I've currently got a 15" M2 Air for Work, and 16" M1 Pro for home use, and the difference to me is night and day. The Air is very light, and has incredible battery life, performance is solid, and the screen and speakers etc are good enough. The 16" M1 Pro however is in another league, the screen is miles ahead of the air, the overall build quality is rock solid and there is no flex at all, the speakers too are like a pair of HomePod minis. Graphical performance too, even though its 'just' and M1 Pro, feels about 50% better than the M2 GPU when running anything demanding.
You aren't messing around with your screen real estate! I contemplated the 16, but it's quite literally a tank and having come from the 13 air, it seemed like it might not even fit on an airplane table tray haha But I agree on screen and speakers, the quality is significantly better especially in the speakers. It's hard to explain but they are deeper and more immersive. Like sitting in front of the Pro the audio wraps around your head vs on the air it just seems to be a lot lighter sounding
@@JustinMiller_Tech the performance is really good! the m3 chip holds up really well. However, im not getting the best battery life. I wonder if it will improve over the week
A cost/benefit analysis also needs to take account of longevity. All my MacBook Pros failed due to design flaws like flexgate and the 2011 GPU scandal. I am now trying another direction - base M3 Air with external NVME in a Thunderbolt 4 caddy. A big saving on Apple's storage prices and in if the machine develops faults before it achieves any great age I haven't invested a fortune in it.
Apple is not holding back when it comes to their pricing tiers for SSD. As you did, you can get an NVMe and enclosure for nearly the same price as a single tier jump for internal storage. To me that makes way more sense and to spend that on more RAM or just not having to at all
I have an M2 Air and an M3 Pro with 18GB 1TB. The air is usually the one for simple stuff that ill take to work and the M3 Pro and my windows desktop alternate with editing and stuff. I never thought id be an apple guy but here i am lmao
That seems to be the best combo right there! But man, you’re telling me! I have nice windows desktop that I used to use often, but now since getting the pro it only gets turned on for occasional gaming.
While new is nice, the M3 MBP would be the more capable machine. If you feel like a little extra power and better thermals are more in line with what you need the refurb would be the best option. BH photo does have the MBP you mentioned available as new for 1,599 if 99 more is worth getting new
Yep! So to me the pro has been perfect for what I’m doing and made things much better, but for my wife the M2 air is still able to do everything she throws at it with ease
Video editing and rendering are far from the only computer tasks that benefit from more CPU and GPU power over extended periods of time, when a fan might be needed.
It will likely be fine for a couple years, but the base spec M3 MacBook Pro only has 8GB of ram, which may cause some limitation with more advanced edits. If you can jump into the 16gb model or even the base M3 Pro chip with 18GB, you’d likely prolong needing replacement unit for just a little more upfront
@@JustinMiller_Tech alright got it was thinking of getting the one with 18gm and 512gb it’s $2,000 around there but hope these can last me very long time
@@JustinMiller_Tech well sadly I’ll be paying it full because monthly payment for 36months that’s why I’m thinking something that will last long how about the M3
I think it would definitely get the job done, but if you spend a lot of time in either of those apps the pro lineup might be a better fit due to the added fans and more powerful chips You could also consider an M2 pro/max at a discount that would put it inline or less than an M3 air
I agree. 512 on its own isn’t near enough. I got a 2TB Samsung T9 that I’ve been running all my videos and photos to and so far that’s been great. It’s not as fast as the internal SSD, but aside from slower transfers it does everything else I need including allowing for video editing direct off the ssd
I’m new to MacBook and i want to get one but still i don’t know which one to pick 😅, anyone can help me pls? Either MacBook m3 pro 14inch, 512gb, 11 cpu, 14 gpu, 18 ram Or MacBook m3 air 13inch 512gb, 8 cpu, 10 gpu, 16 ram. I will not got 15inch in air bcs it’s not worth it, if i will spend i will spend in m3 pro, (and in my home i can use external monitor if i need multi tasking). I will use it both for movies and to develop software (so i will use some emulators/Vm/.. and new tech tgat i need to learn 😅). I know i need that 16 ram, so bcs of that i upgrade it. I am new software graduate, so yeah i don’t have that money to go to 24 memory unless u told me it must😅 What do u think guys, which one better for me?
There is a pretty good deal going on right now where you can get the 14 inch pro with your mentioned specs for 1499, which would put it just 200 more than the M3 air with 16GB of ram and the 512GB SSD. I feel like for the additional 200 dollars you're getting a better display, fans, 2GB more RAM, a better CPU and a better GPU. So that's what I'd choose between the two you mentioned
@@JustinMiller_Tech unfortunately I don’t have apple store in my country. And the best i found the difference is about 500$ . Not sure that worth it😅. What do u think?
I think the biggest thing to consider will be sustained use of emulators where having fans would be helpful. If you have others you know in your field of study that are using the Air and can attest to its performance then the $500 savings could be nice.
In all honesty, I can’t tell whether this video is clickbait or not. You’re comparing Apple’s baseline, entry level model against their Pro-level model. The processors in both those systems are a generation apart and the MacBook Pro with M3 has double the memory and storage. Additionally, the M2 Air is at a disadvantage because it only has one SSD chip as opposed to two. Having said all that, your primary use cases are editing videos and content creation for this TH-cam channel. With the obvious conclusions aside, surely you knew one would perform better than the other… right?!!? Videos of this nature are upsetting because it causes unnecessary confusion and spreads misinformation. You absolutely could use a MacBook Air to edit 4K videos and create content for your channel! Granted you will need to upgrade the amount of RAM, but that’s about all you’d need to spend on. You could also save on storage prices by using an external drive instead. Features like the ProMotion Display/MiniLED or the additional ports are all trivial. None of those things are detrimental to the average user’s workflow unless they truly need it. The MacBook Air is a very capable machine and it disappoints me to see how many TH-cam channels dismiss it for the MacBook Pro instead.
This video is my thoughts on my experience with the air and with the pro and why I decided to ditch the air for the pro. I've had the air for 11 months and I've now had the pro for 5 months. As I began to do more editing tasks with the air I noticed the throttling and increased thermals, even though I hoped it wouldn't because nobody really wants to spend more money if you don't have to. As you mentioned you could edit 4k videos on an Air. This is why I considered the 16gb model as mentioned in the video. But with the price difference of only 300 dollars, why not those trivial things? In the end my opinion is my own and the comparison reflect the units as they are without any false claim. If you want to hear some of my praise for the M2 air go watch my review on that unit. I had plenty of good things to say about it
Thank you for your response. I don’t doubt you have great things to say about the M2 Air. It’s a fantastic notebook! Many people including myself still own an M1 MacBook Air and do not see a pressing need to upgrade. The point I attempted to get across was that the MacBook Air, while absolutely capable of handling video editing and content creation, does have its limitations. Therefore, you have to be realistic with your workflow. If you need more, then the next step up would be a MacBook Pro which you already purchased. I presume you are happy with your choice and it is working away dutifully. I suppose I misinterpreted your video as part of the typical ‘TH-cam du jours’. I’ve been watching a lot of M2/M3 MacBook videos lately and they seem to have all blended into another. I guess I only have myself to blame! I’ve seen too many channels discounting the Air lineup as nothing more than a paltry laptop for mundane tasks and content consumption. For what it’s worth, I will be changing my original rating to a “Thumbs Up” instead. Take care.
I appreciate the rating change! I think the champion of the paltry laptop for mundane tasks would fall with the Chromebook as the MacBook Air is leagues above that as you and I both know. But of course, at the end of the day you need a laptop that checks every box for yourself and within apples ecosystem there is a lot of wiggle room with each model, including the base model. So the fact a base model air with 8GB of Ram can absolutely edit 4k videos without crashing is a testament to itself. And for me, the Pro just did it a little better (and quicker), which was worth the extra
M1 Pro is the best value for your money tbh
If you can find for a good price, really can’t go wrong with an Apple silicon pro model
@@JustinMiller_Tech MAN, I got a 64gb M1 Max with 2tb ssd for 1200 a few months back talk about a good deal
That’s an insane deal! Can’t blame you for hopping on that
I've currently got a 15" M2 Air for Work, and 16" M1 Pro for home use, and the difference to me is night and day. The Air is very light, and has incredible battery life, performance is solid, and the screen and speakers etc are good enough. The 16" M1 Pro however is in another league, the screen is miles ahead of the air, the overall build quality is rock solid and there is no flex at all, the speakers too are like a pair of HomePod minis. Graphical performance too, even though its 'just' and M1 Pro, feels about 50% better than the M2 GPU when running anything demanding.
You aren't messing around with your screen real estate! I contemplated the 16, but it's quite literally a tank and having come from the 13 air, it seemed like it might not even fit on an airplane table tray haha
But I agree on screen and speakers, the quality is significantly better especially in the speakers. It's hard to explain but they are deeper and more immersive. Like sitting in front of the Pro the audio wraps around your head vs on the air it just seems to be a lot lighter sounding
Thank you for making a true to life review. Most reviews have benchmark tests.... which I dont care for. Thank you so much.
Appreciate that! Glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent review!
i got m3 air base model yesterday :)))))
Solid choice! How do you like it so far?
@@JustinMiller_Tech the performance is really good! the m3 chip holds up really well. However, im not getting the best battery life. I wonder if it will improve over the week
A cost/benefit analysis also needs to take account of longevity. All my MacBook Pros failed due to design flaws like flexgate and the 2011 GPU scandal. I am now trying another direction - base M3 Air with external NVME in a Thunderbolt 4 caddy. A big saving on Apple's storage prices and in if the machine develops faults before it achieves any great age I haven't invested a fortune in it.
Apple is not holding back when it comes to their pricing tiers for SSD. As you did, you can get an NVMe and enclosure for nearly the same price as a single tier jump for internal storage. To me that makes way more sense and to spend that on more RAM or just not having to at all
I have an M2 Air and an M3 Pro with 18GB 1TB. The air is usually the one for simple stuff that ill take to work and the M3 Pro and my windows desktop alternate with editing and stuff. I never thought id be an apple guy but here i am lmao
That seems to be the best combo right there! But man, you’re telling me! I have nice windows desktop that I used to use often, but now since getting the pro it only gets turned on for occasional gaming.
Should I get an new M2 MBA 15" 16gb 1tb or a refurbished M3 MBP 14" 16gb 512ssd? Both are the same price at $1.5k
While new is nice, the M3 MBP would be the more capable machine. If you feel like a little extra power and better thermals are more in line with what you need the refurb would be the best option.
BH photo does have the MBP you mentioned available as new for 1,599 if 99 more is worth getting new
What is “worth it” to you is how much value you are getting from it relative to what you have spent.
Yep! So to me the pro has been perfect for what I’m doing and made things much better, but for my wife the M2 air is still able to do everything she throws at it with ease
Video editing and rendering are far from the only computer tasks that benefit from more CPU and GPU power over extended periods of time, when a fan might be needed.
Absolutely, pretty much everything can benefit from active cooling
Uh I’m thinking of getting a MacBook Pro m3 but not sure it’s gonna be for editing videos ect!! Let me know thanks
It will likely be fine for a couple years, but the base spec M3 MacBook Pro only has 8GB of ram, which may cause some limitation with more advanced edits. If you can jump into the 16gb model or even the base M3 Pro chip with 18GB, you’d likely prolong needing replacement unit for just a little more upfront
@@JustinMiller_Tech alright got it was thinking of getting the one with 18gm and 512gb it’s $2,000 around there but hope these can last me very long time
If you’re in the US, BH photo has that exact model for 1,799 to save a little
@@JustinMiller_Tech well sadly I’ll be paying it full because monthly payment for 36months that’s why I’m thinking something that will last long how about the M3
@@Garaneru That makes sense. I think you'll get some good use out of it. Best to get the one you need and have it last!
Is M3 Macbook air with 16GB RAM a good machine for Davinci Resolve and After Effects?
I think it would definitely get the job done, but if you spend a lot of time in either of those apps the pro lineup might be a better fit due to the added fans and more powerful chips
You could also consider an M2 pro/max at a discount that would put it inline or less than an M3 air
@@JustinMiller_Tech Thank you
Im planning to buy a macbook air m3 for youtube streaming and obs daily. Do you think that would be enough?
It should handle OBS no problem with a camera feed and audio inputs.
Is there anything else you’d be running with it?
@@JustinMiller_Tech I use Photoshop and a wacom tablet while streaming using obs. Is that ok?
Photoshop at the same time may start to slow down on the 8GB M3 but if you opt for 16 then you’ll be good to go
@@JustinMiller_Tech yes im going for the 16gb thank so much
M3 Chip is awesome, but 512G is not enough
I agree. 512 on its own isn’t near enough. I got a 2TB Samsung T9 that I’ve been running all my videos and photos to and so far that’s been great. It’s not as fast as the internal SSD, but aside from slower transfers it does everything else I need including allowing for video editing direct off the ssd
the pro display is so much better
I didn't think I'd notice as much, but it certainly makes a difference
The Air will fit nice for our lifestyle
I’m new to MacBook and i want to get one but still i don’t know which one to pick 😅, anyone can help me pls?
Either MacBook m3 pro 14inch, 512gb, 11 cpu, 14 gpu, 18 ram Or MacBook m3 air 13inch 512gb, 8 cpu, 10 gpu, 16 ram.
I will not got 15inch in air bcs it’s not worth it, if i will spend i will spend in m3 pro, (and in my home i can use external monitor if i need multi tasking).
I will use it both for movies and to develop software (so i will use some emulators/Vm/.. and new tech tgat i need to learn 😅).
I know i need that 16 ram, so bcs of that i upgrade it.
I am new software graduate, so yeah i don’t have that money to go to 24 memory unless u told me it must😅
What do u think guys, which one better for me?
There is a pretty good deal going on right now where you can get the 14 inch pro with your mentioned specs for 1499, which would put it just 200 more than the M3 air with 16GB of ram and the 512GB SSD.
I feel like for the additional 200 dollars you're getting a better display, fans, 2GB more RAM, a better CPU and a better GPU.
So that's what I'd choose between the two you mentioned
@@JustinMiller_Tech unfortunately I don’t have apple store in my country. And the best i found the difference is about 500$ .
Not sure that worth it😅. What do u think?
I think the biggest thing to consider will be sustained use of emulators where having fans would be helpful. If you have others you know in your field of study that are using the Air and can attest to its performance then the $500 savings could be nice.
Suggestion for MacBook Air, run, sudo su (password),depois , #watch -n30 purge , a cada 30 segundos será limpo o cache
For clearing RAM cache?
@@JustinMiller_Tech yes
Oh my god your hands are huge😂
So is it m3 MacBook Pro or m3 pro MacBook Pro !? Apple is making it confusing for the consumers!
It’s definitely a mouthful since they have the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max MacBook Pro.
The one I have is the M3 Pro
In all honesty, I can’t tell whether this video is clickbait or not.
You’re comparing Apple’s baseline, entry level model against their Pro-level model. The processors in both those systems are a generation apart and the MacBook Pro with M3 has double the memory and storage. Additionally, the M2 Air is at a disadvantage because it only has one SSD chip as opposed to two.
Having said all that, your primary use cases are editing videos and content creation for this TH-cam channel. With the obvious conclusions aside, surely you knew one would perform better than the other… right?!!?
Videos of this nature are upsetting because it causes unnecessary confusion and spreads misinformation. You absolutely could use a MacBook Air to edit 4K videos and create content for your channel! Granted you will need to upgrade the amount of RAM, but that’s about all you’d need to spend on. You could also save on storage prices by using an external drive instead. Features like the ProMotion Display/MiniLED or the additional ports are all trivial. None of those things are detrimental to the average user’s workflow unless they truly need it.
The MacBook Air is a very capable machine and it disappoints me to see how many TH-cam channels dismiss it for the MacBook Pro instead.
This video is my thoughts on my experience with the air and with the pro and why I decided to ditch the air for the pro.
I've had the air for 11 months and I've now had the pro for 5 months. As I began to do more editing tasks with the air I noticed the throttling and increased thermals, even though I hoped it wouldn't because nobody really wants to spend more money if you don't have to.
As you mentioned you could edit 4k videos on an Air. This is why I considered the 16gb model as mentioned in the video. But with the price difference of only 300 dollars, why not those trivial things?
In the end my opinion is my own and the comparison reflect the units as they are without any false claim.
If you want to hear some of my praise for the M2 air go watch my review on that unit. I had plenty of good things to say about it
Thank you for your response.
I don’t doubt you have great things to say about the M2 Air. It’s a fantastic notebook! Many people including myself still own an M1 MacBook Air and do not see a pressing need to upgrade.
The point I attempted to get across was that the MacBook Air, while absolutely capable of handling video editing and content creation, does have its limitations. Therefore, you have to be realistic with your workflow. If you need more, then the next step up would be a MacBook Pro which you already purchased. I presume you are happy with your choice and it is working away dutifully.
I suppose I misinterpreted your video as part of the typical ‘TH-cam du jours’. I’ve been watching a lot of M2/M3 MacBook videos lately and they seem to have all blended into another. I guess I only have myself to blame! I’ve seen too many channels discounting the Air lineup as nothing more than a paltry laptop for mundane tasks and content consumption.
For what it’s worth, I will be changing my original rating to a “Thumbs Up” instead. Take care.
I appreciate the rating change!
I think the champion of the paltry laptop for mundane tasks would fall with the Chromebook as the MacBook Air is leagues above that as you and I both know.
But of course, at the end of the day you need a laptop that checks every box for yourself and within apples ecosystem there is a lot of wiggle room with each model, including the base model.
So the fact a base model air with 8GB of Ram can absolutely edit 4k videos without crashing is a testament to itself.
And for me, the Pro just did it a little better (and quicker), which was worth the extra