Anyone using M1 MacBook Air?

Hanley

Hanley

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Every review I read of the new M1 MacBook Air says how amazing they are.
I'm tempted to pick one up, probably increase the memory to 16GB, but was wondering if anyone on here has one and how it runs Lightroom?

I have my 16inch MacBook Pro but it's big and gets hot very quickly, the reviews of the air state it has no fan so no noise and rarely gets very hot.

My wife would be using it mainly but I'd probably use it for LR work when I want to do some light work.
 
You haven't owned a recent Apple computer, have you? There is no memory upgrade option on macbooks, an hasn't been since 2015.

@nandbytes has one and likes it.
 
I have the base model of the M1 MBA and I have written down my initial impressions here:
www.talkphotography.co.uk

Apple Silicon M1

After the initial euphoria has worn off, I'm now finding that Lightroom feels about 10 times slower than it should be. Yes, its on a beta via Rosetta, but its painful at times. maybe 8GB Ram really isn't enough.
www.talkphotography.co.uk www.talkphotography.co.uk

let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them :)
 
ancient_mariner said:
You haven't owned a recent Apple computer, have you? There is no memory upgrade option on macbooks, an hasn't been since 2015.

@nandbytes has one and likes it.
Click to expand...

That's pretty condescending and besides, 16" Macbook is about as new as they come...

Hanley said:
Every review I read of the new M1 MacBook Air says how amazing they are.
I'm tempted to pick one up, probably increase the memory to 16GB, but was wondering if anyone on here has one and how it runs Lightroom?

I have my 16inch MacBook Pro but it's big and gets hot very quickly, the reviews of the air state it has no fan so no noise and rarely gets very hot.

My wife would be using it mainly but I'd probably use it for LR work when I want to do some light work.
Click to expand...
 
nandbytes said:
I have the base model of the M1 MBA and I have written down my initial impressions here:
www.talkphotography.co.uk

Apple Silicon M1

After the initial euphoria has worn off, I'm now finding that Lightroom feels about 10 times slower than it should be. Yes, its on a beta via Rosetta, but its painful at times. maybe 8GB Ram really isn't enough.
www.talkphotography.co.uk www.talkphotography.co.uk

let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them :)
Click to expand...
Nice one, I'll take a read than you :)
 
nandbytes said:
I have the base model of the M1 MBA and I have written down my initial impressions here:
www.talkphotography.co.uk

Apple Silicon M1

After the initial euphoria has worn off, I'm now finding that Lightroom feels about 10 times slower than it should be. Yes, its on a beta via Rosetta, but its painful at times. maybe 8GB Ram really isn't enough.
www.talkphotography.co.uk www.talkphotography.co.uk

let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them :)
Click to expand...
So after reading that my only concern is the RAM, I'm a bit spoilt with RAM, my iMac has 40GB and my 16" MacBook Pro has 64GB.

What I notice on my 16" is the CPU is the bottleneck, I use IStat and I can see the cores being hammered, and that's using 8 core i9.

I may still pick a 16GB model up for the wife and I can experiment with it a bit :ROFLMAO:
 
Hanley said:
Hmm, a 2013 MacBook Pro, a 2017 5K iMac and a 2019 16" MacBook Pro.
Yeh I own a few. :)

There is a memory upgrade option - you pay Apple way more than it's worth and they upgrade it at build :)
Click to expand...
My apologies - I had misunderstood your post.
 
Hanley said:
So after reading that my only concern is the RAM, I'm a bit spoilt with RAM, my iMac has 40GB and my 16" MacBook Pro has 64GB.

What I notice on my 16" is the CPU is the bottleneck, I use IStat and I can see the cores being hammered, and that's using 8 core i9.

I may still pick a 16GB model up for the wife and I can experiment with it a bit :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound like you are desperately in need of a new laptop. Perhaps just wait for much fancier summer models?
 
LongLensPhotography said:
It doesn't sound like you are desperately in need of a new laptop. Perhaps just wait for much fancier summer models?
Click to expand...

Depends on the budget too. If he just wants a "cheaper" apple silicon model the current line up is probably as cheap as it'll get.
The higher models with more RAM will at least have a mark-up of £300+ going well into £2k+
 
nandbytes said:
Depends on the budget too. If he just wants a "cheaper" apple silicon model the current line up is probably as cheap as it'll get.
The higher models with more RAM will at least have a mark-up of £300+ going well into £2k+
Click to expand...

Nothing really new there, is it? 16 performance cores, 32gb / 1tb is where you want to aim for a bit of future proofing
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Nothing really new there, is it? 16 performance cores, 32gb / 1tb is where you want to aim for a bit of future proofing
Click to expand...

I am hoping for a mini with that spec. the MBA is good enough for light use. tbh even with 4 perf cores my MBA is really good. it barely gets hot and barely gets stressed. so not sure 16 i.e. 4 times is really needed. I'd personally be happy with 8 for future proofing.
 
Screenshot 2021-01-02 at 13.35.40.png

A quick reminder why 8GB of RAM doesn't cut it and this is where 256GB SSD eventually leads to... not an M1 mac but it will be just the same. It is trying to use SSD as a RAM substitute for most things in use.

You have no choice but increase one or the other and ideally both
 
Last edited:
LongLensPhotography said:
View attachment 304066

A quick reminder why 8GB of RAM doesn't cut it and this is where 256GB SSD eventually leads to... not an M1 mac but it will be just the same. It is trying to use SSD as a RAM substitute for most things in use.

You have no choice but increase one or the other and ideally both
Click to expand...

I thought you'd built a PC with loads of RAM and GPU power?
 
SFTPhotography said:
I thought you'd built a PC with loads of RAM and GPU power?
Click to expand...

Please show me 5900x and one of the Nvidia or amd new GPUs I can order at RRP or below
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Please show me 5900x and one of the Nvidia or amd new GPUs I can order at RRP or below
Click to expand...

Good deal on the Quadro
www.dell.com

PC & Laptop Accessories | Dell UK

Equip your business with PC accessories & professional notebooks. Free delivery when you shop from the official Dell UK store!
www.dell.com www.dell.com

As for the CPU you're looking at the latest and greatest

www.overclockers.co.uk

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X Twelve Core 4.8GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail

100-100000061WOF, 12 Core with 24 Threads, 4.80GHz clock speed, 7nm FinFet Process, 64MB L3 Cache, Dual Channel DDR4 Controller, 3200-3600MHz RAM Recommended, 3 Year Warranty
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk
 
SFTPhotography said:
Good deal on the Quadro
www.dell.com

PC & Laptop Accessories | Dell UK

Equip your business with PC accessories & professional notebooks. Free delivery when you shop from the official Dell UK store!
www.dell.com www.dell.com

As for the CPU you're looking at the latest and greatest

www.overclockers.co.uk

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X Twelve Core 4.8GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail

100-100000061WOF, 12 Core with 24 Threads, 4.80GHz clock speed, 7nm FinFet Process, 64MB L3 Cache, Dual Channel DDR4 Controller, 3200-3600MHz RAM Recommended, 3 Year Warranty
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk
Click to expand...

Re quadro Vs much cheaper (in theory) and newer 3060 https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3060-Ti-vs-Nvidia-Quadro-RTX-4000/4090vsm716215

Of course there is 3070 and 6800 too


The CPU should be no more than £510. I plainly refuse to support scalpers
 
Hanley said:
Every review I read of the new M1 MacBook Air says how amazing they are.
I'm tempted to pick one up, probably increase the memory to 16GB, but was wondering if anyone on here has one and how it runs Lightroom?

I have my 16inch MacBook Pro but it's big and gets hot very quickly, the reviews of the air state it has no fan so no noise and rarely gets very hot.

My wife would be using it mainly but I'd probably use it for LR work when I want to do some light work.
Click to expand...

I have the same MBP as you and don't see it slowing down much in LR not enough to warrent an upgrade just yet anyway I shoot with a Sony A73 raw files around 40-50mb each I also have a fair few sometimes 10+ open in PS and still doesn't slow down, I would check what else is running in the background, until Adobe release native apps for the new M1s they'll be running slower than your i9 after they've updated the apps they will absolutely fly along so might want to wait.

Unless you've got some pennies burning a hole in your pocket.
I'll wait for a 16" version before i upgrade.
 
kiteninja said:
I have the same MBP as you and don't see it slowing down much in LR not enough to warrent an upgrade just yet anyway I shoot with a Sony A73 raw files around 40-50mb each I also have a fair few sometimes 10+ open in PS and still doesn't slow down, I would check what else is running in the background, until Adobe release native apps for the new M1s they'll be running slower than your i9 after they've updated the apps they will absolutely fly along so might want to wait.

Unless you've got some pennies burning a hole in your pocket.
I'll wait for a 16" version before i upgrade.
Click to expand...
I didn't say it slows down, it flies, but it gets very hot very quickly.
I'll just sit it out and wait to see what they release this year.
 
Hanley said:
but it gets very hot very quickly.
Click to expand...

I doubt I would ever notice it unless there is a thermometer right next to it on a desk. I'm sure it can handle it just fine.
 
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