This channel's focus on lifestyle applications has been excellent! It feels like these videos are focused on what a person would need for a daily driver instead of a maxxed out halo product
I don't really have any interest in most Apple products, but still end up watching just about every Mac Address video for the artistic choices (filming, editing, etc.) and Jonathan. I'm surprised to find how much I appreciate that this channel exists. Way to go, y'all.
Same! I've actually never owned ANY Apple products, not even an iPod. Pretty much the only Apple product that has ever tempted me was the first iPhone, which all the coolest rich kids had in highschool... Should've bought some stocks back then...
@@nyambe I don't think he wasn't overly negative. I thought he was just very realistic about the M2's limitations. There's no point to close your eyes to limitations in Apple products. They are designed by humans after all. Blindfolded praising of an electronics brand doesn't encourage them to improve their products in the future. If you want to see only positive hype, go and read Apple's marketing material.
Absolutely the same, plus I still get informed about the most important things about Apple Products, in case a friend ask for a recommandation. The only thing I ever considered buying was the AirPod Pro, but as I don't have any other Apple device to update it, nor can I ask a relative for one, I'll stick to other options either Android-focused like Sony, or better that can be updated and set up with Windows like the Samsung ones.
@@Shaibuli It's totally fake drama. We still have people on the intel MB Air, and they are doing fine, and those are really bad. They say stuff like "it's getting slow", but they keep using it. Apple users don't care about that stuff because they have plenty of other Apple devices. They probably have an iPad or an iMac where they do most of their stuff. There is nothing close to the M2 for day to day stuff in the market. Speed is not the problem of the 256GB model, it's price which is clearly an inflation adjusment
I currently own the M1 MacBook Air, and to avoid the temptation of getting the M2 MacBook Air, I just got my old 2015 11" MacBook Air and remember what it is like to use Intel Macs. Man, the difference between generations are stark
I use an M1 air work laptop and a personal M2 air at home/uni and yes there is a difference, but tbh not enough to pay the extra bucks if you already use the M1 imo. the m2 has a lot of nice to haves but you can also live without it, i cannot even tell a difference in performance in everyday use.
As a student, after I saw the price of the M2 (especially here in Thailand the M2 is $300 more than the M1) I bought the M1 without hesitation, and so far I still think it was the right decision.
It was the right choice. The baht has depreciated significantly from when the M1 version came out. I see all these articles about why the Mac Mini would be a bad choice now, but if the its successor is priced like the M2 vs. M1 air, that price increase is probably not worth it.
@@GuyWithoutACamera why does it have to be a laptop let's be honest mostly every student for school tasks would be perfectly fine with base model iPad 9 for $300 and if anything a Mac Mini for home and both combined are still cheaper then MacBook
@@Byronic19134 It is good to have options. Many people only want a single device. My cousin bought an M1 Air last college term and raved about the battery life.
@@Byronic19134 Wow, so much wrong here I don't know where to begin. A lot of students do not go to colleges near them, usually they go in a big city or even another country where they rent a place with other students and it's very common they do not have a place for a desktop so a Mac Mini setup is out of the question. Even if they had that space, you will need to factor peripherals like an ok screen, keyboard, mouse and speakers/headphones and you will easily push your combo over a comparable Macbook Air. Lastly, depending on what they study, they will need a machine that they can take to class, capable of installing desktop software that simply is not going to work on an iPad. Even if you remote in a Mac Mini you might have left at home, you will still need an external keyboard+mouse, but you will still be limited by the strength of your connection both from your Mac and from your iPad so it will be a very clunky setup to carry around and use in class. You can definitely get through almost any bachelor's and master's degree comfortably with a M1 Macbook Air(preferably 16GB RAM/512GB). But if you can't afford it you will have to go with a decent Windows machine(R5/i5 with same amount of RAM/storage) that will probably start at 500$. And if you don't like the OS, get a Linux distro. Going with your setup will probably be overall more expensive than a Macbook Air while giving you tons of headaches in the long run with the only advantage being that you remain in the Apple ecosystem.
Even though I do occasional video rendering, I'd be fine letting those run overnight as a tradeoff to get the benefits of the Air model. Otherwise there's no way I'd be pushing the performance
i dont disagree, but why has this always been a top comment since this channel's start? no shit it looks great, it's funded by one of the biggest TH-cam media companies
SFU is always so visually appealing! I had the please of being a MA student there a few years ago and not a day passes where I do not miss the brutalist quadrangle in the clouds...
Sadly most find it not to be. It is the suicide capital of Canada and stormy, dreary and grey almost every day of the year. They had to install fences on the roofs because so many were jumping.
its the better choice even if you have the money, the bump in price is inexplicable honestly, youre paying for more raw power from that m2 that you cant even use for more than 20 minutes without it starting to behave like an intel based model. the m1 is better in many ways, plus, if you have the money for an m2 air, get an m1 pro, it beats both
Watching this on, what else, my refurbished M1 Macbook Air I just got for school! I'm blown away by it, it runs smoother than any laptop I've ever had (and I have a gaming laptop with a 3070 in it as well, lol). But since that thing weighs a ton and drains battery insanely quickly, I needed something I can carry throughout the day without either me or the machine dying. Incredibly worth it!
Ha! Exactly my place a few days ago. I have a razer 3070 and I refused to start the new semester with it. Got a M1 refurbished Air and I haven’t looked back either. Glad to see someone else had a similar experience and thought process 😂
I’m also questioning if my razer 3070 is even better than my m1 air. I’m almost tempted to do some testing, because I might need to toss my razer in the bin!
@@orion10x10 the racer blade isn't really a heavy gaming laptop, its only 1.8 kg which isnt much heavier then the mac book. hell my flow x13 is only 1.35 and its has a 3050 ti and a ryzen 5900hs
@@orion10x10 it isn't heavy at all, and that's the reason I went with it. It's sleek and pretty thin. It's actually pretty close to a macbook pro, just one that runs windows and is black rather than silver.
Thank you to LTT and Jonathan for this fantastic channel. I love how you usually use base model affordable apple products to show how it works for the everyday person.
For me, what kills the MBA as an option is the absurd one external monitor limit. I am surprised that wasn't mentioned in the shortcomings of the product.
Whilst I agree, the MBA is aimed at 'casual' and 'everyday' users, who may only ever plug their laptop into one monitor on a rare occasion, eg presenting at college etc. Anyone who intends to be a 'heavy' user, or wishes to use their MacBook in clamshell mode, with multiple displays, is likely to get the MBP regardless.
@@niallwood Exactly what I think. Only professionals need more than 1 display, and if you are a professional, you shouldn’t be getting an entry level Mac
@@Doc_Sans precisely. I do still think the pricing for the base MBA is ridiculously high, along with a decently specked one being nearly the same price as a M1 Pro MBP - but I ovbs understand the correct target audience for each device
I feel that it makes more sense to upgrade the ram instead of the ssd. You can just buy an external ssd if you need more storage, but i feel that 256g is enough for a student unless you do a lot of video editing or any other heavy computer work. You cant do anything about the ram once you have bought the mac, however the storage can still be improved through external storages.
I bought a M1 Air around half a year ago and never regretted it, great machine! Only the 8GB RAM is getting full rather quick, but that's just a minimal downfall, at least currently.
Fair warning to computer science and engineering students: software you need might not be available for MacOS/ARM, or may perform poorly. For early years you'll probably fine focusing on Java, C, C++, Python, etc which runs great everywhere. But in higher level courses you might find that you need to write x86 assembly for an operating systems course, install a Windows-only serial driver for a single-board computer in a microcontrollers course, or use Android Studio in a software engineering or human-computer interaction course (which does have a MacOS version but without an ARM build it absolutely *chugs* in Rosetta 2 on M1/M2). I've heard engineers run into issues with CAD software not being available on MacOS. You will probably have access to computer labs with Windows or Linux machines in a pinch, but that isn't super convenient if you need to be up until 3am finishing an assignment. For everyone else, there really is no Windows machine comparable to the Macs at the price point, it's such a strong option if you are ok with MacOS.
I’m wondering how much of the script(research) is done by Jonathan himself. You don’t see some of the unique insights elsewhere. Especially the critical ones. Good job Jonathan
I just picked up the Base M2 Air after not researching anything about the device. I simply just needed a laptop for school that had a nice screen, decent keyboard and great battery life. For me it's been absolutely amazing. I upgraded from a 2020 XPS 13 2 in 1 that had 32GB ram + a I7 10th gen and honestly I notice the M2 handles certain tasks way better than the XPS. Now your mileage may vary but I highly recommend this laptop if you just need something that has great portability and decent performance.
i'm in the same boat - just returned my 2020 xps 13 2 in 1 because of a fan issue and am looking for a new laptop. how did you find the switch from windows to ios? how are you finding the m2 air after long-term use?
@@naadirah5100 Honestly the Base M2 air has been better than my XPS 13. Even though my XPS had 32gb Ram, 1TB ssd and a 4k screen, The Macbooks retina display is plenty and the battery life is awesome! Performance has been great as well since Mac OS is very optimzed for the hardware. Switching from Windows to Mac OS was a little bit of a learning curve but I got used to it after a week.
I traded in my 16 inch Intel MacBook Pro for the M2 Air and I love it. It's snappier, the screen is just as good, and the return of MagSafe is wonderful. I always wanted the black MacBook, and I got the black color way. I looooooove it
I do find it really interesting to watch Mac Address even as someone whose only experiences are iOS and WatchOS and actively has avoided Apple Laptops, first because it was incompatible with the stuff I need for university and then because I expected taking notes on a touch screen would be needed.
As a computer science student,the only time I had to run something for a very long time was brute forcing b2crypt (that assignment took a total of 20-ish program hours to run) and a project that based on Intel Hexl (but that was AVX512 and very single threaded). Apart from some what I can imagine image recognition or ML assignments I can’t remember anything that took a very long time to run where the system was stressed at 100%
Do you recommend MacBook Air M1 or M2? Can MacBook Air M1 16gb Ram and 512gb SSD get you through your 4 years of college? I am planning to get one for college for CS.
I still think the notch is silly, and I'd love to see a USB-C port on each side rather than both on one side. Other than that I think it's a great update.
It's not a bad laptop, but it is squeezed in between the MBA M1 and the MBP M1 14 - both better laptops. I don't see why anyone should get a MBA M2, unless they love the colors...
@@mplovecraft The SSD is a puzzling choice. Obviously a cost cutting measure. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes in daily usage. But I agree, they shouldn't have gone backwards here at all.
@@RoastBeefSandwich It depends on the use case of course, but since it will be used as swap ram, it will make it quite noticeable in the base 8/256 version.
it makes sense now... the M1 air was too good, so they didn't sell enough M1 MacBook Pro 13inch. So, with an excess of 13inch pro chassis they stuck M2 inside them instead of redesign it, and made the M2 air throttle, so the M2 pro 13" looks better
@@rhysmuir For a moment, I thought you were referring to the M1 Pro chips found in the 14/16in MBPs. I realize you're actually referring to the M1 MBP 13.
The base M2 air as bad as it is, it definitely doesn't throttle unless you do something really demanding for a prolonged time and in that case you bought the wrong laptop
I just bought the maxed MacBook Air M2 and I love it so far. I haven't had any problems running Logic Pro X and using it for school. We'll see how it goes!
My sister was looking into getting a base model M2 Air for the Adobe suite. I recommend she get the M1 16gb rather which costs the same. Although the design is dated, that extra ram comes in clutch and is a much better buy imo.
Been using the Intel Air since 2020, using it for just light tasks and occasional video editing. Been impressed with how good it has helped up. A month after getting it, the thing found itself swimming in my sink for at least two minutes. Opened it up, and ran Premiere to dry up the inside. It has been working perfectly fine, with no signs of damage. Time for an upgrade and I'm getting the 256GB one. The Macbook Pros are ridiculously priced here in South Africa.
In my experience the only issue with buying a refurbished MacBook is having to deal with a battery replacement at least a year sooner, unlike iOS devices they don't get parts replaced unless they are really in bad shape.
I don’t know if this is really the case but when I got my refurbished M1 the battery cycle was at zero so I think I may have got luck with a new battery 🤷🏼♀️
@@stopandsmelltheroses_98 was it refurbished from Apple? If so - they replace the batteries! (They seem to do a proper job refurbishing, making sure the product is functionally pretty much new, versus some places just cleaning the laptop and calling it a day…)
@@thehobnob Yes I did get it refurbished from Apple. I’ve seen some people do reviews on Apple refurbished macs and the battery cycle wasn’t zero though so I was unsure and their site only says a guaranteed replacement battery for iOS devices. I did get told when enquiring that they replace the battery so 🤷🏼♀️ but I definitely got a new battery so I was supper happy ☺️ most of the reviews on their certified refurbished products are really positive too so yeah they do a good job
Love this guys editing style - finally a MacBook review where it’s not just someone sat at a desk - he’s out in the open with a bright and light filming background
Yep I’m a student in university for IT. The amount of people I see with m1/m2 macbook airs is insane. I have one but i main my Alienware x14 and actually left my MacBook where I moved from (about 400km away😆) the MacBook Air is an amazing product from apple
I went for a refurbished Air and i have no regret at all so far. Coming from a 2015 13’’ retina Macbook Pro, it is a joy to use. I regret the lack of ports but oherwise don’t regret not paying extra for a M2.
I am actually surprised since Jonathan didn’t bring up ram on the base model. I feel like it would be a problem for me personally. A big one. Where I live the M2 costs 1559€ and the M1 MacBook Air is constantly on sale around 1000€.
I have an m1 air for college and it leaves all my friends laptops in the dust. in both battery life and performance. the only ones that beat in in performance are gaming laptops that they have to keep plugged in all the time. Definitely one of if not the best laptop for school available.
I know this vid is old but on the off chance you see this: In 2019 I started grad school and upgraded from a 2014 base model Air to a 2019 base model Air. At the time I was super into it. It was so much faster than my old laptop, and could go 12+ hours on my workload. Within a year it uhhhhh.... sucked. And finally in December I had to upgrade again, because it couldn't run the things I needed it to for school. Bought the 512 GB M2 Air and am loving it. It's so seamless. I don't care if the M1 is a better deal, the M2 is still miles above the 2019 Air lol.
You should make a video where you compare the Macbook Air M2 vs the iPad Air 5 ( + apple pencil and magic keyboard) for students ! I think they are both great options for students but I think there are specific cases where one would be better than the other.
Personally, I'd go for a refurbished MacBook Air M1, a Macbook Air and an Apple Pencil. It costs a little more but it ensures that no matter what comes up in your college experience, you will have the right tool for the job.
I got the m1 macbook air at the first of march (because thats when i get paid and my macbook pro 2014 broke) and because it was an offer for just 700€ (euro) new. I always get frustrated when a new model comes out right after u bought the old one but this video made me feel a lot better thanks. Im super happy with performance, dont do much workload but am a techguy so emulator etc
Watching this on my rose gold M1 Macbook Air I've had since December 2020, I'm glad to see I made the right choice. This thing has worked really well for school. The only thing it can't do without becoming a literally stovetop is run minecraft and streamlabs at the same time.
I like to run smaller scale numerical simulations on a local machine before submitting them to a cluster for a scaled up run. These simulations can run for over a day on my 14in MacBook Pro and they will definitely throttle the M2 MacBook Air.
As a student who will be graduating and going to art school next year, I was looking forward to the m2 macbook air. I thought it would be a great upgrade...... at $999. At $1,200 I'm definitely more inclined to go for a used m1 MacBook air. I'll probably upgrade the ram and get an external ssd for cheap if and when I need one. I was pretty dead set on that, but this video is a good confirmation. Nice job reading my mind and making a video about exactly what I wanted to know lol.
5:25 "A GarageBand project that would make an intel macbook airs fan blast, doesn't even make the m2 sweat". And this is how Jonathan never got his Intel Extreme Tech Update XD
The m1 is really good. I got one for my last architecture year, and I’m more than happy. You do have to work around some of the limitations of both the arm and macOS compatibility issues but it’s nonetheless an extraordinary laptop. Besides it barely adds weight to my backpack unlike my past laptop that pretty much required I didn’t carry other stuff.
@@oskarmorozov4368 not slow. Fast actually, it's just there are so few programs run on ARM and Macbook in general. And because of the new chip It emulate window and window software horribly (not all of the time). Plus not everyone is using mac so u may have trouble with compatibility between colleague or study material. It's a great beautiful laptop on it's own but would get these annoying bits after some time (not a deal breaker if u are willingly to make it work)
@@hakona3094in many countries (such as Canada where this channel is from) macs are so popular with students that it’s actually the windows users who face the problems you describe.
when i was in med school all i did with my computer was make powerpoint presentations, read pdfs and mangas, listen to music on spotify, and browse internet non stop (youtube, netflix, etc), i even threw in some light emulators for when i was bored waiting for an exam. so the 2015 macbook air has been more than useful for this whole time, not sure why the new air needs to render videos or have multicore functionality and such, i always thought that's what the pro lineup is for. i view the air as just a light use computer for people who dont have any heavy workloads so the new M2 doesnt really make that much sense to upgrade to.
I own the old M1 MacBook Air, and I gotta say it's still quite capable in 2023, barring some mild overheating and storage constraints. It runs Spleeter, UVR and similar vocal demixing programs basically blazing fast, and also respectably runs tools like Stable Diffusion and more importantly bioinformatics tools that use machine learning, quite respectably. The games that DO run, run quite well, and quite a few still run at almost native framerate and resolution with Crossover or Parallels. I find myself reaching for my MacBook more often than my iPad in class, just because it's much more convenient. And as for music, I can use my DAW (Studio One 6) with 10 layers of Serum VST maxed out, and it barely breaks a sweat. I only wished Valve would incorporate MoltenVK so that I can at least play lesser-known JRPGs that I bought, with all my save data intact. But despite all the compromises I love it to bits. In fact, seeing your video from my main account was what prompted me to get it in the first place ❤
I as a student bought a MacBook Pro in the fall 2019 because my old laptop is falling apart. Months later, I immediately regretted upon seeing the new model....
I seriously think that the M1 Air is still the best machine for most people and for design / creative students, the M2 13MBP is the way to go. In my country at least, the fan on the Pro makes a huge impact on sustained performance.
Seeing as how I have zero complaints about the speed of my 12" Macbook for daily use, I wouldn't get any of them. I happen to find 13" too big, 12" is perfect as it fits in things sized for letter / A4 paper products. I break out the 15" when I need more portable power and use my trashcan Mac Pro for everything at home.
I feel like Mac Address has really been stepping it up with overall video quality and writing and everything. The videos really come together very nicely. Good work!
I got an M1 base model Air earlier this year, and I fully contend that is the best laptop Apple's ever made. Right price, great specs, great form factor. I traded in a loaded out 16" Macbook Pro 2019 for it - i9, 32 GB of ram, 2 TB of storage. The Air absolutely SMOKED that thing, even in heavy workloads like Resolve exports. I wound up giving it to a friend and getting my own 16" M1 Pro (which I love even more!), but if anyone asked me which macbook to get if you're on a budget or for a first mac, I would recommend the M1 Air in a heartbeat.
I guess it’s fine for basic college stuff. But at the same time, I’m not sure about the long-term use of the M2 MacBook Air considering how thermal-throttled the M2 chip is in it. Not to mention the price & the slow SSD of the base model (both of which you mentioned). So yeah, maybe the older M1 Air might be better for college students.
The M1 MacBook Air would throttle 12%. This M2 throttles down to 9%. I would be more concerned about the longterm use of the M1, more than the M2. It seems that one has more issues with that. Then again, it still runs laps around your basic intel MacBook, so these numbers are completely meaningless if the vast majority of people who buy this wouldn't be able to tell a 12% difference, let alone a 9% difference.
@@DammitJeff From what I've seen (this video included) the M2 throttles much worse and it has a much slower SSD for $200 - $350 more. idk where you're getting your statistic from but the M2 is a bad value, it's also why they left the M1 Air in the line up if Macs were starting at $1200 this ARM transition would be much harder for them, it's already kind of slow ngl we just barely got ARM native Discord
@@orion10x10 Go check out Snazzy Labs channel, specifically the newer ones regarding the M2 Air. He did lots of stress tests on it and came to the conclusions that back up my claim.
I don't think the slowness there has everything to do with the thermal envelope differences between the M1 & M2 Air, the slower SSD might be bottlenecking the system not allowing the M2 to write the exporting file as fast as it actually can. Also Snazzy Labs' M2 MBA review discovered that the M2 Air actually throttles less than the M1 Air, at least in a 15-20 minute span.
Aye, most ssds have a write buffer limit when their slc cache - the numbers on the box speeds section runs out and the controller has to slowly shift everything to tlc or qlc when ssds actually go slower than many hard disks Most of the time it would be around a quarter to half of size for tlc drives and even worse for qlc
I'm glad the M2 is being addressed, especially with a focus towards students. I've been working at my college store and the M2's kinda had me baffled. Pro vs Air was easy with M1, but now with M2 the differences make them two very different beasts, which still compete with M1. To make things worse, while Johnathan recommends the SSD upgrade, the Air and Pro are the same price for the 512 SSD. Though most students I've interacted with since we got the M2's prove, the M1 is Air is still the best price. I kinda wish the education store was brought up though, which adds a $100 discount on the Air's and 13" Pro. It even covers the adds the discount on the refurbished store.
I really like how Mark Rathgeber shoots these videos. It's different than what I'm used to from Edzel and in my opinion greatly compliments the type of voice they are trying to project with this channel.
I’m currently waiting on my BTO M2 Air in Midnight. I did opt for the near-Pro spec of 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Fingerprints are no issue for me, since I’m gonna slap a dbrand skin on there anyway (which I will subsequently stickerbomb). I did consider a Pro at some point because I do some light video editing here and there (mostly 1080p let’s play recordings, nothing huge), but I have a dedicated desktop rig for that where I do most of my editing and working anyway. The Air is just going to be used as a light content creation machine (mostly writing) but mostly as a content consumption machine. I own an M1 Air currently and I mainly use it to watch videos, chat with friends and listen to music (offline too, hence the 1TB). The reason why I went with the Air instead of the Pro when I could have used the Pro for editing? Simple: I wanted a fanless device. Even though Macbook fans are dead silent most of the time, I like having that peace of mind that there’s no moving parts inside my laptop and nothing in there that’s gonna draw dust. And I could still use it for editing in a pinch. I don’t do 8k raw with NR after all XD
As a tech manager, I just recently purchased the MacBook M2 Pro and I couldn't be happier with my decision. After watching your video, I fully agree with your recommendation for students to buy the MacBook M2 Pro. The M2 chip offers amazing performance and the battery life is outstanding. Additionally, the lightweight design and sleek look make it a great option for students to easily take on the go for class or studying. Thanks for sharing your insights and perspective as a student, it was very helpful in my decision-making process.
I'm a part of the PC Master Race and havent used a tablet in years, so none of the laptop or iPad content is directly applicable to me, but I still watch it because it's interesting enough to keep up to date with what Apple is doing and I like Jonathan. Additionally, I've even been a Pixel-user for the last 3 years, so I really had no need to watch this channel at all lol. However, my Pixel 3a is *dying* (it did not take Android 12 well at all), so I need to get a new phone, and I'm switching back to Apple. Ready to get that notchless iPhone 14 Pro Max and jump back into iOS. In truth, I'd much prefer a iPhone SE Max, but whatever. Big size wins out over home button in my priorities. Anyway, my point is that I'm looking forward to seeing Jonathan cover something I actually use lol.
I'm in the exact same boat as you are, XD! Only exception is that I'm planning on installing LineageOS whenever I find the time to do so. I've been really tempted to switch to iPhones a couple of times but I like my headphone jack + fingerprint reader too much and less ewaste is always better.
honestly the thing I do like the most about the m2 is the MagSafe that's all the wedge design on the m1 was way nicer imo it gave it a slick design like it actually means air
I really appreciated the final takeaway about how if money wasn't an issue then the M2 MBA was ultimately the better overall device, but in terms of getting your money's worth, a refurbished M1 MBA still takes the cake.
Mag safe is what sold me, it's what led me to keep my old 2013/14 model air to this day and not even being interested in the M1 version. Imo it is the perfect power connector for a portable product. Right now I'm actually considering getting an M2 air, I did get a lenovo to run linux but for some reason I just can't stop using the old air. Why does an 8 year old computer feel better to use than a brand new one? That's just annoying.
In our school in Finland Macbooks are not allowed, because we use Abitti as our operating system when doing exams, and newer apple Macbooks doesn't allow changing to it, so you cannot do exams.
Still going with 2012 15inch Macbook Pro Retina. I dont use those high tech video editing, only basic stuff included with MACOS. and use for mostly general use and sometimes dabble in Finale for music creating. the first worthy upgrade I would get is a 16inch Macbook PRo M1PRo, but as i said, my workload doesnt push so only missing out on latest MAC OS. i can deal with that until my workhorse decides to die.
I love these videos but a lot of the people in the comments fail to understand the normie perspective. The average college student isn't going to decide their new MacBook based on "35% slower SSD's". and thermal throttling when encoding RAW video on davinci resolve. These aren't things they can tangibly see at first glance. They're going to look at both, and go "I want the one that looks newer, has a better webcam, a notch, is thinner, and is likely going to last me longer since its 2 years newer than the M1 air." I managed to pick up a used M1 Air (in gold!) used on offerup for $600, which drastically changes the conversation. At that point, the M1 Air, and the M2 air are in completely different brackets. If your budget is restricted, go with the MacBook Air M1, preferably used. Skip out on the taxes and fees. If you want the latest and greatest, the M2 air is still a fantastic machine.
@@Justin_Leahy How do I explain to my girlfriend that she can't get the new fancy M2 because of "higher bandwith swap will lead the SSD's to page cache more often" She doesn't know what any of that means, man. And I can't expect her to. This Mac is oriented to the people who want something that just looks good and works. I have the M1 Pro 14" inch and specced it out because I know what I need for my workflow. But as a college student...? Man, she just wants something that's newer.
I would push it because I live in the desert. I’m a contractor or at least training to become one, so my days consist of driving around and studying the architectural design of back yards and basically designing a 3D model or working with one once the blueprints are finished with. So I use my MacBook a lot in a 95f+ truck. It’s not that I’m pushing performance, it’s the heat that’s pushing the device
MKBHD Made a similar video and received similar criticisms, students shouldn't be wasting their money buying expensive computers when they should be saving to pay their student debts
Why do people think all students have student loans/debts? There are people on grants or have free education options in many countries so they actually can afford newest laptops. I also believe this could be a nice investment for creativity purposes as people could try them at editing/graphics etc at a reasonable level with such kinda machine
Students like cool tech too - many non students like to buy expensive tech even when their financial situation would normally not allow them to do that. you are basically saying that everyone that has some kind of debt shouldn't buy expensive stuff - that's totally correct. BUT! expensive tech stuff is also just a lot of fun for people who like cool tech stuff in general. and even if you have debts - if you're being responsible with managing your money, you can treat yourself with something nice at least every 3-4 years. besides all of that: here in germany you can study for free.
Whoever's reading this, i pray that whatever you're going through gets better and whatever you're struggling with or worrying about is going to be fine and that everyone has a fantastic day! Amen
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;” Philippians 4:6
personally my workload is a mixture of music production and recording, both photagraphy and video and lastly 3d work usually on blender. for this reason i purchased an m1 pro 14 in base model, today i downloaded unreal engine and it was actually the first time i heard the fans. i love my macbook but i see this m2 macbook air is a great option for those who only do light web browsing and maybe word processing (most college students)
So glad the butterfly era ended. When the first butterfly/touchbar mbp came out, I hurriedly bought a maxed out 2015 closeout. That one is getting long in the tooth and very happy magsafe is back, the touchbar is gone, and the keyboard gained back at least some travel.
My wife and I both have M1 base model Airs. Hers tends to be more chrome only workflow with mine more IT orientated. Not a slouch at all even with 8GB ram. M1 refurb is my goto as well.
This channel's focus on lifestyle applications has been excellent! It feels like these videos are focused on what a person would need for a daily driver instead of a maxxed out halo product
First reply
@@leothecat2834 get blue shelled
@@poble how have i not seen this before hahaha
Most students only need a 2010 MacBook
@@ItzSlushie I doubt many people would want to use a 12 year old laptop today
I don't really have any interest in most Apple products, but still end up watching just about every Mac Address video for the artistic choices (filming, editing, etc.) and Jonathan. I'm surprised to find how much I appreciate that this channel exists. Way to go, y'all.
Same! I've actually never owned ANY Apple products, not even an iPod. Pretty much the only Apple product that has ever tempted me was the first iPhone, which all the coolest rich kids had in highschool... Should've bought some stocks back then...
That is the problem, we already have LTT to hate on Apple. I don't like it when he goes negative. This should be a fun channel
@@nyambe I don't think he wasn't overly negative. I thought he was just very realistic about the M2's limitations. There's no point to close your eyes to limitations in Apple products. They are designed by humans after all. Blindfolded praising of an electronics brand doesn't encourage them to improve their products in the future. If you want to see only positive hype, go and read Apple's marketing material.
Absolutely the same, plus I still get informed about the most important things about Apple Products, in case a friend ask for a recommandation.
The only thing I ever considered buying was the AirPod Pro, but as I don't have any other Apple device to update it, nor can I ask a relative for one, I'll stick to other options either Android-focused like Sony, or better that can be updated and set up with Windows like the Samsung ones.
@@Shaibuli It's totally fake drama. We still have people on the intel MB Air, and they are doing fine, and those are really bad. They say stuff like "it's getting slow", but they keep using it. Apple users don't care about that stuff because they have plenty of other Apple devices. They probably have an iPad or an iMac where they do most of their stuff. There is nothing close to the M2 for day to day stuff in the market. Speed is not the problem of the 256GB model, it's price which is clearly an inflation adjusment
I currently own the M1 MacBook Air, and to avoid the temptation of getting the M2 MacBook Air, I just got my old 2015 11" MacBook Air and remember what it is like to use Intel Macs. Man, the difference between generations are stark
Got myself the M1 Air last year and still very happy about my choice. Mostly use it as a mediacenter when going somewhere though.
The reason I would buy an M2 MacBook is because it has much greater speakers and camera. Idk about the microphone
@@hunhowshadow317 the speaker is great on the Mac m1, the camera not so much
I’m getting my m2 air in 2 days, upgrading from a 2013 air, so it’s going to be a huge contrast
I use an M1 air work laptop and a personal M2 air at home/uni and yes there is a difference, but tbh not enough to pay the extra bucks if you already use the M1 imo. the m2 has a lot of nice to haves but you can also live without it, i cannot even tell a difference in performance in everyday use.
As a student, after I saw the price of the M2 (especially here in Thailand the M2 is $300 more than the M1) I bought the M1 without hesitation, and so far I still think it was the right decision.
It is)
It was the right choice. The baht has depreciated significantly from when the M1 version came out.
I see all these articles about why the Mac Mini would be a bad choice now, but if the its successor is priced like the M2 vs. M1 air, that price increase is probably not worth it.
@@GuyWithoutACamera why does it have to be a laptop let's be honest mostly every student for school tasks would be perfectly fine with base model iPad 9 for $300 and if anything a Mac Mini for home and both combined are still cheaper then MacBook
@@Byronic19134 It is good to have options. Many people only want a single device. My cousin bought an M1 Air last college term and raved about the battery life.
@@Byronic19134 Wow, so much wrong here I don't know where to begin.
A lot of students do not go to colleges near them, usually they go in a big city or even another country where they rent a place with other students and it's very common they do not have a place for a desktop so a Mac Mini setup is out of the question.
Even if they had that space, you will need to factor peripherals like an ok screen, keyboard, mouse and speakers/headphones and you will easily push your combo over a comparable Macbook Air.
Lastly, depending on what they study, they will need a machine that they can take to class, capable of installing desktop software that simply is not going to work on an iPad. Even if you remote in a Mac Mini you might have left at home, you will still need an external keyboard+mouse, but you will still be limited by the strength of your connection both from your Mac and from your iPad so it will be a very clunky setup to carry around and use in class.
You can definitely get through almost any bachelor's and master's degree comfortably with a M1 Macbook Air(preferably 16GB RAM/512GB). But if you can't afford it you will have to go with a decent Windows machine(R5/i5 with same amount of RAM/storage) that will probably start at 500$. And if you don't like the OS, get a Linux distro. Going with your setup will probably be overall more expensive than a Macbook Air while giving you tons of headaches in the long run with the only advantage being that you remain in the Apple ecosystem.
Even though I do occasional video rendering, I'd be fine letting those run overnight as a tradeoff to get the benefits of the Air model. Otherwise there's no way I'd be pushing the performance
but the better faster model for extensive work loads is literally cheaper
@@austinl8944 The M1 Air has less battery life than then M2 Air ?
@@austinl8944 Oh I thought we're talking about the M1 Air because @raccoon mentioned that it's cheaper
@@austinl8944 he was talking about M1, at 6:18 in the video you can see for longer tasks M1 is faster
@@shubhamthakur8530 but it's not cheaper.
And has a worse display.
I honestly love the cinematography of this channel it makes watching these videos even more entertaining
Thats a mac lover response! this looks awesome, content doesn't matter
@@Nunto1 ok
What do you dishonestly love?
i dont disagree, but why has this always been a top comment since this channel's start? no shit it looks great, it's funded by one of the biggest TH-cam media companies
@@Coldsteak honestly, its own parent channel doesn’t have editing, cinematography and the script writing
SFU is always so visually appealing! I had the please of being a MA student there a few years ago and not a day passes where I do not miss the brutalist quadrangle in the clouds...
Sadly most find it not to be. It is the suicide capital of Canada and stormy, dreary and grey almost every day of the year. They had to install fences on the roofs because so many were jumping.
@@spacecadet2172 brah, I was last there in March of 2022, and there were no fences on the roof?
I'll just take the one I can afford---the M1 Air. The uptick in price is just too much for this poor boy.
Same :(
That’s the way. Buy as per your budget
Buy from Amazon or the education discount, $100 off.
@@the_manchovie1795 buy from amazon or education discount
its the better choice even if you have the money, the bump in price is inexplicable honestly, youre paying for more raw power from that m2 that you cant even use for more than 20 minutes without it starting to behave like an intel based model. the m1 is better in many ways, plus, if you have the money for an m2 air, get an m1 pro, it beats both
I love the editing and narrative style that Mac Address has! It's very clear that they have editorial freedom from the rest of LMG
@mikea hiooi wrong reply?
I just love how informative Mac Address is for us as average consumers. And so entertaining too!
Watching this on, what else, my refurbished M1 Macbook Air I just got for school! I'm blown away by it, it runs smoother than any laptop I've ever had (and I have a gaming laptop with a 3070 in it as well, lol). But since that thing weighs a ton and drains battery insanely quickly, I needed something I can carry throughout the day without either me or the machine dying. Incredibly worth it!
Ha! Exactly my place a few days ago. I have a razer 3070 and I refused to start the new semester with it. Got a M1 refurbished Air and I haven’t looked back either. Glad to see someone else had a similar experience and thought process 😂
I’m also questioning if my razer 3070 is even better than my m1 air. I’m almost tempted to do some testing, because I might need to toss my razer in the bin!
These videos are so well done. You make this look so freaking easy, and it's so hard to do. Making something this concise is next to impossible to me.
I started college in 2019 and went with a razer blade. Really wish the m1 macbooks had launched just 1 year sooner.
Oof I can't imagine lugging around a heavy gaming laptop all day, I think the ideal set up is M1 Air and Gaming desktop at home
@@orion10x10 the racer blade isn't really a heavy gaming laptop, its only 1.8 kg which isnt much heavier then the mac book. hell my flow x13 is only 1.35 and its has a 3050 ti and a ryzen 5900hs
@@orion10x10 it isn't heavy at all, and that's the reason I went with it. It's sleek and pretty thin. It's actually pretty close to a macbook pro, just one that runs windows and is black rather than silver.
Thank you to LTT and Jonathan for this fantastic channel. I love how you usually use base model affordable apple products to show how it works for the everyday person.
For me, what kills the MBA as an option is the absurd one external monitor limit. I am surprised that wasn't mentioned in the shortcomings of the product.
Whilst I agree, the MBA is aimed at 'casual' and 'everyday' users, who may only ever plug their laptop into one monitor on a rare occasion, eg presenting at college etc. Anyone who intends to be a 'heavy' user, or wishes to use their MacBook in clamshell mode, with multiple displays, is likely to get the MBP regardless.
@@niallwood Exactly what I think. Only professionals need more than 1 display, and if you are a professional, you shouldn’t be getting an entry level Mac
@@Doc_Sans precisely. I do still think the pricing for the base MBA is ridiculously high, along with a decently specked one being nearly the same price as a M1 Pro MBP - but I ovbs understand the correct target audience for each device
I feel that it makes more sense to upgrade the ram instead of the ssd. You can just buy an external ssd if you need more storage, but i feel that 256g is enough for a student unless you do a lot of video editing or any other heavy computer work. You cant do anything about the ram once you have bought the mac, however the storage can still be improved through external storages.
I bought a M1 Air around half a year ago and never regretted it, great machine! Only the 8GB RAM is getting full rather quick, but that's just a minimal downfall, at least currently.
Fair warning to computer science and engineering students: software you need might not be available for MacOS/ARM, or may perform poorly. For early years you'll probably fine focusing on Java, C, C++, Python, etc which runs great everywhere. But in higher level courses you might find that you need to write x86 assembly for an operating systems course, install a Windows-only serial driver for a single-board computer in a microcontrollers course, or use Android Studio in a software engineering or human-computer interaction course (which does have a MacOS version but without an ARM build it absolutely *chugs* in Rosetta 2 on M1/M2). I've heard engineers run into issues with CAD software not being available on MacOS. You will probably have access to computer labs with Windows or Linux machines in a pinch, but that isn't super convenient if you need to be up until 3am finishing an assignment.
For everyone else, there really is no Windows machine comparable to the Macs at the price point, it's such a strong option if you are ok with MacOS.
i think i'll be fine with my M1 in my university, since they probably only use Java and some python, i've got a PC running Mint at home as backup
I’m an Apple only dude so if it they want something not on Apple I won’t take the course
A lot of people develop for iOS which can’t be done on windows machines
As a small correction Android Studio has been running native on M series chips since about 2021. So android app development works great
I’m wondering how much of the script(research) is done by Jonathan himself. You don’t see some of the unique insights elsewhere. Especially the critical ones. Good job Jonathan
I just picked up the Base M2 Air after not researching anything about the device. I simply just needed a laptop for school that had a nice screen, decent keyboard and great battery life. For me it's been absolutely amazing. I upgraded from a 2020 XPS 13 2 in 1 that had 32GB ram + a I7 10th gen and honestly I notice the M2 handles certain tasks way better than the XPS. Now your mileage may vary but I highly recommend this laptop if you just need something that has great portability and decent performance.
i'm in the same boat - just returned my 2020 xps 13 2 in 1 because of a fan issue and am looking for a new laptop. how did you find the switch from windows to ios? how are you finding the m2 air after long-term use?
@@naadirah5100 Honestly the Base M2 air has been better than my XPS 13. Even though my XPS had 32gb Ram, 1TB ssd and a 4k screen, The Macbooks retina display is plenty and the battery life is awesome! Performance has been great as well since Mac OS is very optimzed for the hardware. Switching from Windows to Mac OS was a little bit of a learning curve but I got used to it after a week.
I traded in my 16 inch Intel MacBook Pro for the M2 Air and I love it. It's snappier, the screen is just as good, and the return of MagSafe is wonderful. I always wanted the black MacBook, and I got the black color way. I looooooove it
I do find it really interesting to watch Mac Address even as someone whose only experiences are iOS and WatchOS and actively has avoided Apple Laptops, first because it was incompatible with the stuff I need for university and then because I expected taking notes on a touch screen would be needed.
As a computer science student,the only time I had to run something for a very long time was brute forcing b2crypt (that assignment took a total of 20-ish program hours to run) and a project that based on Intel Hexl (but that was AVX512 and very single threaded). Apart from some what I can imagine image recognition or ML assignments I can’t remember anything that took a very long time to run where the system was stressed at 100%
Do you recommend MacBook Air M1 or M2? Can MacBook Air M1 16gb Ram and 512gb SSD get you through your 4 years of college? I am planning to get one for college for CS.
I still think the notch is silly, and I'd love to see a USB-C port on each side rather than both on one side. Other than that I think it's a great update.
It's not a bad laptop, but it is squeezed in between the MBA M1 and the MBP M1 14 - both better laptops. I don't see why anyone should get a MBA M2, unless they love the colors...
@@mplovecraft ideally Apple would have replaced the M1 with the M2 and kept the price the same. Certainly they have the margin.
@@RoastBeefSandwich Or they could have the current price, but given it the faster 512GB SSD as standard in the base model. Both ok options.
@@mplovecraft The SSD is a puzzling choice. Obviously a cost cutting measure. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes in daily usage. But I agree, they shouldn't have gone backwards here at all.
@@RoastBeefSandwich It depends on the use case of course, but since it will be used as swap ram, it will make it quite noticeable in the base 8/256 version.
it makes sense now... the M1 air was too good, so they didn't sell enough M1 MacBook Pro 13inch. So, with an excess of 13inch pro chassis they stuck M2 inside them instead of redesign it, and made the M2 air throttle, so the M2 pro 13" looks better
Yeah, I was actually thinking the same. That theory might be right! If so, then Apple's just pulled another Apple... 🤔
Except that the m2 pro model is derived from the older Intel pro model with the Touch Bar. And that one confuses me even more.
@Billy White Jr. the m2 pro 13inch is the same as the m1 pro 13inch
@@rhysmuir For a moment, I thought you were referring to the M1 Pro chips found in the 14/16in MBPs. I realize you're actually referring to the M1 MBP 13.
The base M2 air as bad as it is, it definitely doesn't throttle unless you do something really demanding for a prolonged time and in that case you bought the wrong laptop
I just bought the maxed MacBook Air M2 and I love it so far. I haven't had any problems running Logic Pro X and using it for school. We'll see how it goes!
My sister was looking into getting a base model M2 Air for the Adobe suite. I recommend she get the M1 16gb rather which costs the same. Although the design is dated, that extra ram comes in clutch and is a much better buy imo.
Prob she should try and get a refurb 14” pro if she can manage it, even if it’s the 6 P core one
Please never get rid of Mac Address. this channel is becoming one of my favorites.
Been using the Intel Air since 2020, using it for just light tasks and occasional video editing.
Been impressed with how good it has helped up. A month after getting it, the thing found itself swimming in my sink for at least two minutes. Opened it up, and ran Premiere to dry up the inside. It has been working perfectly fine, with no signs of damage.
Time for an upgrade and I'm getting the 256GB one. The Macbook Pros are ridiculously priced here in South Africa.
I love how all of your videos are outside at least for a little bit. It’s refreshing
In my experience the only issue with buying a refurbished MacBook is having to deal with a battery replacement at least a year sooner, unlike iOS devices they don't get parts replaced unless they are really in bad shape.
I don’t know if this is really the case but when I got my refurbished M1 the battery cycle was at zero so I think I may have got luck with a new battery 🤷🏼♀️
@@stopandsmelltheroses_98 was it refurbished from Apple? If so - they replace the batteries!
(They seem to do a proper job refurbishing, making sure the product is functionally pretty much new, versus some places just cleaning the laptop and calling it a day…)
@@thehobnob Yes I did get it refurbished from Apple. I’ve seen some people do reviews on Apple refurbished macs and the battery cycle wasn’t zero though so I was unsure and their site only says a guaranteed replacement battery for iOS devices. I did get told when enquiring that they replace the battery so 🤷🏼♀️ but I definitely got a new battery so I was supper happy ☺️ most of the reviews on their certified refurbished products are really positive too so yeah they do a good job
Love this guys editing style - finally a MacBook review where it’s not just someone sat at a desk - he’s out in the open with a bright and light filming background
Yep I’m a student in university for IT. The amount of people I see with m1/m2 macbook airs is insane. I have one but i main my Alienware x14 and actually left my MacBook where I moved from (about 400km away😆) the MacBook Air is an amazing product from apple
Did M2 Macbook Airs become that popular already?
I went for a refurbished Air and i have no regret at all so far. Coming from a 2015 13’’ retina Macbook Pro, it is a joy to use. I regret the lack of ports but oherwise don’t regret not paying extra for a M2.
I am actually surprised since Jonathan didn’t bring up ram on the base model. I feel like it would be a problem for me personally. A big one.
Where I live the M2 costs 1559€ and the M1 MacBook Air is constantly on sale around 1000€.
6:38 One more reason to work outdoors during arctic winter
I have an m1 air for college and it leaves all my friends laptops in the dust. in both battery life and performance. the only ones that beat in in performance are gaming laptops that they have to keep plugged in all the time. Definitely one of if not the best laptop for school available.
And those gaming laptops are heavy. Carrying them around the college covers weight lifting workouts..
@@kane3681 facts
I know this vid is old but on the off chance you see this:
In 2019 I started grad school and upgraded from a 2014 base model Air to a 2019 base model Air. At the time I was super into it. It was so much faster than my old laptop, and could go 12+ hours on my workload. Within a year it uhhhhh.... sucked. And finally in December I had to upgrade again, because it couldn't run the things I needed it to for school. Bought the 512 GB M2 Air and am loving it. It's so seamless. I don't care if the M1 is a better deal, the M2 is still miles above the 2019 Air lol.
You should make a video where you compare the Macbook Air M2 vs the iPad Air 5 ( + apple pencil and magic keyboard) for students ! I think they are both great options for students but I think there are specific cases where one would be better than the other.
I really like this idea, pls Mac Address more videos!
Personally, I'd go for a refurbished MacBook Air M1, a Macbook Air and an Apple Pencil. It costs a little more but it ensures that no matter what comes up in your college experience, you will have the right tool for the job.
I got the m1 macbook air at the first of march (because thats when i get paid and my macbook pro 2014 broke) and because it was an offer for just 700€ (euro) new. I always get frustrated when a new model comes out right after u bought the old one but this video made me feel a lot better thanks. Im super happy with performance, dont do much workload but am a techguy so emulator etc
Got the M1 at Micro Center for $799 new last year, excellent deal
I can’t get over the cinematic editing and slowed down pace compared to most yt channels. It’s an addictive breath of fresh air
Watching this on my rose gold M1 Macbook Air I've had since December 2020, I'm glad to see I made the right choice. This thing has worked really well for school. The only thing it can't do without becoming a literally stovetop is run minecraft and streamlabs at the same time.
I like to run smaller scale numerical simulations on a local machine before submitting them to a cluster for a scaled up run. These simulations can run for over a day on my 14in MacBook Pro and they will definitely throttle the M2 MacBook Air.
Great point!
Bold of you to assume students have this kind of disposable income
As a high school student buying the M1 Macbook Air was one of the best decisions I've taken so far. 2 years with it and it is still doing pretty good.
As a student who will be graduating and going to art school next year, I was looking forward to the m2 macbook air. I thought it would be a great upgrade...... at $999. At $1,200 I'm definitely more inclined to go for a used m1 MacBook air. I'll probably upgrade the ram and get an external ssd for cheap if and when I need one. I was pretty dead set on that, but this video is a good confirmation. Nice job reading my mind and making a video about exactly what I wanted to know lol.
5:25 "A GarageBand project that would make an intel macbook airs fan blast, doesn't even make the m2 sweat".
And this is how Jonathan never got his Intel Extreme Tech Update XD
I'm writing songs about minivans!
Great video! I just really wish they made a larger screen version of the Air.
Man, the cinematography on this is great!
The m1 is really good.
I got one for my last architecture year, and I’m more than happy.
You do have to work around some of the limitations of both the arm and macOS compatibility issues but it’s nonetheless an extraordinary laptop.
Besides it barely adds weight to my backpack unlike my past laptop that pretty much required I didn’t carry other stuff.
hi. what do you mean limitations and mac os problems? the laptop is slow?
@@oskarmorozov4368 not slow. Fast actually, it's just there are so few programs run on ARM and Macbook in general. And because of the new chip It emulate window and window software horribly (not all of the time). Plus not everyone is using mac so u may have trouble with compatibility between colleague or study material. It's a great beautiful laptop on it's own but would get these annoying bits after some time (not a deal breaker if u are willingly to make it work)
@@hakona3094in many countries (such as Canada where this channel is from) macs are so popular with students that it’s actually the windows users who face the problems you describe.
getting a Mac for any 3D rendering suite seems like an absolute nightmare....
when i was in med school all i did with my computer was make powerpoint presentations, read pdfs and mangas, listen to music on spotify, and browse internet non stop (youtube, netflix, etc), i even threw in some light emulators for when i was bored waiting for an exam. so the 2015 macbook air has been more than useful for this whole time, not sure why the new air needs to render videos or have multicore functionality and such, i always thought that's what the pro lineup is for. i view the air as just a light use computer for people who dont have any heavy workloads so the new M2 doesnt really make that much sense to upgrade to.
I was stressing about what laptop to get but I went with the framework
I own the old M1 MacBook Air, and I gotta say it's still quite capable in 2023, barring some mild overheating and storage constraints. It runs Spleeter, UVR and similar vocal demixing programs basically blazing fast, and also respectably runs tools like Stable Diffusion and more importantly bioinformatics tools that use machine learning, quite respectably. The games that DO run, run quite well, and quite a few still run at almost native framerate and resolution with Crossover or Parallels. I find myself reaching for my MacBook more often than my iPad in class, just because it's much more convenient. And as for music, I can use my DAW (Studio One 6) with 10 layers of Serum VST maxed out, and it barely breaks a sweat. I only wished Valve would incorporate MoltenVK so that I can at least play lesser-known JRPGs that I bought, with all my save data intact. But despite all the compromises I love it to bits. In fact, seeing your video from my main account was what prompted me to get it in the first place ❤
I'd go m2 just for the new form factor. The screen and Webcam are superior and it feels good in the hands
4:51 Could someone please explain to me why having the SSD split amongst 2 chips would perform better than having it in 1 chip?
Bandwidth. With two chips you can write to and read from both at the same time, effectively doubling the speed.
I as a student bought a MacBook Pro in the fall 2019 because my old laptop is falling apart. Months later, I immediately regretted upon seeing the new model....
Ouch!
@@undefinedbackslasher got my MBP 2020 and one month later the MBA M1 was released...
7:01 This chart is really good !!! I didn't expect to learn something new today. Great Job guys. And whoever the host is, you have really nice hair.
I seriously think that the M1 Air is still the best machine for most people and for design / creative students, the M2 13MBP is the way to go. In my country at least, the fan on the Pro makes a huge impact on sustained performance.
Seeing as how I have zero complaints about the speed of my 12" Macbook for daily use, I wouldn't get any of them. I happen to find 13" too big, 12" is perfect as it fits in things sized for letter / A4 paper products. I break out the 15" when I need more portable power and use my trashcan Mac Pro for everything at home.
I feel like Mac Address has really been stepping it up with overall video quality and writing and everything. The videos really come together very nicely. Good work!
I got an M1 base model Air earlier this year, and I fully contend that is the best laptop Apple's ever made. Right price, great specs, great form factor. I traded in a loaded out 16" Macbook Pro 2019 for it - i9, 32 GB of ram, 2 TB of storage. The Air absolutely SMOKED that thing, even in heavy workloads like Resolve exports. I wound up giving it to a friend and getting my own 16" M1 Pro (which I love even more!), but if anyone asked me which macbook to get if you're on a budget or for a first mac, I would recommend the M1 Air in a heartbeat.
I guess it’s fine for basic college stuff. But at the same time, I’m not sure about the long-term use of the M2 MacBook Air considering how thermal-throttled the M2 chip is in it. Not to mention the price & the slow SSD of the base model (both of which you mentioned). So yeah, maybe the older M1 Air might be better for college students.
The M1 MacBook Air would throttle 12%. This M2 throttles down to 9%. I would be more concerned about the longterm use of the M1, more than the M2. It seems that one has more issues with that.
Then again, it still runs laps around your basic intel MacBook, so these numbers are completely meaningless if the vast majority of people who buy this wouldn't be able to tell a 12% difference, let alone a 9% difference.
@@DammitJeff From what I've seen (this video included) the M2 throttles much worse and it has a much slower SSD for $200 - $350 more. idk where you're getting your statistic from but the M2 is a bad value, it's also why they left the M1 Air in the line up if Macs were starting at $1200 this ARM transition would be much harder for them, it's already kind of slow ngl we just barely got ARM native Discord
@@orion10x10 Go check out Snazzy Labs channel, specifically the newer ones regarding the M2 Air. He did lots of stress tests on it and came to the conclusions that back up my claim.
I don't think the slowness there has everything to do with the thermal envelope differences between the M1 & M2 Air, the slower SSD might be bottlenecking the system not allowing the M2 to write the exporting file as fast as it actually can. Also Snazzy Labs' M2 MBA review discovered that the M2 Air actually throttles less than the M1 Air, at least in a 15-20 minute span.
Aye, most ssds have a write buffer limit when their slc cache - the numbers on the box speeds section runs out and the controller has to slowly shift everything to tlc or qlc when ssds actually go slower than many hard disks
Most of the time it would be around a quarter to half of size for tlc drives and even worse for qlc
Can the crew & host that creates this channel do an architecture video or nature documentary. Just love the vibes
I'm glad the M2 is being addressed, especially with a focus towards students. I've been working at my college store and the M2's kinda had me baffled. Pro vs Air was easy with M1, but now with M2 the differences make them two very different beasts, which still compete with M1. To make things worse, while Johnathan recommends the SSD upgrade, the Air and Pro are the same price for the 512 SSD. Though most students I've interacted with since we got the M2's prove, the M1 is Air is still the best price. I kinda wish the education store was brought up though, which adds a $100 discount on the Air's and 13" Pro. It even covers the adds the discount on the refurbished store.
I’ve said it since they released. The M2 air not being priced at $999 is a significant mistake
It’s not. Inflation hits hard
@@muffinb5446 Only because Apple wants it to hit hard
I just recently got the M2 MacBook Air with the 512gb storage. I'm an up-coming Junior in high school, so far I have absolutely loved it.
The M1 is still great, but with upgraded storage.
I really like how Mark Rathgeber shoots these videos. It's different than what I'm used to from Edzel and in my opinion greatly compliments the type of voice they are trying to project with this channel.
I’m currently waiting on my BTO M2 Air in Midnight. I did opt for the near-Pro spec of 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
Fingerprints are no issue for me, since I’m gonna slap a dbrand skin on there anyway (which I will subsequently stickerbomb).
I did consider a Pro at some point because I do some light video editing here and there (mostly 1080p let’s play recordings, nothing huge), but I have a dedicated desktop rig for that where I do most of my editing and working anyway.
The Air is just going to be used as a light content creation machine (mostly writing) but mostly as a content consumption machine. I own an M1 Air currently and I mainly use it to watch videos, chat with friends and listen to music (offline too, hence the 1TB).
The reason why I went with the Air instead of the Pro when I could have used the Pro for editing? Simple: I wanted a fanless device. Even though Macbook fans are dead silent most of the time, I like having that peace of mind that there’s no moving parts inside my laptop and nothing in there that’s gonna draw dust. And I could still use it for editing in a pinch. I don’t do 8k raw with NR after all XD
1:47 wow so beautiful fingerprints.
As a tech manager, I just recently purchased the MacBook M2 Pro and I couldn't be happier with my decision. After watching your video, I fully agree with your recommendation for students to buy the MacBook M2 Pro. The M2 chip offers amazing performance and the battery life is outstanding. Additionally, the lightweight design and sleek look make it a great option for students to easily take on the go for class or studying. Thanks for sharing your insights and perspective as a student, it was very helpful in my decision-making process.
6:59 I think the graph is wrong or at least the photos. M1pro instead of M2pro maybe?
I'm a part of the PC Master Race and havent used a tablet in years, so none of the laptop or iPad content is directly applicable to me, but I still watch it because it's interesting enough to keep up to date with what Apple is doing and I like Jonathan. Additionally, I've even been a Pixel-user for the last 3 years, so I really had no need to watch this channel at all lol. However, my Pixel 3a is *dying* (it did not take Android 12 well at all), so I need to get a new phone, and I'm switching back to Apple. Ready to get that notchless iPhone 14 Pro Max and jump back into iOS. In truth, I'd much prefer a iPhone SE Max, but whatever. Big size wins out over home button in my priorities. Anyway, my point is that I'm looking forward to seeing Jonathan cover something I actually use lol.
I'm in the exact same boat as you are, XD! Only exception is that I'm planning on installing LineageOS whenever I find the time to do so. I've been really tempted to switch to iPhones a couple of times but I like my headphone jack + fingerprint reader too much and less ewaste is always better.
These videos are on another level! Congrats man!
I do not own any Apple products, yet, I love this channel and how it is done artistically and with balanced information. Thank you, Jonathan!
I opted for an iPad Air with the keyboard as Student Laptop. Still have old 13" MBP around the house for those use cases where you do need a computer
honestly the thing I do like the most about the m2 is the MagSafe that's all the wedge design on the m1 was way nicer imo it gave it a slick design like it actually means air
I’m just a film student ( so editing a lot of heavy raw video in focus ). Great video :)
Students, pay your bills first
I really appreciated the final takeaway about how if money wasn't an issue then the M2 MBA was ultimately the better overall device, but in terms of getting your money's worth, a refurbished M1 MBA still takes the cake.
2 words, modded Minecraft
Mag safe is what sold me, it's what led me to keep my old 2013/14 model air to this day and not even being interested in the M1 version. Imo it is the perfect power connector for a portable product.
Right now I'm actually considering getting an M2 air, I did get a lenovo to run linux but for some reason I just can't stop using the old air. Why does an 8 year old computer feel better to use than a brand new one? That's just annoying.
I see a lot of opinions on a 10 min long video uploaded 1 min ago.
3:40 you wanted white bezels whyy ??
Which Student has 1000$ for a Laptop? Like seriously.
Maybe buy a Tabletbor something
In our school in Finland Macbooks are not allowed, because we use Abitti as our operating system when doing exams, and newer apple Macbooks doesn't allow changing to it, so you cannot do exams.
720poo???
2:01
Still going with 2012 15inch Macbook Pro Retina. I dont use those high tech video editing, only basic stuff included with MACOS. and use for mostly general use and sometimes dabble in Finale for music creating. the first worthy upgrade I would get is a 16inch Macbook PRo M1PRo, but as i said, my workload doesnt push so only missing out on latest MAC OS. i can deal with that until my workhorse decides to die.
I love these videos but a lot of the people in the comments fail to understand the normie perspective. The average college student isn't going to decide their new MacBook based on "35% slower SSD's". and thermal throttling when encoding RAW video on davinci resolve. These aren't things they can tangibly see at first glance. They're going to look at both, and go "I want the one that looks newer, has a better webcam, a notch, is thinner, and is likely going to last me longer since its 2 years newer than the M1 air."
I managed to pick up a used M1 Air (in gold!) used on offerup for $600, which drastically changes the conversation. At that point, the M1 Air, and the M2 air are in completely different brackets. If your budget is restricted, go with the MacBook Air M1, preferably used. Skip out on the taxes and fees. If you want the latest and greatest, the M2 air is still a fantastic machine.
@@Justin_Leahy How do I explain to my girlfriend that she can't get the new fancy M2 because of "higher bandwith swap will lead the SSD's to page cache more often"
She doesn't know what any of that means, man. And I can't expect her to. This Mac is oriented to the people who want something that just looks good and works. I have the M1 Pro 14" inch and specced it out because I know what I need for my workflow. But as a college student...? Man, she just wants something that's newer.
I would push it because I live in the desert. I’m a contractor or at least training to become one, so my days consist of driving around and studying the architectural design of back yards and basically designing a 3D model or working with one once the blueprints are finished with. So I use my MacBook a lot in a 95f+ truck. It’s not that I’m pushing performance, it’s the heat that’s pushing the device
1:40 creep
"It is"
I bought the m1 air last year. I love it. The speaker is perfect. The keyboard is nice and Touch ID is the best I've ever seen.
MKBHD Made a similar video and received similar criticisms, students shouldn't be wasting their money buying expensive computers when they should be saving to pay their student debts
Not all students in the world are fucked (so hard) by their government, which doesn't mean they shouldn't think about how they spend their money
ok...
Why do people think all students have student loans/debts? There are people on grants or have free education options in many countries so they actually can afford newest laptops. I also believe this could be a nice investment for creativity purposes as people could try them at editing/graphics etc at a reasonable level with such kinda machine
Students like cool tech too - many non students like to buy expensive tech even when their financial situation would normally not allow them to do that. you are basically saying that everyone that has some kind of debt shouldn't buy expensive stuff - that's totally correct. BUT! expensive tech stuff is also just a lot of fun for people who like cool tech stuff in general. and even if you have debts - if you're being responsible with managing your money, you can treat yourself with something nice at least every 3-4 years. besides all of that: here in germany you can study for free.
truly a missed opportunity to sneak in the ltt backpack with the college setting haha
Whoever's reading this, i pray that whatever you're going through gets better and whatever you're struggling with or worrying about is going to be fine and that everyone has a fantastic day! Amen
damn the bots already got here
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
Philippians 4:6
personally my workload is a mixture of music production and recording, both photagraphy and video and lastly 3d work usually on blender. for this reason i purchased an m1 pro 14 in base model, today i downloaded unreal engine and it was actually the first time i heard the fans. i love my macbook but i see this m2 macbook air is a great option for those who only do light web browsing and maybe word processing (most college students)
So glad the butterfly era ended. When the first butterfly/touchbar mbp came out, I hurriedly bought a maxed out 2015 closeout. That one is getting long in the tooth and very happy magsafe is back, the touchbar is gone, and the keyboard gained back at least some travel.
My wife and I both have M1 base model Airs. Hers tends to be more chrome only workflow with mine more IT orientated. Not a slouch at all even with 8GB ram. M1 refurb is my goto as well.