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I'm an architect. I used to do heavy 3D modeling and rendering, basically forced to use Windows. Now that my workflow has changed, I bought a refurb 14" M3 Pro 12C CPU 18C GPU for USD$1450 and couldn't be happier. Battery goes for days, screen is awesome for accurate critical color work and absolutely crushes everything I do (CAD, BIM & Low-to-Mid LOD 3D modeling in Blender, SketchUp and visualization on Enscape).
My work computer is the M2 MBA 8/10, 16gb, 512gb, and I am very happy with its performance as I work in an office environment. I bought my wife the M3 Pro MBP 11/14, 18gb, 1T, 14”model to replace her aging Intel based iMac, and added a CalDigit dock and 27” 4K monitor. That computer for us is a beast, probably more than we needed. We won’t be upgrading for a while.
Just got a new Macbook Air M3 15. Absolutely love it! It's magic after coming from Windows. Fanless, ridiculously good battery life, beautiful build quality and very performant. And I've used some of the most highly spec'd premium Windows laptops with OLED displays. Macbook Rules!!! Just not for gaming.
Hey Josh, I really wanted to come by to thank you for such a thoroughly prepared video! I'm an Engineer (Civil/Structural) and appreciate your specific recommendations. I still have a bit more thinking/researching to do but this video massively helps. I especially appreciated the call out near the end where you recommend to avoid specc'ing up a MacBook in order to keep it for 5-8 years (which is what I did long ago lol). That totally shattered my way of thinking about this in a great way. You won't find surprising therefore that I'm upgrading from a MacBook Pro that I purchased in 2014 (😅). I never ended up using it to its fullest capacity (so I overspent) and it now won't even support the latest versions of Mac OS! I'm "surviving" (and writing this) on a Galaxy S9 Tab Ultra. Just wanted to express deep gratitude and appreciation and let you know how helpful your thoroughly thought-out videos are! Big thanks to you and your team 🙏
Josh, i rarely comment on youtube; however my Fiance just got a job at Apple while studying for her Data Science degree and she keeps sitting down to watch your videos with me in its Entirety haha. She really enjoys your format, style and learning more about what makes a great laptop vs not. Thank you for your videos my friend. You may have these videos already but Shes asked me for detailed explanations regarding what a CPU, GPU, SSD, Integrated Graphics, ARM V X86, Vram vs Ram, and other topics are. As an Autonomy Engineer with a decade of experience im not able to explain topics so gracefully as you might. 😅 Hopefully we can see refresher explanation videos on Fundamentals of Computer components in your style. Thank you for all the work you and your team does my friend.
I have a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the base M4, 24GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD... for my needs, which revolve around photography and a ton of productivity/web apps, it hits the sweet spot. I think I'll only wish I had the M4 Pro if I find myself encoding a video.
So many great points in this video. All of this advice is very reasonable, grounded, and rational. It is so hard to come across videos like this these days when everyone else is just screaming "M4 Max 16!" and dropping $3K+ on a laptop. You're doing the rest of us a huge favor, well done!
I'm using my old MacBook air m1 for over 4 years now. I diside, that it is time to finaly upgrade. But i can't dicede betwin MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max 14/30, 36 Ram, 1TB and MacBook Pro 14 M4 Pro 14/20 24 Ram, 1TB I’m a video maker. Mostly, I use it for hard editing in Davinchi In my Country the cost about the same. What should i choose?
I also decided to go for the 14 inch M4 Pro with 48 GB of RAM and 1 TB of Storage. Im coming from a Mid 2018 Intel MBP 15 inch with an Intel chip. I already looked at the numbers and the M4 Pro is around 5-7 x faster.
Noice! I want to upgrade from my 14' M1 Pro MacBook Pro, cause I'm always running out of RAM, and now my Storage is full [not a huge fan of using External SSDs]. Can't decide between getting an M4 Pro or M4 Max in the 14' MacBook [don't want the 16' because I Commute to Work every day].
Last year I initially bought an M2 MBA just to try out the Mac ecosystem. I later returned it because it had a dented back plate from the factory. Apple actually gave me a full refund and I upgraded to the M3 Pro MBP. One year later I am still loving it so much. It is now my daily computer for classes and homework. (undergraduate electrical engineering)
I don’t necessarily need the m4 macbook pro, however it’s got a screen, speaker, storage, ports combo that I want. Will be plenty happy with that even though my video editing is more hobbyist than anything
Good video, right to the point. I for one am coming from an Intel MBP. Was going to get the 15" air with 16gb ram/512gb SSD but it was recommended to me to spend the extra $100 and get the 14" Pro. I looked into it and I was surprised about how much more you're getting for only $100. I also went with the nano-texture display - my gaming monitor already has some anti-reflective coating on it so I'm used to not having deep blacks and full colour saturation. I'd also like to use it in areas with sun light on it, and also outside in the summer! Looking forward to it! I just use for regular day to day use so the base model was fine for me. Plan to keep for 4-5 years.
No difference in single core perf or memory bandwidth. About 12% better multicore performance. 13% better GPU in benchmarks. 10% more FPS in games. That's about it. Generational improvements are about 20% or more across the board. Not worth it in my opinion, it is not buying you enough. Save the money for the inevitable upgrade to M8-M10.
Thanks for the review & guide Josh! 🙌🏼 Pretty much confirmed that I’m going with an M4 pro 14/20 for video editing with 48 ram & 2 tb storage since I’m getting a 14 in :) the only thing I’ve been contemplating is that nano texture…I hear 50/50 on whether ppl like it. Do you think nano texture could possibly wear in time on a thin screen? I know Apple has newer technology for theirs 🙏🏼
Not covered but open box or discounted M3 Max 14/16-core is better than either M4 Pro (but not Max) chip for same or less money, especially for video/graphic before of the GPU count and extra video engine and faster memory. You're welcome. =)
Hi @JustJoshTech and Team! I just put an order in just in case for a ThinkPad T14s G4 on sale AMD 7840U, OLED, 32GB, 4G. Around 1260 euros including the premier support 3 years. Do you think this is a laptop thats (still) worth it? For some casual, light to medium programming, light gaming stuff.
Just a .02¢ opinion, but I've had a 32GB M1 Max, 18GB M3 Pro and now a 24GB M4 Pro. Regardless of the amount of RAM in the system, MacOS will use it. The only difference is the amount of swap the system uses. After watching several videos that compare 16 GB vs 32 GB in extreme stress test situations, along with a couple of videos speaking to swap on a modern SSD and the minimal effect swap has on SSD degradation, I'm of the mind that a better spend is on an upgrade to the SSD. The larger SSD's generally have faster read/write and in my mind that is a great trade off and has more benefit than more RAM. I do photo and video editing and the M4 Pro with 24 GB has never stuttered. Hope that helps.
@@jimtipton8888 Thanks! I’m actually a mobile developer, so the use of VMs like iOS and Android is critical for me. That, and that I’m a ram hoarder by nature, makes me wanna pay for the 48GB of RAM, even though it really cost a premium for what it is.
@@arty712 So, I just tried to break it. I had a FCP 6 minute 4K UHD video in the timeline, I piled on multiple effects and opened an edit in On1 Photo RAW with multiple effects and a sky replacement, had Music open and playing, a previously downloaded 4K video playing in Apple TV, a TH-cam video playing in the TH-cam app I created in Safari, Safari open with 16 tabs, mail, messages, notes, Nord VPN and PDF Expert running in the background. Memory pressure got to 60%. At one point I had 5 GB of free memory left and it tapped into 1.5 GB of swap. No stutters what so ever. If you think you're going to throw more at it than that you might want the 48 GB, but if not I'm going with it's a money grab and a waste.
Hey Josh, can you please make a review on the Lenovo Yoga 7 Pro with the AMD Zen 5 processor. I'm interested in that laptop but cannot make a decision because I haven't seen a review from your team. Your reviews are always unbiased, which is something most channels lack. Hope for a video on the above laptop quick, so that I can finally upgrade from my MacBook Air ( early 2015 )!!
Good video but for video editors you recommend to upgrade the M4 pro processor to the 14 core, but you didn't test the 12 core (or there's no data in the graphs). Maxtech recently tested binned 14 inch and unbinned 16 inch and the conclusion was that the upgrade is the smallest from all the sillicon lineup of macbooks and was definately not worth for the price.
Hi Josh. I have been watching your videos for the past year. I love your work and am a subscriber. My M2 MacBook Pro has 8gb of RAM and with my workflow, the ram usage is always yellow in activity monitor. I don’t see any lag pr stutter in the usage. Should I upgrade? And if yes, base M4 MacBook Pro or older M2 Pro or M2 max with more ram would work? Please give me your suggestion. I am from Middle east and Macbooks are incredibly expensive here, especially newer models. We don’t have such heavy discounts or sales on regular basis for MacBooks. Your laptop buying guide in the website is helpful. I know it is really a tough job to update the price tracker and deals to be updated in the website , but if have more subscribers in the middle east region, and you see a potential here, please do a laptop buying deals and price tracker for this region as well. Again, thanks for the videos and updates.
good video but what i dont really like is that the macbook air gets pushed into the corner of only office work etc. the air is still so powerful and better than basically all of the windows competitors. of course its less powerful than the pro but for must users who are not doing intesive video/photo editing or really heavy programming the air is goint to be more than enough. i have thrown everyting on my air, from running multiple docker containers at the same time /multipe vm instances to basic video photo editing, blender work. The air handled it like a champ (16gb ram 512 ssd m3) without even slightly getting unomfortably hot or slow. So in my opinion the air should get a little bit more recognition than just an office laptop. But of course i still get the point of buying the pro.
@@bodigames i understand the dominance of the pro over the air regarding time for tasks etc. my only point was that in the video at least in my opinion the air is puhsed into the corner of an office laptop and if you do something else than office you should consider buying a pro which is in my opinion just not true. And correct me if im wrong but the swap a macbook uses is not dependant on air or pro but how much ram the laptop in general has. So im not sure what your point with swap is supposed to say
I’m a photographer and I was thinking of going for the MBP M4 pro 14 inch with 12 cores, I run capture one pro, would you recommend I go with the previously mentioned MBP, or should I save some more and purchase the 16 inch?
10 out of 10 videos, like always I have a question: I want to buy the base 16" M4 Max MacBook Pro for video editing. Are the performance gains worth buying the M4 instead of the M3 variant?
Nice video but considering just how much Lightroom and even Photomator uses the GPU for exports, and AI denoising and other effects, the Max makes a big difference.
They should. If they stay on a 3nm node, the M5 could gain 15% over the M4. If the Ulta M4 is one big dye with twice the cores of the Max M4 the could be an 40% increase. Short answer : Yes they should do so.
What MacBook would you recommend for a medical professional Josh? I’m torn between MacBook Air 15” and MacBook Pro 14”. The reason is I value screen size a lot because I wear glasses but once I spec up the Air to a 16/512 configuration, it’s a 100€ close to the 14” Pro!
Thoughts on the M3 Macbook air 16GB 256GB as a developer laptop ? I've seen people talk about how great it is online but didn't see it being mentioned in your section about programming. I'm torn between that and the Base M4 Pro at the moment, seeing as the M3 Macbook Air 16GB is $849 versus the M4 base pro being $1399, I would save close to $500. I currently have an intel so any of these would be a huge leap. Just want to be sure it will be enough for me. I will use it for Python, JS, Web programming, mobile programming, light small file editing.
As a computer engineer, I approve most of the suggested info in video. Base rams are enough for most of the users this year. Do not bother to upgrade. I would pick a m4 pro 14 myself If I would pick one for programming. I suggest the cheapest model for daily users.
Hi Josh and thanks a ton for this honest and straight to the point video. I have a question for you: For occasional Lightroom/Photoshop editing and for someone looking to learn video editing with DaVinci Resolve, would you recommend purchasing the M4 Pro with 512GB of storage and 48GB of memory? I’m wondering if 512GB of storage might feel limiting, or if it’s manageable with the habit of using an external hard drive. Would it be a good balance for this use case?
If you upgrade the 12/16 to 14/20 cpu gpu core you only get 12-18% improvements. I suggest spending that on ram or ssd(but I think getting a external one with 2gb/s speed is much cheaper)
I ordered the M3 pro base model over the M4 base. After some research I found the M3 Pro has much better GPU performance, a faster SSD, 2GB more ram and two fans instead of one on M4, even though the CPU and battery is slightly beter on the M4. And I got it also for the same price.
I agonized over this. I tried to be objective. I use a large external monitor 90% of the time. I do tons of office work, browser tabs, social media image editing, basic video editing, etc.. Best Buy for Black Friday had the 15" m3 with 24gb RAM and 512gb ssd. I valued the extra ram and screen real-estate versus the 14" base MacBook Pro. Its super thin and fits in my bag. After a week of loading my apps and using it in my work flow, it's been seamless. Im very happy with it. The complete silence is just amazing as well.
Excellent video! The M3 Air and M3 Max were the best MacBooks last year. This year, the M4 Pro MBP and the M4 MBP are the show stealers. The M4 Max is great for performance, but the value most people get from the M4 Pro MBP far exceeds the M4 Max.
My only issue with the MacBooks is their displays and colour spaces. It's fine for P3, but a photographer wants full AdobeRGB coverage or 98-99%. Mid to high coverage in the 80% range doesn't really cut it.
For video editing in FCP, average complexity and length 4K videos what’s better: m4p 16” 48 Gb RAM or m4m 36Gb RAM? How critical are those 12Gb? I am leaning towards the m4m base…
Apple India has recently upgraded all 8 GB Macs to 16 GB as a base option, at no extra cost. Planning to buy M2 Air, but the catch is, 16+256 is around INR 90,000 (~USD 1000) on sale, where as 16+512 is from apple itself at INR 1,20,000 (~USD 1450). Given that 256 on M2 is a single chip, an equivalent of USD 450 will have to be spent just to get 256 gb of extra storage. [M3 Air starts eq. USD 1600 and Pro M4 at eq. USD 2000]
I'm glad you tell people to buy what they need and can afford. These devices are made from resources mined out of the earth if you don't need it don't buy it and when you need to replace it someone else can use it. They should never end up in landfill
Mine arrives in 2 weeks 14’ 12‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU M4pro chip 24GB. Really stoked coming from editing with a 2015 intel though didn’t get the nanotexture
Im eyeing the Macbook Pro M4 as a future engineering student. Would you recommend the regular M4 or the M4 Pro, and which storage version? Ill probably be needing several different design softwares and will be needing an emulator for my new laptop
★★★★★ Great advice. Like usual. If you are now giving financial advice, then…do everything possible not to buy a car, and if you must buy a car, buy a reliable, inexpensive, low mileage, good condition used car. Buying a car is basically the worst financial decision you can make.
When you buy a good device, you can always resell it, and it's not just for Macbooks. A thinkpad, an asus g14 or a zenbook, an xps13... even if they're 4 or 5 years old, can be resold. On the other hand, a bad device loses its value drastically.
14:17 Buying apple on credit: I'm actually against your advice! Just buy them on credit if you have 0% APR offer. Apple card has 0% APR on Apple device, and sometimes other cards have 18 months 0% APR with 1.5% cash back. I buy ALL of my Apple on credit with 0% APR and use the cash to invest to something else. This way, you have more cash flow to run your business. I've been living with an M2 ultra and regret my decision of not getting 128GB of RAM. With 64GB of RAM, the pressure is often in the yellow and dip to the red. Now I'm replacing M2 Ultra with M4 Max 128GB and all of my work finish much faster. But My wallet is crying. Fun story: my business partner has an old Intel core i7 with a butterfly keyboard. He has Apple Care +. It was broken and Apple doesn't have the replacement board for it, so they give him a brand new M4 Pro 16 instead. Lolz
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No fluff, no exaggerations, no fan boying, just a helpful, honest piece of advice! Thanks a lot, Josh!
I'm an architect. I used to do heavy 3D modeling and rendering, basically forced to use Windows. Now that my workflow has changed, I bought a refurb 14" M3 Pro 12C CPU 18C GPU for USD$1450 and couldn't be happier. Battery goes for days, screen is awesome for accurate critical color work and absolutely crushes everything I do (CAD, BIM & Low-to-Mid LOD 3D modeling in Blender, SketchUp and visualization on Enscape).
Did they give you Dell XPS 15 with its horrible motherboard for architecture?
Where did you buy
I could’ve got one for £1599 but they were sold out , curry’s uk .
This is helpful! Thanks for sharing.
Do you still use a Desktop?
I have never seen a recommandation/round-up video talking about buying products on credit. This is amazing information. Good job Josh, as always.
My work computer is the M2 MBA 8/10, 16gb, 512gb, and I am very happy with its performance as I work in an office environment. I bought my wife the M3 Pro MBP 11/14, 18gb, 1T, 14”model to replace her aging Intel based iMac, and added a CalDigit dock and 27” 4K monitor. That computer for us is a beast, probably more than we needed. We won’t be upgrading for a while.
Going to be upgrading from an Intel i7 13-inch MacBook Pro w/touchbar (8g ram/256 storage) to a base M4 Macbook Pro 14-inch! Super excited!
Just got a new Macbook Air M3 15.
Absolutely love it! It's magic after coming from Windows.
Fanless, ridiculously good battery life, beautiful build quality and very performant.
And I've used some of the most highly spec'd premium Windows laptops with OLED displays.
Macbook Rules!!! Just not for gaming.
What do you use it for? I consider this or Pro.
@@dawwwidpl go for 14 pro, the 15 mac air and 14 pro are almost the same price
There is hardly any difference anymore. Surface Laptop 7 is very close to the Macbboj
Just found your channel and I am blown away by the quality of the videos and advice!
You’re easily one of the best tech reviewers I’ve come across EVER
Just got an M3 MacBook Air 16GB for $850 at Best Buy. Pretty nuts!
Hey Josh, I really wanted to come by to thank you for such a thoroughly prepared video! I'm an Engineer (Civil/Structural) and appreciate your specific recommendations. I still have a bit more thinking/researching to do but this video massively helps.
I especially appreciated the call out near the end where you recommend to avoid specc'ing up a MacBook in order to keep it for 5-8 years (which is what I did long ago lol). That totally shattered my way of thinking about this in a great way. You won't find surprising therefore that I'm upgrading from a MacBook Pro that I purchased in 2014 (😅). I never ended up using it to its fullest capacity (so I overspent) and it now won't even support the latest versions of Mac OS! I'm "surviving" (and writing this) on a Galaxy S9 Tab Ultra.
Just wanted to express deep gratitude and appreciation and let you know how helpful your thoroughly thought-out videos are! Big thanks to you and your team 🙏
I'm coming from a 2015 MacBook Pro, have replaced the battery twice !!! It's time for an upgrade 😂
Josh, i rarely comment on youtube; however my Fiance just got a job at Apple while studying for her Data Science degree and she keeps sitting down to watch your videos with me in its Entirety haha. She really enjoys your format, style and learning more about what makes a great laptop vs not. Thank you for your videos my friend.
You may have these videos already but Shes asked me for detailed explanations regarding what a CPU, GPU, SSD, Integrated Graphics, ARM V X86, Vram vs Ram, and other topics are. As an Autonomy Engineer with a decade of experience im not able to explain topics so gracefully as you might. 😅
Hopefully we can see refresher explanation videos on Fundamentals of Computer components in your style.
Thank you for all the work you and your team does my friend.
I'm very glad to hear! As in a video of all the terms explained as to what they do?
@ yessir Basically what a CPU is and what it does. The differences between x86 and ARM (since shes dealing with M silicon) and any other components
I have a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the base M4, 24GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD... for my needs, which revolve around photography and a ton of productivity/web apps, it hits the sweet spot. I think I'll only wish I had the M4 Pro if I find myself encoding a video.
14:07 not me watching this from a 2016 MacBook Pro with touchbar and butterfly keyboard hahaha
Could you do a 12-core vs 14-core battery test in the 14inch please
yes that's a decision many of us a faced with.
Someone already did it, the difference is bad.
M3 Max battery was better than 14-core M4 Pro for me.
@@jaketheman7402 no they haven’t. Show me the video? There’s none that show the 14-inch with both chips
First time watching your videos, great content mate, very helpful
So many great points in this video. All of this advice is very reasonable, grounded, and rational. It is so hard to come across videos like this these days when everyone else is just screaming "M4 Max 16!" and dropping $3K+ on a laptop. You're doing the rest of us a huge favor, well done!
Should I wait for the MacBook Air M4 base model?
Most informative Mac buying guide I have found. Thank you. New follower! 🎉
My main question is: How much worse is the M4 Pro 12C compared to the base M4 in terms of battery life, particularly during light tasks?
This was one of the most helpful videos I have seen thank you
Finally a full video explanation of all the mac books. Thanks!
Thank you for this video!! I’m coming from a MacBook Air M1 and I’m trying to decide which Mac is best for me. This video is the best by far!!
Short, concise, and straight to the point. Good job sir
I'm using my old MacBook air m1 for over 4 years now. I diside, that it is time to finaly upgrade.
But i can't dicede betwin MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max 14/30, 36 Ram, 1TB and MacBook Pro 14 M4 Pro 14/20 24 Ram, 1TB
I’m a video maker. Mostly, I use it for hard editing in Davinchi
In my Country the cost about the same. What should i choose?
This channel is so underated! Please subscribe for this guy! Excellent reviews!
Thank you so much. We have been working so hard to level up our production and quality of testing. More to come, but glad you appreciate it!
@@JustJoshTech yes, it’s very useful, but I still have one minor question. I’ve posted other places. Hopefully, you can answer them.😊
Should we buy AppleCare+ for new Mac’s ?
I think it’s worth it for high end laptops as they get more opportunities to break… Mac mini, probably not
I also decided to go for the 14 inch M4 Pro with 48 GB of RAM and 1 TB of Storage. Im coming from a Mid 2018 Intel MBP 15 inch with an Intel chip. I already looked at the numbers and the M4 Pro is around 5-7 x faster.
1:45 DON'T PICK THE NANOTEXTURE
Not only it costs a lot, but it will scratch as easy as plastic if it's the same one the news ipad pro model has
Noice!
I want to upgrade from my 14' M1 Pro MacBook Pro, cause I'm always running out of RAM, and now my Storage is full [not a huge fan of using External SSDs].
Can't decide between getting an M4 Pro or M4 Max in the 14' MacBook [don't want the 16' because I Commute to Work every day].
Is there a direct comparion of 12/16 versus 14/20 M4 Pro 14" models?
Last year I initially bought an M2 MBA just to try out the Mac ecosystem. I later returned it because it had a dented back plate from the factory. Apple actually gave me a full refund and I upgraded to the M3 Pro MBP.
One year later I am still loving it so much. It is now my daily computer for classes and homework. (undergraduate electrical engineering)
I don’t necessarily need the m4 macbook pro, however it’s got a screen, speaker, storage, ports combo that I want. Will be plenty happy with that even though my video editing is more hobbyist than anything
Good video, right to the point. I for one am coming from an Intel MBP. Was going to get the 15" air with 16gb ram/512gb SSD but it was recommended to me to spend the extra $100 and get the 14" Pro. I looked into it and I was surprised about how much more you're getting for only $100. I also went with the nano-texture display - my gaming monitor already has some anti-reflective coating on it so I'm used to not having deep blacks and full colour saturation. I'd also like to use it in areas with sun light on it, and also outside in the summer! Looking forward to it! I just use for regular day to day use so the base model was fine for me. Plan to keep for 4-5 years.
Hi Josh can we expect a video comparison between 12 core vs 14 core m4 pro macbook ? would absolutely love to see that one.
@@logesh5213 it has been compared before on other channels. 14core is likely to throttle on a 14 inch chassis.
No difference in single core perf or memory bandwidth. About 12% better multicore performance. 13% better GPU in benchmarks. 10% more FPS in games. That's about it. Generational improvements are about 20% or more across the board. Not worth it in my opinion, it is not buying you enough. Save the money for the inevitable upgrade to M8-M10.
@@paya_herp_derp thanks this is really helpful, saving up for m8 is good idea, will keep that in mind
Thanks for the review & guide Josh! 🙌🏼 Pretty much confirmed that I’m going with an M4 pro 14/20 for video editing with 48 ram & 2 tb storage since I’m getting a 14 in :) the only thing I’ve been contemplating is that nano texture…I hear 50/50 on whether ppl like it. Do you think nano texture could possibly wear in time on a thin screen? I know Apple has newer technology for theirs 🙏🏼
better informative macbook guide , thanks
Not covered but open box or discounted M3 Max 14/16-core is better than either M4 Pro (but not Max) chip for same or less money, especially for video/graphic before of the GPU count and extra video engine and faster memory. You're welcome. =)
Hi @JustJoshTech and Team! I just put an order in just in case for a ThinkPad T14s G4 on sale AMD 7840U, OLED, 32GB, 4G. Around 1260 euros including the premier support 3 years. Do you think this is a laptop thats (still) worth it? For some casual, light to medium programming, light gaming stuff.
going from a 2015 8gig 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 to something new. This is going to be like going from the wright brothers to the Apollo 11.
Can you buy me a macbook josh?
YES! Macbooks for everyone! Just check under your seat!
I will buy one just for u
You bet ?
If your getting a MacBook get it before January 20. The tarrifs are gonna destroy everything
Sure dude
Superb, I listened to many of these M4 upgrade guides and yours sets the benchmark. Thank you, and yes, I finally subscribed.
Just bought the M4 Macbook Pro and it's safe to say that it works likes a dream.
You got yourself a subscriber mate !!
Just subscribed, I really appreciate the hard work and honesty. Keep up the good work!
If I use at least 24GB of RAM on my Windows PC out of 32GB, should I buy the MacBook Pro M4 Pro with 24GB or 48GB?
Just a .02¢ opinion, but I've had a 32GB M1 Max, 18GB M3 Pro and now a 24GB M4 Pro. Regardless of the amount of RAM in the system, MacOS will use it. The only difference is the amount of swap the system uses. After watching several videos that compare 16 GB vs 32 GB in extreme stress test situations, along with a couple of videos speaking to swap on a modern SSD and the minimal effect swap has on SSD degradation, I'm of the mind that a better spend is on an upgrade to the SSD. The larger SSD's generally have faster read/write and in my mind that is a great trade off and has more benefit than more RAM. I do photo and video editing and the M4 Pro with 24 GB has never stuttered. Hope that helps.
@@jimtipton8888 Very helpful comment. Thank you for sharing. For your photo/video work flows, what kind of resolution are you typically working with?
@@jimtipton8888 Thanks! I’m actually a mobile developer, so the use of VMs like iOS and Android is critical for me. That, and that I’m a ram hoarder by nature, makes me wanna pay for the 48GB of RAM, even though it really cost a premium for what it is.
@@arty712 4k UHD video and 45 MP Canon raw files exported to 10MP jpegs. Easily as good as the M1Max I had at handling anything I throw at it.
@@arty712 So, I just tried to break it. I had a FCP 6 minute 4K UHD video in the timeline, I piled on multiple effects and opened an edit in On1 Photo RAW with multiple effects and a sky replacement, had Music open and playing, a previously downloaded 4K video playing in Apple TV, a TH-cam video playing in the TH-cam app I created in Safari, Safari open with 16 tabs, mail, messages, notes, Nord VPN and PDF Expert running in the background. Memory pressure got to 60%. At one point I had 5 GB of free memory left and it tapped into 1.5 GB of swap. No stutters what so ever. If you think you're going to throw more at it than that you might want the 48 GB, but if not I'm going with it's a money grab and a waste.
You should add a category for ‘what should you buy if you’re doing audio editing’.
That’d be helpful for musicians and sound engineers.
Hey Josh, can you please make a review on the Lenovo Yoga 7 Pro with the AMD Zen 5 processor. I'm interested in that laptop but cannot make a decision because I haven't seen a review from your team. Your reviews are always unbiased, which is something most channels lack.
Hope for a video on the above laptop quick, so that I can finally upgrade from my MacBook Air ( early 2015 )!!
Direct to the point and informative. U got a new subscriber.
Good video but for video editors you recommend to upgrade the M4 pro processor to the 14 core, but you didn't test the 12 core (or there's no data in the graphs). Maxtech recently tested binned 14 inch and unbinned 16 inch and the conclusion was that the upgrade is the smallest from all the sillicon lineup of macbooks and was definately not worth for the price.
Yesterday I bought a 16" Macbook Pro M4 Pro with 48 GB RAM as a replacement for my old 15" Macbook Pro 2016 for programming and it is amazing.
12-core or 14-core pro?
@@Wunderkinddd 14-core Pro.
Apple does not offer 16" macbook pro with M4 pro12-core.
@@dfxxfd5561 oh yeah my bad, you made the best decision!
Hi Josh. I have been watching your videos for the past year. I love your work and am a subscriber.
My M2 MacBook Pro has 8gb of RAM and with my workflow, the ram usage is always yellow in activity monitor. I don’t see any lag pr stutter in the usage. Should I upgrade?
And if yes, base M4 MacBook Pro or older M2 Pro or M2 max with more ram would work? Please give me your suggestion.
I am from Middle east and Macbooks are incredibly expensive here, especially newer models. We don’t have such heavy discounts or sales on regular basis for MacBooks.
Your laptop buying guide in the website is helpful. I know it is really a tough job to update the price tracker and deals to be updated in the website , but if have more subscribers in the middle east region, and you see a potential here, please do a laptop buying deals and price tracker for this region as well.
Again, thanks for the videos and updates.
good video but what i dont really like is that the macbook air gets pushed into the corner of only office work etc. the air is still so powerful and better than basically all of the windows competitors. of course its less powerful than the pro but for must users who are not doing intesive video/photo editing or really heavy programming the air is goint to be more than enough. i have thrown everyting on my air, from running multiple docker containers at the same time /multipe vm instances to basic video photo editing, blender work. The air handled it like a champ (16gb ram 512 ssd m3) without even slightly getting unomfortably hot or slow. So in my opinion the air should get a little bit more recognition than just an office laptop. But of course i still get the point of buying the pro.
Nobody said the Airs can’t handle it.
Even Intel Macs can complete tasks still. It’s about the time it takes and the swap it uses.
@@bodigames i understand the dominance of the pro over the air regarding time for tasks etc. my only point was that in the video at least in my opinion the air is puhsed into the corner of an office laptop and if you do something else than office you should consider buying a pro which is in my opinion just not true. And correct me if im wrong but the swap a macbook uses is not dependant on air or pro but how much ram the laptop in general has. So im not sure what your point with swap is supposed to say
I’m a photographer and I was thinking of going for the MBP M4 pro 14 inch with 12 cores, I run capture one pro, would you recommend I go with the previously mentioned MBP, or should I save some more and purchase the 16 inch?
Awesome content! Keep it up 👍
10 out of 10 videos, like always
I have a question:
I want to buy the base 16" M4 Max MacBook Pro for video editing. Are the performance gains worth buying the M4 instead of the M3 variant?
Nice video but considering just how much Lightroom and even Photomator uses the GPU for exports, and AI denoising and other effects, the Max makes a big difference.
Very helpful add
Josh is as real as they come, thanks!
Hey josh , Do you think Ultra chips can catch up to m chips in late 2025 ? Great video by the way
They should. If they stay on a 3nm node, the M5 could gain 15% over the M4. If the Ulta M4 is one big dye with twice the cores of the Max M4 the could be an 40% increase. Short answer : Yes they should do so.
Nah,
Is macbook 4max good enough good for live streaming ?
Yes
@JustJoshTech is m4max overkill or should I go for m4pro macbook
Any thoughts on the Best Buy upgrade concept? New computer every 36 months
What MacBook would you recommend for a medical professional Josh? I’m torn between MacBook Air 15” and MacBook Pro 14”. The reason is I value screen size a lot because I wear glasses but once I spec up the Air to a 16/512 configuration, it’s a 100€ close to the 14” Pro!
Pro is much better than Air: screen, sound, performance, cooling, camera
Just Got the Air M3 16 ram 256g for $800. I’ve got a USBC 128g thumb drive for $17 too. Couldn’t find any comparable windows options for cheaper.
6:18 Should I get 64 or 128 GB and 2TB SSD for ML training/ Docker containers + Emulators/Virtual machines?
Thoughts on the M3 Macbook air 16GB 256GB as a developer laptop ? I've seen people talk about how great it is online but didn't see it being mentioned in your section about programming.
I'm torn between that and the Base M4 Pro at the moment, seeing as the M3 Macbook Air 16GB is $849 versus the M4 base pro being $1399, I would save close to $500.
I currently have an intel so any of these would be a huge leap. Just want to be sure it will be enough for me.
I will use it for Python, JS, Web programming, mobile programming, light small file editing.
Useful info. Thanks.👍
As a computer engineer, I approve most of the suggested info in video. Base rams are enough for most of the users this year. Do not bother to upgrade. I would pick a m4 pro 14 myself If I would pick one for programming. I suggest the cheapest model for daily users.
What if I want 1 tb storage to store photos and videos on my laptop, but don’t need anything fancy? Which is best to get?
Super practical advice, one of the best MacBook buying guides 👍
Hi Josh and thanks a ton for this honest and straight to the point video. I have a question for you:
For occasional Lightroom/Photoshop editing and for someone looking to learn video editing with DaVinci Resolve, would you recommend purchasing the M4 Pro with 512GB of storage and 48GB of memory?
I’m wondering if 512GB of storage might feel limiting, or if it’s manageable with the habit of using an external hard drive. Would it be a good balance for this use case?
I am surprised about your anti-recommendation of the nano texture! It’s so nice!!!
Oh we like it. People just need to know it's pros and it's cons. I don't think many people have discussed it's cons. So I wanted to
Thank you Josh! Absolutely love your videos and especially this one! Kudos to you and your team!
Thank you. We are working super hard to level up
i'm thinking of getting the M4 Pro. would it be better to upgrade the CPU to the 14-core or upgrade the memory to 48GB ?
I got a m4 MBA on a killer Black Friday deal for work. I was tired of dealing with my steady but sometimes issues with it.
Excellent and honest content...thanks alot for that....keep up the amazing work!!!
If you upgrade the 12/16 to 14/20 cpu gpu core you only get 12-18% improvements. I suggest spending that on ram or ssd(but I think getting a external one with 2gb/s speed is much cheaper)
thank you for your honest reviews josh!
What should I get? M3 Pro base model or M4 base model if its the same price?,
I ordered the M3 pro base model over the M4 base.
After some research I found the M3 Pro has much better GPU performance, a faster SSD, 2GB more ram and two fans instead of one on M4, even though the CPU and battery is slightly beter on the M4. And I got it also for the same price.
I agonized over this. I tried to be objective. I use a large external monitor 90% of the time. I do tons of office work, browser tabs, social media image editing, basic video editing, etc.. Best Buy for Black Friday had the 15" m3 with 24gb RAM and 512gb ssd. I valued the extra ram and screen real-estate versus the 14" base MacBook Pro. Its super thin and fits in my bag. After a week of loading my apps and using it in my work flow, it's been seamless. Im very happy with it. The complete silence is just amazing as well.
Excellent video! The M3 Air and M3 Max were the best MacBooks last year. This year, the M4 Pro MBP and the M4 MBP are the show stealers.
The M4 Max is great for performance, but the value most people get from the M4 Pro MBP far exceeds the M4 Max.
How many cores?
My only issue with the MacBooks is their displays and colour spaces. It's fine for P3, but a photographer wants full AdobeRGB coverage or 98-99%. Mid to high coverage in the 80% range doesn't really cut it.
For video editing in FCP, average complexity and length 4K videos what’s better: m4p 16” 48 Gb RAM or m4m 36Gb RAM? How critical are those 12Gb? I am leaning towards the m4m base…
Amazing video, straight forward useful informations
This channel is amazing
Thank you!!!! We are working hard!
Apple India has recently upgraded all 8 GB Macs to 16 GB as a base option, at no extra cost. Planning to buy M2 Air, but the catch is, 16+256 is around INR 90,000 (~USD 1000) on sale, where as 16+512 is from apple itself at INR 1,20,000 (~USD 1450). Given that 256 on M2 is a single chip, an equivalent of USD 450 will have to be spent just to get 256 gb of extra storage. [M3 Air starts eq. USD 1600 and Pro M4 at eq. USD 2000]
Josh make episode about ThinkPad please ❤
Do you prefer to edit on nano screen or glossy? How about watching films or Netflix? Nano or glossy?
I have seen both and I don’t see why paying extra for glossy … it’s really not better…
@@counter511 Glossy is the standard display...
Thank you for in-depth approach to the topic.
I'm glad you tell people to buy what they need and can afford. These devices are made from resources mined out of the earth if you don't need it don't buy it and when you need to replace it someone else can use it. They should never end up in landfill
Gone for a 14 inch silver 14c/20c GPU/48GB/1TB Nano Texture. Arrives next week and I can’t wait
Mine arrives in 2 weeks 14’ 12‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU M4pro chip 24GB. Really stoked coming from editing with a 2015 intel though didn’t get the nanotexture
@ that’ll be sick. I’m going from a 2019 16 inch i9 which has slowed to death. The 2015 is one of the all-time greats!
@@louis_sharp fr surprised how well its hold up for all these years 😂
Are 256 gb not enough for basic use? Like watching videoclasses and Light use.
If you're not storing a lot of videos, movies, files, etc. then it's fine. It's just extra storage you're talking about
Im eyeing the Macbook Pro M4 as a future engineering student. Would you recommend the regular M4 or the M4 Pro, and which storage version? Ill probably be needing several different design softwares and will be needing an emulator for my new laptop
Hi Josh did you see any difference in the display response times because of the new quantum dot tech used on these new models?
★★★★★ Great advice. Like usual. If you are now giving financial advice, then…do everything possible not to buy a car, and if you must buy a car, buy a reliable, inexpensive, low mileage, good condition used car. Buying a car is basically the worst financial decision you can make.
13:58 That's assuming you _are_ able to sell your laptop. You can't always do that.
When you buy a good device, you can always resell it, and it's not just for Macbooks. A thinkpad, an asus g14 or a zenbook, an xps13... even if they're 4 or 5 years old, can be resold. On the other hand, a bad device loses its value drastically.
I've sold a number of Macs and never had a problem selling them in a short amount of time.
Don't trade it in ...
@@Uomodargilla Or a device 5 years old will lose its value in the same fashion. I wouldn't buy a 5 year old phone or Mac.
14:17 Buying apple on credit: I'm actually against your advice! Just buy them on credit if you have 0% APR offer.
Apple card has 0% APR on Apple device, and sometimes other cards have 18 months 0% APR with 1.5% cash back. I buy ALL of my Apple on credit with 0% APR and use the cash to invest to something else. This way, you have more cash flow to run your business.
I've been living with an M2 ultra and regret my decision of not getting 128GB of RAM. With 64GB of RAM, the pressure is often in the yellow and dip to the red. Now I'm replacing M2 Ultra with M4 Max 128GB and all of my work finish much faster. But My wallet is crying.
Fun story: my business partner has an old Intel core i7 with a butterfly keyboard. He has Apple Care +. It was broken and Apple doesn't have the replacement board for it, so they give him a brand new M4 Pro 16 instead. Lolz
For prof soft dev I suggest max is very good depending on your work.
14:18. Preach brother. Credit for a depreciating asset is one of the worst financial decisions.
Amazing video again Josh!
Hollander gespot 😂
@@bodigames Hahaha, of ik een hollander ben gaat je niks aan!
10:25 really hit me in the feels. I'm an ai dev with a base model m1 air. Memory pressure is always red
M1 Air for AI dev is a bit rought imo!
@@JustJoshTechHow about M4 Pro? Can’t it run AI models well? Do I really need an M4 Max for Machine Learning? 🤔