Need Advice on MacBook Air Purchase

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Level 1

4 points

Need Advice on MacBook Air Purchase

I need this laptop for my university studies in computer science, planning to use it for at least six to seven years or even more. Right now, I'm into AI/ML, and programming, but I might explore other stuff like video editing in college, and in the future, I might go into some ML research thing.

Option 1: • MacBook Air with M3 chip, 256GB storage, and 16GB RAM • Price: $1499

Option 2: • MacBook Air with M2 chip, 512GB storage, and 16GB RAM • Price: $1535

Option 3: • MacBook Air with M2 chip, 256GB storage, and 16GB RAM • Price: $1295

Option 4: • MacBook Air with M2 chip, 256GB storage, and 24GB RAM • Price: $1511

(Note: Prices mentioned are from Student Discount India)

I'm leaning towards the M2 chip with 512/16 storage due to the slight price difference of only $35 compared to the M3 chip with 256/16. However, I'm also considering the M3 chip with 256/16 and M2 256/24 for its performance benefits. On the other hand, the M2 chip with 256/16 storage is more budget-friendly, but I'm concerned about its speed because of single NAND compared to the other options.

Thanks.

Posted on Apr 21, 2024 07:59 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

BobTheFisherman

Level 10

84,145 points

Apr 21, 2024 08:13 PM in response to ambhrax

Ask your Computer Science Department at the university which computer you should get. You need to be 100% compatible with other students, the course of study, and your professors.

And whatever you decide, I would not recommend any computer today, and especially for university that has less than 512GB storage. I would select a computer with even more storage and maximum RAM possible.

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Answer 2

Kyo317

Level 1

78 points

Apr 21, 2024 10:08 PM in response to ambhrax

Hello. Thank you for reaching out help in Apple Community.

It seems like you would like to buy a new Mac for programming, but also video editing.

First of all, M2 and M3 does not have a big difference in performance, or even in other ways. Which means M2 already has a great performance, and does not lack in any way.

Secondly, you said you wanted to program and edit videos on your Mac. Doing these tasks require a lot of ram, but also lot of storage.

So I would like to recommend you the "Option 2: • MacBook Air with M2 chip, 512GB storage, and 16GB RAM Price: $1535". There seems like there is an option for 24GB of RAM, but the storage is not enough which is only 256GB.

16GB of RAM is already enough for you, and it does not make difference between 24GB of RAM. What is more important is both balanced and sufficient RAM and Storage.

So again, I would recommend you the second option.

Thanks.

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Need Advice on MacBook Air Purchase

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