M3 MacBook Air after a week | developer's machine

Summary

视频脚本对M3 MacBook Air进行了全面评测，指出其与M2版本在外观上的主要区别在于新的阳极氧化工艺。虽然M3芯片在Geekbench测试中表现更佳，但视频更关注其在编码、构建时间和实际开发环境中的性能。经过一周的使用，发现即使是基础款8GB RAM和256GB存储的M3 MacBook Air也能流畅运行多个开发工具和应用。视频还讨论了适合使用M3 MacBook Air的用户群体，包括学生、日常用户、专业人士和音频创作者，并建议开发者选择16GB RAM和1TB存储的配置，以获得更好的使用体验和转售价值。

Takeaways

• 🔍 M3 MacBook Air 与 M2 版本在外观上差异不大，主要区别在于新的阳极氧化工艺。
• 📊 M3 芯片在 Geekbench 测试中表现更好，这在 MacBook Pro 中已有体现。
• 👨‍💻 作者通过实际使用体验，分享了 M3 MacBook Air 在编码、构建时间和执行效率方面的表现。
• 🚀 M3 MacBook Air 在原始性能测试中胜过其他型号，包括与 M1 Pro 的比较。
• 🛠️ 即使是基础款 8GB RAM 和 256GB 存储的 M3 MacBook Air，也能流畅运行多个开发工具和应用。
• 📚 对于学生和日常用户，新款 MacBook Air 的电池续航是一个吸引人的特点。
• 💻 对于需要轻便和便携性的专业用户，M3 MacBook Air 是一个不错的选择。
• 🎵 对于音频创作者来说，由于无风扇设计，M3 MacBook Air 是一个很好的选择。
• 👨‍🔧 对于开发者，尤其是进行移动和网络开发的，M3 MacBook Air 能够满足大多数开发任务的需求。
• 🚫 对于需要进行重度工作负载如游戏开发或机器学习的用户，可能更适合选择 MacBook Pro 或 Mac Studio。
• 💡 作者推荐选择 16GB RAM 和 1TB 存储的 M3 MacBook Air 型号，认为这是一个在可用性和转售价值之间平衡的甜点。

Q & A

M3 MacBook Air 与 M2 MacBook Air 在外观上有哪些不同？

M3 MacBook Air 与 M2 MacBook Air 在外观上的主要区别是采用了新的阳极氧化工艺，这使得 M3 看起来略好一些。

M3 芯片在 Geekbench 测试中的表现如何？

M3 芯片在 Geekbench 测试中的表现优于 M2 芯片，这在之前的 MacBook Pro 测试中已经有所体现，因此是意料之中的结果。

作者在视频中提到了哪些开发工具和环境？

作者提到了终端、Git、Xcode、iOS 模拟器、Android Studio、Chrome 浏览器、Todoist、Notion、VS Code、Zed、Postman 和 Docker 桌面版等工具和环境。

M3 MacBook Air 能否满足软件开发者的需求？

是的，M3 MacBook Air 对于软件开发者来说是一个很好的选择，尤其是那些需要便携性和长电池寿命的用户。

作者提到了哪些不适合使用 M3 MacBook Air 的工作负载？

作者提到，M3 MacBook Air 不太适合进行重度工作负载，如游戏开发或机器学习，特别是需要运行大型虚拟机或本地模型的情况。

M3 MacBook Air 在处理单核任务时的表现如何？

M3 MacBook Air 在处理单核任务时表现出色，例如在 C/C++ 单核排序操作中，M3 MacBook Air 的完成时间比 M1 Pro MacBook Pro 快了近一分钟。

M3 MacBook Air 在多核编译任务中的表现如何？

尽管 M3 MacBook Air 在多核编译任务中仍然比 M1 或 M2 系列的设备快，但由于 M1 Pro 有更多的性能核心，因此在多核编译任务中 M1 Pro MacBook Pro 完成得更快。

作者对于 M3 MacBook Air 的存储配置有何建议？

作者建议至少选择 512GB 的存储配置，而对于需要存储视频或图像素材的用户，建议选择 1TB 的存储配置。

M3 MacBook Air 在 RAM 方面有哪些限制？

作者提到，8GB RAM 的 M3 MacBook Air 在运行多个程序时可能会遇到性能瓶颈，建议至少选择 16GB RAM 的配置。

作者推荐哪款 M3 MacBook Air 配置？

作者推荐选择 16GB RAM 和 1TB 存储的配置，认为这是在可用性和转售价值之间的一个平衡点。

M3 MacBook Air 是否适合内容创作者？

对于音频创作者来说，M3 MacBook Air 是一个很好的选择，因为它完全没有噪音。但对于视频工作流程，尤其是使用 Adobe 套件的用户，可能更适合使用 MacBook Pro。

M3 MacBook Air 的散热性能如何？

M3 MacBook Air 由于没有风扇，所以在进行 CPU 密集型任务时可能会遇到热限制，如果任务持续时间较长，可能会导致性能降低。

对于从 M1 或 Intel 处理器升级的用户，作者有何建议？

对于使用 Intel 处理器的 MacBook Air 用户，作者强烈建议升级到 Apple 硅芯片。对于 M1 用户，升级到 M3 可以带来性能提升和更高的转售价值。

Outlines

00:00

📱 M3 MacBook Air 性能评测

视频脚本首先介绍了M3 MacBook Air的外观与M2版本相似，但采用了新的阳极氧化工艺。接着提到M3芯片在Geekbench测试中的性能优于M2，但作者更关注实际编码、构建时间和开发工具的性能。作者分享了使用M3 MacBook Air的经验，包括在8GB RAM和256GB存储的基础模型上运行多个开发工具和应用程序，如终端、Git、Xcode、iOS模拟器、Android Studio、Chrome浏览器等，表现出色。视频还讨论了M3 MacBook Air适合的使用者类型，包括学生、日常用户和需要轻便便携性的专业人士，但对游戏开发和机器学习等重度工作负载则不太适合。

05:00

🔧 M3芯片性能与散热测试

第二段深入探讨了M3芯片在处理中等至大型项目时的性能，尤其是对于单核心操作的优越性。作者通过与M1 Pro MacBook Pro的比较，展示了M3在单核和多核编译测试中的表现。提到了M3 MacBook Air在没有风扇的情况下，如何处理高负载工作，以及在长时间高负载下可能出现的热限制问题。此外，还讨论了8GB RAM的限制，尤其是在运行多个内存密集型应用程序时可能遇到的性能瓶颈。作者还提到了对于不同使用场景的推荐配置，例如对于开发者而言，16GB RAM和1TB存储可能是更合适的选择。

10:01

💡 M3 MacBook Air 购买建议

最后一段提供了关于M3 MacBook Air的购买建议。作者建议，如果你使用的是Intel MacBook Air或更旧的设备，升级到搭载Apple硅芯片的新款是明智之举。对于M1 MacBook Air用户，虽然M1性能依然出色，但M3提供了更高的性能和更长的使用寿命。作者还讨论了存储空间的选择，推荐至少选择512GB，对于需要存储大量项目资产的用户，1TB可能是更好的选择。最后，作者强调了M3 MacBook Air适合那些重视便携性和电池寿命的软件开发者，但对于需要处理重度工作负载的用户，可能更适合选择MacBook Pro或Mac Studio。

Keywords

💡M3 MacBook Air

M3 MacBook Air是苹果公司推出的一款笔记本电脑，搭载了M3芯片。在视频中，它被用来与M2 MacBook Air进行比较，展示了性能上的提升。例如，视频中提到M3 MacBook Air在Geekbench测试中有更好的成绩，并且在实际开发环境中的性能表现也得到了强调。

💡Geekbench

Geekbench是一个跨平台的基准测试软件，用于评估处理器和内存的性能。在视频中，M3芯片在Geekbench测试中的性能被提及，作为衡量M3 MacBook Air性能的一个指标。

💡性能

性能是衡量设备执行任务能力的关键指标。视频中多次提到M3 MacBook Air的性能，特别是在代码编译时间、执行效率和开发工具使用方面。例如，视频提到了使用M3 MacBook Air进行iOS开发和运行Xcode时的性能表现。

💡开发工具

开发工具是用于编写、测试和调试软件的工具。视频中提到了多种开发工具，如Xcode、Android Studio、VS Code等，这些工具在M3 MacBook Air上运行的情况被用来展示其性能。

💡多任务处理

多任务处理是指同时运行多个程序或任务的能力。视频中提到M3 MacBook Air即使在打开多个应用程序和工具的情况下也能保持流畅运行，展示了其多任务处理能力。

💡内存（RAM）

内存是计算机存储临时数据的地方，影响多任务处理和程序运行速度。视频讨论了不同内存配置的M3 MacBook Air，特别是8GB和24GB RAM版本，并分析了它们在实际使用中的性能差异。

💡存储

存储指的是计算机硬盘或固态硬盘上的空间，用于保存数据和程序。视频提到了M3 MacBook Air的存储选项，特别是256GB和1TB版本，并讨论了存储容量对于开发者工作流程的重要性。

💡热限制（Thermal Throttling）

热限制是当设备过热时，系统自动降低性能以防止损坏的现象。视频中提到M3 MacBook Air在长时间高负载工作时可能会遇到热限制，影响性能。

💡软件开发者

软件开发者是编写和维护软件应用程序的专业人员。视频主要面向这一群体，讨论了M3 MacBook Air是否适合作为开发工具，以及它在开发任务中的表现。

💡M1 Pro MacBook Pro

M1 Pro MacBook Pro是苹果公司推出的另一款笔记本电脑，搭载了M1 Pro芯片。视频中将其与M3 MacBook Air进行了比较，特别是在处理复杂任务和多核心性能方面。

💡推荐配置

推荐配置是指根据特定用途或需求推荐的设备配置。视频最后给出了对于M3 MacBook Air的购买建议，推荐16GB RAM和1TB存储的组合，认为这是平衡性能和成本的最佳选择。

Highlights

M3 MacBook Air的外观设计与M2版本相似，主要区别在于新的阳极氧化工艺。

M3芯片在Geekbench测试中表现优于M2，但更关注编码、构建时间和执行性能。

M3 MacBook Air在实际开发环境中的性能表现优异，尤其是在代码构建和执行方面。

M3芯片在MacBook Pro中已经展示过性能，现在也应用于MacBook Air。

M3 MacBook Air在多核测试中表现出色，尤其是在xcode bench mark测试中。

8GB RAM和256GB存储的基础款M3 MacBook Air能够流畅运行多个开发工具。

M3 MacBook Air适合学生和日常用户，尤其是对电池续航有高要求的用户。

对于专业人士，尤其是需要轻便和便携性的用户，M3 MacBook Air是理想选择。

M3 MacBook Air对于音频创作者来说是一个好选择，因为它完全没有风扇噪音。

M3 MacBook Air不适合进行重度工作负载，如游戏开发或机器学习。

M3 MacBook Air在单核性能上超越M1 Pro，但在多核性能上由于核心数量差异而略逊一筹。

长时间的CPU密集型工作可能导致M3 MacBook Air因散热问题而降频。

8GB RAM的M3 MacBook Air在多任务处理时可能会遇到性能瓶颈。

对于M1或Intel MacBook Air用户，升级到M3 MacBook Air将带来显著的性能提升。

M3 MacBook Air的推荐配置是16GB RAM和1TB存储，以平衡可用性和转售价值。

256GB存储的基础款可能不足以满足开发者的需求，建议至少选择512GB存储。

M3 MacBook Air是软件开发者的理想选择，特别是那些重视便携性和电池寿命的用户。

Transcripts

by now you've probably already seen some

unboxings of the M3 MacBook Air and it's

really not that different than the M2

MacBook Air the only thing externally

different is the new anodization

process yeah it seems a little bit

better also I promise this will be the

only time I mentioned geekbench in this

video and the M3 does have better

geekbench results this something we were

expecting because we already seen the M3

chip in the MacBook Pro from a couple

months ago but I care more about the

performance of this machine in code

build times execution and in real world

developer situations using real

development tools so after my experience

with all the Apple silicon MacBook airs

till now I have some results to share

about the M3 MacBook Air oh and I'll

also tell you which is the ideal model

to buy because let's face it Apple loves

giving us options almost as much as they

love taking away

ports everyone knew the M3 MacBook airs

were coming so Apple had to act fast in

a recent video I discussed how the M3

chips outperform the upcoming Qualcomm X

Elite chips but not the M2 chips since

the M3s were only in the pricier MacBook

Pro until now and Qualcomm chips were

about to land in newer cheaper laptop

models Apple needed to make the first

move so they surpris us with dropping

this on a Monday morning now while using

this for a week I've also ran some tests

including my typical mandal Brad python

test which is a multicore test building

my own projects and of course the

classic large xcode build called xcode

bench market and there's no question

that when it comes to Raw performance

the M3 version wins every

time I also compared it to the M1 Pro

stay tuned for that as for real world

usage here's what I've been running

quite comfortably for about a week now

on this base model with 8 GB of RAM and

256 GB of storage Yes you heard that

right but listen to this of course I've

been running a few instances of terminal

that's the command line on the Mac

running commands interacting with Git

CIS and so on xcode for iOS development

and also the iOS simulators I did

install Android Studio but a little

caveat about that I'll talk about that

shortly Chrome is my browser of choice

it's not the fastest browser it's not

the native browser of Mac OS that's

Safari but I prefer Chrome for his

developer tools with all of my

procrastination tabs open probably 20 to

30 tabs at a time but I do use separate

apps for todoist notion which is my not

taken app my text editor that's

primarily vs code but I've also started

using Zed recently for quick file edits

I made a video about that recently I'll

link it down below and postmen for

testing rest apis I also have Docker

desktop installed but that's not on all

the time only when I need it and a

developer will often switch between

these rapidly as you're working as

you're coding testing debugging doing

research and this machine showed no

signs of slowing down even with all that

stuff open at the same time on an 8 GB

machine don't underestimate the MacBook

Air starting from the m1's all the way

to m2s and the M3s it's a very capable

machine and even the base model will

handle a lot but of course no machine is

one size fits all there are certain

tasks that are going to be way too heavy

for the MacBook Air to handle more on

that later but for my week with this

machine I spent it strictly as a

developer not as a content creator and I

ran NX monor repo that's my main project

that I'm working on that has multiple

IOS and Android apps Huawei apps as well

as a typical load of tools that I

mentioned earlier and the M3 air handles

them

flawlessly so let's talk about who is

this good for and is it good enough for

software developers sure this machine is

great for students and everyday users

it'll slay those everyday tasks like

nothing but students can also buy a

Chromebook if the budget is tight and I

mean those $150 Chromebooks folks never

spend more than $150 on a Chromebook bro

when you can get a used MacBook Air for

example for $300 to $400 the one reason

why you'd want the newer MacBook Air as

a student or everyday user is for that

sweet sweet battery life this thing will

go all day you'll even forget your

charging brick at home sleep overnight

at a friend's house and then it'll still

last you the next day too the next group

is professionals that want lightweight

and portability these include uh non-

Gamers and folks that use their machines

for work especially when traveling or

moving between locations frequently it's

super light and super thin with a long

battery like I mentioned what else is

there to say now as for Med media

creation this machine is probably best

so far for audio creators because it's

completely silent there's no fan in it

and even though I've seen this machine

get prais for video workflows I'm a

stubborn Adobe suite user so I have to

carry the MacBook Pro for video but if

you're on Final Cut or Da Vinci this

might fit the bill for you still for

video though I'd suggest getting a

MacBook Pro for longevity but since I'm

a developer first let's break things

down for my fellow devs I do mobile and

web development with a little bit of the

machine learning touch that right now

cuz it's I don't know I heard it was

good I've ran medium to large NX mono

repos the monor repo is where you have

all your projects all in one repository

with a usually a shared code base and it

runs my projects without a hitch these

consisted of typescript Web projects and

IOS and Android native mobile app

targets now this machine is certainly

not for serious machine learning or game

development you'll be able to do a few

things here and there but certainly not

the base model you also run into some

issues with running larger virtual

machines like if you want to run Windows

for example on a Mac I've got lots of

videos showing how to do that you can

run them just make sure that they're

small give them only a little bit of

resources that are necessary and one at

a time not too many compilation times on

this little beast are quite fast and on

single core transpilation or JavaScript

execution it'll smoke anything else from

the M1 or M2 families including MacBook

Pros because a single M3 core is faster

than any of the M1 or M2 Cor course but

on multi-core compilations it'll still

be a bit faster on a machine that has

more cores cuz it's using all those

cores all at once for example I've

tested against the 14-in M1 Pro MacBook

Pro because that was a very popular

machine with developers this probably

shouldn't come as a surprise that it's a

single core operation and the M3 is

faster than the M1 Pro but by how much

faster it is is pretty crazy on the

MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip in it

this C C++ single core sorting operation

took 3 minutes 55 seconds and on the M3

MacBook Air 2 minutes 58 seconds almost

a minute shorter I'm running the

multicore one now let's see if that

makes a difference there is a little bit

of an imbalance in the number of cores

here on the M1 Pro we've got eight

performance cores on the MacBook Air we

only have four performance cores and

four efficiency cores kind of what we

expected but surprising thing is not by

much M3 MacBook Air got 3 minutes and 2

seconds M1 Pro MacBook Pro 2 minutes and

39 seconds while the M3 air beats it in

single core tests as it should those

cores are 3 nanometers instead of the 5

nanometer cores on the M1 Pro but since

the M1 pro has doubled the performance

core count than this M3 air the M1 Pro

MacBook Pro still finished the builds

faster now during my testing at one

point I did start hitting a bit of a

Slowdown more than that in a bit and I'm

going to get to specific recommendations

momentarily there just some issues that

have been coming up in other reviews

that I'd like to address here will it

throttle faster since it'll be running a

hotter chip yes of course it doesn't

have a fan like a MacBook Pro and has a

different thermal profile and tolerance

even though it's got the powerful M3

chip that can handle intense workloads

as long as these workloads are

relatively short in duration that's key

here based on my test I would keep the

CPU heavy code compilations down to

about 2 minutes max these are the kinds

of intense workflows that raise your

temperature up to 108° on the CPU and if

it stays there a little bit too long the

CPU is going to be slowed down by Mac OS

and sometimes significantly giving it

enough chance to cool down that's what

thermal throttling is so running these

intense processes longer than that may

negate some of the performance gains the

M3 chip will provide due to the form

factor here so this rules out any kind

of game developers and machine learning

Engineers that want to run local models

and the latter Point speaks more towards

the memory side of things because larger

models need more memory too which this

machine won't be able to handle but I

have separate videos on machine learning

stuff I'll link to some down below now

for the ram limitations specific to the

8 GB model I have here into the mix with

all the programs I have running here I

added Android Studio which was using

almost 3 gab of Ram plus another gig for

Java that coupled with docker's default

1 GB of RAM usage and then I noticed a

pretty major slowdown especially when

switching between tasks this 8 GB

machine does have its limits but those

limit limits are pretty hard to reach

during normal operation and even once

they're reached Mac OS cleverly masks

away any performance Problems by doing

some really smart

swapping if you have an M2 MacBook Air

there's really no need for you to

upgrade at all you might be tempted by

the two external monitor capabilities

but at the end of the day you still only

have a total of two displays available

to you also keep in mind the slight

performance hit you'll experience with

more monitors to drive as I've shown in

a recent video where I tested up to

eight displays on the new Macbook lineup

so here I've got the manual broad test I

reran it we got 44 seconds which is

slower than the original time I got with

just the onboard screen but it's still

faster than 47 seconds on the M2 as a

side note the Dual external monitor

support seems to be a synthetic

limitation that Apple placed on the M2

models and my hope is that with the next

major OS update they will enable dual

external support for the M3 MacBook Pro

and if we make a loud enough stink about

it maybe the M2 MacBooks now if you have

an M1 or an Intel MacBook Air forget it

if you have an Intel MacBook Air you

need to upgrade to Apple silicon right

away unless you have some very specific

cases where you need it I have an Intel

MacBook Air and believe me the

difference is insane but if you have the

M1 MacBook Air you may still want to

upgrade there is a large enough

difference in performance the M1 is

still a really good machine it's

approaching 4 years of age but it's

still very very good you can go for the

M3 magbook a which will give you the

benefit of lasting a bit longer and

having a higher resell value at this

point and I recently made a video

showing how trading values of the m1's

and the m2s are still pretty good but

also if you're going from an M1 or an

Intel MacBook Air you might want to

consider picking up the M2 MacBook as

well for a nice discount right now if I

find some deals I'll list them down

below but keep in mind that that machine

is approaching 2 years old at this point

versus a machine that's brand new so if

you're selling the M2 MacBook Air 2

years from now it's going to be 4 years

old if you're selling the M3 2 years

from now it's only going to be 2 years

old basic math I know I I didn't need to

tell you that but just think about it

that way from a perspective of a buyer

that's buying it from you 2 years from

now now if you're working on an

intel-based MacBook Pro the M3 MacBook

Air will be a huge upgrade to you in

terms of performance and portability and

battery life unless you know that you

need more than 24 GB of RAM however

giving my earlier example if you had a

choice between the M3 MacBook Air and

the M1 Pro MacBook Pro I would still

personally go for the M1 Pro MacBook Pro

and the reason for that it's a different

class machine it has fans it'll lasts

longer under intense pressure it has a

better screen it's got more IO and it

has more cores so getting back to the M3

MacBook Air what specific model would I

recommend I would go for the 16 GB model

with 1 terabytes I think that's a sweet

spot as far as usability and resell

value because I'll tell you what the a

ma machines will resell very well but

you might hit a wall with that amount of

ram in your upcoming years of use the 24

GB model will not have good resale value

because the amount that you'll spend on

that extra Ram up front I don't think

you'll get that money back in either the

amount you'll use the machine or the

amount of money you'll get back for the

machine when you sell it I have the 8 GB

model but I also bought the 24 GB model

and this was a mistake on my part

because now I don't know what to do with

it and that machine was not cheap so 16

gigs is the way to go I think but if you

had to save some money go with the 8 GB

model is decent enough for many

workflows but sooner or later probably

sooner you'll hit a limit and you'll end

up having to close programs in order to

have a smooth experience look I can jump

on the bandwagon and see things like 8

GB shouldn't even be an option in 2024

the reality is that all manufacturers

still have an 8 GB option if you need

more than 8 GB then get more than 8 GB

and stop complaining that other options

which are not suitable for you exist

Live and Let Live folks now what about

that 256 GB of storage that comes with a

base model it's simply not enough in my

opinion because after installing all the

things and all the developer tooling

that I have on there I only have 50 GB

left 512 is the minimum at this point

but keep in mind that if you plan to

store videos or image assets for your

projects that'll quickly eat up your

storage for a bit more longevity I'd

suggest 1 TB remember that while you

won't be able to upgrade your RAM or or

your internal storage once you purchase

the machine you can always upgrade your

external storage I use this super fast

Samsung 980 Pro SSD in a thunderbolt 4

enclosure and have another terabyte to

play with here but the drives can always

be swapped out for more in the future

the M3 MacBook Air is a fantastic

machine for software developers who

prioritize portability and battery life

it's got pretty impressive performance

for most developer tasks and it offers a

really nice experience however if you

know your work will invol olve heavy

workloads like game development or

machine learning you might be better

served with a MacBook Pro or a Mac

Studio let me know in the comments what

you think of the M3 MacBook Air and if

you want to see more extensive tests of

the M3 chip I made a video of the M3

MacBook Pro base model especially for

software developers in this video right

over here check that out next thanks for

watching and I'll see you

[Music]

soon