MacBook Air M4 review: What improvements does M4 bring? Can it run local AI without a fan?
Posted by Chairman_Daniel@reddit | hardware | View on Reddit | 74 comments
BouldersRoll@reddit
Apple silicon is ridiculously good. Both the Pro and Air MacBooks are incredibly smart buys.
But it's hard to compare, because it doesn't compete against much. For most people, you either want MacOS or you don't. But as someone who has a high end gaming PC, my MacBook Pro was the obvious laptop purchase.
GermanLuxuryMuscle@reddit
Same situation. 7900xtx PC, old iphone 13 and airpod pros, macbook air had to be the laptop
Wise-Commercial7117@reddit
"as someone who has a high end gaming PC and an iPhone, my MacBook Pro was the obvious laptop purchase and I adore it"
Lovely comment, around the same thoughts my friends and I have
Alternative_Ask364@reddit
The Windows gaming PC MacBook combo is relatively common I think. As a student I use my MacBook for basically anything productivity related and my PC is just used for games and web browsing.
CarbonatedPancakes@reddit
“Intuitive” might be more subjective than some realize. The way Windows Explorer insists on trying to hide the real file system structure in so many places and sorts folders separate from everything else drives me kind of crazy for example. Finder isn’t perfect but after enabling both path bar and status bar (both under View menu) and making the default search scope the current folder under Settings, it’s pretty close.
Vengeance208@reddit
Thanks for these tips. I needed them!
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Microsofts idea to hide important data into appdata and localappdata is crazy. Nearly everyone ends up knowing that this hidden location exists so not sure what the point of it was.
RainStormLou@reddit
It's not supposed to be all that hidden lol. I just assumed anyone familiar with the OS was aware of where their profile specific app data gets stored by default. It wasn't really security by obfuscation from other external threats lol, it's just hidden by default so the average user doesn't fuck up their app data. With the c:/windows folder, you have no permissions until you grant them to yourself so there's no need to hide it, but with the app data folder, the user has full permissions and can easily screw up every single one of their applications if they're looking for a way to make space
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
There's no way to get to either folder by point and click in explorer you have to type in the path or %APPDATA%, how the fuck is that not "supposed" to be hidden.
You didn't design it you don't get to say how it works or why it works that way.
RainStormLou@reddit
I point and click into it every single day. You're wrong, and that last sentence is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. By that logic, you probably should have shut up 5 days ago. You know that you can easily view "hidden files and folders" right? It's a checkbox in the explorer ribbon. These are default, end-user facing options. It's not even some advanced thing lol. What I meant to say was that it's not some secret, but you sound like you don't have enough experience to be talking out of your ass so much. Chill out, little buddy. You're on a public forum. I can say whatever I want, and I'm right so I don't plan to stop.
CarbonatedPancakes@reddit
It’s so stupid.
Even macOS is better here. Most app data there lives in
~/Library/Application Support/[APP_NAME], and though the Library folder is hidden by default in the Finder, that’s fixed with a one time-toggle and it’s can always be navigated to directly with its path with CMD-G regardless of its it’s hidden or not and doesn’t require a stupid magic percent-identifier.boringcynicism@reddit
>The way Windows Explorer insists on trying to hide the real file system structure in so many places and sorts folders separate from everything else drives me kind of crazy for example.
Ah, iOS is another world of pain in this regard.
Alternative_Ask364@reddit
Oh thank you so much for this advice. I had no clue that path bar was an option in Finder.
Now I just need to get my cloud shit sorted out instead of trying to use both OneDrive and iCloud at the same time.
CarbonatedPancakes@reddit
In general, it pays off bigtime to peruse the menus and settings windows in Mac apps. Lots of little power user affordances are tucked away in those places. Holding down modifiers (option, shift, etc) while menus are open often reveals even more options.
ItsAlkai@reddit
I still work daily on my MacBook m1 air for school and omg, never had a single complaint, even as a computer science major. I've grown to just get used to working on it even though I have a PC.
It's a mix of "it just works" and also me growing to enjoy MacOS itself too.
fntd@reddit
I think there is a very huge percentage of people who simply need a laptop that runs their web browser as good as possible. In theory that‘s the market where competition should happen because the underlying OS really doesn‘t matter that much.
riklaunim@reddit
People get used to their software/UI. Windows 8.1 caused rage and they had to kill that UI change. Same happened on Linux when GNOME 3 came out with completely different UI - Cinnamon project was created preserving GNOME 2 like UI :)
Worldly_Topic@reddit
GNOME still has the same workflow, just the workspaces are now horizontal. They haven't reverted to their old GNOME 2 UI.
riklaunim@reddit
but Cinnamon was born and boosted Linux Mint popularity.
animealt46@reddit
Disagree. Diverse web UIs and people getting used to using multiple UIs with mobile vs desktop means the OS UI lock in is as weak as it has ever been. I will gladly rotate between Windows and mac, and I use Linux all the time for work. All the data scientists and devs I work with have no major OS preferences and flip between makers all the time depending on which is best at the moment.
RHINO_Mk_II@reddit
pick one
slayermcb@reddit
To be fair, those of us in a technical community are not the average Joe. There are a ton of people out there who actually have difficulty using a computer in general as they are so used to doing things on a mobile phone. Most people just want simple and familier.
CommunicationUsed270@reddit
Other than gaming there's no real need to have Windows. Productivity apps often run better on MacOS and even legacy ones can be run through Parallels. Most modern apps are browser-based anyway.
djashjones@reddit
So I can develop windows desktop apps on apple now? nice.
BluejayAggravating18@reddit
I do, but we are Electron / .NET Core.
1nv4d3rz1m@reddit
I do CAD work and apple isn’t even an option. The only Apple compatible cad systems are cloud based which my org won’t allow and not as good as the systems we use anyways.
CarbonatedPancakes@reddit
It might not be up to par for your needs particularly, but for my little 3D printing projects I’ve been using Shapr3D, which uses the same CAD kernel as SolidWorks, Alibre, and OnShape (Parasolid) and started out as an iPad app but has come to have an increasingly competent macOS version. It’s not cloud based either, which was one of the things I was looking for.
moofunk@reddit
If you're doing some kind of many-core CPU compute on Windows, then emulating it on MacOS isn't an option, if you want the best performance.
This is far from true, and of course the best MacOS apps aren't webbased.
Ok_Fix3639@reddit
I am the same way with a gaming pc and a MacBook Pro. It’s really a great combination, the battery life and and high quality of everything on the mbp makes for a great portable device that’s compliments a gaming pc very well.
BunkerFrog@reddit
But for people in tech that do understand their hardware it does not look as a good deal.
Pros: CPU+GPU chip they do produce is good, is very good, development can show generational leap that every time proof that ARM on computers have it's space
Cons: it's expensive AF, you stuck with purchased configuration, hardware got broken? - bad luck buddy, no repair, only purchase.
I wish that apple will release desktop with DDR5 that now can spin 8000MT/s and cut this bullpoop on proprietary disks. But that of course require chip redesign for memory controller and PCIe. But, one day, maybe apple, maybe competition will fulfil this dream...
YoungKeys@reddit
People who work in tech understand it’s not a good deal? Why do you think 90% of Google, Meta, OpenAI, and most every Silicon Valley tech worker uses MacBooks as their workstation? Do they not understand tech?
BunkerFrog@reddit
Guess what is used in non USA countries, Apple? I bet you not, thinkpads, ideapads, probooks, elitebooks, precisions, latitudes, zbooks, toughbooks, but sure, apple too, but now it's not 90% you are looking for but max 10% of macbooks in the pool, but sure, if you live under the rock you bet that apple is common everywhere. That every school was equipped with Macs and whole generations were familiar with these products. Well, no.
Averathe enterprise in europe will look for HP/DELL/IBM(well, now they mean IBM=ThinkPad, even it is owned by Lenovo since like 2003-2005?) and Mac still have a label of a "fragile toy" good for hippy ux designers or FL Studio music producer. And thats the fact if you will look for MacBook market share in enterprise.
auradragon1@reddit
BunkerFrog@reddit
Idk why you assumed I do mention "average RGB pcmasterrace" where most of dev teams do scale their equipment and upgrade it sometimes as well.
Like you expect their tech departments do buy only two variants of machines?
2 core + 16GB ram for Joanna working in excel and threadripper water cooled desktop for excel macro scripting Phil? Do you think tech departments looking on "sealed" non repairable device will jump their budget over it?
Do you even lift bro?
lutel@reddit
I have AMD desktop only for gaming. M1 is main workstation
auradragon1@reddit
Disagreed. Very few people need both a Mac and a Windows laptop. This isn't the 2000s where every app is installed on the computer. Most simple apps are browser-based.
Very few people who need a computer in the form of a Macbook require anything on Windows.
seanwhat@reddit
I just wanted a decent screen. I guess I'll wait 18 months
trololololo2137@reddit
never going to happen on MBA, they need to sell the base model M4 pros
GuidanceLarge5279@reddit
What's wrong with the MBA screen? It feels luxurious to me
Emerikusz@reddit
Én pont 4 hete használom a MacBook Air M4-et. Előtte törzsgyökeres Windowsos voltam (bő 20 évig Windowst használtam), de hamar megszoktam a MacOS-t. Volt néhány alkalmazás, ami helyett másik (hasonló) programot kellett keresnem, mivel munkára is használom, de mindent sikerült megoldanom. Mostanra pedig már teljesen otthonosan mozgok benne, szóval nem nehéz átállni.
Kipróbáltam az ingyenes UTM virtualizációt is Windows 11 ARM-en. Egyébként minden eddig használt alkalmazásomat futtatja, viszont mindenre találtam alternatívát is, így ez nekem már nem létkérdés. De ha valaki valamilyen nem helyettesíthető Windows-os programot használna, akkor az UTM virtualizáció elég gyors és ingyenes megoldás. Sebességben jobb, mint ami laptopot előtte használtam, pedig a régebbi gépem sem volt gagyi, sőt egy üzleti kategóriás laptopról váltottam. Tehát nagyon speciális és nem széles körben használt Windows programokhoz is van megoldás.
Ami előny, hogy ilyen kompakt méretben, passzív hűtéssel, és jó akkumulátor üzemidővel nehéz hasonlóan erős laptopot találni. Ez volt a fő oka a váltásomnak, pont ilyen laptopot szerettem volna, mint a MacBook. Az Apple ökoszisztéma pedig nem volt ismeretlen a számomra, iPad és iPhone-t már régebb óta használok. A legjobb pedig, hogy ezzel már teljesen kihasználhatom az Apple ökoszisztéma előnyeit. :)
slayermcb@reddit
I really wish you could still "bootcamp" macbooks like you could with the intel chips. Nothing runs windows as great as a Mac!
And yes I'm aware parralels exist. it's just not the same.
SoundsYummy1@reddit
Use Parallels. The fact that you can seamlessly use Windows apps as native Mac apps is mindblowing.
slayermcb@reddit
Bootcamp costs nothing. Parallels has an expense per computer.
RainStormLou@reddit
Wildly untrue LOL you got it mixed up. Until silicon chips, Dell actually made the best MacOS devices. Macs were only an improvement running windows over the old e-machines box at Grandma's. Apple was shipping 5400 rpm hdds in their machines up until something crazy like 2015. Until the M chips, the average iMac's hardware was garbage compared to any similarly priced windows machine. I still use my Dell running Mac OS to fix our silicon machines if they shit out. I also spend about the same in repairs for both devices, but I've got ~ 10 times more Windows machines than I do Apple, and I fucking pay for extended support at point of purchase.
Those retina displays are the tits though. I'll give Apple that one all day
Chairman_Daniel@reddit (OP)
Summary:
The new M4 Macbook Air can now connect two external monitors without needing to turn off the monitor on the laptop with the previous M3 chip.
In syntethic benchmark like Cinebench R24 the new M4 chip is \~50% faster than Lunar lake Ultra 7 258V and \~30% faster than the M3 predecessor with a minor increase in power consumption (less than a watt).
Apples translation for games has gotten better and the M4 chip gets around the performance of Lunar Lake.
In terms of AI the M4 chip with maxed out ram at 32Gb can run Deepseek r1 at 32b parameter model.
Battery life sees it get an extra hour over the previous M3 chip on the same capacity of 66.5Wh. 13hours and 40min for M4 compared to M3 predecessor at 12hours and 19min.
Wise-Commercial7117@reddit
"the new M4 chip is \~50% faster than Lunar lake Ultra 7 258V and \~30% faster than the M3 predecessor"
This alone is good enough reason to get the M4 chip!
Sopel97@reddit
well I'd be surprised if it crashed, but is it usable as an assistant while other stuff is going on?
Chairman_Daniel@reddit (OP)
Unlikely, they didn't test it but its likely not usable since it's using most of the ram on the Macbook Air
boringcynicism@reddit
A 32B model can be run at Q5 and would only use slightly less than half the RAM then, leaving 16GB free. This at a very minimal accuracy cost.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Anything else trying to use VRAM at the same time as a model ends up running dog slow as does the model. Dual running doesn't work fine at the moment. Its ok to use other software though.
31c0c3@reddit
As expected it's a pretty boring update -- not that this is a bad thing. If you've been holding off on upgrading an older laptop it's a fantastic buy.
plantsandramen@reddit
My fiancee doesn't need this much power. She's using an old Mac Book Pro from like 2013 or something. I'm torn between her buying a refurb M2 or M3, or a new M4. The price difference isn't massive amount. I guess we'll see what kinda deals come.
Either way, she'd be warping in speed lol
kyralfie@reddit
Last I checked M3 8GB on sale is just $200 less than m4 16GB which makes the new one an absolute no-brainer.
g1aiz@reddit
16GB RAM if she wants to keep this one for a similar timeframe.
plantsandramen@reddit
Yeah we were mainly looking at a refurbished 16gb M2 which I seen for about $600 on an Amazon sale I believe, but $900 for a new M4 seems like a bargain. She's a teacher so she'll get the education discount. Add in new credit card welcome bonus of $200 and she'd be $700 out of pocket which seems like a bargain to be quite honest
namae0@reddit
Buy new if she keeps it as long as she did for the 2013. It's a great investment.
slayermcb@reddit
The change in monitor behavior is a selling point for me. We have M2's at work and they can only run one external monitor without additional hardware and software.
Xaelas@reddit
The battery life improvements alone are game changing
Balance-@reddit
30% more performance and an hour more batterij life isn’t minor.
Maybe other changes are minor. But the processor isn’t.
g1aiz@reddit
The external display change is also huge IMO. Makes doing actual work much better. Price also went down.
g1aiz@reddit
My old MacBook Pro just bite the dust so this was perfect timing to get a M4. The fact that I can also just go into an Apple store and they transfer the data from my bricked laptop to the new one for free is the cherry on top.
mickilucille@reddit
Same with me. My mac book Pro, died 0ut last week. The LED went. Went to Apple store. Put in the order for the Air M4.. Got it. The Apple store did all the migration. for free.. works like a charm. now, i am looking for the hyper drive for this one. I have one for the mac book pro i had, but nit sure if it will work with it. Enjoy your new Mac.
SalamanderCritical16@reddit
The fact that you had the Apple store transfer all your date screams noob. I wouldn't never let Apple touch my data. Better to do that transfer yourself.
scoobydoobiggestfan@reddit
"I wouldn't never let Apple touch my data" is grammatically an invitation for them to touch it
Sea_Supermarket_6816@reddit
We got a genius over here
Karlinel-my-beloved@reddit
For office use and some light gaming (think WoW, RTS) would this be decent? Don’t have the room for a fully-decked pc but I do need a fast laptop…
YTModigModi@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBRwS4v0AY0
In case you are still wondering :D
I dont own a macbook but I think I would enjoy the gaming experience on it. It should be able to handle any emulator as well, so personally I would mostly play switch games.
1purevengeance1@reddit
I definitely wouldn't say "any emulator". Any modern emulator can be very demanding.
YTModigModi@reddit
It seems to handle ps3/switch emulation just fine (but of course it does seem to struggle to some very demanding games like gta5 on rpcs3). It struggles with Xbox 360 but Xenia doesn't have a native mac port so that's understandable.
I did however just find out that the ps4 emulator is actually usable now lol, yea it cant handle that one but that could change with further optimizing on the emulator.
Yeaaa there are a quite a few caveats for sure.
jacktherippah123@reddit
I'll upgrade next year when M5 comes. My M1 still runs really well and I love that it's fanless. I've been trying to find a good fanless windows machine but so far I've got nothing.
New_Amomongo@reddit
Have you considered any Windows 11 on Snapdragon X laptops?
The programs you're using may have been update to become ARM/x86 fat binaries.
Wpgaard@reddit
The M-series chips (and Air laptops) are simply amazing for all kinds of use cases.
My "old" M2 Air have been used as a primary working machine (for light scripting and research purposes) and personal portable computer. Only on 2 different occasions have I run into RAM-related issues (8 GB boooh) and never have I needed more CPU power.
Unless someone REALLY needs windows or linux, I would always recommend someone get a macbook air for their portable Do-it-all computer.
Proper-Ape@reddit
Asahi Linux I heard runs on M-series macs. Not sure how usable it is though.
PercsAndCaicos@reddit
I agree. I work with windows laptops all day and I can’t wait to get back to my MacBook. Have PC for gaming, but I’m even considering getting a M4 air and getting a dock for my home desk.