Macbook Air Question

[shadow puppet]

Question for the resident techno wizards here. How much of a difference is there between a MBA M2 and M3 chip?
I'm looking at the following config:

MBA 15", 24GB, 1TB, Midnight

But how much difference is there between the M2 and M3? Other than cost. I will from time to time be photo editing. I've always had a MBP (my current 2016 is dying) so need to replace. But I'll keep it as a back-up. A 13" MBP is too small and I don't relish a. 16". I had. a 17" MBP and loved the real estate but not the weight and bulky size.

 

[dada_dave]

Question for the resident techno wizards here. How much of a difference is there between a MBA M2 and M3 chip?
I'm looking at the following config:

MBA 15", 24GB, 1TB, Midnight

But how much difference is there between the M2 and M3? Other than cost. I will from time to time be photo editing. I've always had a MBP (my current 2016 is dying) so need to replace. But I'll keep it as a back-up. A 13" MBP is too small and I don't relish a. 16". I had. a 17" MBP and loved the real estate but not the weight and bulky size.

The CPU of the M3 of course is faster. I think the base model SSD was a little faster but that shouldn't apply to your 1TB model. The M3's GPU has substantial feature upgrades over the M2 (ray tracing, mesh shaders, new cache structure) but, unless you're gaming, you probably won't notice and it otherwise has the same raw compute power as the M2 GPU. The M3 will likely be supported for a year longer than the M2. Also, Apple officially allowed the M3 Air in clamshell mode to support 2 external monitors (i.e. if you keep the Air's lid closed you can use two external monitors), but I don't think they did so for the M2. I hope this helps!

Oh and while in theory the M4 MB Air could come as early as the October/November Mac release, it isn't expected until March 2025 so I wouldn't wait if you need to replace your computer sooner rather than later.

 

[Alli]

Unless you're editing video rather than photo stills, you probably don't need the speed that comes with the extra $$ GPU.

 

[shadow puppet]

First, thank you @dada_dave & @Alli for taking the time to reply. Money is tight due to all the medical bills so trying to be careful.

I'm 95% leaning towarda the M3. Plus there is one game I do want to play: Cyan's remake of Riven. I was a huge Myst fan before many of you were probably born, lol.

Because this is the first time I'm not getting a MBP, I want the power the M3 can provide. I want the 1T because that's what I have on my current 2016 MBP and it's almost full. It's mostly documents so I have some house cleaning to do.

I'm also hunting through refurbs and open box options. My current 2016 MBP is a refurb & as served me well.

 

[dada_dave]

First, thank you @dada_dave & @Alli for taking the time to reply. Money is tight due to all the medical bills so trying to be careful.

I'm 95% leaning towarda the M3. Plus there is one game I do want to play: Cyan's remake of Riven. I was a huge Myst fan before many of you were probably born, lol.

Because this is the first time I'm not getting a MBP, I want the power the M3 can provide. I want the 1T because that's what I have on my current 2016 MBP and it's almost full. It's mostly documents so I have some house cleaning to do.

I'm also hunting through refurbs and open box options. My current 2016 MBP is a refurb & as served me well.

Best of luck!

 

[Nycturne]

I'm 95% leaning towarda the M3. Plus there is one game I do want to play: Cyan's remake of Riven. I was a huge Myst fan before many of you were probably born, lol.

Hey now. I grew up on Manhole and Spelunx before Myst came out. I still remember getting to see Rand in person at University Book Store here in Seattle when Book of Atrus came out. So let's not start making this a contest.

Sadly, my father still holds onto the signed copy of Book of Atrus, but he did help me get a hold of my own set of first editions for the whole trilogy of books as a Christmas gift.

I should try seeing what the Riven remake plays like on my M1 Max. I played it on my gaming PC when it came out earlier this year, but haven't really been trying these games on the Mac much. I liked Obduction and Firmament though, even if I managed to soft-lock Firmament and had to replay a good 30min of it. Whoops.

 

[shadow puppet]

Hey now. I grew up on Manhole and Spelunx before Myst came out. I still remember getting to see Rand in person at University Book Store here in Seattle when Book of Atrus came out. So let's not start making this a contest.

Sadly, my father still holds onto the signed copy of Book of Atrus, but he did help me get a hold of my own set of first editions for the whole trilogy of books as a Christmas gift.

I should try seeing what the Riven remake plays like on my M1 Max. I played it on my gaming PC when it came out earlier this year, but haven't really been trying these games on the Mac much. I liked Obduction and Firmament though, even if I managed to soft-lock Firmament and had to replay a good 30min of it. Whoops.

LMAO at Manhole & Spelunx! Although I never played them. I know what they are from my days on the Mystcommunity forums. LMK your take on the new Riven. I can't play yet b/c it requires higher than Monterey which is as high as my 2016 MBP can go. I'm just glad Cyan decided to include a Mac version again. I believe they began on Macs.

 

[mr_roboto]

LMAO at Manhole & Spelunx! Although I never played them. I know what they are from my days on the Mystcommunity forums. LMK your take on the new Riven. I can't play yet b/c it requires higher than Monterey which is as high as my 2016 MBP can go. I'm just glad Cyan decided to include a Mac version again. I believe they began on Macs.

They absolutely did - Myst was a very elaborate HyperCard deck, and the graphics were rendered on Mac Quadras.

 

[Roller]

They absolutely did - Myst was a very elaborate HyperCard deck, and the graphics were rendered on Mac Quadras.

You're definitely dating yourself somewhat, though I shouldn't talk — I remember being at the HyperCard introduction at MacWorld Expo in 1987 and went on to do a lot with it before it faded away. (I did use SuperCard for a number of years.)

As for @shadow puppet's question, while the M2 would probably be fine, it's probably worth looking for a discounted M3. I don't think I've ever been sorry I bought a newer instead of an older model of any tech, especially in situations like this where the biggest change was the CPU. While I have been bitten by the early adopter bug a few times, the issues have always been resolved.

 

[shadow puppet]

WHOOHOO!!

I found a refurbished MBA at Apple with the specs I wanted & saved $355. It arrives tomorrow!

 

[shadow puppet]

Question:
What the heck is "unified memory" vs the old term "RAM"?

 

[dada_dave]

Question:
What the heck is "unified memory" vs the old term "RAM"?

It’s still RAM but it means the GPU and CPU share a memory pool. So the GPU doesn’t have separate VRAM. This is mostly advantageous especially for laptops. There were older, bargain bin PC laptops that were similar but had a bad implementation: the memory was hard split between the CPU and GPU, the amount of memory was limited, and the bandwidth even more so such that the GPU was starved. So unified memory got a bad rap in PC circles. But Macs, Consoles, and modern PC laptops that use unified memory (many PCs still come with discrete graphics cards with their own memory pool of course) will all be fine.

The advantage of it is that the CPU and GPU can operate on the same data without having to copy that data between them over a slow data bus. This is faster and more energy efficient.

 

[shadow puppet]

It’s still RAM but it means the GPU and CPU share a memory pool. So the GPU doesn’t have separate VRAM. This is mostly advantageous especially for laptops. There were older, bargain bin PC laptops that were similar but had a bad implementation: the memory was hard split between the CPU and GPU, the amount of memory was limited, and the bandwidth even more so such that the GPU was starved. So unified memory got a bad rap in PC circles. But Macs, Consoles, and modern PC laptops that use unified memory (many PCs still come with discrete graphics cards with their own memory pool of course) will all be fine.

The advantage of it is that the CPU and GPU can operate on the same data without having to copy that data between them over a slow data bus. This is faster and more energy efficient.

You are my newest Batman. Thanks again for all your help & patience!
Now I need to sleuth around to learn how to use migration assistant. It's definitely been awhile.

 

[shadow puppet]

They absolutely did - Myst was a very elaborate HyperCard deck, and the graphics were rendered on Mac Quadras.

What was your favorite Myst world (not talking Riven - just Myst). Mine was Channelwood. I could live there. But the one puzzle that almost made me lose my sanity, was that damn fire marble puzzle!

 

[Nycturne]

What was your favorite Myst world (not talking Riven - just Myst). Mine was Channelwood. I could live there. But the one puzzle that almost made me lose my sanity, was that damn fire marble puzzle!

Channelwood was interesting from an aesthetic perspective, and probably my favorite from that angle. Mechanical Age sticks with me the most because this is where it became clear to me just how twisted the two sons had become. Myst had some really unnerving reveals that could slip under the radar of parents who weren't paying close attention.

LMAO at Manhole & Spelunx! Although I never played them. I know what they are from my days on the Mystcommunity forums. LMK your take on the new Riven. I can't play yet b/c it requires higher than Monterey which is as high as my 2016 MBP can go. I'm just glad Cyan decided to include a Mac version again. I believe they began on Macs.

Not that surprising. Before Myst, it was all aimed at kids. An SE/30 was the first Mac/Windows PC we had in the house, so that's where my first games were. For whatever reason: Nintendo or Sega? Bad, not allowed in the house. Games on Mac? Fine.

It's not quite the same game as the original. It's been tweaked in places for the purpose of VR, and to address some puzzles that haven't aged super well, and change the flow of some things to give you direction earlier on. The Fire Marble puzzle has been reworked. And they actually made the puzzle that uses the D'ni counting system more involved, making it feel better integrated into the world. The big downside is that the performances have been replaced with CG characters, moving it into the uncanny valley a bit. But I'm fine with the changes, it introduces the game to a new generation without giving up what made it interesting, and in some ways, puzzles feel even better integrated than I remember. And the original can still be run on modern hardware, thanks to ScummVM, so we're not losing the original. You can even buy the original off Steam today, complete with a ScummVM wrapper pre-configured.

Especially if there's a sale, Obduction and Firmament are worth a try. They weren't received as well as Myst/Riven were, but they were also learning experiences for the current team at Cyan. Some of the tech they've built for those games are what made the Riven remake feasible. Hopefully they can keep the quality and do something new next.

 

[shadow puppet]

Since I've already derailed the. heck out of this thread, for my fellow Riven 2024 fans, here's a quick look. at how it runs on a M2 MBA:



Also on a Riven running on a M2 Ultra Mac Studio with 64GB RAM, the first 10 minutes. I really miss the real actors though. They look utterly fake in this version.