Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Get THIS Mac!”.
Hey everyone Travis here, don’t buy a MacBook Pro buy a MacBook Air instead. I know this may sound ridiculous, but I’m thinking about the everyday user here the 15-in MacBook Air, launched 6 months ago and with the recent release of the M3 MacBook Pros. It begs the question which one should you buy to me: it’s a clear choice, the MacBook Air, and let me tell you why the first thing is price and I think most people that are looking for a 16-in MacBook Pro are interested in that machine because it Offers a larger display and more battery life. In most cases, not all cases performance isn’t the main concern of someone buying a Macbook of any kind and for the vast majority of users out there. The 15-in air is more than plenty of what anybody needs out of a laptop in 2023.
This machine starts at $ 12.99 for the base model, but I would definitely recommend spending $ 200 extra dollar on 16 gigs of of ram. In my opinion, 8 GB of RAM and a laptop that you’re buying in 2023 is a very, very low amount of RAM and no matter how Apple wants to twist it with how efficient Apple silicon is 8 gigs of RAM is going to hinder the performance of The machine over time, as I mentioned in my MacBook Pro riew people, are holding on to their computers for four five 6 years or longer at a time and what are the requirements of the applications and what people are going to do going to be by then. So 8 gigs of RAM might be okay, depending on the use case right now, but 16 is going to give you room to grow so with that ram upgrade our base price becomes $ 14.99, which is essentially ,000 cheaper than the 16-in MacBook Pro and 600. Less than the 14-in MacBook Pro with the pro chip in it, the only wrench that’s thrown into the mix here – is the new 14-in Macbook Pro that doesn’t have the pro chip that has the standard M3 chip for the longest time. The computer that was in between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro was the 13-in older model MacBook Pro and with the M3 launch that computer was discontinued, and now we have a base model, 14-in MacBook Pro configuring. These two models, equally with the 15-in air and the 14-in base model, Pro you’re still saving $ 300 and on the air getting a slightly larger screen and maintaining that thinner form factor and when it comes to Performance. I think this topic is very, very subjective. We are in the Apple silicon era through and through, and for the basic level tasks which are probably 70 or more per of what most people are going to use use this machine for it handles them with no sweat things like web browsing, email, social networking organization Tools, productivity, apps and things like social media streaming movies.
All of those type of things are no issue for this machine whatsoever and, to be quite honest, any single one of the Macs that are in the lineup, even going back to that M1 MacBook Air that they still sell or the Baseline level Mac Mini. All of these computers can handle these things with no problem and, if you’re, someone that wants to dabble into content, creat cretion like editing, videos or editing photos, and you want to be in Photoshop, Lightroom, iMovie or Final Cut Pro. This also will handle those tasks with no problem.
The only thing here is keeping expectations in check for what you’re actually going to use it for, if you’re, shooting, 6K or higher level video with multiple cameras and it’s a highlevel edit. That’S basically going to be a short film. I don’t think you’re going to want to edit on a 15-in MacBook Air, simple video projects that are edited in iMovie or Final Cut Pro with, let’s say, like a Sony. Mirrorless camera like an a74, are also no problem here from 2020 all the way up to early this year, I used the M1 MacBook Air as my daily computer here at the office, which consisted of editing many many videos and photo projects on that machine. And yes, my render times were not nearly as fast as a MacBook Pro, but I really appreciated the portability and being able to bring that computer everywhere with me.
And yes, these computers are passively cooled, which means that they do not have a fan, so they operate in silence. But when you’re you’re pushing them pretty hard, they do get a little bit warm, but not nearly as hot as those Intel computers used to. And, of course, if you compare this 15-in MacBook Air to a 16-in pro with a pro or Max chip, those computers are going to be higher level of performance. But how much higher level all really depends on what you do and my honest opinion that the standard user is not going to realize the difference between those two levels of performance and they’re really probably not going to care. And when you change the scenario to a professional’s use case, they’re already going to know what computer they’re going to get a professional is going to go for the MacBook Pro. But I honestly think that the professional use case is probably less than 10 % of people buying MacBooks in general. Portability is key when choosing a Macbook and really any laptop for that matter, and I think the 15-in air Nails it. This machine is about a pound and a half lighter than the 16-in pro, which makes it way more wieldable and, to be honest, the size of the screen being a 15-in display doesn’t really feel like it gets in the way or makes the machine super heavy like It would be from a 13 to a 15in MacBook Pro like how it used to be. This machine is definitely the middle ground between size of the display and portability. Prior to this machine coming out, you really had to choose: did you want a larger display and a heavier machine or a lighter computer, with a smaller display, and this definitely fits that middle ground? And I will say, having that middle ground between the display size and how thin and light it is really makes me gravitate towards using it carrying it around with me, throwing it into a bag or honestly using it while moving around is a breeze, and it still Feels a little weird having a screen of this size in a Macbook, a that’s this thin and yes, there is compromises of it.
Being this thin. There is a lack of ports like how the pro would have it has SD card slots and HDMI ports, but this computer does have magc safe and it does have two USBC Thunderbolt 4 ports and the speakers in this computer. Don’T have speaker grills that are upward.
Facing like the MacBook Pro does, and they don’t pack nearly as much of a punch as those do, but considering the fact that these are coming from the keyboard and basically behind the display, they’re very good for what they are. And lastly, I really wanted to look at this machine objectively from the standpoint of what is the necessity of a computer when looking to buy a new piece of tech you’re either looking at it from two standpoints: ooh shiny new thing or I need something to fulfill. A need – and I do think the MacBook Air does both here.
The design of this machine is still very slick. It’S super thin and has very thin bezels around the screen with that liquid Retina Display, and it has the fit and finish that you would come to expect of a 2023 Apple device and at the same time, has that M2 Chip in it, which has enough oomph To be able to handle all those daily tasks that I mentioned before, and some higher level ones too, it can definitely handle the everyday tasks of a standard user, a student, a business user or even a semi-professional. Using this to create content and honestly, I feel like the MacBook Air Line of machines has a second rate perspective compared to the MacBook Pro and I think most people when they go out to buy a computer and they select a MacBook Pro. They buy it because it says MacBook Pro or because they know someone that has one, not necessarily because they have Pro level requirements or needs. 10 years ago I would have dreamed to have a 15-in, MacBook Air, and I think it’s been a long time coming and in that last 10 years I think the biggest change or Revelation in the Mac has been Apple silicon. These M series chips have allowed for low power, high performance and the ability to fit in these thin and light fanless Macs and still maintain a great level of performance, and this 15-in MacBook Air definitely doesn’t feel like there’s a compromise to be thin.
For the sake of being thin, which, in the past limited performance, hat tip to the 12-in MacBook that could I’ve used this computer for the better part of 6 months now and my honest verdict is it’s fantastic, very good battery life, incredible keyboard and trackpad and the Display is basically the same as the pros from a few years ago and for the vast majority of users out there looking for a great laptop, that’s well-rounded in the categories that really make a difference on the day-to-day. This is the MacBook to get also as a side note. The script, research and editing of this video were entirely done than the 15-in MacBook Air.
Thank you guys. So much for watching drop a comment Down Below on what you think is your favorite feature of the 15-in MacBook Air. This is Travis and have a great night.
.