Poll: *** The official 2024 MacBook Air 13" and 15" thread (it has the M3 chip, WiFi 6E and everything!) ***

[oweneades]

That’s a good point. I’d still pay the extra £200 to take it to 16Gb but it’s a cracking price for the M2 MBA.

Certainly agree but for her requirements (writing A LOT) the 8GB/256GB base model is absolutely fine.

She went for Space Grey and I will say it looks ruddy lovely. Pretty much all M2 Airs I have seen in person have been midnight so it's nice to see it in a different colour.

 

[Feek]

Mine is space grey which is what I normally get but I was actually considering silver this time. It was just that the space grey was the one they happened to have in stock in the model I wanted (16Gb/1Tb)

 

[robfosters]

Ive now got my first ever MacBook. M3 in midnight. Feels really nice to use, very high quality, but having never used one before, it’s definitely gonna take me a while to figure everything out. It took me 15 minutes to work out how to scroll. Once you hit your forties, you can’t seem to grasp new tech quickly like you could as a youngster.

 

[Feek]

Looks good.

You're going to be frustrated to start, your brain will want to do things the Windows way. Don't try and think to yourself that 'this is how I'd do it in Windows so I want macOS to do it the same way'. Learn the differences, embrace them.

 

[Cromulent]

Ive now got my first ever MacBook. M3 in midnight. Feels really nice to use, very high quality, but having never used one before, it’s definitely gonna take me a while to figure everything out. It took me 15 minutes to work out how to scroll. Once you hit your forties, you can’t seem to grasp new tech quickly like you could as a youngster.

The default way scrolling works on the trackpad is weird as hell. Had to change it because I just couldn't cope with natural scroll.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

The thing that constantly gets me is the cmd button (ctrl being the windows equivalent) being in the place of the alt button on a windows keyboard.

 

[Feek]

The default way scrolling works on the trackpad is weird as hell. Had to change it because I just couldn't cope with natural scroll.

If you think about how it works then it makes sense.

Imagine a piece of paper that’s covered by another piece of paper with a window in it. That window is your display.

With a mouse scroll wheel, you’re moving the window up and down to view sections of what’s below. With a trackpad, you’re moving the actual piece of paper underneath up and down.

I use a trackpad in natural mode on my Mac’s and a mouse the other way round on my work PC which is windows. I do urge you to get used to the default scroll method on the trackpad.

 

[silverblack]

When i first got a Macbook i was constantly googling how to do simple stuff that i did with Windows
However once you get used to it you will find it better than Windows.
I recently bought a cheap Lenovo L380 laptop and it's so clunky compared to the Mac but some things i can only do on a Windows machine so was a good buy.

 

[oweneades]

The trackpad for me (and my wife) was basically second nature. I can't really explain it but I suppose it works just like scrolling on a touch screen (i.e swiping up moves the screen down just with two fingers instead of one). We did have a MacBook Air for a number of years so obviously helped as well.

Keyboard shortcuts are still something I need to think about / look up more than I would like to admit. I keep trying to use Command + S for a screen snip (Win + S in Windows). I use this a lot at work so naturally try to default to it at home. Also getting Rectangles installed and running on startup was a must for me.

Ultimately as with any different device you just need to try different things and find what works best for you.

 

[Gangster]

One major benefit from the M3 Air being launched. Nice price drop on the M2 Air to £900 so my wife, who has been eying up an Air for a while now, is very happy with the saving.

How £900? £999, no?

 

[silverblack]

How £900? £999, no?

Employee, student, discount takes it to £899.

 

[oweneades]

How £900? £999, no?

Amazon (assume this is ok as OCUK don't sell Mac's).

 

[Reuben klang]

If you think about how it works then it makes sense.

Imagine a piece of paper that’s covered by another piece of paper with a window in it. That window is your display.

With a mouse scroll wheel, you’re moving the window up and down to view sections of what’s below. With a trackpad, you’re moving the actual piece of paper underneath up and down.

I use a trackpad in natural mode on my Mac’s and a mouse the other way round on my work PC which is windows. I do urge you to get used to the default scroll method on the trackpad.

Sod that, too awkward am having the machines working so differently.

 

[arty]

I ordered a 13" M3 Air (16GB / 512GB) yesterday afternoon, and DPD were knocking on my door at 8:40 this morning! I didn't expect it until next week. My previous Apple laptop was a 2017 13" MBP from the early Touchbar / weird keyboard era (Intel).

Observations so far:

- They've really improved the laptop keyboards.
- The screen is excellent compared to the older Airs.
- It feels a bit heavier than I was hoping.
- The WiFi seems oddly slow thus far; it took absolutely *ages* to sign in to iCloud as part of the set-up, and most of the syncing stuff is still going. I don't have any problems with other devices on this network which happily stream 4K video etc. so I'm not sure what's going on there.
- The speakers are far better than they have any right to be on a laptop this small.

I'm planning to mainly use the device for general admin, some programming work, and as a VST host at recording sessions. If I'm feeling brave I may also set up Main Stage and take it gigging, but we'll see

 

[Feek]

Very nice, that's a good upgrade and it'll be very noticeable.

- The WiFi seems oddly slow thus far; it took absolutely *ages* to sign in to iCloud as part of the set-up, and most of the syncing stuff is still going. I don't have any problems with other devices on this network which happily stream 4K video etc. so I'm not sure what's going on there.

This is probably just the initial setup that's taking time as it all synchronises. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[arty]

Very nice, that's a good upgrade and it'll be very noticeable.

To be clear, I also have an M1 Mac Studio, so I'm used to the 'modern' Apple machines, but due to a change in my lifestyle I wanted a portable computer as well. My previous Apple laptop never felt as fast as it should have done given the price.

This is probably just the initial setup that's taking time as it all synchronises. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I think you're right, because it's now showing full wireless network signal strength and everything seems to be going quickly. The only oddity is that my iCloud Messages don't appear to be syncing for some reason.

 

[Feek]

The only oddity is that my iCloud Messages don't appear to be syncing for some reason.

I don't think it's enabled by default - Go into the settings within Messages itself.

 

[Chris344]

Ive now got my first ever MacBook. M3 in midnight. Feels really nice to use, very high quality, but having never used one before, it’s definitely gonna take me a while to figure everything out. It took me 15 minutes to work out how to scroll. Once you hit your forties, you can’t seem to grasp new tech quickly like you could as a youngster.

Lots of good tips here: MacMost YouTube. Well worth a watch.

 

[arty]

I don't think it's enabled by default - Go into the settings within Messages itself.

I’ve turned it on, and it’s got a few old messages, but now says ‘syncing paused’.

 

[rIcK]

I bought an M3 air in 13.6" ( 16 / 512gb ) I had the old M2 in the same configuration but the Wifi 6E is important... need to flog my old 12 month old Macbook Air M2 now