I guess most of us here find friends ask us which Mac they should buy, and for me the base model M3 15-inch MacBook Air just became the new default recommendation – even for those with somewhat demanding needs.
At $1,299, it’s a truly incredible amount of Mac for the money, even though Apple is still being somewhat stingy with the memory and storage …
The evolving default Mac recommendation
In the old days, life was simple. The two options for those on a budget, or with only basic computing needs, were the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air. The 11-inch screen always felt a little cramped to me, so I’d only recommend it to those who couldn’t stretch to the 13-inch, or those for whom maximum portability was key.
I did opt for the 11-inch model personally, as in those days I was a two-Mac person, with my other one being the 17-inch MacBook Pro. It made sense at the time to have both ends of the portability scale covered, with the 11-inch one accompanying me on cycle touring holidays, where every inch of space counts. But I’d recommend the 13-inch one to most.
However, I did have an alternative recommendation for those with the most basic needs, and for whom battery life was key: an iPad with external keyboard. The instant-on, instant-off experience, coupled to a genuine 10-hour battery life, made it an appealing option for some.
But Apple Silicon Macs changed the equation. While the real-life battery-life wasn’t right up there with an iPad, it was close enough to deliver what most people needed in terms of all-day use. Given the usability and performance benefits, that pushed me more toward recommending the MacBook Air over an iPad setup.
The 15-inch MacBook Air was a big deal
Last year’s launch of the M2 MacBook Air moved the dial again. For the first time, Apple wasn’t forcing people to upgrade to the MacBook Pro just to get a larger screen. Now they could have a larger screen in a MacBook Air.
That is something I do recommend people think about. The difference in screen size might not sound too huge on paper, but in real-life use it really does help.
The Apple Silicon models also deliver a lot of performance for the money. For anyone wanting to do less than pro volumes of photo editing, and/or some occasional modest video editing, an Apple Silicon MacBook Air delivers an impressive amount of power.
The M3 15-inch MacBook Air seals the deal
With the M3 15-inch MacBook Air, and its support for two external high-res monitors, I’d say that you actually need a very good reason to buy a MacBook Pro instead. Look at what you’re getting for just $1,299:
- 8-core CPU
- 10-core GPU
- Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- Video decode engine (including ProRes)
- Video encode engine (including ProRes)
- P3 color space
- Support for two external displays (up to 5K + 6K) – a new feature
Sure, for anyone who can afford the extra $200 for 16GB memory, I’d certainly recommend that; Apple is being pretty mean-spirited with that 8GB starting point. Similarly, 256GB is an absolute minimum for storage, and anyone wanting to do much photo or (especially) video work will want to upgrade that too.
But even so, the base spec will be enough for typical consumer use, and you can configure it to a very respectable machine for demanding work.
What will you now recommend to your friends? Let us know in the comments.
Photo: Apple
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