Apple Intelligence is now on the tech giant's most popular laptop: the MacBook Air. And the company also decided to make the new M4 version even more budget-friendly.
Apple is not the market leader when it comes to the computer market – it ranks fourth behind Dell, HP and leader Lenovo – but its dedicated followers always look forward to anything new, no matter how token the changes are.
With the new price-point, at entry-level iPhone territory, Apple is likely aiming to lure more users into its fold. The National takes a look at the device.
What is new in the M4 MacBook Air?
Compared to the souped-up iPhone 16e and the conservatively upgraded M3 iPad Air, the M4 MacBook Air is in the middle, with a number of key upgrades:
While staying put in terms of design, Apple added two cores to the M4 MacBook Air's CPU, in addition to now having the option of boosting its RAM up to 32GB. The last one is notable, considering the lower price points Apple is now offering for the device.
The main reason for these is the latest M4 chip. Obviously, it is an improvement from the M3, but the standout figure from Apple's newest silicon processor is the ability of its 16-core neural engine to crunch 38 trillion processes per second, which is a 111 per cent boost from the M3.
As for what you can see on the exterior, nothing has changed. The two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and MagSafe 3 port remain on the left, while the 3.5mm audio cave is on the right.
Performance: What you would expect
According to Apple, the M4 MacBook Air is capable of spreadsheet calculations that are nearly five times faster, video editing up to eight times quicker and photo editing up to 3.6 times faster, in addition to web browsing up to 60 per cent faster.
Such improvements are widely expected when it comes to new devices. But, quite frankly, that's about it. We might be circling back to what we saw in the M3 iPad Air, which came with token upgrades, another go at Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro, plus the Resident Evil 4 remake for good measure, to prove to ourselves what we expected: smooth graphics and rendering. We do appreciate the console-quality graphics while Leon Kennedy fights off hordes of infected foes.
Of course, Apple Intelligence remains a key selling point. It helps you go about your activity by improving your writing, organising mails and media, and generating images, among other uses.
How long does battery last?
Apple says the M4 MacBook Air's battery life remains at up to 18 hours, on par with all M models dating back to 2020 (but significantly up from the last non-M device, also in that year).
That's actually more than enough to go about your work, play and entertainment for the day. A good mix of use brought us all the way to early evening. In our one-hour YouTube-at-full-brightness test, the device lost 11 per cent, continuing an improving trend from the M2 and M3 versions.
Verdict
We've established for a long time that spec upgrades are big talking points for new devices. The Apple M4 MacBook Air does have that, but admittedly not much. The sometimes-overlooked factor here is the price – and that is the device's biggest draw.
Is it a big price decrease? It is Dh600 less than the M3 version, but looking further into the past, the price of the latest MacBook Air is down by about a fifth compared to the M2 version. This means that you can get a MacBook and an iPhone at prices not far from each other. It goes lower for students and teachers.
This is a move by Apple to lure in more users, plain and simple. And we reckon that, by extension, it may also entice non-iPhone users to make the switch.
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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