M4 MacBook Air vs all generations | Which Dev Machine Wins?

Summary

This video compares the performance of the M1, M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air models across various tasks, highlighting key differences in hardware and software efficiency. The M4 introduces significant improvements, such as support for three displays and faster performance, especially in multi-core processing. While the M4 is slightly warmer than its predecessors, it outperforms the older models in most benchmarks, including sorting algorithms and Python execution. Additionally, the video explores memory bandwidth and battery performance, revealing the M4's superior speed but higher power consumption. Overall, the video provides a detailed analysis of how Apple's chips have evolved, showcasing the M4's edge in development-related tasks.

Takeaways

• 😀 The MacBook Air M4 is notably warmer than previous models, with noticeable temperature increases during high usage.
• 😀 The M1, M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air models each offer incremental performance improvements, particularly in CPU processing power and memory bandwidth.
• 😀 The M4 MacBook Air supports up to three displays simultaneously, a significant upgrade compared to previous models that supported only one or two external displays.
• 😀 The M1 offers the best SSD read speeds compared to the M2 and M3, with the M4 showing only a slight improvement despite being equipped with Thunderbolt 4 ports.
• 😀 The M4 MacBook Air’s performance in tasks such as the Speedometer 3.0 browser-based test and sorting algorithms has seen significant improvement in both single-core and multi-core performance.
• 😀 The M4 model is particularly stronger in Python-based tests, like the Mandlero algorithm, showing a noticeable reduction in runtime compared to the M1 and M2 models.
• 😀 Despite M4's increased cores, memory bandwidth improvements were marginal, though the M4 did show faster memory speeds than the M1.
• 😀 The M4 shows a significant reduction in execution time for C++ sorting algorithms compared to earlier MacBook Air models.
• 😀 Apple has kept the overall design the same across the M1 to M4 MacBook Air models, with the only noticeable change being the color and port upgrades to Thunderbolt 4.
• 😀 Battery life tests reveal the M3 having the most battery remaining after similar usage across all models, while the M1 drains the fastest, particularly with intense tasks.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is to compare the performance of different MacBook Air models (M1, M2, M3, and M4) in various software development-related tasks, including single-core and multi-core performance, SSD speed, display support, and battery life.

What is the key difference in display support between the M1 and M4 MacBook Air?

The M1 MacBook Air supports only one external monitor, even when the lid is open. The M3 introduced support for two external monitors when the lid is closed, and the M4 supports up to three displays, including two external monitors and the internal display, with full functionality even when the lid is closed.

How does the SSD speed compare across different MacBook Air models?

The M1 MacBook Air offers the fastest SSD read speeds, with a performance of around 3,000 MB/s. In comparison, the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs show slower speeds, while the M4 MacBook Air's SSD performance is slightly slower than the M1, but still strong overall.

What is the impact of Thunderbolt 4 on the M4 MacBook Air?

The M4 MacBook Air features updated Thunderbolt 4 ports, providing slightly faster SSD performance compared to the previous M2 and M3 models, although they still fall short of Thunderbolt 5 capabilities.

How did the Speedometer 3.0 test results differ across the MacBook Air models?

The Speedometer 3.0 test results show a clear increase in single-core performance from the M1 to the M4. The M1 scored 32.1, while the M4 reached 49.3, showing continuous performance growth with each new generation.

What performance improvements were seen when sorting large datasets using C++ on different MacBook Air models?

When sorting 10 million integers, the M1 MacBook Air took 4 minutes, while the M4 reduced the time to 2 minutes and 31 seconds. This shows a significant performance improvement over the generations, especially between the M1 and M4.

How do the efficiency cores in the M4 MacBook Air contribute to its performance?

The M4 MacBook Air has 10 cores (6 efficiency and 4 performance). The efficiency cores help manage background tasks, while the performance cores handle intensive tasks, improving overall performance and efficiency during heavy tasks like sorting algorithms.

How does the M4 MacBook Air compare in terms of temperature during heavy workloads?

The M4 MacBook Air tends to get noticeably warmer compared to earlier models. During intense tasks, such as sorting a billion integers, the M4's temperature reached up to 46°C, making it the warmest model in the series, though still below the legal temperature threshold.

What was the difference in performance when running the Mandlero algorithm in Python across the different MacBook Air models?

The Mandlero algorithm in Python showed a clear performance improvement from the M1 (57 seconds) to the M4 (34 seconds), with the M4 being significantly faster due to its additional cores and better performance optimization.

How do memory bandwidth differences impact tasks like machine learning on the MacBook Air models?

Memory bandwidth plays a critical role in tasks like machine learning. The M4 MacBook Air offers the highest memory bandwidth among the models tested, reaching 112 GB/s, which is beneficial for tasks involving larger data sets or inference in local models, though the M1 has the lowest at 77 GB/s.