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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[DaveD]

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.

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!

[ChippyGaming]

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

[Shmby]

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

[Marckillern]

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.

[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.

[stefaandutil]

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.

[TheLeafyo]

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

[LGNDRYiNDIN]

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.

[rubik]

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

[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.

[godminnette]

"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.

[alter-ego-]

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

[peterthepanda]

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

[cf]

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

[erickauffmann_official]

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

[denisruskin]

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

[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

[DannyW]

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 😊

[Kurazaybo]

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

[JamesJohnLam]

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