Imac to Macbook Air?

beachBOYken

beachBOYken

beachBOYken

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Hi

I own an iMac (late 2013) model, later this year Im thinking its time to get a new one, (few slight annoying issues with it) plus I miss the upgrades of the OS. At first I was thinking of a new iMac, but Im quite tempted to go for a MacBook Air, it will not be used outside of house, but the portability is tempting me. It will be used at the desk most of time but being able to pick it up and use it in say the living room or at the dining room table would be nice to be able to do as well.

Is moving from an iMac to MacBook a bad idea?

I do just the basics on iMac, internet shopping, emails, all basic stuff, I never will use it for games.

I would like to also know if you can leave a MacBook powered into mains 24/7 or is it better to only main power as and when?

Ok for configuration, not sure where to start, my current iMac has 16gb ram, and a 500gb SSD drive, so this iMac was purchased new and Ive still got 444gb free! Despite having 3 users that use it. So Im thinking I should be fine with the lowest storage drive available.

I see there is an M1 and M2 macbook air, not sure what the difference is there, I do plan to keep the MacBook air for a long time so I do like to over spec it a little. I also want to get a magic mouse to use with it at the desk.

Can anyone help with what spec I should go for please for the MacBook air, Im pretty set on a MacBook over the iMac really.

Thanks
 
Base level M2 Air would be perfect and run rings around your own model.

The base model does have slower storage but for your use I doubt you'd ever notice. Again, with the RAM, some will say upgrade but I used an 8GB M1 Air and did more with it than you and I never had RAM issues. But 16GB won't hurt.
 
ChrisD. said:
Base level M2 Air would be perfect and run rings around your own model.
Click to expand...

I see that starts with 256gb, so thats plenty for me I think.

I think I will up the ram to 16gb though, everywhere I read they say you should add as much as possible, thinking down the line really 16gb may be better?

So that would work out at £1449, need a mouse as well though so bit more.

Is worth me also upping the the CPU/GPU to the 10 core GPU, or not worth it for my needs.

Thanks
 
HACO said:
16GB of ram would be a worthwhile upgrade. Other upgrades cost way too much.

You can get a cheap USB hub for your printer and other USB-A accessories.
Click to expand...

I see, yeah good idea.

I have a Canon Pixma mg6350, I just hope it works still, I did see some say certain printers dont support apple AirPrint, whatever that is, but hopefully a direct connection should not be an issue.
 
beachBOYken said:
I see, yeah good idea.

I have a Canon Pixma mg6350, I just hope it works still, I did see some say certain printers dont support apple AirPrint, whatever that is, but hopefully a direct connection should not be an issue.
Click to expand...

AirPrint is for printing over WiFi. It's highly compatible and if your printer has wifi (yours does) it supports AirPrint as long as you get the latest firmware. AirPrint will let macOS (and iOS devices) to recognise it as if you had connected it via USB.
 
Yep, since your printer has WiFi that is a much cleaner solution and should work absolutely fine. I run a Pixma as well (not the same model mind you) and I've never had any issues. It's a far cry from the good old days of WiFi printing which were pretty much a lottery!
As for a mouse, do yourself a massive favour and pick up the Logitech Mx Master 3 - unrivalled IMO.
 
GMac11 said:
Yep, since your printer has WiFi that is a much cleaner solution and should work absolutely fine. I run a Pixma as well (not the same model mind you) and I've never had any issues. It's a far cry from the good old days of WiFi printing which were pretty much a lottery!
As for a mouse, do yourself a massive favour and pick up the Logitech Mx Master 3 - unrivalled IMO.
Click to expand...

I will check that out, I currently use the apple trackpad, the non rechargeable older version. It looses connection quite a bit, same with the keyboard which can be annoying.

Would I use the bluetooth connectivity over the receiver ?
 
beachBOYken said:
I will check that out, I currently use the apple trackpad, the non rechargeable older version. It looses connection quite a bit, same with the keyboard which can be annoying.

Would I use the bluetooth connectivity over the receiver ?
Click to expand...
If you are used to a trackpad in desktop mode then get their new one. If you also want a mouse then get the MX3. Don’t get the Magic Mouse, it’s utterly terrible.
 
ChrisD. said:
If you are used to a trackpad in desktop mode then get their new one. If you also want a mouse then get the MX3. Don’t get the Magic Mouse, it’s utterly terrible.
Click to expand...

I’m either or really, I can quite easily go back to mouse, I will get the mx3 when time comes.
It’s usb c charged, will that connect to the thunderbolt usb 4 ports on MacBook Air?
 
beachBOYken said:
I will check that out, I currently use the apple trackpad, the non rechargeable older version. It looses connection quite a bit, same with the keyboard which can be annoying.

Would I use the bluetooth connectivity over the receiver ?
Click to expand...
It works with either - although Bluetooth is the obvious winner since there's no receiver to worry about. I've had no issues with mine in that regard.

beachBOYken said:
I’m either or really, I can quite easily go back to mouse, I will get the mx3 when time comes.
It’s usb c charged, will that connect to the thunderbolt usb 4 ports on MacBook Air?
Click to expand...
I can't comment on the Air but the trackpad on the 16 Pro is so good (and plenty big) that it pretty much is a defacto desktop trackpad.

I owned the first trackpad as well but I'm generally a mouse person and will always prefer those ergonomics. Although as I just said above, having the macbook trackpad in conjunction with a mouse is pretty much the best of both worlds.
And yeah, the mx3 can charge from any port/charger.
 
My usage is the same as yours and I have a base spec M2 air and it does everything perfect. Not had any issues at all or slow down and have not noticed the slower ssd being a problem or only having 8gb of RAM. Tbh other than I don't get splitting headaches with it like I do with our M1 Air (M1 has PWM M2 does not) I don't notice any difference between them in use at all. If you use monitoring tools the ssd shows slower and the M2 thermal throttles more than the M1 but in real world usage it's no different.

Costco have them cheaper than most places and you get a longer warranty too.
 
Feek said:
I’ve never even heard of PWM, what is it?
Click to expand...

It's pulse width modulation a method used to control the brightness off the display by rapidly switching the backlight on/off. It causes the screen to flicker the theory goes the human eye shouldn't notice the flicker but it can cause some people to get eye strain and/or head aches. I get it very slightly if I have the screen under 50% brightness. Apple switched to this method fairly recently M1 iPads/M1 Macs use it think it was also introduced from the iPhone X on.
 
Feek said:
I’ve never even heard of PWM, what is it?
Click to expand...

As above its something that can cause people with sensitive eyes like me real nightmares when using screens. My Air M1 after about half hour gives me eye strain and the start of a migraine. They also use something called dithering to enhance colours which can also cause issues. The M1 also has a 60Hz flicker at high brightness which is another pain inducer.

Put simply PWM is a cheap easy to implement way of reducing brightness and increasing battery life. Using a non flicker DC dimmer is a much better option which most now use and the M2 Air has this although it still uses dithering and has a mild high brightness flicker. It’s much better than the M1 and I can use it for a good few hours before feeling a bit fatigued.

The 14 & 16 Pro’s turn my head to mush within about 15 mins. It’s like looking at a strobe light constantly….lol
 
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