[opjjf]

It seems they also update the base memory on MacBook Air:

> MacBook Air: The World’s Most Popular Laptop Now Starts at 16GB

> MacBook Air is the world’s most popular laptop, and with Apple Intelligence, it’s even better. Now, models with M2 and M3 double the starting memory to 16GB, while keeping the starting price at just $999 — a terrific value for the world’s best-selling laptop.

[electriclove]

Wow, I didn't expect them to update the older models to start at 16GB and no price increase. I guess that is why Amazon was blowing the 8GB models out at crazy low prices over the past few days.

[bronco21016]

Costco was selling MB Air M2 8 GB for $699! Incredible deal.

I’ve been using the exact model for about a year and I rarely find limitations for my typical office type work. The only time I’ve managed to thermally throttle it has been with some super suboptimal Excel Macros.

[porphyra]

I'm waiting for the 16 GB M2 Air to be super cheap to pick one up to use with Asahi Linux!

[__rito__]

I was seeing $699 MB Air M1 8 GB on Amazon India a week ago.

[bhouston]

But no update to a M4 for the MacBook Air yet unfortunately. I would love to get an M4 MacBook Air with 32GB.

I believe the rumor is that the MacBook Air will get the update to M4 in early spring 2025, February/March timeline.

[ant6n]

The big question for me is whether they will have a matte option for the Air. I want a fanless machine with a matte screen.

Unfortunately Apple won’t tell you until the day they sell the machines.

[davio]

1TB+ iPad Pro can be a fanless machine with a matte screen

[ant6n]

See that’s the thing. Given that somehow you need 1TB to get the matte screen, I feel like Apple is using it as a way to upsell. It would indicate that perhaps Apple won’t offer a matte MacBook Air.

[nsbk]

This is the machine I'm waiting for. Hopefully early 2025

[rbanffy]

There are still a couple days left this week.

[39896880]

They said there would be three announcements this week and this is the third

[sroussey]

They did? The tweet that announced stuff from the head of marketing did not mention 3 days.

That said, I believe you. Some press gets a hands-on on Wednesday (today) so unless they plan to pre-announce something (unlikely) or announce software only stuff, I think today is it.

[39896880]

"This is a huge week for the Mac, and this morning, we begin a series of three exciting new product announcements that will take place over the coming days," said Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus, in a video announcing the new iMac.

[rbanffy]

That's disappointing. I was expecting a new Apple TV because mine needs replacement and I don't really feel inclined to get one that's due for an upgrade very soon.

Also, Studio and Pro are hanging there.

[jq-r]

There really isn't a chance they'll update the same product twice in a week.

[rbanffy]

They haven't officially updated it. They just discontinued the smaller model.

[jq-r]

It would make more sense to discontinue the smaller model along with some other updates to the line. Or in other words, Air won't receive any other updates this week unfortunately.

[brewmarche]

Given that the Mini and iMac have received support for one more additional external display (at 60Hz 6K), I hope we’ll see the same on the MBA M4.

[yurishimo]

It'll be interesting to see the reaction of tech commentators about this. So many people have been screaming at Apple to increase the base RAM and stop price gouging their customers on memory upgrades. If Apple Intelligence is the excuse the hardware team needed to get the bean counters on board, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!

[sroussey]

So we can scream about the lousy base storage, which is the same as my phone. Yikes.

[criddell]

It wouldn't surprise me if people typically use more storage on their phone than their computer. The phone should probably have a higher base storage than the base storage of their laptops.

[opdahl]

Extremely interesting point. My initial reaction to your comment is that it is a crazy thing to say, but the more I think about it the more I agree with you. On my phone is where I have tons of 4k 30/60FPS videos, high resolution photos (with live), and videos downloaded on Netflix and YouTube.

On my Mac I don't have any of these things, it's mostly for programming and some packages. I'm almost always connected to Wi-Fi (except on planes) so I don't really need any photos or videos.

The only people that I see have high storage requirements on Macs are probably video/media creators? As a programmer I'm totally fine with 512GB, but could probably live with 256GB if I wanted to be super lean.

[nsteel]

But still just 256GB SSD Storage. £200 for the upgrade to 512GB (plus a couple more GPU cores that I don't need. Urgh.

[DrBenCarson]

It’s stationary. Just get a Thunderbolt NVMe drive and leave it plugged in

[jq-r]

Why buy a laptop then if you're lugging all those external hard drives?

[lancesells]

Just invest in the model with more storage then?

[nsteel]

Right, and back round we go: £200 for that is terrible value.

And it's still only 512GB! The M4 version coming in the new year will surely bump this up to something more sensible.

[jsheard]

Every M-series device now comes with at least 16GB, except for the base iPad Pro, right?

[fckgw]

Correct, every Mac computer starts at 16gb now. 256gb/512gb iPad Pro is 8gb, 1tb/2tb is 16gb.

[MBCook]

At least all the M4 Macs. I’m not sure of every older M config has been updated, though at least some have been.

[fckgw]

The only older configs that Apple sells are the M2 and M3 Airs, which were bumped. Everything else is now on M4, or didn't have an 8gb base config (Mac Studio, Mac Pro)

[alsetmusic]

Ohh, good catch. Sneaking that into the MBP announcement. I skimmed the page and missed that. So a fourth announcement couched within the biggest of the three days.

[hiatus]

If only they would bring back the 11" Air.

[FireBeyond]

Well, the issue for me with memory on these new models is that for the Max, it ships with 36GB and NO expandable memory option. To get more memory that's gated behind a $300 CPU upgrade (plus the memory cost).

[modeless]

I've seen a lot of people complaining about 8GB but honestly my min spec M1 Air has continued to be great. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a refurb M1 8GB Air for anyone price conscious.

[abhinavk]

> while keeping the starting price at just $999 — a terrific value for the world’s best-selling laptop

Only in US it seems. India got a price increase by $120.

[woodglyst]

Thanks to your comment. I persuaded my friend who purchased an M3 Air 24GB recently and we got 200$ back (Remuneration for price drop valid for 14 days after the date of DELIVERY) where we live

[alberth]

I guess that implies the MacBook Air won't be updated this week.

Makes me wonder what else will be updated this week (Studio or Mac Pro)?

[opdahl]

Just cancelled my order for a 24GB MacBook Air 15-inch, and then ordered the exact same setup. Saved around $300!

[twilo]

Great news. The pro is kinda of heavy for my liking so the Air is the way to go

[Analemma_]

I think spec-wise the Air is good enough for almost everyone who isn't doing video production or running local LLMs, I just wish it had the much nicer screen that the Pro has. But I suppose they have to segregate the product lines somehow.

[int_19h]

It's not just the weight - Air is also fanless (and still runs cold).

And yes, with enough RAM, it is a surprisingly good dev laptop.

[jq-r]

Really too bad you cannot upgrade to 32GB RAM though =(

[nakedgremlin]

Yeah, this one caught me off guard. We just purchased a MacBook Air in the last month and if we bought the same one now, we would save $200. Apple support would not price match/correct that, so we will be returning it and purchasing anew.

[ActorNightly]

Im sorry but any laptop that costs $1000 should come with 64 gigs minimum, or expandable slots.

[russelg]

Can you actually point out any retail laptops with that spec for that price?

[ActorNightly]

Ideapad Gaming for example, less than $1000 and expandable slots to 64gb.

I get that small form factor requires soldered ram, but RAM is also very cheap these days.

[diffeomorphism]

That is pretty obviously a joke.

[georgeecollins]

Tell me you are poor without telling me you are poor.

Just kidding! As an Apple Shareholder I feel like you should take what Apple gives you and accept the price. ;)