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Suggestions for a new Macbook

Hi to all ,


I am asking for advice because I would like to exchange my 13‘’ MBP M1 for 8/256 . The thing I'm wondering, for what I do, is whether an MB Air is also OK, maybe waiting for a version with M4 . Due to work commitments ( cybersecurity ) I am devoting very little time to video editing , which I used to do mainly for my youtube channel ( Imovie and DaVinci Resolve ) . Since I use the MBP at home and Windows in the office , eventually I would only use it for light video editing , music , streaming on prime video and apple tv , web , live streams on twitch of lite games etc . Should I wait for an eventual Air with M4 or get a current M3 with 16 GB Ram ? I see the Pro as a bit useless for my needs


Thanks in advance

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Nov 4, 2024 11:39 PM

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4 replies

Nov 5, 2024 7:09 AM in response to Birkhoff92

The decision may come down to what you want in the way of portability, expansion ports, and display support. The 13" M3 MacBook Air is easily the least expensive and most portable option. Once you go up to a larger screen, the 15" M3 MacBook Air and 14" M4 MacBook Pro (plain M4 chip) are a lot closer to each other in weight and cost (for a given amount of RAM and SSD space).


A 13" or 15" M3 MacBook Air will

  • Have two Thunderbolt ports, and a MagSafe 3 port – but no HDMI port or SDXC card slot
  • Be able to drive one external display with the lid open – two (with limitations) with the lid closed
  • Have 16 or 24 GB of RAM


A 14" M4 MacBook Pro with a plain M4 chip will

  • Have three (*) Thunderbolt ports, a MagSafe 3 port, a HDMI port, and a SDXC slot
  • Be able to drive two external displays with the lid open (*)
  • Have 16, 24, or 32 GB of RAM
  • Have a mini-LED backlit screen with support for playing prerecorded HDR video content

The two items with (*) next to them are "firsts" for any Mac notebook with a plain M-series chip.

Nov 5, 2024 3:23 PM in response to Birkhoff92

Birkhoff92 wrote:

Many thanks , so I suppose that M3 MB Air not have mini-LED display right ?


As far as as I know, among Apple-Silicon-based notebooks,

  • None of the 13" or 15" MacBook Airs, or 13" MacBook Pros, have mini-LED-backlit displays. They have LED backlighting, but not the mini-LEDs that allow for local dimming zones.
  • All of the 14" and 16" MacBook Pros, even those with plain M3 or M4 chips, have mini-LED-backlit displays. Whether the mini-LEDs help with anything other than watching HDR movie content, I'm not sure.


The 14"/16" displays have somewhat higher pixel densities (PPI) than the 13"/15" ones. If you are using default settings, text will be smaller on the screen of a 14"/16" MBP than on the screen of a 13"/15" MacBook Air. Since your eyes are sensitive to physical size, you might find yourself wanting to crank Displays Settings one notch in the direction of Larger Text.

Suggestions for a new Macbook

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