M3 MacBook Air vs M3 MacBook Pro Photography Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 มี.ค. 2024
- Apple Latest M3 MacBook Air Photography workflow review: Is this computer any good? Should working professionals consider this light and thin machine with passive cooling, or are pros better off spending a lot more to get an active cooling machine low? for their work? This is a Pro Photo Workflow Test & comparisons. This is a comprehensive test & comparison of Apple's newest M3 SoC inside the 16" MacBook Pro. This review will also include results from previous generation M1, M2, M3, M1 Pro, M2 Pro, M3 Pro, M1 Max, M2 Max, M3 Max, M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra. These tests include Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Capture One, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and After Effects. These are tests done from the perspective of pro photographers so you can choose the best machines that fit your workflow.
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Thanks Art for the incredibly detailed review that was worth the wait!
Much appreciated!
My takeaway from all this is that the M1 models are still beasts after 4 years. Pretty awesome to see. Yes, the others pull ahead in areas, but consistently the M1 machine provided decent results if you’re not running a business where time = money. The deltas between machines wasn’t so great in nearly every task that waiting a bit of time is a bad thing.
What I found intriguing was that these tests were often based on 1000 files. If I shrink that down to 100 or less, those differences really start to merge and make far less difference, and that less than 100 file batch size is more my area of amateur use for photography. Sometimes it may be only 10, but never more than 200. So in my case I think an M1 makes a ton of sense.
I TRULY appreciate the work that went into this and the professionalism through which it was presented. This is the type of data that helps make informed consumers and I’m personally going to apply it to my buying decision. Thank you so much and I’m clicking both like and subscribe to keep on learning.
Thank you!
Very informative and useful - thanks.
You're welcome!
Loved that. Great information and presented well.
Thank you!
Wow, so comprehensive! This is exactly the information I was looking for to make my purchasing decision. Well done!
Glad it was helpful!
I really like your review and analyze. All of them, because you didn't just review the product as a media, you review them in your workflow, as one of us who just trying to figure out what tool fits best for our daily work or hobby. Thank you for sharing and good luck!
I appreciate that!
Thank you very much for your evaluation. I really like this comprehensive performance comparison, which can cover all fields.
You are welcome!
What a fantastic analysis. Crisp, clear and practical!
Thank You!
Your tests are the best! Love how detailed the tests are, yet how simple and very clear the advice is. Fantastic that you also add in all the previous relevant model. It seems the base 16” M1 Pro is amazing value right now based on how it stacks up on these tests.
Absolutely and thank you!
The review I was waiting for since MBA M3 has been released!
Thank you!
This is such amazing analysis for photogs trying to make a choice. Thank you!!
My pleasure!
@@ArtIsRight Hi :) Quick question. I'm debating between springing for 36GB of RAM in the M3 Pro chip 11/14 version. If I'm getting 1TB of storage, could not only having 18GB of RAM wear the SSD? Or is it really just affecting speed?
Wear leveling will happen regardless but if you want the speed then get more RAM
@@ArtIsRight thank you!!
I use a M2 Base MBA and for my workflow it is enough as I only do retouche or digital collage but my main work is analog so I work directly on the printed media. But of course with this machine you cannot pretend to heavy editing.Thank you for this clear and detailed review one of the best I have seen on TH-cam.
Thanks for sharing!
you always make a very useful videos than those TH-cam out there. those videos you made def worth 1M followers. Thank you for putting the effort on all the videos.
I appreciate that!
You were recommended by an Adobe Community Expert to me as a police to get a good comparison on MacBooks and he is so right..... great easy to understand comparisons with practical usage modelling. Given me plenty to think about as I was eying the MBA M3 15" but maybe the MBP 14" needs serious consideration now... thanks
Thank you so much! If you do work professionally just get the MBP, better SoC and active cooling
Thanks
Welcome
Good technical review! Have a question. Do you think the Pro m3 with 8gb would lack, compared to the Air M3 16gb?
one machine would get capped by RAM with an active fan. The other would get capped by thermo. Workflow and need are going to be key at this point.
for the lightroom classic export, the 14MBP M3P result is missing in the video 12:47 while the result is avalible for the preview test. I guest it should be between 16MBP M3P and 16MBP M1M. My question is whether 14MBP M3P 12/16 18G 512G as good as 16MBP M3P 12/16 18G 512G. If not, how much difference? how much work load and how long will it take to make the 14 hit the heat wall before the 16? I like my 16MBP M2P performance but it is too heavy so I want to update to the 14MBP M3P for better performance and light weight. thanks for your video and all your work which is very helpful.
I have to look at the data. However, I made a series of videos comparing those. I would recommend that you have a look at those previous ones as well.
@@ArtIsRight which one do you recommend? I am trying to find one about the heat wall but with no luck. thanks a lot for your quick reply. 👍
Awesome video thank you! Question: for M3P MBPs, you tested 16MBP M3P 12/18 18G/512G vs 14MBP M3P 11/14 18G/512G and for LR tests the former is ~25% faster. I wonder - will 14MBP with similar SoC upgrade will perform the same? And what is the impact if I further upgrade to 36G memory or 1TB SSD?
SSD not so much RAM on larger files that uses RAM yes and SoC small at best.th-cam.com/video/PUst8pLnROs/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the review! I still can’t decide which MacBook to buy… I’m thinking about following an graphic design course and need to use programs like Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, … I wanted to go for the MacBook Air 15” M3 with 16 gb ram and 512 gb SSD. Do you think it will be good enough? Or do I need to upgrade to the pro?
Thanks!
For starting out yes, if you are not working as a full time pro totally, if you are, save your self the time and just get the Pro or MAX SoC
Hey Art, I love your content! I bought a 16" M1 Pro 16GB RAM but I ended returning it because Lightroom would eat up a lot of ram and that's before I use Photoshop. Would you recommend I get the a 14inch M1 Max with the 24 core GPU 32GB Ram and 1TB storage for around $1700, or M1 Pro with 32GB RAM and 512 storage for $1500 or should I shell out a bit more for the base M3 Pro with 36GB RAM jsnf 512Gb storage for around $2200? I plan to keep the machine long term as I don't upgrade frequently.
For that price variation, I would go with the MAX. M1 MAX is still a respectable machine now a day. But if you can spring the extra $500 to get the latest and greatest then why not. But I would argue that M1 Max is still great
wow thanks
Most welcome
13" & 15" are not the same. The thermal dissipation is greater on the 15" so it throttles less quickly. Might make a difference to some workloads.
right and I have testes both M2 and M3 and they are identical in these heavy workload. Don't know what to tell you there, been there, tested that
Regarding applications getting slower with newer versions, and with newer versions of operating systems: this is a long running problem, but one which the computer industry loves. The fatter software becomes the more reason to ever buy newer and newer hardware.
I know, it is just disappointing, particularly with the Ultra SoC. Totally with you
Very detailed as usual in those tests you do Art, kodus (and I hope you get help with that 😃)
Actually, half (not to say third) of the number of tests would be enough and make the video more digestible :)
As for Air M2 24GB recommendation over the Air M3 16GB:
In your tests, they were kind of on a par with each other - sometimes neck and neck, and in other tests, one of them pulled ahead.
Currently, I've seen they are about the same price as new, in some places M2 24 GB is even dearer.
So It is difficult to say definitively which option is better.
I would say that if you work with huge files the M2 24GB might have the edge,
but in most other instances the M3 16GB would be better, isn't it?
(also speaking more broadly, not just pure photography benchmarks)
Broadly, I would still argue at M2 24GB is still a great deal as of now
Mac studios are great values hope M3 studios get released soon and push prices down further
Totally agree!
Excellent comparisons! Actually, I didn't get ahead :D I'm a pro photographer with a Mac Studio M2 MAX 32GB/2TB, which I really like. travel and fly more and more and I really want a machine that I can use to copy and start sorting pictures (weddings) and maybe start using LrC while I'm waiting at the airport or hotel. I always do the entire image processing on Mac Studio. Practically, my annual level would need it 4-6 times for works that are a bit pro use. I'm vacillating between the 13”Macbook Air M3 16GB/1TB and the 14” Macbook Pro M3 PRO 18GB/1TB
either one will do personally I'll choose MBP any day
Worth noting that by taking 5 minutes to put thermal pads in that MBA you might actually outperform the MBP.
Acutely aware, but doing that could potentially void the warranty, and though you can, others are not as savvy.
Hows the performance of the Air in Lightroom Classic ?? An Event Photographers usage of 500-1000 photos, scrolling through them, editing, puting presets, etc .. Does it not lag ?? Or should I really go with a Pro 14 ?? The reason I'm asking is because I have a Desktop at home but I need an on the go laptop to lug around with me from house to office to coffee shop to be able to finish editing photos anytime anywhere .. I know import & exports times are faster in the Pro 14 but I can do that in my Desktop through my external ssd and just purely edit in the Air and do the export when I get home at my Desktop .. What's important is if the Air can handle editing large batch of photos without hiccups or lags ..
I can handle it but slower, if it gets hot, there's no way to actively let you steam.
@@ArtIsRight Does it get hot even when just scrolling from photos to photos, presets, editing in the develop module ?? Or it only gets hot when importing & exporting ??
Not so much but using the Dev module somewhat and importing and exporting will get hit hard with heat
@@ArtIsRight Is it because the Dev Module uses the GPU Cores which causes heat ??
Great video. I literally picked up a refurbed M2 air as 24/512 setup. I’m not a professional but do photography. Appears fast enough for me.
For other tasks, yes it is a fine machine. For pros photo, not so much.
Could you please make a video comparing... the SSD upgrade in the M3 to 512 vs 16GB RAM upgrade? Am asking because this time there is a high speed internal SSDs and so the swap from SSD would be much better performing and at par with the 16GB RAM. Also the 512 SSD model often go on a discount at big retail outlets. Thks.
RAM always comes first, no matter how fast the SSD is. I'll consider this test....
Super quick question for Art as a fellow photographer: My experience with Macs is you can't attach an external disk drive or SD cards without risking data corruption if you don't eject them properly before shutting down or even before going in to a sleep. I've lost many photos on external drives by leaving them plugged in to my Mac and getting that warning repeatedly. If you know a workaround that will prevent data lose due to this - without the clumsiness of remembering to unplug your external drives and external memory cards every time, please let me know. Thanks!
Hmm, I have an NVMe SSD array linked to my Mac, and on occasion, it would disconnect, but I never lost my data. I feel there's more variables to your equation as to what might be casing these issues. One thing that you can do under power option is to prevent HDD from going to sleep, I know that help.
Looks like for tech reviewers is a trend to give a clear edge for gimmick features, but most of them seem to underestimate the typing experience, light, how comfortable is to look at a screen for hours, and weight. For me the perfect one for office work is the air M2 15 inch 16/512 refurb. Not priced as new and rock solid, a 14 inch screen even if high rest is gonna make you feel more tired than a 15 inch in a 4 to 8 hours range.
you're welcome!
Extremely detailed review - overwhelming unfortunately - a lot of work - than You
most important feature of Air is its portability - somewhat forgotten in this review.
I was hoping for advice if new M3 is a acceptable choice for ocasional travel work .
( so conclusion about MBP being much better is somewhat disapointing )
IMHO 15 inch is a minimum for travel "work" but 16 Inch MBP is much heavier
( my normal computer is obviously M2 Ultra Studio :-)
I need power when I travel as much as at the studio. Each to their own on the workflow.
I don’t quite understand what you’re saying about capture one performance. Could you explain about the gpu ? Or what your conclusion is. Good /bad for MBA or just in general.
Capture one is bad at utilizing system resources, I have computers in that chart that have 2, 3, 4x the number of GPU cores and the speed is only marginally faster at best.
@@ArtIsRight ok. Don’t know why that would be, but thanks. I appreciate your help.
Old code-based that never got updated. Optimization cost a lot of money and does not sell the software as well as nigh shiny features and the list goes on.
Which spec M3 Air do you recommend for students aged 15-18? Display size and hardware specs? Which is your fav colour ?
base one can work, but 16 GB will go along way, they may not need 512 GB SSD but that is hard to say 13 or 15 is really a preference and personally I like midnight
So right at the start of the video he says he's comparing M3 vs M2. But video text says M3 Air vs M3 MBP?
He is answering now; both data sets are in there; what is the issue? They are all getting compared.
What M3 MacBook Pro would you recommend coming from the M1 MBP?
depending on your workflow, what you do, will be doing with it and budget
@@ArtIsRight Mostly photo editing with Lightroom and perhaps some video…and well done on your videos!11
A great video! Just subscribed to your channel! Could you help me with my buying decision? I just bought an M2 MBP 13 with 24GB RAM/1TB SSD. I wonder if getting an M3 Air with 16GB RAM/512GB SSD would be better. What I'm mostly concerned about is their performance in video editing. Thanks in advance for you consideration!
Video editing performance will mostly be identical
@@ArtIsRight Thanks for replying! Very helpful!
Very good comparison, thank you. Although the MBA M3 is much less capable then the MBP M3 PRO, I choosed the AIR 15" (M3, 1TB, 16GB), even if the price got so close to the MBP M3 PRO, because something that people need carefully take in count is that the AIR 15" big screen (not same quality as the PRO, but good enough) but at the same time very portable. (slim and very light). I love the mbp pro design, but I come from the intel MBP 14" and it was heavy. Then, I moved to the MBA INTEL, and I started to carry my MBA with me even if I'm not sure I was going to use it. And now it's hard take take heavy machines again. I know, the MBP 14" is light too, but as my age advance, my eyes need a bigger screen. The PRO screen offer a bteer view, but comparing both side by side at the store, the quality can not compete with a larger screen, if you have eyes strain.
Thanks
So, i changed my mind again. Tanking account all advantages for the MBP M3 you pointed, and also the fact that the 120Hz would help me on large codes when I'm CODING at night (eg. SUBLIME aop is a MBP retina compatible) , and for longetivity of the PRO, I just canceled my MBA order today, and went direct to the MBP M3 PRO space black (but the silver is also so nice, love the silver one) . More over, I think when you have the chance to play around with a PRO machine, you are more open and connected to discover and develop new skills. So, today, I picked up my MBP 14" M3 PRO at the store. The screen is amazing at this first impact, and I'm happy even with been smaller than the AIR 15". Both are great machines. Next step, get a 32" monitor.
Nice!
Why is the M3 Air 24GB seem to be slower compared to M3 Air 16GB? That's pretty interesting. I was using a M2 Air 8GB but I am selling that and I recently ordered an M3 Air 24GB 1TB. Should I have gone with 16GB instead? (Disclaimer: M2 Air 8GB wasn't enough for me, I was constantly using 14GB or so Swap and memory pressure was always yellow or red, hence decided to upgrade to 24GB)
The 24GB I've tested is M2. But either way 24 GB will do just fine. I don't think that you made a wrong decision there. 8 GB is not enough for most creatives.
Considering how cheap the refurb'ed M1 Macbook Air (in any config) have become from Apple, this is the biggest bang for the buck, IMO. As a secondary machine it's way more than enough. Even fine as primary machine for beginners.
Totally!
Yeah I can get one for 699 new.
@@geraxhowhere post link 😅
Apple doesn’t sell Mac 1 anymore nor support them nor will there be any updates available moving forward
@@geraxhoyeah with 8gb ram and your stuck and effed
I don’t understand anything about computers , I’m a beginner photographer I just want a notebook where I can edit my photos I use Lightroom and Photoshop . I only have like 2 to max 4 photoshoot books per month . What would you recommend for someone like me ? 😅😊 ( I’m not an English native speaker sorry if I’m not explaining myself well )
This will do just fine. In your situation buy what you can afford. Any one of them will work well for what you need.
@@ArtIsRight Thank you so much. What about PC ‘s ?
PC is a different animal, are you custom building one, getting pre build, from big brand, from big brand with custom config, etc. Lots of variable here.
@@ArtIsRightNo I was thinking about a descktop computer 😅 see I’m lost . Right now I’m using Windows that is starting to work slow for LR and PS so its time to upgrade it . Thank you for your time !🙏🏼
I am a programmer with a significant demand for memory, and I rarely encounter CPU-intensive scenarios lasting more than 10 minutes. Should I choose m3 mba with 24G, m3 mbp with 24G, m3 pro mbp with 18G, or m3 pro mbp with 36G? Looking forward to your reply.
MBP 36GB if you need it, get it