Also available MacBook Air 2022 M2 256GB SSD $1707 (RRP $1899) https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/macbook-ai…
Obviously to avoid price matching with the recent TGG 10% off all Apple iMac/ Mac Computers deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/715478
OSX is much more efficient, you don’t need as much ram. I have a M1 pro and can have 100 tabs going with no lag.
dude, we need ram for photoshop, capture one, Final Cut.
spending 2k for a computer to have 100tabs ??
No we need ram for Chrome
People love to make these blanket statements about RAM requirements - "Only 8GB", "MacOS is more efficient"
You should just be making an assessment based on what you plan on doing with the laptop and buying accordingly.
@ihfree: Which was my point. Macs can run more efficient with the same amount of ram compared to windows. I’m not saying 8gb is enough. Just that it utilises it better.
The 100 tabs was an example to show how much more efficient it is compared to windows.
@StonedWizard: Already managed to run out of memory easily for work supplied 16GB RAM Macbook Pro M1 Pro. When I opened some memory hungry apps, there is zero chance to have Chrome or Safari running with 100 tabs.
The only proper excuse is that this is Macbook Air, not called Pro, so you can still get away with 8GB RAM.
OSX is much more efficient, you don’t need as much ram
Macbook Pro (M1 Pro) Safari - Single Tab - Apple.com: 93.2MB RAM
Macbook Pro (Intel i7) Safari - Single Tab - Apple.com: 50.7MB RAM
Checked with Apple's Activity Monitor. The Intel Mac does run an older version of OSX, both have 16GB RAM and the M1 MBP has more free SSD space left.
8GB is not enough, you're going to want to push the SoC and you're going to bottleneck on memory. I was using an M1 Mac mini 8gb before upgrading to a Mac studio. I could edit 4k hevc in fcpx, 4k60 prores as well. But you'll be constantly swapping and memory pressure will be red. If you plan on using editing tools I'd recommend 16GB
You make valid points. But if you’re using those programs, would you really be looking at an air?
Yes, OSX is more efficient than Windows. Anything is. And Apple silicon is great. But some of my apps are very bloated and RAM is cheap.
You need to spend $300 to get additional 8GB. On the other hands Windows equivalents are around $40 bucks. Anyone can easily tell Apple priced their RAM almost 8 times more expensive than others because they know people will spend this $300 to upgrade because 8GB is terrible for most users.
It’s also only like 1.2cm thick.
It also uses the SSD for a pseudo RAM when needed.
That's how Apple operates, people pay more for less.
Subjective…
Personally, I've found Mac laptops to be worth it especially compared to Windows laptops. I've been using Macbooks - Pro and Air for about 2 years and likely wouldn't go back to a Windows laptop. If I need to run heavier workloads or game, I have my Windows desktop.
It's not really subjective, your own words confirm what he's saying "if I need to run heavier workloads or game, I have my windows desktop". If you have to buy a desktop plus a macbook to do the things that a windows laptop could do on it's own, then you are paying more for less.
Right, I'm going to have a laptop and desktop regardless. Both the MBA and Desktop are bought based on what they're needed for.
I don't need to game on a laptop. I don't want to lug around a gaming laptop. No laptop has the same level of graphics performance as my desktop. My desktop is quieter than gaming laptops.
@lulzenberg: My desktop isn't portable? Do you have some sort of magic trick to combine the two devices?
@ihfree: If two people had $2200 each. One bought the macbook air in this post for 2112, the other bought a legion 5 pro with a 3070 for 2197 - who got more for their money?
One got a laptop that has no fans (yay?), 8gb of RAM and 512gb ssd, with essentially beefed up mobile phone chipset. They can do work tasks, watch movies, browse, etc. They can't jump into any new games, they can maybe play some older ones.
The other got a laptop with fans (boo?) 32gb of RAM and a 1tb ssd, with a very decent CPU and GPU, they can do all that the person with the macbook can do, plus they have something that can play games and run heavier workloads.
If you're a two device person (i'm a two device person), you don't need a ~2000 MBA to do what an MBA does. You can do it all on a much cheaper laptop, then swap to your desktop for games. This is what it means to pay more for less. I have an iMac and MBP provided by work, and i've seen the amount paid for them. What I can do on them when comparing them to my personal laptop and desktop that, combined, didn't even cost as much as either the iMac or MBP on their own is hilarious.
If fanless is worth a 1k premium to you, ok great, but that isn't value, that's an expensive, very minor QoL improvement. Even more so when you could just run something like a legion 5 pro on battery saver mode, do all the same tasks as an MBA could do and barely spin up the fans, if at all, and still be able to have the option to plug it in, set it to max power and do heavier tasks/game.
@lulzenberg: There are loads and loads of people who use a computer hours a day that do not have any possible use for an RTX 3070. And as cliched as the comment is - this is 8gb of very fast ram that can handle web browsing, zoom calls and document editing with ease.
@NoshTwin: and again, no one is saying you need to buy a 3070 - if they only want to do what an MBA can do, they can spend <1k on a laptop and achieve that.
The point said here was that buying apple products, specifically this MBA, you are paying more for getting less than if you'd spent the same amount of money on a non-apple laptop. I'm not seeing anyone show how this isn't true, just dropping red herrings about me some how being against two devices, against apple and how having no fans some how makes it worth 2k vs the 1k windows laptop.
Hell, is the launch price difference from the M1 to M2 MBAs even worth it?
@lulzenberg: You’re also getting way better keyboard, screen, speakers, trackpad, webcam and battery life than you would out of a 1k Windows laptop.
Compared to the M1 MacBook Air I would agree it’s not miles better,
@NoshTwin: You can get one of the best keyboards for writing on a HP Envy, has a great track pad too. Battery life? Pretty much anything running ryzen has great battery life now days. It's not 18 hours as the MBA advertises (and going by what colleagues and reviews have said, its closer to 8-10 of real world use) but they still get up there with ~500 minutes of runtime.
As great as the speakers are on the MBAs vs normal laptop speakers, they still aren't good enough (or situationally appropriate enough) to forego head/earphones or linking up to some decent speakers. I can't think of the last time I used my laptops speakers.
The screens are great - they're also tiny. Unless you're getting real close to that monitor, you're not really seeing a huge difference vs any other 13" laptop in the 1k range. The cheapo IdeaPad Duet rocks an OLED screen and looks amazing, you can also grab it for <$700
@lulzenberg: Mate, tell me any device that can run on battery for up to 18 hours. Not everyone wants a gaming device, shit I’m considering buying the legion pro but can definitely see the value in the air.
Different markets for different people, and that’s ok.
@ColtNoir: If you're doing actual work on a macbook, it's not lasting 18 hours, go check the user reviews in reddit. You're looking at 7-9, maybe. My partner gets 6-7 from her legion 5 pro gen 6, and she can use it for other things and it's not even marketed as a long life battery device.
If you live a life where you can't get to a charger for 7+ hours and need to use your device for that entire 7+ hours, maybe macbooks are your only choice, that doesn't change the fact you're paying more for less. You're paying a premium for QoL, and it's your money to do with what you please.
But, again, i'll repeat myself: no one is saying to buy a gaming device, no one is saying not to buy a macbook, the whole premise of this shitshow of a thread is that you are paying more for less with a macbook - what you choose to do with your money is your own choice. You are paying more for less, you are paying for the brand and it's ecosystem.
If the macbook is what you want, that's what you want, but you are paying more for a lesser specc'd machine, were you to look elsewhere, and what with the whole nature of this website being bargains, it takes a very special kind of person to think purchasing the m2 macbook air at this price is a bargain. Even your average apple fanboi who'd jump at the chance of buying a brick with an apple logo on it for several hundred dollars will let you know that the difference from M1 to M2 MBAs is not worth the price hike.
@lulzenberg: You’re paying more for less. Well, yea, everything technology wise that gets smaller does cost more, so a super thin design is going to cost more.
You’ve frankly just confirmed that you’re anti Mac. Just move on and do your thing, you’re no better than iPhone vs android fanboys.
Just buy what you like and if you see value in things eg a really thin design. Then go for it.
@ColtNoir: No, i've not, you've just confirmed that you are an apple fanboi, so anyone who doesn't think they are the bee's knees and worth the extra money (for lesser specs) is just anti Mac. Literally said "its your money, buy what you want" not "don't buy mac" - you are just twisting reality to see what you want to see.
@lulzenberg: You’re a spec sheet warrior. An apple fanboy wouldn’t be considering a legion 5 pro would they? I’m a big fan of every tool has its use.
Would you buy a laptop that was 15kg, no you wouldn’t, you’d pay more $ for less kg.
@ColtNoir: There's no war here, there's no warriors, only worriers. If calling me a 'spec sheet warrior' is how you cope with this, okay. That just tells me you agree - going by the specs, you're paying more for less. That is the only point that was being made here, I'm glad you can see it now.
@lulzenberg: Enjoy buying a desktop to sit on your lap while you’re looking at those specs. After all, more for less.
@lulzenberg: I've also paid more for more fans - NH-D15 has two big bois compared to the stock cooler 🤷♂️.
lulzenberg not sure i understand your point hey. are you anti apple or anti dual devices? - im a fan of two devices - laptop+desktop over a beefy laptop. i prefer my devices to play to their strengths
a desktop is suited to gaming / heavy intensive tasks which generates a lot of heat and uses a lot of power, so its the last thing i want from a 1" or thinnner device with small fans and a battery. even my cheap old desktop is a champ for basic games
likewise the laptop id rather be aimed right at that super-portable general purpose computing device. i dont have a tablet or anything so i want it to be nice and chuckable and portable and last ages on batt, not be hot etc etc.
i honestly feel this is the ideal and most efficient setup for me in terms of hardware outlay and benefits and id never go back to the hot heavy HP laptop i had years ago. just so i can see where you're coming from - can you tell me how im paying more for less here?
@yahms: What part of the same dollar value on a macbook vs a windows laptop nets you less performance per dollar on the macbook are you not understanding?
No one is saying you have to go out and buy a gaming laptop, or only have one device. Apple products are more expensive for comparable specs. You are paying more for less.
@lulzenberg: ah…. basically before you said why get a desktop+macbook when a single windows laptop will do. sounded like you were saying a windows laptop is equal to a desktop but id found a desktop has better specs for the money. i must have misunderstood you there - hope that answers your question of 'what dont i understand'
but you did clarify and say that apple laptops just dont have the specs you want compared to windows alternatives. thats all good man, and the fun part of tech is there are lots of choices so we can find what we want pretty easily. i get you now i think.
i must have different preferences(or specs that matter to me - i wont bore you with the list) because i absolutely get what i pay and more from this brand i wont mention :) but we are all allowed to care about different things right? so yeah if some laptops dont tick the right boxes for you, you shouldnt spend your money on them.
do you have a legion 5 pro? if so is it ryzen? do you like it?
I've been using Macbooks - Pro and Air for about 2 years
I've been using them for much longer. So, you are a new comer after seeing M1's reviews. While M1 certainly is very competitive, there are certainly issues which we should also mention.
It's good that Microsoft started fixing some of the more annoying bugs in their Apple silicon version of Office apps. It was quite annoying to re-open Excel 10 times to update pivot charts so "much more" usable is not yet true. While Rosetta does a good job, the first time you launch an app in that mode, it goes through a compilation phase to convert. Don't expect every docker image you use already has an aarch64 version.
That said, Intel and AMD need to get their act together fast. They are losing a big chuck of laptop market share.
Agreed with your points.
It is important to check app compatibility before purchasing. For me, the transition from Intel MBP to M1 has been smooth.
Notch
This is implemented surprisingly well in my opinion and i'm barely noticing it. Complaints about it that I have seen online have a lot of apps running.
Smart Charging
Easy enough to disable and beneficial for devices on charge throughout the day.
That said, Intel and AMD need to get their act together fast. They are losing a big chuck of laptop market share.
and Microsoft. I don't like having to battle the registry or group policy to get things right and reapply things when Windows updates. I don't want Edge, Bing, or, MS-connected accounts.
I guess you could also include Qualcomm in that list as well.
Have you seen the prices of Razer and Microsoft devices? IMO the only ones that can compare to Apple in terms of quality. You can get more for less with some plastic garbage that sounds like a jet taking off when you open notepad. Not to mention the current Apple silicon has been punching above its weight for price. Other than gaming and being locked to Windows, Apple laptops makes the most sense "today".
less heat, fan noise, and waiting ;)
Meanwhile my 2011 mba died just a year ago, and in the same timeframe I’ve gone through 4 other laptops, dell , hp, Lenovo. So I guess other companies make you pay less for more that lasts less?
I have a Macbook Pro with a butterfly keyboard. So, Apple quality is so great eh? Oh, and I like to call my Macbook Pro: Donglebook Pro.
I bought a keyboard cover as an attempt to prolong that keyboard. Typing with that cover is annoying. I have Mac devices only supports USB-C/alt-mode DP 1.2 and some supporting DP 1.4. I purchased both versions of the Apple digital dongle (to cover both types). It's also a bit like that with certain iPad Air(s), iPad Pro(s).
If USB 4's DP 2.0 push were to go ahead, I'm sure I will need a 3rd dongle later on (whenever Apple decides to support that, M3 or M4 perhaps). New USB-C adapters from Apple (when Apple switch to Apple Silicon). Not quite to spec 29W USB-C adapter which Apple quietly discontinued a while back.
Apple world is just so much better isn't it?
Calm down. As a general rule yes it is better. If it’s better for you, that’s another question. Has things gone wrong, yes but compared to dell, Lenovo, hp, Microsoft, mac have wayyyyyyyyyt less issues.
@onlinepred: You have zero bluetooth issue with your Macs? If you use PC displays with Macs, you never ever encountered any issue?
You probably skipped the USB-C/Thunderbolt port only range of Macbook Pros. We are also seeing Apple reverting back to old design. My point is, unless you have equivalent laptops from both camps at the same time, it's hard to make objective analysis. The 2016, 2017 ones do have quite a few annoying issues (and both Apple and Intel are at fault).
Apple silicon ones do benefit from the learning during those laptops.
@netsurfer: I have never had any issues, but then again I've only owned two macs in my life, the rest have been windows laptops which are my main ones. The longest serving laptop I've owned in my 2011 MBA, and we have a 2015 MBP work laptop we use for testing that's been great hooking up to the work TV and external monitors.
My Surface Pro 4 constantly overheated and became super slow, and had two replacements due to screen flicker. My HP Dragonfly has heating issues and throttles the PC too regularly. My Lenovo Thinkpad X1 (current laptop) is fine, but the keyboard, speakers, screen, trackpad are all worse than any mac I've used.
To me these are huge issues. I don't think I've owned a single Windows Laptop that hasn't had issues honestly.
BTW, I'm not an apple fan or anything, I'm a windows guy. I'm just able to be objective.
@onlinepred: I think if you skipped the 2016 to 2020 Intel Macbooks, and later went Apple Silicon, then the experience could be quite pleasant.
The 2015 MBP is pretty good, but the fan noise does kick once you run some heavy tasks (and does throttle too). Having the HDMI port certainly help (I doubt you guys use Thunderbolt 2 / mini DisplayPort for the connection to TV). However, not having experience with 2016 to 2020 Macbook Pros enables you to provide an objective view. 2016 to 2020 is the period where it is Apple's way or the high way. 2021 - the return of MagSafe, the removal of touchbar, revert to older style keyboard, return of SD card, return of HDMI (basically Apple is reset to 2015 level for 14 and 16 inch models).
Just get an M1 Pro Macbook Pro 14". With Apple GC discounts and edu, it's well worth the extra $300 or so.
Better speaker, better ports, better chip, better screen, …
Taking into account deal stacking if purchasing from TGG(deal linked by OP)?
TGG gift cards at 10% off if purchased in the next ~30 minutes: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/715083
Such a shame the battery is worse on the 14" than the 13". Otherwise it's the perfect combo of size and power.
how do you get the Apple GC discount?
Oh, I meant the Flybuys/WW Rewards deals that were going.
New M2 air really is not great value. Shame the killer price point of the first M1 Air isn’t being carried on. Would rather get a well spec’d PC for this price, or just get the Macbook Pro.
Can’t really upvote this deal. 8gb is too less. Laptop may feel fast but eats into ssd life.
too *little
Although 8GB RAM is likely sufficient for most people nowadays. I would still suggest getting the 16GB version if you're not the type who's looking to trade in your laptop after 2-3 years.
One thing I've noticed with MacBook is that they freaking lasts forever… i've been secretly wishing that my 2016 MBP to break to give me a more legitimate excuse to buy a new laptop… Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it is still running strong… so I just have to convince myself with other reasons on why I should/need to upgrade. Even though I will likely get the M2 MBA later this year, I expect my MBP to last for at least couple more years… All my previous windows laptops (Dell, ThinkPad etc) have never had one that lasted this long without at least reinstalling windows once or replacing RAM/battery…
Just my personal experience.
Seen some benchmarking with M2 8GB and seems to be abit slower than a M1 8GB, it may just be an OS patch fix needed for the new M2 but I do agree with getting 16GB for M2 for future proofing.
I just want to point out that video is not really a fair comparison because it's not just memory was changed, the storage as well.
Also, one thing to bear in mind, the software used in those tests. If you do get Adobe cloud subscription, chances are you have a decent budget, as such, you probably would go M1 Pro or M1 Max right now.
Unless M2 Pro and M2 Max show significant performance boost, if you can resist the urge, maybe wait for M3.
It’s because apple skimped on the ssd config in the base model(along with the m2 pro). There’s only 1 256gb ssd, rather than 2 128gb like in the m1 air.
If you get the 512gb it fixes the performance concerns. Classic corporate up selling.
512GB is the way to go for new gen Macbooks due to their dual NAND setup. If you care about achieving the maximum performance.
Everyone please make sure you get 16gb of ram at least, just to future proof yourself. You never know one day you would decide to learn video editing or graphic design. You just never know. I have a base model mac mini M1 and I regret every time I use it. After 2 years it's getting slower and slower, keep getting that rainbow wheel. I do some light photo and video editing. The reason I got this mac is because at first every Youtubers were saying that these machines are great and 8gb of ram is enough for this and that. True, but "Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance" and this is true for almost everything, not just investing.
So save a bit more, get the 16Gb just for the love of God
Also, new software (or new versions of existing software) will be designed under the assumption the user is using spec that is common "today"… i.e. 3 years from now, software released then would assume most people would have hardware spec that is common (note: common doesn't mean best/highest) 3 years from now. So, if you plan on using it for, say, 4-8 years, definitely go for the highest spec you can afford for your purpose.
truth. And your purpose changes too. Best to future proof an investment. Better than buying another machine in 2 years time
Over $2k but only 8GB?