Base model has 16GB RAM (finally?!). Can run three displays (finally?!).
Personally I feel like it’s the game changer the base M4 Mac Mini was.
Cheaper again at AOC here.
Apple MacBook Air 13.6" M4 - 10 Core CPU, 8 Core GPU, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM $1549 Delivered @ Apple Education Store
1690
Bigfellaborham on 06/03/2025 - 10:09 apple.com (3577 clicks)
Last edited 06/03/2025 - 10:23 by 1 other user
Last edited 06/03/2025 - 10:23 by 1 other user
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Don't forget you can pay $100 for AirPod Pro 2's at this price + 1.30% cashback on Cashrewards.
Could you please elaborate what you mean?
Shows offer on 2nd page of checkout
Free Airpod pro with NC
$300 off Airpod pro 2
airpod 4 with ANC free
Hooray now OzB techies can stop crying about the ram config for the base model.
Nah they will pickup something else.
You make the common error of seeing all people who disagree with you on one point as a single entity. It is a gross over-simplification.
Some people are never happy, but for many others, 16GB makes the base model great. Especially in the case of the Mac Mini, there is now no major complaint.I mean, yeah, still no touchscreen. But that an't a dealbreaker for most.
No fan, no deal.
This is Australia, and Australia is HOT.
Gotta buy a MacBook Pro to get a fan.
Gotta buy a MacBook Pro with a Max processor to get two fans fitted into the spaces for fans in the Pro case.Otherwise performance is severely limited by thermals.
And 16GB is still a little tight on RAM.
Fan == dust
Gonna be a pretty niche situation where you are dealing with 30+ degrees often enough for this to be any real concern, any harsh environments such as this you would be looking at a rugged computer anyway.
Why are people so hell bent on shoehorning products into niches they were never intended for..
Are you coding in the outback?
Bruh get an aircon.
in the case of constantly sitting at 30 plus degrees our brains should fail before the MacBook machine 😅
I don’t think throttling is a real issue for MB Air users unless you do Pro then you will buy a MB Pro then
Nah mate, I’ve got a MacBook Pro and either the fan is pretty much silent or it barely spins. I do CAD work on it and it seems to not come on.
These M units are really power efficient to the point that they barely need forced cooling. Unless you’re doing serious processor intensive computing.
14inch M4 pro has 2 fans
Completely overblown. I use an M1 Air for work, the vast majority of the time it is cool to the touch. 95% of users would be fine with an Air.
fan = no deal
im willing to sacrifice screen quality, battery life, and lower quality speakers and go for air instead of pro only coz it does not have a fan!
You do know they increased the base ram months a go, right?
That was in response to my multiple comments on ozbargain that 8GB is not acceptable in 2025.
Yeah of course, but I figured we could have the same discussion just like the 8gb argument got rehashed every single time a MBA was posted lmfao.
16GB in 2025? oh hell no
16gb is more than enough for most people that will use these to browse the net.
That's what they used to say about 8GB a few months ago.
I have a 16GB M1 Pro and I've started to feel the memory pressure. I should upgrade it to a newer model with more memory soon.
@bio: And it still holds true, a base macbook air is perfect for basic web browsing, emails and the odd netflix video. It fit a specific market very well. ARM architecture is extremely efficient in its usage of ram.
ARM architecture is extremely efficient in its usage of ram.
Do you really understand how computers work or copy/pasting things you memorised? I fail to see how a "CPU architecture" can be "efficient in its usage (?) of RAM" when Chrome
memallocs another 1GB for each tab you open, or when you load an LLM model with 70B parameters that requires 32GB of RAM for itself, regardless of the "CPU architecture" used.@bio: From what? you haven't educated me any further, I know about everything you have said.
I am really not sure what point you are trying to make here, the answer to your problem is simply use a browser that has been developed to run properly on apple silicon. You are throwing out all these complexities to the discussion where the answer will always boil down to - well that computer is not suitable for your use case. Why in gods name would you ever be using an 8gb MBA to do LLM stuff? Tools for jobs mate comon.
@bio: RISC architectures like ARM are actually less memory efficient than CISC architectures like Intel because it can take more instructions, in more memory, to get the same thing done.
@rayd2: That's not the point. The point is CPU architecture has nothing to do with memory usage, so Macs being more memory efficient is a fairy tale. In fact, they are even slightly less efficient because of the RISC instruction set as @mantichoral mentioned. The original poster of the claim @doobey1231 is playing the fool here.
Safari uses less memory on x86 too, so that's irrelevant. Every application uses almost exactly the same amount of memory on every system, so "you're fine with 8GB on a Mac but not on x86" is nonsense.
@bio: not saying 16GB is enough but why you want to use a ultralight laptop to run LLM in the first place? Mate, the right tool for the right task
@bio: Then learn how to use the memory space efficiently.
Close unnecessary apps and web tabs is the first step to start.
If you need to use a memory hungry app, then the macbook air is not for you.
🤦♂️
Now they can just complain about the 256gb hard drive
256gb isn't bad, it's the $300 upgrade to 512GB and $570 to 1TB.
Yeah those hard drive updates are ridiculous. I do love my macbook though, and its still going strong 7 years later (as a backup travel device). Just wish i hadve upgraded to the 500GB model when i first bought it.
Yeah need to be 512gb as standard these days
We have 512gb at work and it's wasted at least a couple of hours of my life. 1tb minimum if for anything tech related please. But agree, base model 512gb with 16gb ram is doable for most. The cost to upgrade is triple what it should be.
Needs 1tb as a base. Programs are getting larger and larger.
People are editing videos and larger files.
Nobody would have a problem with 8 GB for the base if the upgrade to 16 GB was reasonable. Same applies to storage and everything else. The base model is typically the only value proposition because of this so, so base model specs are important.
The other issue is that apple decided to solder the ram and make user upgrades almost impossible and lauding themselves that it's good for the environment.
The memory is not soldered, it's physically a part of the CPU. The design decision doesn't have anything to do with the environment. It is designed that way to make it "unified", i.e. both CPU and the GPU has fast access to the same DRAM.
Soldering SSD, on the other hand, is pure greed.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/06/28/why-apple-uses-in…
@bio: Thanks for the correction.
I think I saw that the SSDs have custom controllers so the replaceable SSDs are not so easy to replace or upgrade.
Firstly, its not soldered on its inclusive of the CPU, this is what makes apple silicon so fast, because everything is physically unified on the one chip. Secondly, the vast majority of manufacturers are also using soldiered ram on their computers these days, this is not an apple exclusive thing its an industry problem.
Yes apple upgrades have always been expensive af, but in my experience over the years is that the argument has never been about the cost to upgrade, it has always been the same old argument "its (current year) and apple is still selling their base model with 8gb of ram)". If the complaint was about cost to upgrade then it would be a fair point but it really wasn't, that was just the tack on argument when most people that knew were saying that people buying base model macs genuinely do not need the ram upgrade.
Not 32gb ram. 😂
Can be configured to 32GB
Should be default 😅
non upgradable 256gb ssd is landfill
But 16gb is barely enough etc etc
Will them check your student id?
yep they do, and you need to be wearing your school uniform
And write 100 lines on a chalk board "I am a student".
Followed by a quick game of Heads Down Thumbs up with the staff.
Sounds fun
I'll get Angus Young to buy it for me
Make sure Angus is wearing his schoolboy cap.
Otherwise his baldness gives the game away.
And please get a note from your principal.
I was buying iPad for a student but checked out as a guest and asked for no proof.
you just need to identify as one
In your experience can you get JB to price match this?
Not usually, but you can ask.
Why bother? You'll get better pre- and post- service from Apple, and free home delivery.
you'll still get the post service from apple
You won't get no questions asked retrurn.
@PainToad: This is one of the most compelling reasons to buy from Apple. My son returned a $3,500 MacBook Pro in January he had been using for a month, and they happily accepted the return.
@Boodek: The old extended returns over Christmas trick. Pro Display XDR with nano-texture glass and pro stand is the real win.
Will women find me attractive if I buy this and hit the Starbucks WiFi?
Don't know attractive, they may cuz you for showing off ;-))
Obviously. It's why you pay the premium.
Unfortunately you are too far down the genetic pool compared to world standards of beauty, height and physical strength. You will need an Asus ROG Strix G17 Laptop with a 17.2" screen sitting at a Cafe with a random stock market chart in full view. You will also need a BMW 318i parked in view which you will need to remotely lock and unlock periodically from your Cafe table.
You are basically a God. Thank you. Do you happen to have authored a motivational book that I can purchase? I care not the price! Whatever it is, I must have it! Heading to BMW dealership now.
Yes.
Yes, and they will sexually assault you if you're wearing an Apple Vision Pro.
Stack with apple gift cards promo @ Woolies.
I wanna do this too but the other OzB thread has me spooked. Multiple people have said that the newer “version 2” cards are still being tampered with and they need to go through Apple to try and fix and follow up.
HCF have 5% off apple. Not 10 but no risk of dodgy cards.
Macquarie Bank used to have 5 or 6% off but they removed this completely last year after September.
Does anyone know of any other banks or institutions offering discounts on Apple gift cards?
I have bought a 20-500 variable gift card on the cashier. No way the card is tampered, right?
Do you mean from behind the service desk? Then the likelihood is much lower.
Only one way to find out is to rip it open and try and redeem.
Great price for a great machine, can easily cruise through 6 years of high school and into a couple years of uni if you look after it.
Yep.
So an a windows laptop.lol
They upgraded all the M2 and M3 Air's to 16GB RAM late last year - but M4 definitely a step up now
Cheaper again at AOC here.
Except you haven't linked to the AOC store. You linked to Education Store Home which is not the same. AOC is cheaper.
can you use gift cards at AOC?
Yes. But you don't get the free/discounted airpods at AOC.
unless you want the AirPods 4 for $75 (pro for 175) more on the education site.
can you actually buy it through this link? can't seem to find a buy now button.
Bugger, just convinced a family member to finally upgrade their MacBook Air 2012 to a 16GB M2 Air a couple of weeks ago for $100 less, thought these would be more expensive for 16GB. Guess it doesn't matter if the M2 lasts them another 12 years
Should have bought from Costco
Wanted the airpods too
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Funny apple