Is the MacBook Air M4 suitable for Excel and Python?

Hey! The MacBook Air M4 is a great fit for your needs. It’s powerful enough to run Excel, Microsoft Power Tools, Python, and handle light photo and video editing smoothly without any lag. Plus, its design means it stays quiet and cool.

Also, yes — Apple includes a USB-C charger with the MacBook Air, so you don’t need to buy one separately.

If you don’t plan on gaming or heavy video editing, this laptop should serve you very well!

You’re seemingly committed to the Microsoft tooling and environment.

You really want a Windows PC for that.

If you want a spreadsheet, or Python, or a database, there are available fine choices for macOS.

But if you want Windows tooling and a familiar environment, you want a Windows PC.

If you meant PowerToys, that runs only on Windows.

As for other tools, Microsoft 365 Copilot (née Office) is available on macOS, but the full Microsoft experience is best available on a Windows PC with Azure.

If you do decide to learn new tooling and different apps, a MacBook Air M4 is a powerful choice. It can certainly handle video and photo editing using available Apple and third-party tools, as well. Mac is quite different from Windows, and in some fundamental ways.

You will, however, want to select as much memory and internal storage as you need over the lifetime of the Mac, as those cannot be expanded after purchase.

You’ll want a hard disk of two or three times the capacity of the internal storage for Time Machine backups as well, or a network-attached storage device (NAS) if you want a mid- or higher-end backup solution that requires less cabling and re-cabling.

MacBook Air M4 is perfect for apps like Excel, PowerPoint, and Python (just note “Python in Excel” isn’t on Mac yet); it easily handles light photo/video editing too. And yes, you get a charger and cable included with your MacBook Air—no need to buy them separately.

If you are using Microsoft power tools why are you not buying a Windows computer? Those power tools (toys) are Windows only and will not run on a Mac. Just about any computer can do a ‘little bit of photo and video editing’. If you are heavy into Microsoft products you’d likely be better off with a Windows machine. These days running Windows (ARM) on an Apple Silicon Mac is possible but not all that practical.

If you are planning on using your computer in a Windows environment using primarily Windows programs, get a Windows computer. Doing so will lesson the chance of issues caused by Windows program or Windows operating system updates in the future.

Hi! I recently got a MacBook Pro M4 and I use it every day for remote work. My company (a cloud computing provider) gave me access to a Windows virtual machine hosted in the cloud, so I can run everything I need — Excel, Python, and other Windows tools — without installing anything on my Mac.

It runs super fast and smooth because it’s based on very powerful infrastructure. I just use Microsoft Remote Desktop to connect, and it works perfectly. That way, I keep macOS clean and still have full access to Windows when I need it.

If you're open to this kind of setup, it might be a great option for you too.

[Edited by Moderator]

rais242 wrote:

do we get charger with macbook purchase?

Yes, you do.