The M3 MacBook Air "Problems"

Some clarifications/details as to why I say “it’s just the nature of these chips” The M1/M2/M3 only have one display controller for handling external displays. These display controllers take up a large amount of space on the silicon. They are even bigger than performance cores. See here: ibb.co/7r0Z0SB The reason why they are so big is because Apple separates their display controller from their GPU. Qualcomm does this as well on their Snapdragon chips. These display controllers can process a lot of stuff without leaning on the GPU. This helps alot with power efficiency on ARM chips. If Apple wanted to add more display controllers to handle more external displays, they would have to make a die trade off. They would either have to reduce the number of CPU or GPU cores, or they’d have to make the base chips larger. IMO neither of these options are worth it for adding an extra external display on the MBA. Another thing - thermals. Let’s say they did add another display controller on to the base chips. When connected to an external display, these controllers put out heat. On a MacBook Pro, it’s a non issue. but on a fanless MacBook Air you do not want another source of heat. These laptop already have limited thermal headroom. We’d see the threads of “my MBA throttles when I have connect it to external displays” like the 2019 MBA. Lastly, there is the option of using a Display Link adapter to get more displays going. I’ve run 3 displays on an M1 MBA with them. These use software to get the CPU cores to handle video output. You can even split your 5K output to multiple displays using this adapter. It works but they have CPU overhead. Static images have very CPU use. Video has very heavy CPU use. DRM content has issues using this. (Netflix/Disney/etc) It’s not an elegant solution but it TOTALLY works and if you need more external displays, it’s a good option. However, I see some commentary that talks about how this Display Link solution is evidence that Apple could easily add more displays. I don’t agree. This is just Display Link doing it’s thing. It’s very cool but it’s not the same as display controllers on the chip. Hope that helps!

The nose test is vital, can't understand why more reviewers don't do it

The issue is not whether 8 GB ram is enough or not. It costs so little nowadays that it makes no sense to have anything under 16 GB considering it is soldered. It is a problem that doesn't exist.

Guys, can you imagine this BOY is actually 44 years young?

Non-Pro models of M1, M2 and M3 Macbooks can run up to 3 external displays when you install DisplayLink driver. I have tested and it works, although I used a Minisopuru display adapter to achieve the result. The point is, it's a software limitation.

The face rub test should become a staple metric in laptop reviews from now on

Installing call of duty takes €154 worth of storage from your hard drive. The pricing is absolutely insane.

It's not "just the nature of the hardware", it's the nature of Apple. This is intentional. Yes the hardware can't support multiple screens, but that's because it was designed that way. This should be called out not shrugged away.

I’m a medical student, I use the M2 MacBook Air w/8gb RAM. I usually have multiple tabs for studying and research. Sometimes I need to delete tabs because of memory usage. I still think this is “normal” use, and it’s really disappointing that Apple thinks 8gb RAM is still a viable baseline.

"It's just the nature of the hardware." Dave, this is the third generation. It's been a complaint for this long. They could have designed the hardware of the M3 to keep up with the competition considering the price of these devices, instead of just compromising.

Thanks for coming back Dave2D! We missed you!

LOL, Apple latest 15" laptop has 8GB RAM & 256GB storage for $1,299. My 6 year old PC 15" laptop has 32GB RAM and 1.5TB storage for $700.

4:26 Yes true there are 2 issues with the 8gb/256gb variant 1. 8gb 2. 256gb

The biggest problem is charging $1099 for a laptop with a measly 8GB RAM and slow 256GB Storage, which is highway robbery.

Thanks! Good info delivered with a sense of humor!

I love your videos - very informative, genuine and well thought out... thank you!

"eats my soul looking at that configuration" is an accurate way of putting it.

Imagine a mid range 2024 laptop starting with 256GB of storage.

I love the way you structure your reviews a lot of times when I watch reviews I'm kind of like okay cool but I don't really care but with your reviews they are concise and usually answer most of the questions I have without wasting my time thank you for that :)

What’s the whole fuss with those external screens? I’ve been running 2 externals plus laptop screen on M1 using displaylink for the past 2 years, no issues