Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 im Test - Deutlich schneller und mit Wi-Fi 6E

[NikoB]

All this fuss is uninteresting as tests in incomparable code environments.

But it is much more interesting in reviews of Apple laptops to see a test of the memory controller, including its operation with 4k pages in random access. And what do we see here? And we still see the same shame of the latest SSDs, which are more than 100 times (here real 174 times slower for installed SSD) slower at 4k IOPs than RAM.

Do you see what I'm getting at?

The shame of Apple is that as soon as this same 16GB (minus the OS kernel and drivers) of soldered memory runs out, everything will become dramatically worse - software performance will drop by more than 100(!) times, with any access to the swap file on the SSD.

This is exactly the problem - with its cheap price (and Apple's wild prices) for RAM chips should be from 32GB, but rather 64GB from factory. Already at 32GB, the load on the slow SSD of this laptop will drop significantly. Especially for soldered ones that cannot be replaced.

Thus, Apple deliberately provokes artificial aging of equipment and thereby provokes the cluttering of the Earth with waste. This means that its leadership has bad intentions in terms of preserving the ecology of our only planet.

But the memory controller also consumes. And you have to pay for everything...

[Neenyah]

But it is much more interesting in reviews of Apple laptops to see a test of the memory controller, including its operation with 4k pages in random access. And what do we see here? And we still see the same shame of the latest SSDs, which are more than 100 times (here real 174 times slower for installed SSD) slower at 4k IOPs than RAM.

Do you see what I'm getting at?

You still operate on SATA3 6 Gbps speeds so it's natural that you think that way but, like I said under the English review:

everything will become dramatically worse - software performance will drop by more than 100(!) times, with any access to the swap file on the SSD,

Bold of you to assume that you or any human on this planet can keep the pace - both mental and in operating the device - with the SoC and the RAM to actually notice any difference. Just try to calculate 86582×83.58 faster than the slowest calculator on the planet (good luck).

[Neenyah]

Would you recommend an M2 with 24 GB and 1 TB or an M3 with 16 GB and 512, if both could be had for the same price? Tasks include a lot of multitasking, coding and maybe app development and trying out some AI/ML in the future. Would one of the 8GB/256 versions be enough for these as well?

M2, obviously. You get 33.3% less RAM/UM with the M3, you get 50% less storage. You don't get 33.3% to 50% more performance with it or that much better battery life to sacrifice all the additional memory in the M2.

Now if it was a 24/512 M1 (yes I know it doesn't exist but for the sake of point) against the mentioned 16/512 M3 then clearly the M3 because it is quite faster despite the M1 still being a little speedy demon.

8/256 just avoid, that's money wasted especially with your mentioned needs and use cases. If it was 8/1TB then fine but this is pointless when tablets have more RAM and storage for less money.

[RobertJasiek]

trying out some AI/ML in the future. Would one of the 8GB/256 versions be enough for these as well?

You speak of the future. With the ridiculously small storage, it is often impossible to even just try AI/ML, not to mention serious usage. I have just calculated relative ML speeds of MacbookAir_M3 versus RTX 4090: the speed factor is roughly 32 (due to extremely different TDPs, types of GPU cores and GPU manufacturer libraries). As everybody should know the other limiting factors are those of storage. Know your needed sizes before buying any hardware! Note that they greatly depend on the specific AI/ML and their needs for specific types of storage (UnifiedMemory, SSD/NAND, VRAM, RAM).

[Magnar Hirschberger]

Was die Performance betrifft,muss ich es Apple lassen, mit der Silicon Architektur wirklich Maßstäbe gesetzt zu haben.

Was aber die Ausstattung betrifft, ist es einfach nur krass teuer, was angesichts der guten Verarbeitung wirklich schade ist:

- zweiter externe Monitor? Das geht mit jedem ordentlichen Laptop, welcher Display Port via USB 3.1 oder höher bietet (von Thunderbolt 3 oder gar 4 ganz zu schweigen) seit Jahren. Unter Linux können es auch deutlich mehr Monitore sein.

- ein tatellos verarbeitetes HP Dragonfly G4 kriege ich für etwa 1650 - 1999 € etwa bei Cyberport oder notebooksbilliger.de - meins hatte hatte eine hochklassige Tastatur, ein unglaublich gutes mechanisches Touchpad, einen 68 Wh-Akku, ein 1000 Nits mattes IPS Display, 32 GByte RAM und 1 TByte SSD, beherrscht WiFi 7 und hat nur 0,99 kg Masse und läuft trotzdem länger als das MacBook Air.

Hier stinkt Apple doch ab, wenn auch das IPS den P3 Farbraum abdeckt. Auf dem HP Dragonfly läuft neben Windows 11 Pro läuft auch Linux ordentlch drauf, aber dieser Punkt wird auch bei Apples Silicon Kisten auch bald besser sein....)

- dann die Armut an Anschlüssen: Ich habe es noch nie verstanden, warum es HP und Razer anders als Apple und Lenovo hinbekommen, USB-C-Buchsen (USB 4/TB 4/ DP) auf beiden Seiten (links und rechts) zu verbauen, nebenher gehen noch HDMI und USB-A, Audio-Klinke und (bei Razer) auch noch ein ordentlicher Miorco-SD-Kartenleser. Hinzu noch 65-68 Watt USB-C-Lader mit Schnelllade-Eigenschaften.

- Warum macht Apple es seinen Kunden künstlich schwer, anstatt hier besser für 2000 € ein ordentliches MacBookPro M3 mit 16 GByte und 512 GByte SSD anzubieten? Eigentlich schade für Apple... Logischer wäre doch ein Einsteiger MacBook Air für etwa 1000 € und ein zeitgemäß ausgestattetes Pro-Modell für exakt das Doppelte - dann aber mit 32 GByte RAM und 1 TByte SSD. Nach oben hin gab es bei Apple ja noch nie wirklich Grenzen.

Grüsse

Magnar

[nattopasta]

Would you recommend an M2 with 24 GB and 1 TB or an M3 with 16 GB and 512, if both could be had for the same price? Tasks include a lot of multitasking, coding and maybe app development and trying out some AI/ML in the future. Would one of the 8GB/256 versions be enough for these as well?

M2, obviously. You get 33.3% less RAM/UM with the M3, you get 50% less storage. You don't get 33.3% to 50% more performance with it or that much better battery life to sacrifice all the additional memory in the M2.

Now if it was a 24/512 M1 (yes I know it doesn't exist but for the sake of point) against the mentioned 16/512 M3 then clearly the M3 because it is quite faster despite the M1 still being a little speedy demon.

8/256 just avoid, that's money wasted especially with your mentioned needs and use cases. If it was 8/1TB then fine but this is pointless when tablets have more RAM and storage for less money.

I see, thanks. It is a shame that Apple is so anti-consumer with its policies regarding Ram. Usually I use ThinkPads so this would be a big change for me, but recently Lenovo has been moving towards being more and more Apple-like as everything is soldered as well, so I might as well take advantage of the superior efficiency of the M-Chips and get the great battery life.

[NikoB]

All this fuss is uninteresting as tests in incomparable code environments.

But it is much more interesting in reviews of Apple laptops to see a test of the memory controller, including its operation with 4k pages in random access. And what do we see here? And we still see the same shame of the latest SSDs, which are more than 100 times (here real 174 times slower for installed SSD) slower at 4k IOPs than RAM.

Do you see what I'm getting at?

The shame of Apple is that as soon as this same 16GB (minus the OS kernel and drivers) of soldered memory runs out, everything will become dramatically worse - software performance will drop by more than 100(!) times, with any access to the swap file on the SSD.

This is exactly the problem - with its cheap price (and Apple's wild prices) for RAM chips should be from 32GB, but rather 64GB from factory. Already at 32GB, the load on the slow SSD of this laptop will drop significantly. Especially for soldered ones that cannot be replaced.

Thus, Apple deliberately provokes artificial aging of equipment and thereby provokes the cluttering of the Earth with waste. This means that its leadership has bad intentions in terms of preserving the ecology of our only planet.

But the memory controller also consumes. And you have to pay for everything...

[Neenyah]

All this fuss is uninteresting as tests in incomparable code environments.

...

But the memory controller also consumes. And you have to pay for everything...

Lol, the guy just copy/pasted his whole nonsense comment from two days ago from this same thread. Attention whoring at its finest...

[Neenyah]

I see, thanks. It is a shame that Apple is so anti-consumer with its policies regarding Ram. Usually I use ThinkPads so this would be a big change for me, but recently Lenovo has been moving towards being more and more Apple-like as everything is soldered as well, so I might as well take advantage of the superior efficiency of the M-Chips and get the great battery life.

Not all ThinkPads but mostly those with "s" (T14s and such) and from the X1 lineup. New T14 Gen 5 has two RAM slots 🙂

[eMark]

Apple reviews ziehen immer ganz spezielle Kommentatoren an, schon seit iPhone Zeiten. Das beste am M3 Air ist der neue Preis vom M2 Air, für 1000€ bekommt man da ein klasse Gesamtpaket.