Transcription
Oh, it's time to admit it. I've got a bit of a MacBook problem. Uh, this could be an interesting video. So, I woke up the other day and just thought, I need to pick a MacBook and stick with it. I know this is another one of those, ooh, I picked the wrong thing videos, which does annoy some people on YouTube. I get that completely, but I'm just being honest here. And I think there are other people out there who have who have a similar problem in terms of picking the right MacBook. Whether you go for the Air or the Pro and then the big thing, whether you go for the big one or the little one, basically.
So, in front of me, I have the 15-in MacBook Air, the M4 version. That is mine. I have a 13-in MacBook Air, the M4 version. Again, this isn't mine. This is Apple's. They've given me this for a short-term loan, which is very nice of them. And then we have my 14-in M3 Max MacBook Pro. And I just need to pick one and and just stick with it, I think. Don't I?
Because something happened recently which made me really made me question what I'm doing with MacBooks. And if you're watching this trying to work out which one to buy yourself, then hopefully this video will help. Equally, if you just like watching videos about MacBooks, then fingers crossed you stick around and uh and enjoy this one. Very quickly, guys, we are running a big competition at the moment. We're running a huge back to school giveaway with Back Market, which is one of the best places to go for refurbished Apple gear. There's going to be eight winners in total. The prizes include a 15-in M2 MacBook Air, an M2 iPad Air, AirPods Max, and some bat market vouchers. All of the details are in the description, so go and get involved.
Back to these. I recently went to Brooklyn with a bunch of other YouTubers and press people. It was for Samsung Unpacked, if you're wondering. ZFold 7 review is on the channel, by the way. And these press trips are wonderful because we get to spend time together as YouTubers and content creators. And it's just, yeah, it's a it's a lovely bunch of people that I've met over the years doing that. What's always fascinating is what laptops those guys take with him, though. That's the one thing that I'm always looking at, thinking, why is he using that? Why why am I not using that? And this really happened on this trip. So, I took with me my trusty M3 Max Pro, which cost me a lot of money a couple of years ago. And I used it for email, Slack, writing, that was it. No production. No, I didn't touch really that M3 Max chip in there. and the 64 gig of unified memory. It was just vastly underutilized. And what was interesting is that Pete Mat, who you you pro, I'm sure you know, he's he's got a fantastic channel, and Daniel from Zone of Tech, who also you will know, and several others had MacBook Airs. And I think if we, you know, rewound 2 years, I think back then we would all have had MacBook Pros, but not anymore. These guys had MacBook Airs. And yes, some of this is down to the fact that, like me, they have editors. They don't edit their own videos these days. And the most interesting thing about it is that they they all had 13-in MacBook Airs. They didn't have the great big whacking 15-in one. And I'm just sitting there thinking, I've got this really expensive MacBook Pro, which is a lot heavier than this. The the weight difference is quite significant. I've got this thing in my bag. I'm lugging it around, and these guys are just kind of rocking up with this really light, beautiful laptop. And I just remember thinking, I think I've made the wrong choice here. And then I thought, well, if I brought my MacBook Air instead, I've still got a problem because it's huge. Look at the size of it. It's massive. Compared to the 13-in version, it is very big, as you would expect. And that got me thinking, okay, I should have asked myself a few questions before I settled for the big MacBook Air and the little MacBook Pro. Is this making sense? I hope so.
Anyway, these are the questions which I wish I'd asked myself a little while ago. Just a quick word from today's sponsor, which is Kinster. If there's one thing that I wish I knew when I started my website on WordPress several years ago, it's how important hosting is. And that's why we're looking at Kinster. If you've ever had a website slow to a crawl, go down right when you need it the most, or just not play ball with the intricacies of WordPress, then you'll know how much of a headache it is. Kinster is a managed WordPress hosting platform that prioritizes speed and security. It's built on Google Cloud's premium tier with a global CDN, which is a content delivery network, and edge caching, which basically means your website loads fast, even during traffic spikes. I love that security is baked directly into Kinster. You get automatic daily backups, malware scans, and even free fixes if something goes wrong. So, basically, you're not stuck scrambling on your own if you need to find out what's gone wrong. And the My Kinster dashboard is genuinely helpful. It's clean, it's easy to use, and it gives you controls without you needing to be super technical. For instance, like testing changes in a staging site with one click. If your website supports your business, your creative work, or even just a hobby, and you want fewer headaches, Kinster is definitely worth checking out. They offer free migrations and a risk-free trial, so you can do it without any pressure. To find out more, just click that link below.
The first question is, do you need a massive display? And your immediate reaction to that might be, yeah, I do. I've got the 16-inch MacBook Pro or I'm thinking about buying the 15-inch MacBook Air. I need all that screen estate. And I was there, guys. I was there several years ago when I bought the 16-inch MacBook Pro because I thought, I'm a video editor. I need as much screen as possible to do those edits. And lo and behold, 2 years after that, I was so fed up of carrying around that 16-inch MacBook Pro that I downsized to the 14-in and didn't miss that screen estate. More recently, I've done that with the 15-in MacBook Air. I've thought, yes, it's a it's a home laptop, which I'll get on to later. Because it's a home laptop, it doesn't travel with me very often, so that's fine. and I can just get a big big display. When I look at that critically, I'm completely wrong because this gives me the best of both worlds. It gives me the portability, but it also gives me enough screen estate to do pretty much anything. And yes, I do still do a little bit of video editing. We've got a new channel called The Next Drive, which is all about cars. If you're into cars, we'll put a link in the description so you can go and check it out. But I do the editing on that channel at the moment. So, I am using this smaller 14-in display to to do those videos. And it's absolutely fine. I guess if you're a developer, you might need a bit more space. Equally, if you work in audio, having a great big 16 or 15inch display might be beneficial, but I would really really ask yourself if you need the big one. I think most people I've spoken to who have bought the big MacBook Air or big MacBook Pro have regretted it because the one massive tradeoff is portability.
The next question is, how often do you take your MacBook out of the house? And my answer to that has always been, "Well, I take my MacBook Pro everywhere, but I use my great big 15-inch MacBook Air at home." That's ridiculous. And that again is because I'm a tech YouTuber, and that isn't normal behavior. I think if you buy a laptop thinking it's just going to be a home laptop, which means I can get the bigger one, etc. I reckon within weeks you're going to be taking that laptop out all the time. It's going to come with you everywhere. It it will because MacBooks are so good. The battery life is ridiculously good. And equally, if you're thinking about that laptop as being a home laptop, why not just get a Mac Mini? Get yourself an M4 Mac Mini, some form of display, and you've got a beautiful setup at home. You don't need a laptop. If you're thinking about buying a laptop, it's it's going to come out with you. And if I look at my use case for my MacBooks, it is taking them out everywhere. It's going on trains, planes, automobiles, coffee shops, restaurants, taking them to the gym. It's, you know, bringing them here and working on them. it it's that's what I do with my MacBooks because they are portable and because of that again this one makes so much sense. There's a narrative building here, isn't there? I can feel a conclusion coming. Not yet, though.
The next question is kind of linked to the previous question, and it is where are you going to use that MacBook? For me, I had this thing in my head that the 15-inch MacBook Air would be my home laptop where I get it out in the morning, I open it up on the breakfast table, I do my work, I put it away, and, you know, go to work and crack on with stuff on the Mac Mini or whatever. However, if I take off my my kind of Apple reviewer head and put on my normal consumer head, that makes no sense at all because the previous answer to the previous question would have been, I'm going to be taking the MacBook out a lot, which means it's not just going to sit on that table at home. It's going to sit on all sorts of different small tables. And because of that, I probably need the smaller one. However, there is another side to this, which is that it might actually be a home laptop for you. So, I do need to very quickly tackle that because you might be watching this thinking, "No, Mark, I'm not going to take it out." You know, my answer to the previous question was I won't be taking out ever or maybe once or twice a year. If that's the case, then there is definitely an argument to get the big one, to get the 15-in version of the MacBook Air or the 16-in version of the MacBook Pro. I just think that's a very small market. Because of that, I'd love to know in the comments if that's you. I'd love to get a feel for how big that user base is, but I do personally think it's a much smaller part of the market, which again means that the 13-in MacBook Air feels perfect for most people, doesn't it?
But there is one other thing to think about. This one isn't a question. It's more of a reminder really. If you're looking at the MacBook Air, don't assume that if you go from the 13 to the 15in that you get better specs on the big one. You don't. They basically share in M4 land anyway. They basically share the exact same spec options. So, the same chip choice, the same unified memory choice, the same storage choice. There's no difference between these two laptops. Even the battery life. I had to double check this, but if you do the comparison between the 13 and 15-in M4 MacBook Air, the specs are identical apart from that screen size. You won't get better performance. I don't really think you can rely on the 15-in offering better thermal management, you know, less throttling and that sort of stuff. I don't I don't think that's the case. I think they are basically the exact same laptop, but this one is just bigger. It's as simple as that. So, if you're buying a MacBook Air, don't think, okay, all this all this stuff is kind of pointing me towards this little one, but I want as much performance as possible, so I'll go for the 15. You won't get any benefits from doing that. That is different obviously with the MacBook Pro because the MacBook Pro the 16-in version does have higher specs available than the 14-in version. And arguably, you can probably get better performance out of it because of the the chassis and all the all that sort of stuff. But MacBook Air, they're basically the same laptop.
And this brings me to a frighteningly obvious conclusion about the MacBook. My plan over the next few months is to keep using this M3 Max MacBook Pro because it cost me a lot of money and I want to get the most out of it because of that. However, gradually I am going to move away from these two laptops and transition completely to a 13-in MacBook Air. And that leads me to my conclusion, which is that the 13-in M4 MacBook Air is the best laptop Apple has ever made. I think it's the best laptop on the planet. Argue with me in the comments if you don't agree. For most people looking at a new MacBook, I think all roads lead to this one. I think you need a very specific use case to have the 15-in version, and I think you need a very very specific use case to go for a MacBook Pro these days. It it's a a a wonderful time to be buying a MacBook because the choice is it's a little bit overwhelming. But I think for most people the conclusion will be I can spend less money and still get a barnstorming laptop. I'd love to know what you think about this in the comments, guys. It's it's a a topic that I'm always thinking about and I know you're very passionate about it, particularly if you've got this far in the video. Thank you if you have. Equally, if you've been watching this channel for a while, but you haven't hit subscribe yet, make sure you do. And remember that giveaway, it's live now. There's loads of cool prizes. Get involved. There's a link down below.