Episode 79 - What’s in the box with the Apple M3 MacBook Air

2024-03-15

Several years ago, we had a fire in our garage that claimed several of our cars… I am (if you haven’t figured it out yet) something of a creature of habit… So, seeing as a very much liked the truck I drove at the time, I promptly went down to the dealership, worked with Insurance, and purchased effectively the same truck I had sadly lost. It had, for all intents and purposes, the same engine, the same tires, the same… everything. But, for some reason, to this day I can remember that first d...

Several years ago, we had a fire in our garage that claimed several of our cars… I am (if you haven’t figured it out yet) something of a creature of habit… So, seeing as a very much liked the truck I drove at the time, I promptly went down to the dealership, worked with Insurance, and purchased effectively the same truck I had sadly lost. It had, for all intents and purposes, the same engine, the same tires, the same… everything.

But, for some reason, to this day I can remember that first drive home from the dealership and thinking to myself that no matter how hard I tried, I knew this was a new vehicle, a different truck…

The engine, while identically spec’ed, picked up off the line just a little bit different. The first few turns on the way home, and I felt the suspension sway in subtly different ways. Even the electronics seemed to respond… differently. Not necessarily better, certainly not worse, but in the end not the same.

Now, if this feels even more off the rails, you’re not wrong but I promise to bring it full circle… because this week I had such a similar experience I couldn’t help but go back to that drive home…

See, sitting on my desk were two MacBooks… both identical in design, build quality, and materials. The screen was the same resolution, the keyboard switches unchanged… the only difference between these two devices was, in all fairness, their heart. With Apple upgrading their smash-hit Air line of MacBooks this week, even they knew it wasn’t the most “event worthy” affair… instead we got a pretty forgettable press release, and a smattering updates to the Apple Store website promising the best MacBook Air yet.

And you know what, I think they’re right… these laptops look identical, feel identical, but don’t perform identically… and that could be a big deal to a lot of people. Is it a game changing “revolution of the laptop space?” Absolutely not, not even close… but when you already make the oft-described “laptop for everyone”, every refinement should put the broader market on notice, there’s a new MacBook Air in town…

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