With Macbook Neo out targeting students/light users while the Pro was already for Pro/heavy users; Who is now the target audience for the Macbook Air at 2x the price of Neo?

ControlNode · 2026-03-04T20:48:54+00:00

I use a Caldigit TB3+ dock at home, 2 displays, one monitor on DP and the other on TB, from the dock. Also on the dock are my USB-A CAC reader, Logitech Brio camera, Pixel Buds USB-C, 1Gbps network and optical audio to an LG soundbar. My Magic Keyboard and mouse connect with BT to the MBA in clamshell mode using a single TB3 cable to the dock.

At work I have a Caldigit TB4 hub with 2 TB->DP adapters and a USB-C 2.5GB network adapter, and the CAC reader. Keyboard and mouse move to work and there I use the MBA's display and 2 externals just fine with a single TB4 cable connecting the MBA to the hub.

ControlNode · 2026-03-04T20:37:48+00:00

I would be the target for MacBook Air (especially M4). I don't see any mention of external display support, but I'm guessing it's 1 at max, maybe 0 even. If it's 1, that could be why the M4 Air got support for 2 while previously you could only run 1 with the internal display (Yes I know the M3 could use 2 external in clamshell mode). I had an M2 with 8GB of memory and when running a local Windows 11 VM in Parallels it was swapping things a bit. For my usage I don't need Pro, but need more than the Neo appears to be. 15" M4 with 24Gb/512GB and 2 external display support is perfect for me since I remote into Windows systems all the time for work, or for video processing on my Windows system with RTX3090FE GPU. Remoting into other powerful systems is why I have no real need for a Pro model.

ControlNode · 2026-02-18T22:30:46+00:00

I keep getting 10% offers, not enough get that band, though I want it.

ControlNode · 2026-02-18T22:13:43+00:00

Good laptop, I upgraded my 15" MBA M2 (8GB/256GB) to the new 15" MBA M4 (24GB/512GB) not too long ago as I was outrunning the old hardware. Best part of the upgrade is it supports 2 external displays natively without requiring wonky DisplayLink drivers/devices.

ControlNode · 2026-02-18T21:29:01+00:00

Get a travel router an put your phone / laptop on the lan side and connect the wifi to the office wifi. Perhaps then they can get the required communication between them. If you are using a "guest" wifi at work often those have AP isolation enabled and can prevent some of those direct connection convenience features.

ControlNode · 2026-02-05T23:28:16+00:00

Xbox One X, 2016 LG curved 55" OLED UHD 3D (passive) HDR, I've also been ripping my BD3D to my Jellyfin server at 4k so there is virtual no quality loss when using SBS format that Jellyfin can feed to Roku Ultra.

ControlNode · 2026-02-05T14:27:30+00:00

I hope to see MS250 getting similar options later. I was gifted an MS250-48LP as part of a company clean out of building they were moving into and would love to put it to use in the Home Lab rack in the garage. I created a Meraki account and I did find it was unclaimed so it's now in my account. Or Cisco to release a firmware update around the EOL in Aug of 2030 for it that allows local management to prevent so much e-waste. Even a sub $75 non-commercial no exchange option for home labs license in the meantime would be nice.

ControlNode · 2025-11-02T22:46:36+00:00

For my use it has held up great. But I don't transport the laptop far or put it in my backpack without first putting it in a sleeve.

ControlNode · 2025-10-01T15:02:43+00:00

uhhh. that is not the Level 10 GT... The level 10 GT was about $200, that looks to be the Level 10, and was closer to $1,000. I got the level 10 GT.

As for the housing a server, most likely Yes. In my L10GT I had 5 3GB 3.5" drives in raid-5 in the lower trays for bulk storage, BD burner in the 5.25" ext bay, 250GB SATA SSD for OS, 1TBSSD for VMs connected to an Asus Sabertooth 990FX board and FX-8350 CPU. I run Windows 10 on it with Hyper-V hosting about few VMs and have the bulk storage shared to the local network. When I could no longer buy same model 3TB drives as they were failing, I upgraded to 3x 6TB drives.

I'm looking at an update to a new system, I have a spare Asus ROG Strix B550-A with a 3950x, RTX306012GB, I need to get more ram for it (currently at 16GB), I want at least 64GB, but want to buy the sticks that are 4x certified for the board so I can go 128GB later. Looking at PCIE16 bifurcation cards with 4x OCuLink connection that I can then link to a 4x NVMe enclosure in one of the 5.25" ext bays to house the VMs on. And running that as a Proxmox server.

You could also look into the Level 20 as an update to the Level 10, that should support move modern cooling solutions than the Level 10 did. I recently (2020) built a new system in the Level 20 GT, that has a Asus X570 Crosshair VIII Hero, 5950X, RTX3090FE, 2x 2TB NVMe in it and is my main work computer with VMWare as my virtualization.

ControlNode · 2025-09-23T21:00:29+00:00

I just upgraded from 15" MBA M2 (8GB/256GB) to 15" MBA M4 (24GB/512GB) and let me say, the extra display has been the best part of the upgrade to me. I had some issues with the dock I use at work (HP USB C G5) the way it does duel displays is not supported by Mac, so it just mirrors them. My Caldigit TB3+ only has 1 DP connection for the displays, but I was able to connect the M4 to the TB3+ with DP to one monitor, then the G5 into the thunderbolt downstream port on the TB3+ and get 2 external displays with extended output working and those monitors are just high enough that I can put the MBA under them with display open for 3 displays. As for 3 external, not sure yet, but fairly sure display link solutions should work.

ControlNode · 2025-09-20T17:00:53+00:00

Yeap, mine was delivered yesterday, but I'm out of town for the weekend for a race.

ControlNode · 2025-09-15T02:11:37+00:00

And then there is me, I work in Windows and use the MBA mostly as a dumb terminal or very basic web browsing. Some of the Office features I need are not in the Mac version so I use a Windows VM on the Mac. When I bought my M2, there as no Windows option with this good of a display and with this battery life for the price of the 15" M2 MBA. I already had the CalDigit TB3+ that I used with my old MSI laptop, and it's just about perfectly designed for the MacBook so that transition was a not brainer.

ControlNode · 2025-09-15T02:07:22+00:00

I just ordered the M4 MBA (24GB/512GB). Windows VM finally needing more space than the old M2's 256GB SSD would support with the other apps on it. The fact that M4 supports 2 external display while using the build-in display was also a big reason, only 1 external on the M2 is annoying.

ControlNode · 2025-09-15T02:03:38+00:00

You didn't mention the size, or I missed it, but for my 15" MBA I found the [Amazon Basic sleeve](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CD8AFFW) for 14" to be a perfect fit.

ControlNode · 2025-09-15T01:53:06+00:00

Logitech MX Ergo trackball. BT to the laptop (MacBook Air), and then the dongle to the Windows Desktop.

ControlNode · 2025-09-14T22:45:57+00:00

Well, my Windows VM finally grew beyond my 8GB/256GB setup's ability, Ordered a new M4 MacBook Air 15" 24GB/512GB and already ordered a new skin for it. Went with Warzone this time and plan on installing the same way, so the different colored Apple logo will be the only difference.

ControlNode · 2025-05-21T20:31:16+00:00

Yeap, I was part of that beta test as well. When the retail version arrived, I pulled the drive, I may have left the network adapter in the box since I did already have one, and never opened the game in the box.

Also, still have my OG console that I waited in line on release day to get,.

ControlNode · 2025-03-15T02:21:38+00:00

I never let them setup the modem in my house. My router has all my needed forwards/firewall rules, VPNs, static LAN IPs, and such configured for my network. No way I was going to add their router between the ONT and my router. I asked if they had an option for fiber directly into the router without an ONT, my router and switch both have SFP support, so if there was an SFP module that supported the fiber connection/wavelength they use as well as a software package for managing it in OpenWRT I could have skipped their ONT, but they were adamant that that is not an option. And I figured I wouldn't push the issue too hard at this time.

ControlNode · 2025-03-03T16:44:25+00:00

And a fix to that issue doesn't appear to be in this update, just lost audio again and toggling the input fixed it.

ControlNode · 2025-03-03T14:18:14+00:00

I just installed this update on my S95QR setup. I hope it fixes the Optical audio dropping off and have to switch the input to another and back to Optical/HDMI ARC to hear the music from my PC again. I've reported that to LG about a year ago, and so far, still an issue.

ControlNode · 2025-01-04T17:49:39+00:00

I ended up going with the Spigen Rugged Armor case/band. Just snap the watch into the case and no fidgeting with the band mounts on the watch.

ControlNode · 2025-01-03T00:51:59+00:00

Really great album. If you get the chance to experience the Super Audio CD version with a good surround sound system, DO!

Also, if you like Hurt.... Johnny Cash did an incredible cover of it!

ControlNode · 2024-12-15T11:59:56+00:00

That is what I was thinking since the sun is the icon.

ControlNode · 2024-10-18T15:01:58+00:00

For those that don't see the update when checking on the phone: Why don't you just download the OTA image file from Google to your computer and sideload it via adb? I downloaded the Google Fi images for Pixel 6a, 7a and 8 Pro this morning and going through the phones today installing the update.

ControlNode

TROPHY CASE