primarily a work device. So I was thinking that I would buy an Air as my 100% personal device that I can travel with. Since I don't plan on upgrading for a long time I was just going to max out the ram and upgrade storage to 1Tb. Yes, I realize i could get a M3 Pro MBP for around the same price but I find that the pros are too heavy for me to comfortably carry in a bag.

[@AzeemKhan-ly9eu]

New hair 🤯

[@li_tsz_fung]

Both looked really cool on him

[@matejzima8210]

2:02 that's an awesome ortholienar keyboard! Is it custom made? Can you share the brand/model?

[@Polymath2B]

I noticed that too and wondered if anyone else did or even cared. It’s cool to see very popular tech people using something so niche.

[@enGLmaXi]

it's a Technikable :)

[@moonshot85]

The first and last MacBook Pro I bought was in 2009 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. The base model had 4Gb RAM and I paid extra for 8Gb RAM. And 15 years later and the base models only ship with 8Gb RAM 🤯

[@dayslikethis82]

I love your videos - very informative, genuine and well thought out... thank you!

[@darindavis910]

I think I'll wait till the M7 lite processor comes out in 7 years for that 2% performance increase and 4 GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, real performance beast that thing will be.

[@schmoab]

I have the M2 15 with 16GB and I love it. Battery life could stand to be slightly better, but it’s been a nearly flawless experience for me so far.

[@tristfularcadia]

Wait battery life on the 15 mba could be better? 🤣 Doesn't the 15 inch have some of the best battery life of any laptop on the market excluding the 16 inch mbp? I mean I rarely have to charge my m3 pro 14 inch unless I'm using unreal for some live production stuff or exporting a lot of photos in lightroom/AI noise reduction (hits the m3 pro way harder then video exports interestingly enough, I've legit seen the battery estimate go down below 2 hours when doing a large noise reduction batch on battery life when at like 80% but only doing that, I've done heavy video editing on battery life and have it last me hours. )

[@MAVRIL-06]

Have you tried any light gaming on it?

[@johnnynguyen9449]

i can tell you right now, as a college student 8gb of ram aint enough so i dont know what body part did you pull "8gb is plenty enough for most people" 8gb of ram hardly runs OS 3 google tabs and word doc which is bare minimum, it takes 8gb and 1.9-2.0 gb of swap memory

[@JimP-tc7gg]

If 8gb is fine, Dave, why don't you do a video showing us a base macbook air with more than 3 chrome tabs open. I'll wait.

[@b10nc09]

I can have like 20 tabs open. I don't know what kind of things you're doing but I'm am usually in blender while having these tabs open and it runs fine.

[@arandomguy9669]

@@b10nc09 I'm sure RAM comes to play when you export videos or playback stuff in AE, PR or DaVinci. People proved that MacBook's 8GB RAM falls way behind its 16gig variant. Thus ruining it's only quality of "productivity" which people seem to throw when questioned. No matter how optimized your system is ( fancy dynamic yada yada memory ), physical storage is physical storage. What doesn't exist, doesn't exist lol.

[@damienkphoto]

My Dell XPS 15 started to brick on me after a good 5-6 years of heavy usage, lots of editing, and I did game even though where I gamed on at times wasn't the best and the battery started to expand lol. In Jan 2021 I decided to get the M1 MacBook Pro 13 with 16gb RAM and this was my first entry into the Mac line. It's really great. I love this little thing. But I really see what people mean when they talk about these little small heaps in improvement. Like it doesn't constitute shelling out this king of money for one every year. I love tech but we really need to start paying attention to why these companies do unnecessary shit like make releases of tech every year. What the "lower-end" consumer can actually afford to buy is becoming obsolete due to the bar raising higher and higher every year. It is nice that their last generation stuff is heavily discounted though, because they're GREAT laptops for exactly the price I think we should have paid to begin with, which imo should have been $600-$800.

[@Kephinio]

I have the M1 MacBook Air base model and have never had issues with the memory usage. I use Safari, play some games here and there, edit videos and photos. Yes, of course it could be quicker or have more storage, but I have come to think that the same way some people don’t really care for the specifications of phones, we could try using that philosophy for every device. I have been a Windows and Android user my whole life until 2017 and since switching I seem to “get” the idea of the experience being the first thing in terms of priority, specifications second. Of course specifications are important as they enable the experience, but I think, with a sustainable approach being given, we could be more appreciative of the experience we can have. But yes, the pricing for the upgrades are astronomically high in comparison to the competition.

I really appreciate you being totally honest about how close m1, m2 and m3 are. For the average user, sometimes grabbing an older and cheaper apple silicon makes more sense. Unfortunatelly, not many channels go this way. They are just like "oh, the new one is so cool and 5% faster than the previous one, you just have to grab this new one".

[@Gurenn83]

Agree. I avoid those channels that are not honest and keep hyping the newer models.

[@Joshua-gc4ps]

Just bought an m2 MacBook Air and I genuinely cannot find one reason to upgrade

[@MichaelGGarry]

Unless you need the dual external screens, there probably isn't much reason to upgrade. The M2 MBA is an excellent machine already.

[@yesyes-om1po]

you spent 1000 dollars for a glorified web browsing machine, good job.

[@Joshua-gc4ps]

Thanks a lot @@yesyes-om1po

[@denniszenanywhere]

You ok with the one external monitor not two monitors

[@Joshua-gc4ps]

@@denniszenanywhere this change is way too minor. A lot of hubs come with softwares that do exactly that.

[@agoniavr]

What’s the game at 8:40?

[@MrSergpank]

beast bio exo arena

[@agoniavr]

@@MrSergpankthanks, never heard of that!

[@captaincaption]

​@@MrSergpankstraight up reminded me of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

[@thudang3039]

Appreciate the content! I still tell most people to consider an older M1 Air just because of how good they still are at doing just about everything most people need it for - plus, it's light and the battery life is still better than most of what you will get in the Intel world. It's just nice having more data to support my claim besides my own anecdotal usage these past few years on seemingly bullet proof product.

[@nizaramanchar8735]

lol, they could have given us upgradable drive would make a bit of sense with the soldered ram.

[@blackinese3849]

You think this is a "win"???

[@MyNameIsBucket]

"B-b-b-b-but if all you're doing is browsing..." Then a $200 used Windows laptop will also suit your needs just fine. The bloat issue is overblown - and besides, that's usually the manufacturer's fault. Uninstall the redundant anti-virus and crap and 8GB is fine for basic usage. Abracadabra, you just saved yourself $1000.

[@Emeril242]

If all your doing is web browsing & you insist on Apple, then a discounted M1 MBA while you can still find one is a far better deal. No point in getting the M3 with 8GB ram & a 256GB SSD, but then it’s $1500 for 16/512.

[@martingifford5415]

Dave is running cover for Apple sticking to 8gb. I'm disgusted with all the KZbin reviewers. They just want Apple fans to like the videos and/or they are trying to maintain a cosy relationship with Apple. If all the reviewers just honestly said 8gb is laughable, then Apple would change. But Apple relies on the these reviewers running cover for them.

[@johnscott5105]

Honestly after a couple generations of MBA a 13 inch M1 and now a 15 inch M2. My biggest concern is the SoC design and all that heat sitting around affecting the RAM and storage. The M3 MBA just seems to be increasing this heat concerns for me.

[@mlodyme3675]

The one positive about M3 Air is the stock option with 16 GB / 512 GB storage. This means that all big box stores, amazon, Costco etc will at some point be running discounts. this is the first time that people who wants Air and 16 GB will be able to score some sort fo discount without resorting to used or refurb market. However, I agree wholeheartedly - 16 GB should be the base and 32 should be the base on PRO models at this point.

[@SoLogy]

"Buy the old one," is great advice until Apple decides to stop providing updates and force obsolescence on an otherwise still useful computer.

[@pinguman13]

Apple is the best at providing upgrades to old hardware though…

[@griffin8062]

​@@pinguman13Not on Macs. The latest version of Windows 11 will run on a computer from 12 years ago, Macs only get 7 years of updates

[@Mutio86]

Still not enough, M4 NEEDS an additional display driver for a total of 3 supported displays. Everything else is unacceptable!

[@JKPOrigins]

Apple has failed the nose test yet again.

[@geraldh.8047]

Two external displays. Amazing. Intel 1st generation Core i series from 2010 was able to do this with the laptop display closed. Since 2013 Intel iGPUs were able to drive two external displays with the internal display still on. Apple is truly leading the industry.

[@HarrySingh-dn6yq]

going from fan to fanless. its so weird. have to press power button twice to turn on and login, easier to press the space button keyboard much better than the pro trackpad very clicky sound needs a key button for launchpad 8gb is enough, i agree. brightness better on m3 than on m2. other than this M3 air is an amazing laptop.

[@LeszekKrause-n4l]

It would be great if they allow to turn off the screen of the laptop to use two monitors, but still use keyboard and truckpad. Sometimes you don't have another keyboard but you have two monitors available. Espacially in business offices.

[@TomNook.]

0:50 what have we become

[@antonulybin389]

Man, Apple is truly a magical company. Somehow they make me appreciate my Lenovo laptop more and more.

[@ZhuJo99]

I appreciate quietness and long battery life of my macbook, thank you very much.

[@raghavkaushal7561]

@@ZhuJo99 I prefer not to be robbed. Thank you very much.

[@ZhuJo99]

@@raghavkaushal7561 sure, that's why I get Macs. I had to resale my powerful PC hugely under value. Have another one now, sitting there online for 3 months. On the other hand, I bought M1 Air last year for 800 euros. Sold it this year right at the day I've got new M3 Pro. For 700 euros resale price. I made more than 30k during the year on that M1 Macbook Air. For 100 bucks. Talk about "getting robbed".

[@mike_010]

Totally agree that the price for adding more storage eats my soul. The part which even worse is that after my 2019 8g ram mb pro getting stuck with about 50 web pages opened, I have to add this crazy amount of money to get 16g In terms of the ssd, I choose 256g and buy an external ssd elsewhere

[@akrom9854]

I am 2 weeks late to the video but hoping someone might be able to clear my doubts. 😅 I am someone who uses tech for like 4-6 years before upgrading again. So now I am looking for a new laptop. My work demands me to travel around a lot, do some light work such as some basic Excell work, some zoom calls and maybe make a few presentations from time to time. So, I need a laptop that can do all that with good battery life, ability to surf the internet for a while, watch some movies, tv shows and KZbin 😂. I was recommended to get MacBook Air for all of that. My plan is to buy the new M3 MacBook Air 13 inch, with 8GB RAM and 512 GB memory and keep this thing as I said for at least 4-6 years. I understand that M2 will be a bit cheaper, but for someone who spends money on tech once in a blue moon, do you think that investing into M3 and overall MacBook Air is a good idea?