I have the M2 MacBook Air. It does the job that I need (constant research, note taking, large docs.). I updated from intel chip MacBook Pro which was on its last legs. I like the M2 and will be sticking with it
I am in the exact same situation! How did you find the downgrade of the speakers and display? I hate having to upgradeto a new computer that has some specs that are just worse
Same but I dreamed of an 15 inch for a long time so finally got the m2 this week. Worthy upgrade but I'd say if ur happy stay happy because there's always shinier stuff
As a programmer myself, I could say RAM > Chipset, M1 is enough but RAM often got clogged in the 8GB variant, even with swap memory (and it kills your storage faster). Microsoft teams + slack already eats most of the RAM, and it is a disaster when I start running docker.
Yup. I agree. Now with more AI-driven tasks being built into the OS, it seems like the RAM will be utilized more. 8GB will probably do the tasks, but it's going to slow things down I would imagine. Apple is such a mixed company for me. They make great stuff and have great ideas, but selling 8gb at all post-2018 is just... crazy.
Agree, I'm working with 16GB and the machine is allways in yellow in the memory pressure graph, and I've had some apps crashing. For any real work 8GB is just not an option and 16GB is barely cutting it in many instances.
I think the sweet spot for prosumers in the MBP lineup is the M3 Pro MBP 14 base model (18GB/512GB) because of the extra features it brings to the table.
@@RetlomI know I’m an outlier, I’m taller with larger hands so I appreciate the extra space available with the touch pad and palm rests of 15+ inch plus laptops. I have only ever owned a 13 inch MacBook Pro, will the 14 inch MacBook Pro feel too small for us taller people? Thanks for any input
Yeah i ended up buying the lenovo legion 7i instead of what i really wanted which was the m3 max pro 16inch 2tb but couldn’t justify the criminal prices for storage upgrades, the lineup makes u feel like you’re getting robed and ur left wanting more from your machine w/ the base models
@@abhisheksingh-np8yi Which is very funny to me because I have the base spec M3 air for school work and work on the go, and honestly it does a great job. It does a lot of the tasks that I do on my m3 pro mbp that has 16 gb ram with a similar level of speed. Honestly the biggest difference for me is the screen (mini LED and 120 Hz vs LED and 60 Hz). I will say that if you're not privileged like me (because I'm aware that not many people have two laptops lol) and can only get one laptop and want to future proof it, I'd go for the 16 gb for sure. But I just want to say that I'm living life just fine on the 8 gb of ram. My previous work laptop was a windows laptop that had 8 gb of ram and 256 gb ssd just like this air and it worked great for almost 5 years
It really is. At their price, it should have 16gb period. Because of it, you get a very expensive device for basic tasks. RAM is NOT expensive ,Apple is just being greedy because it has this image of being"premium" on things that aren't even luxury products. I almost made the mistake of buying the MB air base model and thank god i didn't. Any light editing is really slow on it, it gets completely overshadowed by similar priced windows device. And i said light editing because the MB air is clearly not fit for heavy workload. But on a 1000-1200€ device, i should be able to use this for very light editing tasks without getting outperformed by Windows device.
It's a shame that PC manufacturers doesn't do the decent CPU, big battery models. I'd really like to try a mac out but paying that much only for battery life makes me think twice. That said, there aren't any viable laptops in the market that competes with macs on battery currently. I wish I could just run a base model thinkpad and slap a large battery on it like the old times.
I run an it department with a couple thousand m1 macbook pros with 8 gigs of ram and 256 gig ssd's and haven't had a single ssd fail after almost 4 years. Just wanted to throw that out there because I think the swap with ssd and memory point is thrown out alot and I'm just not seeing any issues. We will be replacing them all next year so our usable life span doesn't seem to be an issue
Yes, swap uses disk RAM, which is usually DDR4. Only on occasions will swap trespass onto flash memory, so as you say, the swap issue is a misnomer. Many with an anti-Apple agenda push it out, and it is never supported-just scaremongering.
Even though that is true, same with my IT department, MacBooks were designed to last 10 years. Less than 5-6 years is still underperforming what they were designed to do. It's like a car with good maintenance can last 15 years, but you treat it bad and upgrade from it in 8 years.
@@akin242002 I'm not defending macs lack of upgrading. I'm not a fan at all I just wanted to give a time frame for reference. One thing people should keep in mind is mac os will use as much as 80% of your memory all the time reguardless of how much you have so if you have 16 gigs you may not be saving your drive because you could be using double the swap. I've seen this on my work m2 mac pro with 16 gigs and a 512 gig ssd and my work mac studio with 32 gigs and 1TB
@@akin242002 also I'm happy with 5-6 years with traditional hard drives I was on a 3 years refresh. Refresh cost has been cut in half over the last decade and because apple devices hold their valve I'm able to resell for not an insignificant amount of the purchase price after 4 years
I got the M1 14 inch Macbook pro almost two years ago and I LOVE it. The *only* thing I wish I still had was my old 11 inch MB Air for travel. My back is very sensitive to weight and the 11 inch was phenomenal for travel (and I hate Ipads). If money was no object I would have a newer Macbook Air alongside my Pro for the portability.
It's a choice; you can order 16GB or 24GB if needed. 12GB will be the new M4 MB Air and Pro base. For the record, the base M3 MB Pro 14 is not a Pro device as it uses the base chip (i5 in Intel terms). The Pros are the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips, and they start at 18GB and 36GB, respectively.
8GB is surprisingly pretty usable with apple silicon. why a “pro” machine has it though is questionable. for a few more hundred bucks from the MBA, you get a fan and a better display. it’s not really targeted at pros, just everyday casual users who have some extra money lying around
@@baoboba Sure it's usable but does that mean it's reasonable. I am no power user but I noticed using both a 8GB and 16GB I would hit the max on the 8GB but hover 12GB on the 16GB with just some light tasks. And like Ella said you will be swamping memory which if I plan on keeping my macbook for ten years might means the SSD might crap out on me. Which you can't easily replace the SSD if it happens sooner.
its more like at THIS PRICE it's criminal. You get 300-400 € PCs here with 8gb. You obviously use these models for very basic tasks like mail, a few tabs open.... At similar price, you get 16gb PC that can do more than the mac on anything except the battery life. At 16gb, the MBA just outperform pc with similar spec, but the price is just insane. Adding 8gb of ram souldn't cost 200€. And this is with a measly 256 gb SSB. Like, come on Apple you make enough money already....
@@MultiNakir In case you were unaware, macOS uses all the RAM it can when idling. My M2 Max Mac Studio w/ 32gbs of RAM uses 15gbs idling. My MBA w/ 8gb uses 5gb idling.
I still use 4 GB Macbook Air from 2013, and it's better than professional DELL from 2018. No issues with blue screen and other weird issues as Windows has.
That upgrade cycle logic at the beginning applies to iPads as well, especially if you add the official refurb store. You need to loopty loop for a while to understand where the best value is for your needs.
very informative, well written, and well produced! a good thesis and understanding of the product stack and the edges between them that make them a good value or not. excited to see more content from you!
You know what? I watch many of your videos because of you, not because of the products you review. I love the positive energy you put into these videos. They all have an upbeat tone even when you don't like some features that much. 😊
Thank you so much for this review, Ella! After loving my baseline M1 MB Air for 3 years, I realized that what I need now is more RAM, HDMI port, and more storage. I went for the M3 MB Pro and I know I'm not going back to Air, even though my MBP is a bit heavier ;) But still, even after 3 years, I gave my M1 MB Air to my brother, and he should be able to enjoy it for years to come :)
You're such an excellent communicator. Excellent comparison and excellent content as usual. Keep up your excellent work. Hope you and your family are in good health.
The m3 pro base comes with 8 gb RAM which is disappointing. If you bump it to 16 gb RAM it’s $1899. Compared to the $1399 of the m3 air with the same 16 gb RAM. $500 difference is no joke. I’d go with the air
Great video, Ella! because I never thought of the much longer battery-life on a M3. There are a lot of people like me that only use Word & Excel for real and then a 8 GB MacBook Air 2015 will do, with the advance I can change the battery easily and put a 4 GB ssd in it for relatively very little money. I am very happy with all those upgraders because now I can buy a lot of them for € 150 for me and others in my bubble.
The heaviest work I want a Macbook Air for is still photo editing (NO video editing) when travelling. Will a refurbed M3 be better than the M2? If I understand correctly If I'm not multi tasking heavy work loads paying more for the M3 may not be worth any noticeable difference.
My wife has a A1706 13' Macbook Pro since 2017, the machine is now very slow when she working on multiple tasks, e.g. browsing TH-cam, Canvas, open a few PDF, Excel worksheets. Definitely not graphic heavy jobs but the slowness affecting her productivity. Not sure which one should I choose for her right now, or should I wait for the new model out and get the current M3's model? She doesn't want to carry a heavier Pro version but I love the 120hz screen and better sound quality. She uses the laptop for Netflix, PDF, Excel, web browsing, sometimes Adobe Illustrator.
I was about to buy the 15" 16Gb Macbook Air when Amazon dropped the 8Gb version by £200,so I've had the 15" base model for 3 weeks now and it works great with everything I use,such as the Affinity software,photoshop and lightroom without any problems at all.I don't edit video or use 3D software so it works fine on all fronts so far.I don't do much gaming,I tried Asphalt8+ without any hitches and no overheating at all,and I'm very happy with my purchase.
OMG So glad you exist and I found you! And you speak to my heart re Swap usage! My friends freak out at how many apps and chrome tabs I have open AT ALL TIMES lolz!
I must say that my MacBook Air 2017 still works great! It has been with me for almost 7 years and is compatible with everything! I'm just considering to upgrade because of the battery life and I feel like people are judging me for still having the old version. Haha!! But overall, it has been with me through everything. Now on the upgrade, I'm considering getting an M2 with a larger storage.
8gb being standard is just not acceptable. I have a MBP with the M3pro in it. Prior to this, had a MBP with the M1pro. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference in performance, only in battery life. Great machines.
8GB is not the standard; it is an option for a cheaper entry point. I have used an MB Pro 13 M1 base model for 3y9m, and still going great and no issues with 8GB for my workload. Just because you need more RAM does not mean the rest of the world does. My 80-year-old parents barely use 5GB of RAM on their Macs!
I picked MacBook Pro with M3 chip. To be honest, M3 chip is fast enough for me. I really appreciate this high-end display with ProMotion that is also the reason why I purchased Pro model.
The same with Intel and AMD. Welcome to a mature market where innovation is nominal, and updates are usually iterative. This year, Intel pushing Gen 14 with similar performance to the Gen 13 and the same dGPU choices. AMD ditto. So stop the anti-Apple rhetoric; this is the state of PCs.
Well college freshman and 18-year-olds getting off Chromebooks benefit the most. Their first adult laptop starts off amazing. Especially if they are willing to get a refurbished one from the previous year.
@@lbeetechI’m the US and when I was in college over half my classmates would either take out loans or max their credit cards for a MacBook. Maybe it’s different in other countries where Apple isn’t as popular
@IceBlueLugia Sorry to hear that. Apple is a marketing company, their products aren't worth the price. I'm not saying that they aren't good, but they are overpriced. Thr only way to force their prices down is that people refuse to borrow money to buy Apple products.
I am using an M2 Air with 16GB now (and an M3 Pro (with Pro chip) with 18GB) Both are more than capable, but in both cases, the RAM is a problem. I'm always hitting swap on both of them. If we're up to me, I'd go with 36GB minimum, which of course rules out the Air all-together.
I have a 2015 Mac book pro 13inch but battery service just popped up. I want to upgrade but want to use for longevity. I’m currently in school and am using my laptop for computer science course. I’m stuck between air 13in or pro 14in. Which would y’all recommend?
I’m so thrilled that Ella brought up efficiency and battery life. These two factors are what induced me to move up to the M3 MacBook Air. Thanks for bringing this up, Ella!!
you are so creative in video editing 👌. Please share which software you use for video editing ? . Any course you recommend from where we can learn video editing like you ?
Thank you for this, the review I needed - juggling between Air M3 vs Book M3 Pro (both 16gb) and this has helped my decision (Book M3 Pro). All my current needs are met by Air M3, but need to future-proof, and the M3 Pro just has that. This was a very refreshing review - so many show tests re Geekbench, Cine-something...I mean, I'm a normal bloke, I don't get all that!
You've commented on the negatives of not having a fan. I have twins - I have to buy 2 - so reliability is huge for me. The ribbon cables inside macs are notorious for not behaving well in dusty environments and in my experience, not having holes in the chassis and fans tends to stop ingress of foreign particles such as dust. I bought M1 with twice the ram and twice the SSD - swapping should not be a problem at all. And then the ssdran much faster - 35% approx. Is the m3 worth $400 more than the M1? Not to me but then again the same spec isn't available to me at the moment, The M1 was the best value ever.
2:18 I always use low power mode on my base m2 air while travelling and it just sips the battery! But as soon as the 8gb RAM gets saturated, memory swap works frustratingly slower when on low power mode so I turn it off if I want to finish making my presentation on time😅
Wow! Ok, thanks for this video, i feel like you’ve answered all of my Questions! Which one i would go for based on your review? 🤔 i think for me its the MBP M3 but upgraded RAM to 16.
I have a Macbook Air M2 and it is nice, but an opportunity came along to get a Macbook Pro M1 Max and it did. The MacBook Pro is so much better the screen especially, the built-in speakers are great for a laptop and of course the performance. The only thing the Macbook Air M2 has that is nice in comparision it is light weight and that's it. The screen on the MacBook Pro is definitely worth the extra money.
The only reason i chose the macbook pro over the air is because of the screen. mini led is far better than the lcd especially the black levels. the notch can also be hidden with a dark theme on the mini led screen. if the apple adds a mini led or even better an OLED screen to the air then the pro would be a much harder sell.
The M3 Air is great for most people doing general things on their laptop. It is also good for light photo/video editing and low CPU intensive work (data analysis, spreadsheets, Word documents). Anything CPU & GPU intensive for a job or hobby, the M3 Pro MacBook Pro is the obvious choice if there are not OS limitations. Also, good for games that are available on MacOS. CPU & GPU intensive work are: News organization video editing, wedding photography, DJ, sound engineer, software engineer using Java, or civil engineer using AutoCAD.
Yes, low power mode is a good idea, but using my M2 macbook air on default still lasts a full work day with 30% battery left at the end of the day. Great we have that option but never have I ever said to myself "Is there a way I can make this battery last longer?"
I needed a new Mac so went with M3 Pro MBP. It’s good, but also irritating to know how much better M4 Pro will be thank to the new iPad. What M3 should have been.
Everyone says you might aswell go for the pro, disregarding that the entry pro screen is only 14, which from personal experience is irritating for video editing, photoshop etc...
It's not all about the money, weight means more to some people, I"m never going to use my laptop outside, never, I love the lightness of the Air over the Pros, even the 14" and the 14" screen is great, only if you sit an Air next to it, on it's own the Air's screen is perfect for the money
I've got the M1 MacBook Air and nearly got 8GB of RAM with it. So happy I spent the extra money for 16GB. 3 years later it still runs amazing and never slows down in my usage. Honestly feel like it'll be another couple generations before it's worth me upgrading from this excellent machine.
I bought a MacBook Air M3 15“ 8/256. It does his Job for what it is built for: Beeing John Malcovic, no beeing a Laptop. But my Desktop-Computer is a DIY-Windows Machine with Intel i913900 and 64 GB RAM 31“ HP-Z-Display. Super Silent Noctua Fans…. Greetz from Switzerland.
So Samsung laptop or MacBook Air? I can do windows or Mac, I have experience in both. I’m not gonna game on it, I alrdy have a desktop. Which one gives more value in the long run? My mind says I should get the MacBook Air. Processor is better, battery efficiency is unbeatable, it’s gonna get Apple Intelligence when it’s out, and it’ll continue getting MacOS updates for the next 7-8 years probably. But I’m not entirely sure what to expect with a Samsung laptop. Can the Samsung provide the same?
I really love your taste and style always so chic. My faves would be the kislux leather backpack and the Swarovski pave diamond ring so gorg. Thank you for your recommendations.
People I do programming on m1 Mac Air 15 inch. 16gb is perfect, don't buy into these new perfomance related traps unless you work with heavy rendering... Modern chips are capable of billions of computing power, only storage and RAM is the problem...
For normal people, just get the cheapest based M1 or M2 or M3 MBA whichever you can afford and use the heck out of it. Don't pay Apple for the upgrade.
Have to be honest tho that MacOS always swaps. Even when you have 32GB or 64GB RAM. In my office I have a Studio M2 Ultra with 64 GB of RAM and even there it uses swap. Xcode for example can use up tp 60 GB of Swap when im working on a project. It is a OS design choice by Apple because it feels faster to keep ram available for starting new applications.
for the best bang of your bucks, definitely buy the lower CPU version but upgrade both RAM and Storage, it performs better than newer CPU with basic RAM and Storage, the rest of the features have workaround. Wifi 6E, which app need internet speed faster than Wifi 6 ? better microphone, always use mobile for private chat, and headset's microphone for group chat. dual display, upgrade to bigger and wider screen monitor if needed in the future. perform well under low power, use power plug or powerbank.
Speaking of upgrades, Ella’s gone from her bedroom to her holiday home in the Yellowstone national park
Minor upragde😂😂😂😂
It’s Softstone
I have the M2 MacBook Air. It does the job that I need (constant research, note taking, large docs.). I updated from intel chip MacBook Pro which was on its last legs. I like the M2 and will be sticking with it
What Ram do you have? And is it enough?
I am in the exact same situation! How did you find the downgrade of the speakers and display? I hate having to upgradeto a new computer that has some specs that are just worse
@@GlitzvsVilma I don’t play audio from it tbh. I have my iPad for that. Sorry.
Still rocking an M1 Macbook Air. Can't think of any reason to update. I still get 10 hrs of use and I have never had a slowdown.
Same but I dreamed of an 15 inch for a long time so finally got the m2 this week. Worthy upgrade but I'd say if ur happy stay happy because there's always shinier stuff
you will still be judged whether you like it or not. 😁😁😁😁
And you’ll get Apple Intelligence
Depends on what you use it man..
I do coding for my job and 8GB sucks tight pink butthole man! I once caught it nakedly doing 12gb swap and 7gb ram
I still use Macbook Air 2013, and I only needed to change battery, working 9 hours straight.
As a programmer myself, I could say RAM > Chipset, M1 is enough but RAM often got clogged in the 8GB variant, even with swap memory (and it kills your storage faster). Microsoft teams + slack already eats most of the RAM, and it is a disaster when I start running docker.
Yup. I agree. Now with more AI-driven tasks being built into the OS, it seems like the RAM will be utilized more. 8GB will probably do the tasks, but it's going to slow things down I would imagine. Apple is such a mixed company for me. They make great stuff and have great ideas, but selling 8gb at all post-2018 is just... crazy.
Agree, I'm working with 16GB and the machine is allways in yellow in the memory pressure graph, and I've had some apps crashing. For any real work 8GB is just not an option and 16GB is barely cutting it in many instances.
As a programmer you use (or recommend) MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, especially, if you’re going to run virtual machines (Kali etc)
I think the sweet spot for prosumers in the MBP lineup is the M3 Pro MBP 14 base model (18GB/512GB) because of the extra features it brings to the table.
That’s exactly my spec.
so far a really nice laptop
@@Retlom Agreed!
@@RetlomI know I’m an outlier, I’m taller with larger hands so I appreciate the extra space available with the touch pad and palm rests of 15+ inch plus laptops. I have only ever owned a 13 inch MacBook Pro, will the 14 inch MacBook Pro feel too small for us taller people? Thanks for any input
For that same amount of money, I bought a mint used 14" M2 Max 12/38 32GB RAM 1TB SSD with a full two years left of AppleCare.
@@trekkeruss That’s a great deal!
Yeah i ended up buying the lenovo legion 7i instead of what i really wanted which was the m3 max pro 16inch 2tb but couldn’t justify the criminal prices for storage upgrades, the lineup makes u feel like you’re getting robed and ur left wanting more from your machine w/ the base models
you just cost me $200 because, watching this video just convince me to go for 16GB 😭
The price of an additional 8GB of RAM is exorbitant and unjustified.
That's $350 in Canada with taxes.
What could I buy with that?
@@unclefart5527 it will save you in the long run. I upgraded to 16gb on my m3 pro. Well worth it.
I'll say it again, I love how you get to the point and don't draw things out 👍
8 gigs of cheap RAM is criminal...
So that’s your only takeaway?
@@kas4751 Yup that's the only thing left that they can whine about 😂
@@abhisheksingh-np8yi Which is very funny to me because I have the base spec M3 air for school work and work on the go, and honestly it does a great job. It does a lot of the tasks that I do on my m3 pro mbp that has 16 gb ram with a similar level of speed. Honestly the biggest difference for me is the screen (mini LED and 120 Hz vs LED and 60 Hz).
I will say that if you're not privileged like me (because I'm aware that not many people have two laptops lol) and can only get one laptop and want to future proof it, I'd go for the 16 gb for sure. But I just want to say that I'm living life just fine on the 8 gb of ram. My previous work laptop was a windows laptop that had 8 gb of ram and 256 gb ssd just like this air and it worked great for almost 5 years
It really is. At their price, it should have 16gb period.
Because of it, you get a very expensive device for basic tasks. RAM is NOT expensive ,Apple is just being greedy because it has this image of being"premium" on things that aren't even luxury products.
I almost made the mistake of buying the MB air base model and thank god i didn't. Any light editing is really slow on it, it gets completely overshadowed by similar priced windows device.
And i said light editing because the MB air is clearly not fit for heavy workload. But on a 1000-1200€ device, i should be able to use this for very light editing tasks without getting outperformed by Windows device.
It's a shame that PC manufacturers doesn't do the decent CPU, big battery models. I'd really like to try a mac out but paying that much only for battery life makes me think twice. That said, there aren't any viable laptops in the market that competes with macs on battery currently. I wish I could just run a base model thinkpad and slap a large battery on it like the old times.
Finally the review I have been waiting for ! Great job Ella!
I run an it department with a couple thousand m1 macbook pros with 8 gigs of ram and 256 gig ssd's and haven't had a single ssd fail after almost 4 years. Just wanted to throw that out there because I think the swap with ssd and memory point is thrown out alot and I'm just not seeing any issues.
We will be replacing them all next year so our usable life span doesn't seem to be an issue
Yes, swap uses disk RAM, which is usually DDR4. Only on occasions will swap trespass onto flash memory, so as you say, the swap issue is a misnomer. Many with an anti-Apple agenda push it out, and it is never supported-just scaremongering.
Even though that is true, same with my IT department, MacBooks were designed to last 10 years. Less than 5-6 years is still underperforming what they were designed to do. It's like a car with good maintenance can last 15 years, but you treat it bad and upgrade from it in 8 years.
@@akin242002 I'm not defending macs lack of upgrading. I'm not a fan at all I just wanted to give a time frame for reference.
One thing people should keep in mind is mac os will use as much as 80% of your memory all the time reguardless of how much you have so if you have 16 gigs you may not be saving your drive because you could be using double the swap. I've seen this on my work m2 mac pro with 16 gigs and a 512 gig ssd and my work mac studio with 32 gigs and 1TB
@@akin242002 also I'm happy with 5-6 years with traditional hard drives I was on a 3 years refresh. Refresh cost has been cut in half over the last decade and because apple devices hold their valve I'm able to resell for not an insignificant amount of the purchase price after 4 years
@@technicallymeso true. I went with an 16 GB M3 MacBook Air and the OS uses up as much or more (percentage wise) as on my M1 with 8GBs.
short, simple, sweet, great video 💯
I got the M1 14 inch Macbook pro almost two years ago and I LOVE it. The *only* thing I wish I still had was my old 11 inch MB Air for travel. My back is very sensitive to weight and the 11 inch was phenomenal for travel (and I hate Ipads).
If money was no object I would have a newer Macbook Air alongside my Pro for the portability.
I don't understand why MBPs are shipping with 8gb ram instead of 16
It's a choice; you can order 16GB or 24GB if needed.
12GB will be the new M4 MB Air and Pro base.
For the record, the base M3 MB Pro 14 is not a Pro device as it uses the base chip (i5 in Intel terms). The Pros are the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips, and they start at 18GB and 36GB, respectively.
to save them money lol
8GB is surprisingly pretty usable with apple silicon. why a “pro” machine has it though is questionable. for a few more hundred bucks from the MBA, you get a fan and a better display. it’s not really targeted at pros, just everyday casual users who have some extra money lying around
@@nathanhollow0 You mean make them more money. It's a $200 bump for the 16GB version.
@@baoboba Sure it's usable but does that mean it's reasonable. I am no power user but I noticed using both a 8GB and 16GB I would hit the max on the 8GB but hover 12GB on the 16GB with just some light tasks. And like Ella said you will be swamping memory which if I plan on keeping my macbook for ten years might means the SSD might crap out on me. Which you can't easily replace the SSD if it happens sooner.
the editing goes HARDDDD in this one!! amazing job - i'll have to rewatch to just pay attention to the content instead of all the amazing editing 😂
8GB is unusable and a crime on humanity.
its more like at THIS PRICE it's criminal.
You get 300-400 € PCs here with 8gb. You obviously use these models for very basic tasks like mail, a few tabs open....
At similar price, you get 16gb PC that can do more than the mac on anything except the battery life.
At 16gb, the MBA just outperform pc with similar spec, but the price is just insane.
Adding 8gb of ram souldn't cost 200€. And this is with a measly 256 gb SSB.
Like, come on Apple you make enough money already....
@@ThomasAndy-qu8dp yes and no ... the 16gb mba/mbp use 7.5gb just to idle ... you're just killing your SERIALIZED SOLDERED SSD with the 8 gig version
No 8gb is definitely useable for many people. You just can’t go crazy with browser tabs using
@@MultiNakir In case you were unaware, macOS uses all the RAM it can when idling. My M2 Max Mac Studio w/ 32gbs of RAM uses 15gbs idling. My MBA w/ 8gb uses 5gb idling.
I still use 4 GB Macbook Air from 2013, and it's better than professional DELL from 2018. No issues with blue screen and other weird issues as Windows has.
May get the 15" M2 to watch HD movies/videos. Love the screen on the 13" M2. Not much heavy editing (or any at all). 8GB should be enough? Thanks.
Just bought the MacBook Air m3 base model and it runs perfectly! I only do light work so it's perfect for me
if you run light work only why get the m3 in general? Maybe the m1 or m2 would have been cheaper and worked just as well?
@@asrp4284 perhaps they use a dual monitor set up, I think those are pretty common
@@asrp4284 feels good to buy the latest model.
@@asrp4284 the 100$ difference is worth it if you think of the extra longevity it can provide
@@asrp4284 if you run light work only why get the m1 in general? Maybe a $500 lenovo Ideapad would have been cheaper and worked just as well?
I wonder if the M3 is worth the $100 upgrade over them M2 because, presumably, you're buying an extra year of software update support
I don't like the green screen, your studio looks good for the videos
That upgrade cycle logic at the beginning applies to iPads as well, especially if you add the official refurb store. You need to loopty loop for a while to understand where the best value is for your needs.
Surprisingly good video with a simple conclusion. Thanks.
very informative, well written, and well produced! a good thesis and understanding of the product stack and the edges between them that make them a good value or not. excited to see more content from you!
You know what? I watch many of your videos because of you, not because of the products you review. I love the positive energy you put into these videos.
They all have an upbeat tone even when you don't like some features that much.
😊
Simp
Your green screen filming is really good. Seriously, the lighting is good and colors are great.
Thank you so much for this review, Ella! After loving my baseline M1 MB Air for 3 years, I realized that what I need now is more RAM, HDMI port, and more storage. I went for the M3 MB Pro and I know I'm not going back to Air, even though my MBP is a bit heavier ;) But still, even after 3 years, I gave my M1 MB Air to my brother, and he should be able to enjoy it for years to come :)
Watching this on my M3 my first ever MacBook, Its work like beast🥳
I watched this on my phone no issues
You're such an excellent communicator. Excellent comparison and excellent content as usual. Keep up your excellent work. Hope you and your family are in good health.
The m3 pro base comes with 8 gb RAM which is disappointing. If you bump it to 16 gb RAM it’s $1899. Compared to the $1399 of the m3 air with the same 16 gb RAM. $500 difference is no joke. I’d go with the air
true but i will prob still buy money isnt a problem for me
@@spooky416Best Buy selling the MacBook Pro M3 pro for 500 less.. I grabbed one.
Great video, Ella! because I never thought of the much longer battery-life on a M3. There are a lot of people like me that only use Word & Excel for real and then a 8 GB MacBook Air 2015 will do, with the advance I can change the battery easily and put a 4 GB ssd in it for relatively very little money. I am very happy with all those upgraders because now I can buy a lot of them for € 150 for me and others in my bubble.
The heaviest work I want a Macbook Air for is still photo editing (NO video editing) when travelling. Will a refurbed M3 be better than the M2? If I understand correctly If I'm not multi tasking heavy work loads paying more for the M3 may not be worth any noticeable difference.
My wife has a A1706 13' Macbook Pro since 2017, the machine is now very slow when she working on multiple tasks, e.g. browsing TH-cam, Canvas, open a few PDF, Excel worksheets. Definitely not graphic heavy jobs but the slowness affecting her productivity. Not sure which one should I choose for her right now, or should I wait for the new model out and get the current M3's model? She doesn't want to carry a heavier Pro version but I love the 120hz screen and better sound quality. She uses the laptop for Netflix, PDF, Excel, web browsing, sometimes Adobe Illustrator.
I was about to buy the 15" 16Gb Macbook Air when Amazon dropped the 8Gb version by £200,so I've had the 15" base model for 3 weeks now and it works great with everything I use,such as the Affinity software,photoshop and lightroom without any problems at all.I don't edit video or use 3D software so it works fine on all fronts so far.I don't do much gaming,I tried Asphalt8+ without any hitches and no overheating at all,and I'm very happy with my purchase.
OMG So glad you exist and I found you! And you speak to my heart re Swap usage! My friends freak out at how many apps and chrome tabs I have open AT ALL TIMES lolz!
I must say that my MacBook Air 2017 still works great! It has been with me for almost 7 years and is compatible with everything! I'm just considering to upgrade because of the battery life and I feel like people are judging me for still having the old version. Haha!! But overall, it has been with me through everything.
Now on the upgrade, I'm considering getting an M2 with a larger storage.
Great video! Editing is on point!
Never thought about low power mode. Great observation!
Your videos are great! Always a pleasure to hear your take on things.
8gb being standard is just not acceptable.
I have a MBP with the M3pro in it. Prior to this, had a MBP with the M1pro. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference in performance, only in battery life. Great machines.
8GB is not the standard; it is an option for a cheaper entry point. I have used an MB Pro 13 M1 base model for 3y9m, and still going great and no issues with 8GB for my workload. Just because you need more RAM does not mean the rest of the world does. My 80-year-old parents barely use 5GB of RAM on their Macs!
If you think 8 gigabytes of ram isn’t standard just assume that the M3 MacBook Air starts at $1300
Excelent video production, the effects, transitions. Great work! 👏
yeah, my MacBook Air M2 is quick for doing almost anything for daily use
I picked MacBook Pro with M3 chip. To be honest, M3 chip is fast enough for me. I really appreciate this high-end display with ProMotion that is also the reason why I purchased Pro model.
For programming ,front end mostly are MacBooks Air good? I like their battery life but I’m seeing to much negative about ram and heavy work.
I've Macbook Pro M1 Pro 16 inch and its THE BEST!
All those Macbooks are too fast already. Apple is feeding people updated specs every year without major improvements.
The same with Intel and AMD. Welcome to a mature market where innovation is nominal, and updates are usually iterative. This year, Intel pushing Gen 14 with similar performance to the Gen 13 and the same dGPU choices. AMD ditto. So stop the anti-Apple rhetoric; this is the state of PCs.
Well college freshman and 18-year-olds getting off Chromebooks benefit the most. Their first adult laptop starts off amazing. Especially if they are willing to get a refurbished one from the previous year.
@akin242002 College freshmen don't have the cash for Apple products... Maybe they should save up for a car first.
@@lbeetechI’m the US and when I was in college over half my classmates would either take out loans or max their credit cards for a MacBook. Maybe it’s different in other countries where Apple isn’t as popular
@IceBlueLugia Sorry to hear that. Apple is a marketing company, their products aren't worth the price. I'm not saying that they aren't good, but they are overpriced. Thr only way to force their prices down is that people refuse to borrow money to buy Apple products.
Good analysis ! Curious how you created graphics and charts!
Get a headache between a 16Go M2 for 1100EUR, a 8Go M2 for 950EUR, and a 8Go M3 for 1050EUR... Wich one should I get at these prices ?
Do the 16GB M2. Always invest in the extra RAM.
I am using an M2 Air with 16GB now (and an M3 Pro (with Pro chip) with 18GB)
Both are more than capable, but in both cases, the RAM is a problem. I'm always hitting swap on both of them. If we're up to me, I'd go with 36GB minimum, which of course rules out the Air all-together.
Nice video. The M3 is not needed. There needs to be a difference of at least 20% that an upgrade becomes justified.
16GB should be standard.
Hey what MacBook would you recommend for a nursing student??? I need to know!!!
I have a 2015 Mac book pro 13inch but battery service just popped up. I want to upgrade but want to use for longevity. I’m currently in school and am using my laptop for computer science course. I’m stuck between air 13in or pro 14in. Which would y’all recommend?
I’m so thrilled that Ella brought up efficiency and battery life. These two factors are what induced me to move up to the M3 MacBook Air. Thanks for bringing this up, Ella!!
I've watched about 30-40 MacBook Air reviews and this one was by far the most useful guide in making a decision between models. THANK YOU!
Wonderful review! Thank you!
Which mac has the longest battery life?
Terrific real-world comparison. Traded in my M1 full-spec Air (non-binned CPU, 16GB, 1TB) for a Space Black M3 Pro. No regrets. :)
If your Macbook runs out of SSD R/W capabilities, can you replace the SSD?
Miss the touchbar. Is the 2022 MBP still good?
you are so creative in video editing 👌.
Please share which software you use for video editing ? .
Any course you recommend from where we can learn video editing like you ?
Thank you for this, the review I needed - juggling between Air M3 vs Book M3 Pro (both 16gb) and this has helped my decision (Book M3 Pro). All my current needs are met by Air M3, but need to future-proof, and the M3 Pro just has that. This was a very refreshing review - so many show tests re Geekbench, Cine-something...I mean, I'm a normal bloke, I don't get all that!
Have seen a lot of videos on MacBook but among those you have explained very well . Thank you very much
You've commented on the negatives of not having a fan. I have twins - I have to buy 2 - so reliability is huge for me. The ribbon cables inside macs are notorious for not behaving well in dusty environments and in my experience, not having holes in the chassis and fans tends to stop ingress of foreign particles such as dust.
I bought M1 with twice the ram and twice the SSD - swapping should not be a problem at all. And then the ssdran much faster - 35% approx.
Is the m3 worth $400 more than the M1? Not to me but then again the same spec isn't available to me at the moment, The M1 was the best value ever.
Excellent analysis! This video was amazing with all the special effects!
I have ask .. 8gb ram enough for software engineering ??
is it worth it to get the pro just to the 120 hertz and the display? i am not a pro user either and i will just use it to watch content
I am thinking of getting a macbook, but this point in time I'll probably wait for the m4 line up
2:18 I always use low power mode on my base m2 air while travelling and it just sips the battery! But as soon as the 8gb RAM gets saturated, memory swap works frustratingly slower when on low power mode so I turn it off if I want to finish making my presentation on time😅
Wow! Ok, thanks for this video, i feel like you’ve answered all of my Questions!
Which one i would go for based on your review? 🤔 i think for me its the MBP M3 but upgraded RAM to 16.
MBP M3 Pro
I have a Macbook Air M2 and it is nice, but an opportunity came along to get a Macbook Pro M1 Max and it did. The MacBook Pro is so much better the screen especially, the built-in speakers are great for a laptop and of course the performance. The only thing the Macbook Air M2 has that is nice in comparision it is light weight and that's it. The screen on the MacBook Pro is definitely worth the extra money.
The only reason i chose the macbook pro over the air is because of the screen. mini led is far better than the lcd especially the black levels. the notch can also be hidden with a dark theme on the mini led screen. if the apple adds a mini led or even better an OLED screen to the air then the pro would be a much harder sell.
Just sold the 13 Pro for the 15 air. Specs aren't everything, and 8GB is just fine even if you do some video editing.
The M3 Air is great for most people doing general things on their laptop. It is also good for light photo/video editing and low CPU intensive work (data analysis, spreadsheets, Word documents).
Anything CPU & GPU intensive for a job or hobby, the M3 Pro MacBook Pro is the obvious choice if there are not OS limitations. Also, good for games that are available on MacOS. CPU & GPU intensive work are: News organization video editing, wedding photography, DJ, sound engineer, software engineer using Java, or civil engineer using AutoCAD.
Would the base model MacBook Pro be fine for coding and school? Or are you better off getting a m3 MacBook Air with 16gb?
With the Snapdragon X Elite.... I can now stick with Windows.
Yes, low power mode is a good idea, but using my M2 macbook air on default still lasts a full work day with 30% battery left at the end of the day. Great we have that option but never have I ever said to myself "Is there a way I can make this battery last longer?"
is there no LP mode on the m2?
I needed a new Mac so went with M3 Pro MBP. It’s good, but also irritating to know how much better M4 Pro will be thank to the new iPad. What M3 should have been.
it would take almost a lifetime before your ssd would die. dont worry about swap
If you ranked the speakers from 1-10 10 being highest. How would you rank the air 14" pro 16" pro?
Thank you !!! Very clear❤
Everyone says you might aswell go for the pro, disregarding that the entry pro screen is only 14, which from personal experience is irritating for video editing, photoshop etc...
It's not all about the money, weight means more to some people, I"m never going to use my laptop outside, never, I love the lightness of the Air over the Pros, even the 14" and the 14" screen is great, only if you sit an Air next to it, on it's own the Air's screen is perfect for the money
I would even make the case that 32 is the sweet spot to avoid memory buffering, 64 if you’re a video editor.
This is the real life advice I was looking for. Thank you!
I'm more than happy with my 15" Macbook Air with 24GB/1TB. OK, it hasn't the 120Hz, but that's OK for me.
I've got the M1 MacBook Air and nearly got 8GB of RAM with it. So happy I spent the extra money for 16GB. 3 years later it still runs amazing and never slows down in my usage. Honestly feel like it'll be another couple generations before it's worth me upgrading from this excellent machine.
I like the editing in your videos, always informative
I bought a MacBook Air M3 15“ 8/256. It does his Job for what it is built for: Beeing John Malcovic, no beeing a Laptop. But my Desktop-Computer is a DIY-Windows Machine with Intel i913900 and 64 GB RAM 31“ HP-Z-Display. Super Silent Noctua Fans…. Greetz from Switzerland.
So Samsung laptop or MacBook Air? I can do windows or Mac, I have experience in both. I’m not gonna game on it, I alrdy have a desktop. Which one gives more value in the long run?
My mind says I should get the MacBook Air. Processor is better, battery efficiency is unbeatable, it’s gonna get Apple Intelligence when it’s out, and it’ll continue getting MacOS updates for the next 7-8 years probably. But I’m not entirely sure what to expect with a Samsung laptop. Can the Samsung provide the same?
thanx 4 the review, pleasantly explained , from one of My favorite tech content creators 🤓
Ella ALWAYS does amazing video's thank you so much
I really love your taste and style always so chic. My faves would be the kislux leather backpack and the Swarovski pave diamond ring so gorg. Thank you for your recommendations.
Rocking the MacBook Air M1 since last October, no regrets!!
People I do programming on m1 Mac Air 15 inch. 16gb is perfect, don't buy into these new perfomance related traps unless you work with heavy rendering... Modern chips are capable of billions of computing power, only storage and RAM is the problem...
For normal people, just get the cheapest based M1 or M2 or M3 MBA whichever you can afford and use the heck out of it. Don't pay Apple for the upgrade.
Macbook air m3 15” 16gb 512gb ssd or macbook pro m3 14” 8gb 1tb ssd? im a information technology student btw.
So is it better to use macbook air 16gb or macbook pro 8gb with m3 chipset for coding?
Have to be honest tho that MacOS always swaps. Even when you have 32GB or 64GB RAM. In my office I have a Studio M2 Ultra with 64 GB of RAM and even there it uses swap. Xcode for example can use up tp 60 GB of Swap when im working on a project.
It is a OS design choice by Apple because it feels faster to keep ram available for starting new applications.
How does it hold up to coding ? Specifically related to chatbots etc. ? M3 Air
for the best bang of your bucks, definitely buy the lower CPU version but upgrade both RAM and Storage, it performs better than newer CPU with basic RAM and Storage, the rest of the features have workaround.
Wifi 6E, which app need internet speed faster than Wifi 6 ?
better microphone, always use mobile for private chat, and headset's microphone for group chat.
dual display, upgrade to bigger and wider screen monitor if needed in the future.
perform well under low power, use power plug or powerbank.
Swap isn’t a big deal memory pressure is 16g. Ram still uses swap