I've been using my 16" M1 Pro model for development work for the past year and a half, but recently got the 15" Air so that I have 1 device for home, and 1 for work (to seperate them out). I develop all sorts, so Java Maven, SQL Server, Web, C# etc and was worried that the M2 wouldn't be enough. However it feels just as quick as my M1 Pro and i really cannot tell the difference. I prefer the design of the 15" Air as its just so light! I can use it on my lap anywhere and hold it up with one hand on its corner. I went with 16Gb 256Gb, the 'slower' storgage didn't effect me at all due to my small file sizes I work with, and I got 16Gb to avoid swap. Boom, perfect work laptop
Hey @shaggy12321 ,Did you faced any issue with heating while working on .Netcore apps and Docker as I have similar use case but wondering if I should shell another 600 euro and go for M3 pro or Get M2 Air 15inch 16GB, I do light video edits as well
Although the Base models of the Air are pretty good deals (the 15” for $100 more is probably better), the difference in cost between the 14” Mac Pro and an Air with 16Gb and 512Gb SD is only $300. The weight is practically the same and the screen is an inch smaller, but the mini led screen is higher resolution, brighter and has 120hz ProMotion. It has much better speakers and mic, way more ports (card slot, usb-c, hdmi), but most importantly 50% more performance CPU cores, 60% more GPU cores, and twice the memory bandwidth. For a developer who needs the extra memory, the Pro makes a lot more sense.
Exactly. As a web dev that works with Docker all the time, the word Docker alone sucks out 6gb of ram easy. 8GB isn't really something any devs should aim for especially in a device that is expected to last multiple years. The last thing you want is to be bottlenecked by the ram and end up having to get a entirely new device later on just because of that.
MacBook Air 13" (16 GB/512 GB) will do almost everything. And I'm always using a secondary screen. I do basically backend work. I'm currently using a 16" M1Pro from the company, but portability is terrible for me. I'll go for it as my personal machine. Thanks for the review.
as one of those guys that uses the command pallet for everything i hiiiighly recommend moving the menubar to the left side of the screen ( so it does not interfer with right side scrolling) minimize its size and auto hide it. when you maximise a window it will now fill the entire screen and hitting cmd shift (i first replaced spotlight with alfred and now with raycast) is as fast as if not faster than alt tabbing to switch between windows
I keep coming back to the 14" Pro as my likely upgrade. The Air is nice but while I don't always need the power the Pro line can offer, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I'll be upgrading from a 13" Pro from 2014 so anything is going to be better, but the overall size and features, to me, make it the absolute sweet spot for power and portability.
I wanted to thank you for your video. It really helped me decide which device to choose. Currently, I'm a software developer and I'm planning to upgrade my current setup. I have two options in mind: 1. MacBook Air 15" with an M2 chip, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 24GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. 2. MacBook Pro 14" with an M2 Pro chip, 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 32GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. At the moment, I'm not using any docker containers or virtual machines, but I might start using them in the future. I'm also planning to learn AI and ML, so having some capability in that area would be beneficial. Here are my specific queries: 1. I feel like the MacBook Pro 14" might be overkill for software development. 2. I live in India, where temperatures can reach 30-35 degrees Celsius, and I'm concerned that the fanless design of the MacBook Air might cause issues. 3. I'm planning to use the laptop for at least 5 years or more. I would greatly appreciate your suggestions on which option would be best for my needs.
It’d be very interesting to see the real world differences between a 15” Air with 512gb/24gb and the base 14” Pro with 512gb/16gb. I’m mainly interested in how Windows on Parallels and Docker perform on these 2. Here in Canada they are priced exactly the same.
Don't know about the 15" but I have the 13" Air with 24GB and it runs Parallels extremely well. 12GB for Mac, 12GB for Windows11. Perfectly smooth. I would assume the 15" is going to be the same or even slightly better.
Requirements highly depend on what kind of development you do. I used to have a 1TB SSD MacBook at Unity and it was always running out of space. I had to download several big customer projects and checkout multiple branches of big repos (with lot of git LFS data). Since then 2TB has been my SSD minimum requirement. For memory, some performance profiling (sampling) tools I use become unresponsive with only 16GB RAM, so 32GB is my minimum for memory. When compiling big C++ code bases, you want good CPU performance. Saving 10 mins daily pays back the whole device in less than 1 year. 14” M3 Max weight is only 6% more than 15” Air. But the performance is in different ballpark.
The deal breaker for me, that reviews don't seem to point out since the first M1 MacBook Air, is that they can only have one external display. The Pro 14" and Pro 16" can have mulitple displays. I have the 16" with two external displays and would rather have the 24GB Air 15" for the portability, but need the external display support :(
@@James_08_07 Yeah, the M2 13" Air doesn't allow more than one. Not sure if it's an I/O controller limitation (like it was with the M1 I believe), or if it's artificially limited to be a "pro-only" feature.
Any M1 or M2 machine only supports one monitor through thunderbolt. You can get another display on the Mac Mini M1 because of the HDMI port. M1/M2 Pro supports 2 external displays and M1/M2 Max supports 4 external displays.
@@KHudso it's not as easy as that for two reasons. First is the docks that do support it for the Air (like Anker's) are hacks from their side and not all MacBook certified docks will do more than one monitor. Second issue is Apple disabled MST support via thunderbolt in their software a few years ago which means that the native DisplayPort way of attaching a single cable to get multiple display outputs isn't actually supported. Therefore, even with the pro laptops, you have to get a dock which is designed for MacOS's multiple display output - a real issue when in an office which already has dozens of Thunderbolt 4 docks (from Belkin, Kingston and others) that cost hundreds and won't output more than one display... This was a feature in MacOS about a decade ago. (if you boot into Linux or Windows, the Pro laptops can use these docks and MST with no issue)
I have had code profiling software run our of memory on 16GB systems while recording. If you need high sample rate, get 32GB memory. These analysis software use a lot of memory and are very unresponsive on low memory amount.
This is why at the time of M1, I preferred MBP over MBA, despite being a fan of the MBA design. I did not want to bet on CPU ventilation and have the full performance to support my work.
Developer's perspective is really interesting; thanks! I'm shooting for retirement in a couple years or so, and probably start working on some iPhone app ideas that've been rattling around the back of my cranium for a few years! I picked up a 16" M2-Max MBP recently. I'm amazed how much performance it has for a laptop. Heck, how much performance it has for _any kind_ of machine! I know it's beneath it's 12-CPU, 38-GPU dignity, but it's also one heck of a movie-watching machine too: Amazingly "spatial" speakers and high-contrast screen!
I dunno if it's a developer's dream. It only supports 1 monitor natively. As a developer, I often need at least 2 screen in addition to the Macbook screen.
Hello, Alex! That was a nice video, thanks for sharing the developer's point of view. It would be nice to see the real-world comparison of 16/512 Air 15 with MacBook Pro 16 m2 pro. It seems that this Air could be the ideal replacement for web developers who need bigger screens, but don’t need the power of MacBook Pro.
No need to compare; buy 16GB as it will double your performance in RAM-intensive apps as well as future-proofing. The 8GB model is not for pro users per se.
Fantastic comparison! I already have a 14" MBP M1 Max for the 64GB, but at $4K I feel a tad uncomfortable traveling with it! I might pickup a 13" Air w/ 24GB if I get enough business income to pay for it. I have been really happy with the 14" form factor, especially with portability at home (I roam a lot). Going to 13" screen is a noticeable step down, but a good trade off for traveling in my personal situation. Thank you!
If Mac Book Air can provide 32GB or 64GB of memory, it would be perfect. For most developers, more memory is far more important than more CPUs or GPUs.
@@dadthelad Well, the Pro has twice the memory bandwidth of the base and the Max has twice the memory bandwidth of the Pro. There are certain workflows where that memory bandwidth makes a huge difference even if you never use the GPU cores. Like, the most ridiculous mundane example is incremental hot reloading of Angular applications. Each incremental compile is short but memory intensive. The difference between the base, Pro, and Max takes a cycle from 10 seconds to 6 seconds to 2 seconds. It completely changes what you can do in your workflow. It’s so ridiculous, because the compilation and app reloading are both single-threaded; so, even the extra CPU cores on the Max have no impact. That said, GPU cores are fantastic for embarrassingly parallel dev workloads like ML training. You can get larger cloud compute resources, but it’s also a PITA to work with without accidentally breaking the bank.
@@teluialThanks for that, good point. I don't know anything about what's under the hood of Angular, but either it simply isn't suitable for multithreading, or the designers haven't bothered. I do know that I've put thought into multithreading some of the core logic within my own applications, and often there simply isn't much, or even any, opportunity to. If one part of a calculation requires the answer to the previous part of the calculation, then splitting those parts into 2 threads is pointless, they simply can't be run simultaneously. Whereas applications such as graphics and AI are definitely easy candidates for such, as there are often large numbers of calculations that are independent of each other and can be run simultaneously, and then the results of those calculations in turn being run through another set of independent calculations, and so on.
My rule of thumb take the minimum memory you can handle and double it. You can never have too much memory! This new air is a winner! (Upgraded ram and ssd)
Can you test with the 24gb model too? Would be interesting to see how the extra ram improves the multitasking, containers, virtualization and speed from a developers perspective. Also, are the 1tb SSDs significantly faster than the 512gb SSDs?
I don't think the upgrade to internal storage is worth beyond 512, unless you are a content creator. Even then you could probably save a lot from running a nvme in a external enclosure than upgrading the internal storage.
In my case I have an MBP M1 pro 16 GB of memory and it struggles some times with docker and several apps/projects open at the same time, I got an M2 mini 24GB of memory and that one is way better for my workflow and it was way cheaper, my suggestion as backend software developer is: get the most memory you can afford and depending on your workflow most likely you don't need that much CPU performance.
@@glez120 I also currently have the MBP M1 pro 16 GB and there's usually about 5gb of swap being used so 16gb is not enough for my usage. And you're right about the CPU, I generally don't see it go to high percentages and that's why I am considering the air now. I'd really like to know how warm it will be for node workflows without the fan.
The screen on the MBP 16” is just like night and day different… Mini LED 1000 Nits (double the MBA) that would help fight the reflection outdoors (also goes up to 1600!! In short bursts of HDR) 120hz (double again) I mean, I get back in the old days when laptops were really heavy, but the m2 max 16” MBP is only 1.5 lb’s heavier…I think the only reason to get the air over the pro is price, if you have a choice between either of them with price not being a factor, I can’t see a scenario where anyone would actually choose the MBA… That being said, price is an issue for many people, and many people don’t need the power of the MBP, so I expect a lot of people will love the 15” MBA. I just don’t see it as a realistic alternative to the MBP 16”.
Developer here. I had waiting for an Air to come out for years BUT when I bumped the specs to 16GB 512GB then the price went higher than a refurbed 16" M1 Pro. The choice was obvious then.
I usually just go to work, plug in to a monitor, come home and plug in to a monitor, but considering the m1/2 only supports 1 monitor I think the 15" is nice!
I have an M2 Air and I like it, but...the keyboard is awful. I guess I'm spoiled because my primary laptop is an X1 Carbon. The Air doesn't come close to the keyboard quality. Really that (and the weight) is my main complaint with the air.
As a developer I think the Air has a lot to offer at 15 inches, but it needs more RAM for my workflow. I’m constantly running with VS Code, Excel, Sublime Text, Chrome, Exchange, Ms Teams, Zoom, and slack and 24GB is a bit light. I really need upwards of 50GB. That’s why I am basically stuck on the pro despite not necessarily needing some of the other features. If they had up to the 96GB or even 64 like my current pro in the m-Air, I would be a buyer. For someone who doesn’t need to multitask for a living like a dev, then the Air wouldn’t be bad. But there are few Dev workflows that are going to fit neatly in 24GB. I feel you would be swapping a lot more than you would like.
Apple has to end selling 8gb laptops... we are in 2023, 8gb isnt enough for a light dev, creative or multitasking use. 16 gb min, 32 and 64 gb options in every laptop almost... Im using an 13 air with 16gb and have all the problems you related. A lot of people claims that.. "ram in apple is better than in windows laptopts".. sorry but NO. Ram is Ram, and windows are doing a very good job with windows 11 and managing resources. Apple needs to revise this and MacOS in depth...
Developers usually use external monitor of 27” or 32” to get a real step in being more productive. I would still take the 13” size, more portable, lighter and cheaper.
I agree entirely with your RAM recommendations! I had the base m1 Air and running Docker was not a good experience. Then I bought the base m1 Pro 14'' and yeah, 16GB does make a significant difference but I'm also hitting its limits by now.. So if you're going to run a lot of virtualization/container locally, go for the 24GB air or 32GB pro.
I totally agree. I’ve got the 14” pro with 16GB of RAM, and some times the system feels choppy (especially when running Docker with SQL server, a Rails app server, and a couple of other services, VSCode, a SQL editor, Chrome with 10+ tabs, MS Outlook, Spotify, Notion, several terminals, etc.).
Yes, I always recommend buying as much RAM as possible these days, as that can be the main bottleneck for pro workflows. I suggest the base model for the core market of casual usage, some students, small businesses for office stuff, etc. All these tests on the base models running workflows unsuitable for 8GB of RAM prove my point, don't cheat on the RAM.
Thanks for this comparison. Especially the first test regarding the heatmanagement was quite revealing. I thought over the last weeks to buy a macbook pro 14 inch 16g of ram and 1tb discspace instead of an mb air 13" with the similar specs. And yes, the pro is more better in terms of display, performance and so on. But the 15 inch model turns this completely to me. Cause it's very portable and the bigger size of the screen, Trackpad, improved sound compared to the 13" model and now the throttleing is much less detectable. This makes the 15" model with 16gb ram 1tb really a very huge temptation to me and not only to me maybe....... To me the idea of a fanless more powerful laptop is now more given with the 15" model.
Don't worry too much about fanless. A MBP with fans will only ever spin the fans up if you are working the GPU hard enough to otherwise throttle. I'm pretty sure you can turn off the fans and let it throttle regardless. In the year I've owned my 16" M1P MBP, the fans have never spun up once, I'm simply not using GPU intensive tasks. I see these fans as basically redundant, but hey, they are there if ever required.
@@dadthelad I think it's more so because it has no vents for the exhaust, meaning there won't be no dust entering those said vents on the air. Meaning less maintenance and better longevity. I mean, that's how I'd take it.
I'm still bummed they only let you plug in one external screen, that's the only reason(aside from size) I'm thinking about selling my 13" m2 air to get a 16".
The MacBook Air 15 inch is the size I wanted 10 years ago for my writing. Something big screen but not for ridiculous price of a Pro. I wish also for a MBA 17 inch in the future! APPLE, ARE YOU LISTENING???
Would love to see side by size comparisons of Xcode, especially with the canvas/live preview open. Would be good to see Xcode open with another app like safari open in Split View/side by side
currently using the work issued m1 pro 16gb/512gb and it handles all my backend and react ui dev tasks really well, redis client, IntelliJ, Dbeaver client, docker, bunch of chrome tabs and few other tools running and never had any issues. I saw another comparison video recently that shows the m3 air processes faster in all tasks than the m1 pro, so most definitely the m3 air with 16 or 24gb of ram and 512gb of storage will be enough for most of us run of the mill software developers
16 GB or 24gb Macbook Air for machine learning. I don't want the extra weight of the pro. If it takes it longer that's fine. Would be nice if you can run all the models you ran on the MacBook pro versions.
Apple must have an option for anti-reflective screen for “developers”. Staring at code in different kind of environment is way much better when the screen is anti-reflective. IMO.
i think this is a very nice laptop, even tempting for me as a windows user, BUT, it's too expensive, for just a bigger screen, battery and chassis. it needs to start at 1000$, otherwise, if you put on it 512gb and 16gb of ram you get to the pro lineup prices.
Very meticulous and detailed tests as usual Alex! I am convinced by your tests that the 15" Macbook Air is the better choice. I will definitely get one as soon as it becomes available in PH. Thanks!
THX for this "firsttimeisaw" :-) completely clear and great review. Just what i needed now. Developers point was most important for me. I am running to the store now . Keep up the good work!
Been using 13" Macbook Pro 2018 for 5 years now... Well time to time I would like to have more space, but in general comparing the dell 15-17" with Macbook 13" then the last one is not that bad at all... Will see, maybe going for 14" with M3
I still wish Apple had just put an M1 chip in a model of their older "tapered" 15" Pro intel machine. I recently got a 16" M1 Pro... and the vastly improved power makes compile times a non-issue but the thing is obnoxiously heavy and uncomfortable to use in your actual lap. Plus the older design is sexy, witch the new MacBooks, Air & Pro, are not imo.
As a real developer I need at least 5-10 docker containers running. You can forget about using the Air for real development. If anything I would look into using a cloud development environment instead, in which case you can use a Chromebook or Air.
can you run a comparison of Macbook Air 15" with Macbook pro 16" please? Do you think the portability and price of former offsets the performance of latter?
docker without any containers running and already taking 5gb of ram sounds insane. I recommend colima, an alternative to the vm the official docker desktop summons. so much lighter and actually customizable.
great video Alex! I have been looking forward to your review! Would you still recommend the 16gb or 24 gb MBA for some MSc level of machine learning? I just have a year of studies left and I am concerned that after finishing my studies the MBP will be a total overkill (considering that I have a laptop from work)
You aren't going to gain anything from having a MacBook if you are not using it for work, and even if it is used it won't matter since the state of deep learning on metal is way behind Nvidia. Either get the cheapest M1 Air, or get well-specced MBP for side hobbies like Unity development or Blender.
i think you are mistaken when you say that just launching docker eats away 4 gigs of ram it certainly reserves that amount of memory but its not actually using it
A lot of us just wanted a Mac laptop with the biggest screen for most everyday task with the lowest price possible. Most of us don’t need a Pro but a bigger viewing size for our daily tasks, especially for me when I am writing. I like to see a lot of apps resource opened when I am writing. I don’t need powerful Pro to edit video or graphics etc.
Great video with great advice. I guess, the smaller MacBook Air 13“ is better for travelling, though. What I like to see on your show is a comparison of the Mac Studio M1 Ultra with the Mac Studio M2 Ultra using several applications such as ML, Video /Photo processing, Docker, application builds with XCode, VS Code or IntelliJ, …
I've been a very happy Macbook Pro user in the past. I tortured my cheapest, bottom-line 2015 Macbook Pro at uni and not only did it survive, but it delivered without (major) crashes. I now work in IT and only really deal with Apple devices when they go wrong, and I can honestly say I will never purchase another Apple device. They are very restricted, incredibly unforgiving, and Apple will just tell you to buy a new one when a client can't afford it. Even before my current line of work, I wanted to upgrade the SSD in my uni Macbook, and was told that the chance of success is so low it's not worth it (finding compatible parts, desoldering and soldering them on, then hoping the system accepts it). Buy a Macbook if you want, I understand why. However, as someone who's job is to try and fix them, I do not want to be dealing with them when they go wrong, which they inevitably will.
What kind of apps are you developing? Just curious. My MacBook Air 13” was getting hot even dragging large files from iCloud Drive to the desktop so I’m trying to understand how people are managing to run Xcode on these lol
Hey Alex, thanks for the review. Just got a question - the MacBooks were connected to the powersupply during the performance tests, rights? Wouldn't it make more sense to run them without it? The bigger screen should take more power, so I curious how this translates to power delivery for the cpu. Maybe you could test it in the future? Cheers!
I was waiting for this but tbh the 16” pro is where it’s at (assuming money isn’t the concern). Yea I love how thin the new air design is, it’s beautiful and thin and feels so cool, but the pro has an sd card slot and brighter screen, etc
Alex, great content and real world tests as always!! 👍 What would you recommend for someone like me who just has to open dozens and dozens of safari (personal stuff) and chrome (work stuff) tabs - literally, like 50-100 tabs, mixture or TH-cam, web apps and other stuff. I also will likely have Numbers running in the background, some PDFs opened, Contacts, Notes, Apple Mail and from time to time, Photos (managing thousands of family pics and vids), Maps and Apple Music for background music while I work. No Final Cut yet but will want to learn in a year or so! Might I as well be getting a MacBook Pro 16 inch, maybe?! 😅
Big love to you man! I'm about to start a degree in software engineering and I'm really nervous/ignorant about what I'd need machine wise to get the job done. You've been really helpful and insightful and I'm really thankful to you. Take care and big love from Scotland!
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I've been using my 16" M1 Pro model for development work for the past year and a half, but recently got the 15" Air so that I have 1 device for home, and 1 for work (to seperate them out). I develop all sorts, so Java Maven, SQL Server, Web, C# etc and was worried that the M2 wouldn't be enough. However it feels just as quick as my M1 Pro and i really cannot tell the difference. I prefer the design of the 15" Air as its just so light! I can use it on my lap anywhere and hold it up with one hand on its corner. I went with 16Gb 256Gb, the 'slower' storgage didn't effect me at all due to my small file sizes I work with, and I got 16Gb to avoid swap. Boom, perfect work laptop
Hey @shaggy12321 ,Did you faced any issue with heating while working on .Netcore apps and Docker as I have similar use case but wondering if I should shell another 600 euro and go for M3 pro or Get M2 Air 15inch 16GB, I do light video edits as well
@@praveenprakash143 get m2 pro
nice, just about to pull the plug on a new m3 air 16gb
@@GrantNelson-s7y do u face any heating issue ?
Hi, I'm just starting with development, is it possible to run sql server in mac?
Although the Base models of the Air are pretty good deals (the 15” for $100 more is probably better), the difference in cost between the 14” Mac Pro and an Air with 16Gb and 512Gb SD is only $300. The weight is practically the same and the screen is an inch smaller, but the mini led screen is higher resolution, brighter and has 120hz ProMotion. It has much better speakers and mic, way more ports (card slot, usb-c, hdmi), but most importantly 50% more performance CPU cores, 60% more GPU cores, and twice the memory bandwidth. For a developer who needs the extra memory, the Pro makes a lot more sense.
For 3world country it doesn't
@@si-level 3rd world country can buy plastic windows computers xD
@@Roban554 and?
@@si-level What do you mean? You do understand the message in my privious comment?
Exactly. As a web dev that works with Docker all the time, the word Docker alone sucks out 6gb of ram easy. 8GB isn't really something any devs should aim for especially in a device that is expected to last multiple years. The last thing you want is to be bottlenecked by the ram and end up having to get a entirely new device later on just because of that.
Finally a real software developer review. Most other reviews are from people who just follow tutorials. Thanks!
MacBook Air 13" (16 GB/512 GB) will do almost everything. And I'm always using a secondary screen. I do basically backend work. I'm currently using a 16" M1Pro from the company, but portability is terrible for me. I'll go for it as my personal machine. Thanks for the review.
as one of those guys that uses the command pallet for everything i hiiiighly recommend moving the menubar to the left side of the screen ( so it does not interfer with right side scrolling) minimize its size and auto hide it. when you maximise a window it will now fill the entire screen and hitting cmd shift (i first replaced spotlight with alfred and now with raycast) is as fast as if not faster than alt tabbing to switch between windows
I keep coming back to the 14" Pro as my likely upgrade. The Air is nice but while I don't always need the power the Pro line can offer, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I'll be upgrading from a 13" Pro from 2014 so anything is going to be better, but the overall size and features, to me, make it the absolute sweet spot for power and portability.
Small af screen tbh
I wanted to thank you for your video. It really helped me decide which device to choose.
Currently, I'm a software developer and I'm planning to upgrade my current setup. I have two options in mind:
1. MacBook Air 15" with an M2 chip, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 24GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD.
2. MacBook Pro 14" with an M2 Pro chip, 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 32GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD.
At the moment, I'm not using any docker containers or virtual machines, but I might start using them in the future. I'm also planning to learn AI and ML, so having some capability in that area would be beneficial.
Here are my specific queries:
1. I feel like the MacBook Pro 14" might be overkill for software development.
2. I live in India, where temperatures can reach 30-35 degrees Celsius, and I'm concerned that the fanless design of the MacBook Air might cause issues.
3. I'm planning to use the laptop for at least 5 years or more.
I would greatly appreciate your suggestions on which option would be best for my needs.
It’d be very interesting to see the real world differences between a 15” Air with 512gb/24gb and the base 14” Pro with 512gb/16gb. I’m mainly interested in how Windows on Parallels and Docker perform on these 2. Here in Canada they are priced exactly the same.
THIS is what I’m really waiting for too!
Yeah, that would be REALLY interesting. As a FE dev I would love to see how those two machines handle mobile development.
Parallels performance is why I got the pro model.
there's no real world difference
Don't know about the 15" but I have the 13" Air with 24GB and it runs Parallels extremely well. 12GB for Mac, 12GB for Windows11. Perfectly smooth. I would assume the 15" is going to be the same or even slightly better.
Requirements highly depend on what kind of development you do. I used to have a 1TB SSD MacBook at Unity and it was always running out of space. I had to download several big customer projects and checkout multiple branches of big repos (with lot of git LFS data). Since then 2TB has been my SSD minimum requirement. For memory, some performance profiling (sampling) tools I use become unresponsive with only 16GB RAM, so 32GB is my minimum for memory. When compiling big C++ code bases, you want good CPU performance. Saving 10 mins daily pays back the whole device in less than 1 year. 14” M3 Max weight is only 6% more than 15” Air. But the performance is in different ballpark.
The deal breaker for me, that reviews don't seem to point out since the first M1 MacBook Air, is that they can only have one external display. The Pro 14" and Pro 16" can have mulitple displays. I have the 16" with two external displays and would rather have the 24GB Air 15" for the portability, but need the external display support :(
I thought the multiple display was an M1 limitation? Are you saying even the M2 macbook air doesn't support multiple displays?
@@James_08_07 Yeah, the M2 13" Air doesn't allow more than one. Not sure if it's an I/O controller limitation (like it was with the M1 I believe), or if it's artificially limited to be a "pro-only" feature.
Any M1 or M2 machine only supports one monitor through thunderbolt. You can get another display on the Mac Mini M1 because of the HDMI port. M1/M2 Pro supports 2 external displays and M1/M2 Max supports 4 external displays.
If you really need it you can use an external docking station for dual monitor support, but I agree bummer it isn’t supported natively.
@@KHudso it's not as easy as that for two reasons. First is the docks that do support it for the Air (like Anker's) are hacks from their side and not all MacBook certified docks will do more than one monitor.
Second issue is Apple disabled MST support via thunderbolt in their software a few years ago which means that the native DisplayPort way of attaching a single cable to get multiple display outputs isn't actually supported. Therefore, even with the pro laptops, you have to get a dock which is designed for MacOS's multiple display output - a real issue when in an office which already has dozens of Thunderbolt 4 docks (from Belkin, Kingston and others) that cost hundreds and won't output more than one display...
This was a feature in MacOS about a decade ago. (if you boot into Linux or Windows, the Pro laptops can use these docks and MST with no issue)
If it supported 32GB ram, I would call a dream too.. Your tests were pretty much exactly my day-to-day. Thank you!.
@@rafadydkiemmacha7543 gaming / large video editing without hitting swap ssd
@@rafadydkiemmacha7543 I run 10 docker containers to spin up a complex environment. The air is for simple javascript kiddies :)
I have had code profiling software run our of memory on 16GB systems while recording. If you need high sample rate, get 32GB memory. These analysis software use a lot of memory and are very unresponsive on low memory amount.
This is why at the time of M1, I preferred MBP over MBA, despite being a fan of the MBA design. I did not want to bet on CPU ventilation and have the full performance to support my work.
Developer's perspective is really interesting; thanks! I'm shooting for retirement in a couple years or so, and probably start working on some iPhone app ideas that've been rattling around the back of my cranium for a few years!
I picked up a 16" M2-Max MBP recently. I'm amazed how much performance it has for a laptop. Heck, how much performance it has for _any kind_ of machine! I know it's beneath it's 12-CPU, 38-GPU dignity, but it's also one heck of a movie-watching machine too: Amazingly "spatial" speakers and high-contrast screen!
I dunno if it's a developer's dream. It only supports 1 monitor natively. As a developer, I often need at least 2 screen in addition to the Macbook screen.
Hello, Alex! That was a nice video, thanks for sharing the developer's point of view.
It would be nice to see the real-world comparison of 16/512 Air 15 with MacBook Pro 16 m2 pro. It seems that this Air could be the ideal replacement for web developers who need bigger screens, but don’t need the power of MacBook Pro.
Yes, please compare the 8GB vs 16GB 15" Airs. Xcode + iOS simulator compile and cold start times.
No need to compare; buy 16GB as it will double your performance in RAM-intensive apps as well as future-proofing. The 8GB model is not for pro users per se.
Fantastic comparison! I already have a 14" MBP M1 Max for the 64GB, but at $4K I feel a tad uncomfortable traveling with it! I might pickup a 13" Air w/ 24GB if I get enough business income to pay for it. I have been really happy with the 14" form factor, especially with portability at home (I roam a lot). Going to 13" screen is a noticeable step down, but a good trade off for traveling in my personal situation. Thank you!
maybe buying insurance would be cheaper than buying another macbook? lol
I aggree with you. I don't know how to place / store such so expensive notebook in the hotel room..
Alex, your tests are the best! Thank you!
Glad you like them!
If Mac Book Air can provide 32GB or 64GB of memory, it would be perfect. For most developers, more memory is far more important than more CPUs or GPUs.
Especially GPUs. A complete waste for most devs. My GPUs don't even have to get out of bed all day.
@@dadthelad Well, the Pro has twice the memory bandwidth of the base and the Max has twice the memory bandwidth of the Pro. There are certain workflows where that memory bandwidth makes a huge difference even if you never use the GPU cores.
Like, the most ridiculous mundane example is incremental hot reloading of Angular applications. Each incremental compile is short but memory intensive. The difference between the base, Pro, and Max takes a cycle from 10 seconds to 6 seconds to 2 seconds. It completely changes what you can do in your workflow.
It’s so ridiculous, because the compilation and app reloading are both single-threaded; so, even the extra CPU cores on the Max have no impact.
That said, GPU cores are fantastic for embarrassingly parallel dev workloads like ML training. You can get larger cloud compute resources, but it’s also a PITA to work with without accidentally breaking the bank.
* on the top end Max vs the binned Pro
@@teluialThanks for that, good point. I don't know anything about what's under the hood of Angular, but either it simply isn't suitable for multithreading, or the designers haven't bothered. I do know that I've put thought into multithreading some of the core logic within my own applications, and often there simply isn't much, or even any, opportunity to. If one part of a calculation requires the answer to the previous part of the calculation, then splitting those parts into 2 threads is pointless, they simply can't be run simultaneously. Whereas applications such as graphics and AI are definitely easy candidates for such, as there are often large numbers of calculations that are independent of each other and can be run simultaneously, and then the results of those calculations in turn being run through another set of independent calculations, and so on.
8:33 "That GPU is being pegged"
This is not a sentence I expected to hear in my lifetime.
My rule of thumb take the minimum memory you can handle and double it. You can never have too much memory! This new air is a winner! (Upgraded ram and ssd)
With an aluminum body, they are using the shell as part of the heatsink. Bigger aluminum body with more surface area should mean better cooling.
Can you test with the 24gb model too? Would be interesting to see how the extra ram improves the multitasking, containers, virtualization and speed from a developers perspective.
Also, are the 1tb SSDs significantly faster than the 512gb SSDs?
will not much
I don't think the upgrade to internal storage is worth beyond 512, unless you are a content creator. Even then you could probably save a lot from running a nvme in a external enclosure than upgrading the internal storage.
In my case I have an MBP M1 pro 16 GB of memory and it struggles some times with docker and several apps/projects open at the same time, I got an M2 mini 24GB of memory and that one is way better for my workflow and it was way cheaper, my suggestion as backend software developer is: get the most memory you can afford and depending on your workflow most likely you don't need that much CPU performance.
@@glez120 Yes, both front-end and back-end developers require more memory. If air has 32GB of memory, it would be even more perfect.
@@glez120 I also currently have the MBP M1 pro 16 GB and there's usually about 5gb of swap being used so 16gb is not enough for my usage. And you're right about the CPU, I generally don't see it go to high percentages and that's why I am considering the air now.
I'd really like to know how warm it will be for node workflows without the fan.
I use OrbStack instead of Docker desktop. It is a lot faster, lighter and way less resource intensive on macOS.
I'm sitting watching this on my new MBA 15"....Love it !
The screen on the MBP 16” is just like night and day different…
Mini LED
1000 Nits (double the MBA) that would help fight the reflection outdoors (also goes up to 1600!! In short bursts of HDR)
120hz (double again)
I mean, I get back in the old days when laptops were really heavy, but the m2 max 16” MBP is only 1.5 lb’s heavier…I think the only reason to get the air over the pro is price, if you have a choice between either of them with price not being a factor, I can’t see a scenario where anyone would actually choose the MBA…
That being said, price is an issue for many people, and many people don’t need the power of the MBP, so I expect a lot of people will love the 15” MBA. I just don’t see it as a realistic alternative to the MBP 16”.
Developer here. I had waiting for an Air to come out for years BUT when I bumped the specs to 16GB 512GB then the price went higher than a refurbed 16" M1 Pro. The choice was obvious then.
M3 Air is right around the corner!
Love your videos for it gives the true developer insights and most of the questions you answer matches well with my curiosity. 👨🏻💻
was waiting for 15" review. It was Worth the wait. 🔥🔥
I usually just go to work, plug in to a monitor, come home and plug in to a monitor, but considering the m1/2 only supports 1 monitor I think the 15" is nice!
Perfect review! You answered all of the questions I had that other reviewers completely skimped over!
I have an M2 Air and I like it, but...the keyboard is awful. I guess I'm spoiled because my primary laptop is an X1 Carbon. The Air doesn't come close to the keyboard quality. Really that (and the weight) is my main complaint with the air.
Haven’t tried the X1 keyboard myself. what do you like about it?
As a developer I think the Air has a lot to offer at 15 inches, but it needs more RAM for my workflow. I’m constantly running with VS Code, Excel, Sublime Text, Chrome, Exchange, Ms Teams, Zoom, and slack and 24GB is a bit light. I really need upwards of 50GB. That’s why I am basically stuck on the pro despite not necessarily needing some of the other features. If they had up to the 96GB or even 64 like my current pro in the m-Air, I would be a buyer. For someone who doesn’t need to multitask for a living like a dev, then the Air wouldn’t be bad. But there are few Dev workflows that are going to fit neatly in 24GB. I feel you would be swapping a lot more than you would like.
Apple has to end selling 8gb laptops... we are in 2023, 8gb isnt enough for a light dev, creative or multitasking use. 16 gb min, 32 and 64 gb options in every laptop almost... Im using an 13 air with 16gb and have all the problems you related. A lot of people claims that.. "ram in apple is better than in windows laptopts".. sorry but NO. Ram is Ram, and windows are doing a very good job with windows 11 and managing resources. Apple needs to revise this and MacOS in depth...
YES SUPER GLAD someone made this kind of video. This was my concern, that they don’t have a fan.
Developers usually use external monitor of 27” or 32” to get a real step in being more productive. I would still take the 13” size, more portable, lighter and cheaper.
Would like to see more docker/containers to fully understand if 16gb is good enough for budget reasons. Or still need to go 24gb.
I agree entirely with your RAM recommendations!
I had the base m1 Air and running Docker was not a good experience. Then I bought the base m1 Pro 14'' and yeah, 16GB does make a significant difference but I'm also hitting its limits by now.. So if you're going to run a lot of virtualization/container locally, go for the 24GB air or 32GB pro.
I totally agree. I’ve got the 14” pro with 16GB of RAM, and some times the system feels choppy (especially when running Docker with SQL server, a Rails app server, and a couple of other services, VSCode, a SQL editor, Chrome with 10+ tabs, MS Outlook, Spotify, Notion, several terminals, etc.).
Yes, I always recommend buying as much RAM as possible these days, as that can be the main bottleneck for pro workflows. I suggest the base model for the core market of casual usage, some students, small businesses for office stuff, etc. All these tests on the base models running workflows unsuitable for 8GB of RAM prove my point, don't cheat on the RAM.
What was your ram on m1 air? 8gb ?
Thank you for the review ! as usual 🚀🚀🚀
Thanks for this comparison. Especially the first test regarding the heatmanagement was quite revealing. I thought over the last weeks to buy a macbook pro 14 inch 16g of ram and 1tb discspace instead of an mb air 13" with the similar specs. And yes, the pro is more better in terms of display, performance and so on. But the 15 inch model turns this completely to me. Cause it's very portable and the bigger size of the screen, Trackpad, improved sound compared to the 13" model and now the throttleing is much less detectable. This makes the 15" model with 16gb ram 1tb really a very huge temptation to me and not only to me maybe....... To me the idea of a fanless more powerful laptop is now more given with the 15" model.
Don't worry too much about fanless. A MBP with fans will only ever spin the fans up if you are working the GPU hard enough to otherwise throttle. I'm pretty sure you can turn off the fans and let it throttle regardless. In the year I've owned my 16" M1P MBP, the fans have never spun up once, I'm simply not using GPU intensive tasks. I see these fans as basically redundant, but hey, they are there if ever required.
@@dadthelad I think it's more so because it has no vents for the exhaust, meaning there won't be no dust entering those said vents on the air. Meaning less maintenance and better longevity. I mean, that's how I'd take it.
The review I was waiting for 🔥
I'm still bummed they only let you plug in one external screen, that's the only reason(aside from size) I'm thinking about selling my 13" m2 air to get a 16".
Your tests were pretty much exactly my day-to-day. Thank you!
Thanks for your decent work! Just starting to discover what you've done so far.
Great comprehensive review, I'd love to a see a comparison between the 15 inch m2 16gb of ram vs the base model 16 mbp m2
Finally my dream come true (as a developer). Need to start saving.
The MacBook Air 15 inch is the size I wanted 10 years ago for my writing. Something big screen but not for ridiculous price of a Pro. I wish also for a MBA 17 inch in the future! APPLE, ARE YOU LISTENING???
As a programmer which one of these choices is better? Buy a Desktop PC with i513400 + 4060ti or MacBook Air m2 8/512?
Awesome review Alex. This is the one I’ve been waiting for! Waiting patiently for mine to show up.
underrated channel😮 so amazing review
I appreciate that!
It was 500$ for 8 extra lines where I live.
And it's literally in the middle of the EU.
Would love to see side by size comparisons of Xcode, especially with the canvas/live preview open. Would be good to see Xcode open with another app like safari open in Split View/side by side
hey thats only 15" not 32" :D, xcode with canvas ok, but never with safari in split view side by side at 15"
i see, so 15 inches is still not enough for me when im on office then, will go with the 13 and extended screen
Quick tip. If your 13’ ever throttles, lay it in a wet face towel. With the all aluminum build, the entire body is the heat sink. Thank her later.
currently using the work issued m1 pro 16gb/512gb and it handles all my backend and react ui dev tasks really well, redis client, IntelliJ, Dbeaver client, docker, bunch of chrome tabs and few other tools running and never had any issues. I saw another comparison video recently that shows the m3 air processes faster in all tasks than the m1 pro, so most definitely the m3 air with 16 or 24gb of ram and 512gb of storage will be enough for most of us run of the mill software developers
Looking forward to watch your video on the 16GB RAM model Alex!
Being told what to do and what not to do with my device seems like hell, certainly not a dream
16 GB or 24gb Macbook Air for machine learning. I don't want the extra weight of the pro. If it takes it longer that's fine. Would be nice if you can run all the models you ran on the MacBook pro versions.
Great video 👏 thanks!
thx
Apple must have an option for anti-reflective screen for “developers”. Staring at code in different kind of environment is way much better when the screen is anti-reflective. IMO.
i think this is a very nice laptop, even tempting for me as a windows user, BUT, it's too expensive, for just a bigger screen, battery and chassis.
it needs to start at 1000$, otherwise, if you put on it 512gb and 16gb of ram you get to the pro lineup prices.
Very meticulous and detailed tests as usual Alex! I am convinced by your tests that the 15" Macbook Air is the better choice. I will definitely get one as soon as it becomes available in PH. Thanks!
If it supported 32GB ram, I would call a dream too.
Yes! Buy them all! Clear that M2 stock so we can finally have that 3nm M3!
Alex, your reviews and tests helped me a lot in choosing my MacBook! Thanks!
THX for this "firsttimeisaw" :-) completely clear and great review. Just what i needed now. Developers point was most important for me. I am running to the store now . Keep up the good work!
WAIT! a starbucks with a prominently displayed American flag?
YES!
where is this magical place?
oh gosh to see this both laptops just a bit a way from falling down the round table makes my heart stop to beat xD
Been using 13" Macbook Pro 2018 for 5 years now... Well time to time I would like to have more space, but in general comparing the dell 15-17" with Macbook 13" then the last one is not that bad at all... Will see, maybe going for 14" with M3
Why would you use your old computer for a bigger screen? Why not connect an even larger external screen?
So... MacBook Air 15" 16/512 is pretty fine for programming, VsCode, little Docker, Parallels and multitasking ?
I still wish Apple had just put an M1 chip in a model of their older "tapered" 15" Pro intel machine. I recently got a 16" M1 Pro... and the vastly improved power makes compile times a non-issue but the thing is obnoxiously heavy and uncomfortable to use in your actual lap. Plus the older design is sexy, witch the new MacBooks, Air & Pro, are not imo.
As a real developer I need at least 5-10 docker containers running. You can forget about using the Air for real development. If anything I would look into using a cloud development environment instead, in which case you can use a Chromebook or Air.
My only complaint would be that the air doesn’t have 120hz screen/Brighter screen, that’s what’s holding me back from going from a 14pro to a 15 air.
2:13 Bombastic Side Eye!!!!
I always appreciate these comparison tests.thanks👍🏻
GGetting this MAXED OUT in the fall for school.
can you run a comparison of Macbook Air 15" with Macbook pro 16" please? Do you think the portability and price of former offsets the performance of latter?
docker without any containers running and already taking 5gb of ram sounds insane. I recommend colima, an alternative to the vm the official docker desktop summons. so much lighter and actually customizable.
what about battery life?
@@Chidorin I can barely notice the difference. I use it to create apis in pyton with fastapi and pydantic.
@@sphexie ty, what about hours, how long can it last
I am learning machine learning, should I buy a M2 Max Macbook Pro or a PC laptop with RTX 4090?
you can learn on either. if you want to do very large training runs, the rtx will be better
great video Alex! I have been looking forward to your review! Would you still recommend the 16gb or 24 gb MBA for some MSc level of machine learning? I just have a year of studies left and I am concerned that after finishing my studies the MBP will be a total overkill (considering that I have a laptop from work)
Do work like that won't allow personal computer and don't need to invest in such machine? How about gaming?
You aren't going to gain anything from having a MacBook if you are not using it for work, and even if it is used it won't matter since the state of deep learning on metal is way behind Nvidia.
Either get the cheapest M1 Air, or get well-specced MBP for side hobbies like Unity development or Blender.
Sometimes there is a simple explanation: The heat in the bigger MacBook has more space to handle the heat...
i think you are mistaken when you say that just launching docker eats away 4 gigs of ram
it certainly reserves that amount of memory but its not actually using it
Even compiling rust works well on the 13in....
I’m tired of cleaning my 13” screen, no way I’m paying 100$ to clean more square inches
😂
A lot of us just wanted a Mac laptop with the biggest screen for most everyday task with the lowest price possible. Most of us don’t need a Pro but a bigger viewing size for our daily tasks, especially for me when I am writing. I like to see a lot of apps resource opened when I am writing. I don’t need powerful Pro to edit video or graphics etc.
Great video with great advice. I guess, the smaller MacBook Air 13“ is better for travelling, though. What I like to see on your show is a comparison of the Mac Studio M1 Ultra with the Mac Studio M2 Ultra using several applications such as ML, Video /Photo processing, Docker, application builds with XCode, VS Code or IntelliJ, …
It's not like you can fit the 13" in your pocket, I don't see the travelling advantage personally. I travel with my 16", no worries at all.
mac air m2 15inch VS mac pro m2 13 inch .... which one would you recomend for ios development?
I've been a very happy Macbook Pro user in the past. I tortured my cheapest, bottom-line 2015 Macbook Pro at uni and not only did it survive, but it delivered without (major) crashes.
I now work in IT and only really deal with Apple devices when they go wrong, and I can honestly say I will never purchase another Apple device. They are very restricted, incredibly unforgiving, and Apple will just tell you to buy a new one when a client can't afford it. Even before my current line of work, I wanted to upgrade the SSD in my uni Macbook, and was told that the chance of success is so low it's not worth it (finding compatible parts, desoldering and soldering them on, then hoping the system accepts it).
Buy a Macbook if you want, I understand why. However, as someone who's job is to try and fix them, I do not want to be dealing with them when they go wrong, which they inevitably will.
What kind of apps are you developing? Just curious. My MacBook Air 13” was getting hot even dragging large files from iCloud Drive to the desktop so I’m trying to understand how people are managing to run Xcode on these lol
Great video! To sum it up, if I’m going to run Docker at all, base model 15” MacBook Air is a no no?
Hey Alex, thanks for the review. Just got a question - the MacBooks were connected to the powersupply during the performance tests, rights?
Wouldn't it make more sense to run them without it? The bigger screen should take more power, so I curious how this translates to power delivery for the cpu.
Maybe you could test it in the future? Cheers!
great video! You got me thinking to switch to new Air from M1 Pro 🤔. Would be great to see the comparison - 16 gb Air vs 16 gb Pro
I was waiting for this but tbh the 16” pro is where it’s at (assuming money isn’t the concern). Yea I love how thin the new air design is, it’s beautiful and thin and feels so cool, but the pro has an sd card slot and brighter screen, etc
Alex, great content and real world tests as always!! 👍 What would you recommend for someone like me who just has to open dozens and dozens of safari (personal stuff) and chrome (work stuff) tabs - literally, like 50-100 tabs, mixture or TH-cam, web apps and other stuff. I also will likely have Numbers running in the background, some PDFs opened, Contacts, Notes, Apple Mail and from time to time, Photos (managing thousands of family pics and vids), Maps and Apple Music for background music while I work. No Final Cut yet but will want to learn in a year or so! Might I as well be getting a MacBook Pro 16 inch, maybe?! 😅
Big love to you man! I'm about to start a degree in software engineering and I'm really nervous/ignorant about what I'd need machine wise to get the job done. You've been really helpful and insightful and I'm really thankful to you.
Take care and big love from Scotland!
What did you buy?
Keep those beats going!! 🎧
As a coder, do you miss having a number pad?
That’s usually a consideration for me.
What about the same test for new Mac Air 15'' (16Gb RAM + 512Gb SSD) vs Mac Mini M2 (the same configuration)? Thanks.