Is a M4 MacBook Air worth it in todays modern technological world?
I'm thinking about upgrading my laptop to a new one on the market, I don't know whether a m4 MacBook Air is worth it? I will not reveal anything about my life
- If you have hairy pets, then you may appreciate the MacBook Air's fanless design.
- Fanless == quiet
- Apple screens are some of the absolute best you can buy.
- If you have other Apple electronics (iPhone, Air Pods, Apple Watch, etc.) then it will integrate well with them.
- Excellent battery life.
- Excellent speakers and microphone array.
- Not dependent on cloud services that suffer major security beaches every year.
- Not using the same cloud services to data mine everything you do on your computer.
- Offers AppleCare as insurance to replace your stuff whenever there's a problem (vs. a standard time-limited warranty).
- Apple Script, Automator, and Shortcuts to automate what your Apple stuff does far beyond what you can do in Windows.
I don't care for much of what Apple provides, but the premium design and conveniences of a highly integrated ecosystem are worth the trouble. I would love to find something non-Windows that's better than my Macbook Air. If Google could make something like a fanless version of the 2013 Chromebook Pixel, it might just be good enough for me.
If there's one thing I'd caution against, as a user of a Macbook in the United States, it'd be the use of Touch ID / Face ID for logging in to your Apple products. Biometrics are not protected by the 4th amendment, so you can be compelled to unlock your device without a search warrant. For all of the security features Apple producs are reputed for, this is one big gap that doesn't ever really get talked about. For this reason I commend Microsoft for having a PIN option for Windows Hello authenticaiton.
What a strange thing to say. You could have just said what you plan to use the laptop for (or not), in vague terms, and left it at that.
I mean, what this person; heck, we don't even know it's a person, it could be a dog. On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog. Maybe it's an LLM with a bank account that's gained sentience! Anyway, what this mystery account that won't reveal any details, has already revealed one critical detail! That they want an M4. From that, we can conclude that they're not an Apple hater, and also, they're not a desk.
My recommendation is that they shouldn't get an M4. Why? People are going to judge them for getting an M4. Fairly or not, it's important to this person, that this person (still assuming it's a person) doesn't reveal anything about their life. Unfortunately, merely owning an M4 will reveal far too much about them, to everybody that sees it. Or sees them buying it. Or thinks about them buying it.
OP, don't get an M4! It's the only way you'll be safe!
Much of this is a matter of preference. https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air/13-inch-sk...
13-inch -- this is slightly large for me.
(Maximum) 32GB RAM -- this is not enough for me.
16-inch -- this is a behemoth but the only laptops capable of having more than 32GB RAM!?!
128GB RAM -- now we're getting somewhere
$10,549.00 -- this is in the "dream" machine list- compared to the MacBook Pro, you basically get the same power with a slightly inferior display and without active cooling (which can inhibit long running high-cpu tasks)
- compared with AMD/Intel: It will give you the better hardware (build quality, trackpad, battery lifetime) for a markup. Depending on your use cases, compute power can be either better or worse (gaming on M* is not that great, for example)
- If you want to go beyond the base models, Apple charges ridiculous amounts for RAM and SSD, and those cannot be upgraded after purchase
- Operating system/ecosystem is a matter of personal preference
I personally still love Apple (Unix with decent UI), but like too much things these days, the list of disappointments grows longer. Not as long as with Windows, though.
That being said, if you're on a budget, you're good with a decent AMD/Intel notebook (e.g. a Thinkpador XPS) with Linux. That'll be a work horse and probably lacks some of the "wow, that's nice" effects that you might still get with a mac.
Plus it has a lot of “round” corners to build up frustration throughout the day.
Plus it’s too expensive.
Anytime I want to do anything CPU intensive I'm on a remote machine anyways -- it's a good portable "deck" for jacking into the net.
Great investment short and long term.
Other than that, I’m sure it’s fine…
https://community.frame.work/t/fw-16-review-the-good-the-bad...
It’s not even good for an x86 laptop and that’s a pretty low bar in 2025.