Hi all, I managed to get my hands on a lovely m3 MacBook Air. It runs like a dream but I'm just a bit worried about its 8GB RAM. I'm a physics student so I will be using it mainly to write some basic python code and maybe run OBS/ daVinci studio for some video editing. and maybe some light gaming/ streaming (for when I just want to chill). I'm just worried it won't be able to meet my needs in the future. It is quite an expensive purchase so I need it to last. I got it on a mobile contract, nothing shady at all (that wasn't sarcasm, it is a very good deal, except the 8GB debacle and missing out on student bonus).

It's not my first 'underpowered' apple device. I currently use an iPad (10th gen) and an iPhone 15. I am spending a lot of money and hope I made the right decision. I know for most games, I will meet just about the minimum required RAM, but that's fine with me. I don't play the fancy big games anyway. As much as I would love some yes-men, I would value your honest opinion. For some reason, I can't find the 16GB model on the mobile contracts, so I am stuck with this. As for buying it directly with apple, I would need to pay an extra £200 in interest on top of the extra £200 I would need to pay. I just can't afford that kind of money. I'm sorry, I'm reStarting university (I started it seven years back then had to stop and now I'm finishing it. Don't ask, long story) and everything is quite scary. I haven't lived on my own in quite some time and just realised how much money I spent just moving in and I am freaking out over that.

I am usually a frugal person (thanks to my economic condition, it is a necessity) but I saved up over a long period just to afford this. Hopefully I made the right choice. I did, didn't I? This won't turn into a money sink, will it? I'm just so worried, I just want to curl up into a ball. Sorry, tmi, I know, but I need to vent my worries into the ether too.

I need a new laptop for work and currently considering either the M2 or the M3 MacBook Air.

I can get the M2 air completely new off Amazon for £900 or I can get the refurbished M3 for £930 from the Apple Store.

Which should I go for? I use my laptop every day for work, mostly using PowerPoint and excel (sometimes handling quite large data files which significantly slow down my current 2015 MacBook Pro)

Thanks!

Hi, I've always used HP computers and Windows OS, and I'll be buying a MacBook Air M3 soon. Is there anything important I should buy as well? can I use regular pendrives on this laptop?

Hello. My son is about to leave for college, and someone gifted him a 2013 MacBook Pro. Her husband purchased it brand new, then passed away before putting ten hours into the machine. We are able to open it to a desktop, there is no login password required, but there is an admin password required to make changes to settings.

His widow does not know what that password is.

The MacBook, at least in settings, is not linked to an Apple ID.

There are many online instructions on how to format and reinstall Mac OSX if you’ve forgotten your admin password. But my concern is about that Apple ID and Apple security features. Would there be any risk of bricking the laptop since we don’t know the previous owner’s admin user password? And we don’t know if it was bought from an Apple Store in such a way that Apple’s servers would somehow lock the MacBook because they know which Apple ID owns the laptop, even if the laptop doesn’t know? I can’t afford to buy my son a new laptop, and right now he can use the native Pages, but he wants to install more but can’t.

Should we do the format and reinstall steps? Or would that end in disaster?

Thank you!

Hi there. Not well versed with computers and need someone to explain it to me like I’m 5. However I’m a video editor and sound designer graduate straight out of university and need to purchase a MacBook for a potential gig . I’ve never used my own machine to edit, I always used the iMac on campus for assignments and projects. So I need to make the purchase preowned because budget is limited. Please and thank you .

In other words, how much is the backup compressed?

I have a 2TB MBP and am in the market for an external drive for backup.

Hi everyone!

I have this issue with my MacBook Air where I select previously typed text and then type to replace it and the replacing text is typed backwards. For example, I type in "the" into a search box, then select the word and type "the" again, except what is displayed is "eht"! I do a lot of text editing for work so as you can imagine this is a huge nuisance.
I've tried several things, like turning off tap to click on my trackpad to avoid interference by touching the trackpad with my hand. I've also made sure all my language settings are correct and turned off autocomplete/autocorrect. If I select the text, then press delete, and then type in the new text, it displays normally and as expected, but if I only select the text and start typing to replace it, the issue happens.

Has anybody had this before and found a solution to it?

Thanks!

Hello guys. I need some advice if u can give a bit of your time. I'm a student and im thinking about switching my old laptop (that doesnt work) for a new one for my needs at university. Basically multi-tasking, writing reports in word with extensions (Mendeley), seeing multiple books and documents at the same time, not much more. But I wanted quality without the product being much outdated and for a low budget (around 500€ for a refurbished laptop). Many people recommended me to seek a refurbished macbook. I wanted suggestions since this is a urgent matter to me (my work on university will start in 2 weeks) and I dont have the budget in hand to wait to expand my buy to an Macbook air 2020 with M1 (a functional product of this model costs around 675€ minimum in Portugal).

Something got stuck between the keyboard and the screen when I was closing it which caused these lines to appear at the bottom right corner. The screen is working fine.

i have a macbook pro 15inch 2010 , the issue i face is i have changed several chargers , stops working after some months , i never faced such issue when i was using my hp laptop , my question is if there is a way to use my hp charger to turn on my macbook pro ? if i change the wire or connector and it can work ?

I got a M1 Macbook Air back in 2021, and I planned to have it for 5 years. I've seen the performance on the M2 and M3 machines, and I haven't updated yet. So, do you think that M4 will finally be worth the upgrade, or maybe we will have to wait until M5?

Hey! I'm in marketing and have been using Macs throughout my entire professional career. Recently, I started a new position at a large corp and they shipped me a Windows computer. I asked my manager if I could swap my work Windows computer for a Mac, and she was cool with it. However, IT is asking me for a business use case (or multiple) to justify the switch.

I want to give a solid case to increase my chances of getting it approved. Any ideas or tips on what I could present as reasons for the switch? What kinds of use cases do you think would help?

Have any of you faced a similar situation? What worked for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

Jus wondering tho. Why do you guys buy macbooks from Amazon rather than apple store? Pros and Cons?

https://preview.redd.it/xbehm850t5pd1.png?width=825&format=png&auto=webp&s=b3e7d895b5ff0b49f4c9cbb677a38d405900d0d4

Hey, I need a Mac but definitely can't spend that much on a good M3 model. Here are some of the options I've found, what do you think is the best option given the specs etc? I develop some heavy apps and believe I need the 16GB.
Leaning towards the Pro M1 Pro for the price. Thanks

Hello, looking for a good MacBook for chilling in bed would like to spend under 500 ideally.

Audio output in my MacBook automatically changes to External Headphone even though I haven't connected any headphone to my Mac.... And when it revert it back to the MacBook speakers again and again it automatically get sets to External Headphone....I tried safe mode, Resetting NVRAM no of those things helped plz help me I m fed up with this problem

https://preview.redd.it/692kto3vv4pd1.png?width=948&format=png&auto=webp&s=79cd6299db169b4eaf7ad1239ec9dcea7246dd4d

I am firmly in the Apple ecosystem but I need a machine capable of running Windows occasionally.

I already have an M1 Air as my daily but need something else. I don't like VMWare and would like a physical machine.

What would you recommend? I'll run OCLP if required but would prefer not to..

When the screen is on you can't see any smudges but when its off it looks as if the coating of screen is wearing off. Are these smudges normal?

Hello friends, I am looking for my first macbook. I will use it for amateur video editing, I am starting out in programming, really for data science in the agricultural field, no large compilations, unless my professional career takes me to that. I think a Macbook air M3 with 16 GB of ram would be enough, but I live in a warm and humid place, very very hot in Mexico where everything gets hot. My concern is, if with the activities I will do I will always have the Macbook Air warm... Is that true? Or, do I invest some extra money and go for the MacBook Pro? (same features, 16 gb ram 512 ssd)

Thanks a lot.

I currently have a MacBook Pro 13in (m1) and it works great however I want to trade it in before the trade in value goes down! I’m currently in computer science but would love a bigger screen but I know the 14 inch has a better screen. Could the air handle coding the way my M1 does? Or should I just go for the 14in pro

Hi, I am torn between purchasing a 16GB 512GB M1 MacBook Air used for $700-800, or buying an M3 MacBook Air new with Apple Care for ~$1500. My question basically is whether the M3 MacBook is worth double the price? I work in the software industry, so I would be using the machine daily for meetings, coding, research, video editing, etc.

To buy or not to buy? 🤔