Got the air m2 13 inch with 512 gb storage and 16 gb ram for school 6 months ago and completely love it. It’s perfect for coding work, basic school work and writing documents, watching videos and playing video games. I was suprised to hear a 15 inch version, but was happy I have the 13.6 because it’s more portable and is better for school bc the desks could be small at times. It’s so powerful!
I have the M2 Macbook air 16Gb/1Tb and I am more than satisfied. I mostly use it for music production with Logic pro and Ableton live, sometimes a tiny bit of video editing on Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve. I put those cpu cores to use, while gpu cores are never overworking for my needs. It sometimes gets very very slightly warm, never hot, and the battery lasts 9-10 hours with medium workload. For me, a perfect laptop.
I have the exact same machine/config as you and I'm a software engineer/writer and I enjoy the heck out of it. Same as you, it gets very slightly warm when i'm pushing it but never hot and easily lasts me a whole work day if i'm out and about. I work on my novels (which i'll probably never finish), write blog posts, create applications in various frameworks and languages, and do a lot of scripting on it. It handles all those tasks great. I do have some work that it cannot handle such as game development and machine learning but I have a linux desktop that I use for all of that stuff that acts as a companion to the M2 Air and I even remote ssh into it if I find myself doing something more than I should on a laptop. Overall, this has been the perfect laptop for me and the only other laptop i've been this happy with was the M1 air.
@@Watchandlearn91 Nice man, may it serve you long and well! This is a huge leap in portable powerhouse machines, giving us the power and battery life that we need :D I'd say this is the best and easiest time for you now than ever to finish those novels, as I have been able to finish music on the go. Best of luck!
Thanks for the realistic comparison Kyle. I purchased the base M2 MBA 13 last October as a replacement for the mid 2012 MBP 13 that I was using primarily as a travel machine, and it has met my needs perfectly (like you, I have a Studio for resource intensive work). I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I prefer the smaller size over the MBA 15. I've done a lot of air travel with 15 inch laptops, always in coach, and they're just too big for those trays. Having said that, if a laptop was my only computer and a Pro wasn't in my budget I would jump on the MBA 15 in a heartbeat.
I have a 16 inch Gaming laptop and a 13 inch Macbook Air M2 and for pure portability I prefer the Air 2. It is lighter and portable. The 15 inch MBA is around 3.5 pounds and while that is light the MBA 13 inch is lighter and That was the first thing I noticed.
I have the 13” M2 air base model. I used this machine for work as a backend dotnet developer before switching to another job and didn’t find any issues while keeping things simple. I even was able to spin up some containers and run microservices solutions in it and never noticed any heat issues or a drop in performance. My tools stack was Jetbrains Rider, vs code, safari, postman, ms teams and apple music running almost always at the same time (occasionally docker, ms office suite and an email client too). I love this machine, it was my first experience in the Apple universe outside Windows machines or Linux, and is a world’s difference, I miss using it for work, is an outstanding device compared from where I was
@@Oss-Dev never noticed a spike in temperature in this conditions (working in a shift of 9 h and living in a country where the average temperature in the summer is 40 C)
@@arvi8843 yes, absolutely, this machine is far superior to any windows machine of any”higher specs” for instance, even when installing linux. The macOS combined with the performance you get from the apple silicon makes it a really pleasant experience when it comes to software development
Hi! I've just discovered your channel! I bought the MB Air 15 inch in starlight with the base config because I don't do anything crazy with it. I'm a work from home translator so I don't need a super powerful computer. Other than that I use it to watch YT videos, Netflix, etc. So for me the Air was the better choice and because I work on it for 8-9 hours a day I chose the 15 inch to have a bigger screen. I'm very impressed with the battery life and the weight. I love this MB and so glad they finally release a 15 inch laptop!
I just got the base model 15” and this has been the best laptop I’ve ever had. For college work the base model is great, I am concerned about the 8gb unified memory because of “future proof”. If I just had one option to upgrade I would’ve chosen the unified memory. You can always buy external ssd’s but the unified memory? I don’t think so. If you are looking for a laptop these base models are just fine if you are just a normal user and if we are being honest they are better than what everyone could expect but depending on your use case, if you need storage and fast transfer speed just upgrade the storage but considering that there are always 3rd party options and the only thing you can’t actually upgrade if you needed more is the memory I would choose memory over storage.
It was nice to hear snippets about mobile development from someone who clearly has actual experience with it. It feels like I'm always seeing review videos that focus on video and image editing. I'm moving from a 13" M2, 24GB, 512GB to 15" M2, 24GB, 512GB. I'm also selling my 14" M2 Max, 64GB, 2TB. The final set up is Mac Studio w/M2 Ultra, 76 GPU, 128GB, 2TB with two Studio Displays (really want XDR but it's so far into its cycle...) , MBA 15" for couch work and on the go, along with ChronosAgent for syncing to Mac Studio. iPad Pro 12.9" as a secondary mobile display for when I'm away for longer periods and can make use of a second display. It's taken a while for me to figure out the ideal setup for me this year! I guess it's a sign of there been many great products from Apple.
I'm choosing the 13" air base model coming from a 2016 mb pro 13". I think the 15 inch while nicer w/ the speakers, display + performance I'm only using it for college / uni which im starting this year. My main work / job is on desktop. If I can survive on an intel i5 / overheating processor, with i kid you not less than 40 minutes of battery life unplugged, then the base model air 13" w/ m2 is plenty for me. Super excited. thanks for the review
Great video. I got my base model 13" M2 Air at launch. It cruises through my workload. Photoshop and some audio editing is the heaviest stuff I do each week, so it handles it no problem. I saw the 15" in person at the Apple Store a week or so ago. It does look awesome and I get the allure of the bigger screen. Mine stays docked vertically in clamshell mode at my desk about 95% of the time, so screen size doesn't really matter for me. It's nice to have the smaller form factor for when I do have to take it on the go.
decided to buy the 13 inch model after the 15 inch bulkier brother came out no regret I will never bring a brick over 1.5 kg for going out as for the audio differences, who will let the sound coming out in Starbucks? so no difference to me as I use airpods all the time besides, the 15 inch model does not have more port like type-c or type-a, the size and weight increment is totally wasted
Excellent video, mate! I bought the 13" M2 Air (16GB/512GB) about 6 months ago and couldn't be more pleased. My desktop PC remains my main work/gaming machine so an uber powerful laptop wasn't necessary. The 13" M2 Air is perfect as a complimentary thin/light work device. I use a pair of iLoud Micro Monitors to turn it into a sweet little mobile entertainment platform.
13" M1 MacBook Air, 16GB/1TB. I'm actually a fan of small laptops, and this machine should have years of productive use ahead of it. However, I'm starting to notice that my aging eyes don't necessarily see the screen so well any more. So I am tentatively considering a 15".
Love your videos. I feel you share honest opinions rather than trying to be part of the hype cycle. Through work I have both a 13 MBA and a 14 MBPro. If a base model works for your needs (email, web, streaming), then run don’t walk to the MBA. But if you add ram and/or bigger ssd, the price quickly creeps into the 14 Pro territory. Once there, the base 14 Pro outclasses either MBA: Best screen on a laptop, m2 pro chip, better sound, and basically same weight as the 15 MBA.
Another Kyle here lol.. I returned a 14" MacBook Pro after having the 15" Air for a day. I absolutely love the larger screen approaching size of the 16" model, but significantly less weight, bulk and thickness to lug around. Actually got to try the 15" Air out for the first time on an economy flight the other day and it was totally do-able amazingly. I'd say if the base model specs are good enough for you, might as well grab this guy for the amazing new form factor. I think of it like a super-slim and lightweight 15" MacBook Pro without the terrible butterfly keyboard or the battery-leaching touchbar - Basically the MacBook Pro I've always wanted in the past for only $1199 -$150 Apple Gift Card on the EDU store. What a deal! I always upgrade every couple of years anyhow, so as I do not keep for the life of the machine I find spring for the ridiculously-priced upgrades not worth it as you get almost no return on them when you go to re-sell or trade-in anyhow. So if you need more power than the base model of this guy, you might as well step up to the 14" MacBook Pro. I enjoyed the heck out of the 120Hz DR display, but I can live without and the extra horsepower as a trade off for the enhanced mobility and $700 savings! Oh, and just got my dBrand Swarm skin in the mail last week and got it applied. The whole thing looks stunning with Space Grey I must say!
I saw the 2023 student deals and took a pass on it. In December, BestBuy offered the 15" MBA for $1,049 and made the purchase. A fellow traveler had the 13" MBA on a transcontinental flight and they used it for document creation. It looked very small and when I went to the store confirmed the 13" was incredibly small. The 15" was equally light and still works well on a transcontinental flight. As I have an 11" iPad Pro, I feel comfortable taking both on business trips.
Thank you for starting on the base model and letting us know when you think its time to upgrade specs. A lot of reviewers act like if you get the base model it's going to crash the minute you open it... and the world will stop and everyone will be looking at you on why you bought the base model. 😂 But thank you so much for keeping it simple. You found a brand new viewer, because you dumbed things down enough for me to understand, and then let me know when it's best to upgrade, look at updating specs and things like that. Thank you for being honest, and talking to us like a human
I am going back to college and decided to switch to macbook land from surface tablets. I started with the m1 13 in which was great considering the battery life but i always had a 15inch laptop. So when i saw an open box base model at best buy available for the m2 15 in i snagged it quickly. The m2 was going to be more for me to use at home and i was going to use the 13 in for going to work and school. However recently i have solely using the 15in m2. I like the keyboard layout better on it. But it gets the job done and im thinking of selling my m1 after just 1 year. But the m2 15in i love it best purchase yet!
So, i bought the 13” M2 MBA 8/10 core, 16gb ram, 512gb SSD, Slate Gray at the release date, have had it for just more than a year and have had no issues, i do mostly offices work, but needed more storage, and I’ve always bumped up my RAM, 16 seemed like the sweet spot for me. I also use a Samsung T7 External SSD, 1T
Thanks for the best review of the 15 inch MacBook air on RUclips. Very true and informative, no BS like most of the review of the different MacBook Air line reviews on youtube. Thank you so much sir, I appreciate you. I just hit the subscribe button.
Howdy. Came across this video per RUclips’s suggestions. Great analysis of the two machines. As an M2A 13 owner, I prefer the smaller size’s portability. It’s plenty powerful enough for my workflow with the specs I have (16gbRAM/512SSD) and If I need a larger canvas, my external monitor works perfectly.
I dont edit videos,I dont convert videos into 4k. I just wanted a quality laptop that does basic stuff and if I needed to a little extra. Therefore the 15 inch macbook air is the perfect choice for me; considering I haven't had a macbook since 2011.
I'm no where a pro user, don't do any editing or pro work, just browsing, word, excel & a lot of content, I rarely have more than 2 tabs open, even so, after 2 years, I only have about 50gb of free storage left on my 2020 M1 Pro 13 inch 8GB & 256GB machine. To recommend an 8gb & 256gb in this day and age is frankly negligent, just to make the Air seem cheaper 😡 Frankly, however you so called experts spin it, both the Air's are compromised lap tops, especially in quality of screen, speakers & pro motion, having lived with these compromises for 2 years, my next MacBook will be the 14" or 16" MacBook Pro M3.......oh and you can use them outside in bright light with the vivid app for $10
I hopped on an EBay Open Box 13” M2 MB Air. With taxes it was $900 and some change. It’s been amazing but when buying brand new I’d just pay the extra $200 (technically $100) for the bigger screen and slightly better performance.
There is reserved area in SSD that is used for ram swap, and it is not visible to user. Plus the SSD on that section is running in SLC mode. A few years ago there were software bugs that had abnormal ram swap activity. Now even with heavy usage, the SSD you can use will not be impacted whatsoever.
Great video, you explain all the options so well. You just popped up on my feed, I’ve been searching for this comparison lately. I want to buy this as a gift for someone but with only light gaming and productivity/surfing I am not sure whether 256 or 512 is the way to go.. I lean towards the 256 🤔
The Base model 15-inch Macbook Air is the best laptop of 2023 period, but ONLY if you are not a heavy user, it will do most other tasks with ease and yes it can do video editing but not obviously huge 4k video editing. If you really need a workhorse to crunch video, music or other data for semi-pro or Pro reasons then buy a Macbook 13-inch, or if you have a really fat wallet just fully spec out that 15-inch. I have the base model 15 inch and it is the most beautiful and powerful, fast and light laptop I have ever owned and it does everything I personally need from a laptop. I also have the M2 Mac mini, now that is something that should I need more power, I can always refer to.😁
Got 15" Air with 16G/1T. Very good laptop except for the limited port count. An SD card slot should have been included. Lightroom works well except for some unexplainable breaks it takes (though I notice this on other computers as well). Machine-learning image processing like Topaz AI tools work fast. The screen is (barely) large enough for serious work. Image and sound quality is good.
Heloo Bro, thanks for your review 🙏 Any idea when Macbook pro M3 will be launched ? . Do you think we will be getting by this year ? I have a old intel macbook pro 16, planning to upgrade to a new one. I have a macmini M2 , which i am using purely for desktop . Planning to purchase a powerful portable mac pro in future soon.
Hi, am torn between getting MacBook Air 15” and MacMini M2. I’ve been enduring my my old 15” MacBook Pro which has reached the max of OS upgrade and I could not use newer features of Lightroom and Photoshop. I mainly use it for photo editing on my huge catalogue build up throughout the years and using external hard disk while editing cos I ran out of space for my 500TB storage on my MacBook Pro. I usually used to have multiple browser tabs opened and usually more than 20tabs. I do not bring my MacBook outside of house most of the time. Currently I do not have decent table and monitor for now, though I wish to make some room in future. Assuming I’m fine to increase ram and/or storage for both MacBook Air and Mac Mini series. What would you advice?
I'm stuck in the never-ending loop of "which one to buy". I last had a MacBook Air 13in (mid-2013) with 4GB RAM which I would do very light video editing on (4K footage from my iPhone, short-form for TikTok or slightly longer for RUclips) in FCP but I turned that on recently and the screen is dead (can only see the part of the screen where light leaks through from the Apple logo on the rear!). SO... here I am with some money set aside for a new machine. For those same uses, maybe some online web dev (Wordpress). THEN Apple bring out the 15in Air. Then there's the research saying to upgrade the RAM and SSD if possible, or go for a refurbished MBP 14. I'm beyond confused as to which way to go to get the same longevity out of the device that I had from my last MBA!
If you want your next machine to last as long as your old one, you need at least 16gb with 512gb, don't listen to these so called pro influencers, who change their kit every 2/3 years and never look at longevity and mostly they use the air as their 2/3rd devise. The 14" Pro has a much better micro LED screen, pro motion, more ports, much better speakers and with a vivid app for $10 one off, it will give you a constant 1000 nits, so you can use it outside, it's also far more comfortable to use when flying. Hands down the 14" Pro is a far better machine!
Hi Kyle! I am planning to buy MacBook Air M2. I'm currently doing my master's, we usually run programs like MySQL, R programming and Python. I work with large datasets and also im planning to keep the laptop for at least 4 to 5 yrs. What would you get if you were in place of me??? baseline version or the 16gb ram version ???
I have an old Mac I want to upgrade to MacBook Air M2 13'' base model would be be good for school? im going to start college soon classes will be online from 9-5. besides that I just watch yt, and twitch. just need it to hold up during classes.
@KyleErickson I would also like to get my hands on this wallpaper. :) It also could be an awesome dynamic wallpaper. Imagine following the sun as it slowly sets and disappears behind those distant mountains.
Hi Kyle! I have MacBook Pro 14" M1 which works fine for me. But I am in need of secondary machine especially for zoom calls when my 14" is at work. I do want to buy MacBook Air M2 as my secondary machine but I am confused between base model or 16gb RAM and 512gb storage. What would you get if you were in place of me??? Thanks for your help! Also, Thanks for the comparison video between 13” and 15” !
@@KyleErickson Thanks Kyle! I was thinking the same and you confirmed it. (The only reason I wanted 16gb was for its longevity but I think base model will do just fine) I am buying Midnight MacBook Air M2 13" for its portability and not 15" . For everything else I have my MacBook Pro 14".. Thanks again Kyle for this video! Greetings from Texas!
If I could only choose 1, is it better to stick to 8gb & upgrade to 512gb ssd so that the system doesn't stutter during swap usage, or is it better to upgrade to 16gb ram & stick to 256gb to reduce the likelihood of the system needing to use swap to begin with?
I would love a speed test on an M2 pro chip running DaVinci resolve effects like magic mask people tracker, vs M2 Max and vs Nvidia 4070. That's for the great content!
with the price drop of the base M2 13-inch air, I don't think it is tbh. only $100 difference and you get the nicer display, a touch better performance, better keyboard, and magsafe
People should not buy a minimum system and expect to run a video editing service. The Air serves a very similar purpose as the iPad. The point was, you could likely mow a pasture with a weed eater, but it is rather a silly expectation for the weed eater.@@Sloimer
I have 4 Airs in service in my home, they are perfect for what I bought them for, my main computer is still an old 2009 Mac Pro because it has massive storage with 4 16T drives and a couple Drobo boxes attached to network. Eventually it will become a server but I really don't enjoy the iPad like Mac OS at all. But hey I have used Apple for over 40 years and am not likely going to change now.
@@poorfesor I’ve become quite an Apple fan over the last 5 years because of their displays, ease of use and build quality. I tried going back to PC’s a few times and it just feels like plastic junk by comparison. Right now I’m torn between getting an Air or a Pro - I may just get both. I’ll probably be an Apple person for life.
For RUclips and Netflix, the 15 inch is much more better. No doubt about this
That’s unnecessary
much more better?!?! hahahahahaha!! It's 'much better'
@@TheGoodGuy890 No if 13 inch might as well get an iPad or android tablet.
Muchacho more betterer
Got the air m2 13 inch with 512 gb storage and 16 gb ram for school 6 months ago and completely love it. It’s perfect for coding work, basic school work and writing documents, watching videos and playing video games. I was suprised to hear a 15 inch version, but was happy I have the 13.6 because it’s more portable and is better for school bc the desks could be small at times. It’s so powerful!
I have the M2 Macbook air 16Gb/1Tb and I am more than satisfied.
I mostly use it for music production with Logic pro and Ableton live, sometimes a tiny bit of video editing on Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve.
I put those cpu cores to use, while gpu cores are never overworking for my needs.
It sometimes gets very very slightly warm, never hot, and the battery lasts 9-10 hours with medium workload.
For me, a perfect laptop.
I have the exact same machine/config as you and I'm a software engineer/writer and I enjoy the heck out of it. Same as you, it gets very slightly warm when i'm pushing it but never hot and easily lasts me a whole work day if i'm out and about. I work on my novels (which i'll probably never finish), write blog posts, create applications in various frameworks and languages, and do a lot of scripting on it. It handles all those tasks great. I do have some work that it cannot handle such as game development and machine learning but I have a linux desktop that I use for all of that stuff that acts as a companion to the M2 Air and I even remote ssh into it if I find myself doing something more than I should on a laptop. Overall, this has been the perfect laptop for me and the only other laptop i've been this happy with was the M1 air.
@@Watchandlearn91 Nice man, may it serve you long and well!
This is a huge leap in portable powerhouse machines, giving us the power and battery life that we need :D
I'd say this is the best and easiest time for you now than ever to finish those novels, as I have been able to finish music on the go.
Best of luck!
Thanks for the realistic comparison Kyle. I purchased the base M2 MBA 13 last October as a replacement for the mid 2012 MBP 13 that I was using primarily as a travel machine, and it has met my needs perfectly (like you, I have a Studio for resource intensive work). I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I prefer the smaller size over the MBA 15. I've done a lot of air travel with 15 inch laptops, always in coach, and they're just too big for those trays. Having said that, if a laptop was my only computer and a Pro wasn't in my budget I would jump on the MBA 15 in a heartbeat.
I have a 16 inch Gaming laptop and a 13 inch Macbook Air M2 and for pure portability I prefer the Air 2. It is lighter and portable. The 15 inch MBA is around 3.5 pounds and while that is light the MBA 13 inch is lighter and That was the first thing I noticed.
I have the 13” M2 air base model. I used this machine for work as a backend dotnet developer before switching to another job and didn’t find any issues while keeping things simple. I even was able to spin up some containers and run microservices solutions in it and never noticed any heat issues or a drop in performance. My tools stack was Jetbrains Rider, vs code, safari, postman, ms teams and apple music running almost always at the same time (occasionally docker, ms office suite and an email client too). I love this machine, it was my first experience in the Apple universe outside Windows machines or Linux, and is a world’s difference, I miss using it for work, is an outstanding device compared from where I was
What you can say about prolonged use and temperature?
@@Oss-Dev never noticed a spike in temperature in this conditions (working in a shift of 9 h and living in a country where the average temperature in the summer is 40 C)
@@mathiasdemestral9411 great, thanks for answer
Would you still recommend 13 MBA as a developer after months of use?
@@arvi8843 yes, absolutely, this machine is far superior to any windows machine of any”higher specs” for instance, even when installing linux. The macOS combined with the performance you get from the apple silicon makes it a really pleasant experience when it comes to software development
I’m in my mid-seventies. I might consider the newer 15” if the weight difference is negligible from the 13” M2 MB Air I have now.
Hi! I've just discovered your channel! I bought the MB Air 15 inch in starlight with the base config because I don't do anything crazy with it. I'm a work from home translator so I don't need a super powerful computer. Other than that I use it to watch YT videos, Netflix, etc. So for me the Air was the better choice and because I work on it for 8-9 hours a day I chose the 15 inch to have a bigger screen. I'm very impressed with the battery life and the weight. I love this MB and so glad they finally release a 15 inch laptop!
I just got the base model 15” and this has been the best laptop I’ve ever had. For college work the base model is great, I am concerned about the 8gb unified memory because of “future proof”. If I just had one option to upgrade I would’ve chosen the unified memory. You can always buy external ssd’s but the unified memory? I don’t think so. If you are looking for a laptop these base models are just fine if you are just a normal user and if we are being honest they are better than what everyone could expect but depending on your use case, if you need storage and fast transfer speed just upgrade the storage but considering that there are always 3rd party options and the only thing you can’t actually upgrade if you needed more is the memory I would choose memory over storage.
It was nice to hear snippets about mobile development from someone who clearly has actual experience with it. It feels like I'm always seeing review videos that focus on video and image editing.
I'm moving from a 13" M2, 24GB, 512GB to 15" M2, 24GB, 512GB. I'm also selling my 14" M2 Max, 64GB, 2TB.
The final set up is Mac Studio w/M2 Ultra, 76 GPU, 128GB, 2TB with two Studio Displays (really want XDR but it's so far into its cycle...) , MBA 15" for couch work and on the go, along with ChronosAgent for syncing to Mac Studio. iPad Pro 12.9" as a secondary mobile display for when I'm away for longer periods and can make use of a second display.
It's taken a while for me to figure out the ideal setup for me this year! I guess it's a sign of there been many great products from Apple.
I got the base model of M2 MBA 13 inch for $950. No complain here.
I'm choosing the 13" air base model coming from a 2016 mb pro 13". I think the 15 inch while nicer w/ the speakers, display + performance I'm only using it for college / uni which im starting this year. My main work / job is on desktop. If I can survive on an intel i5 / overheating processor, with i kid you not less than 40 minutes of battery life unplugged, then the base model air 13" w/ m2 is plenty for me. Super excited. thanks for the review
Great video. I got my base model 13" M2 Air at launch. It cruises through my workload. Photoshop and some audio editing is the heaviest stuff I do each week, so it handles it no problem. I saw the 15" in person at the Apple Store a week or so ago. It does look awesome and I get the allure of the bigger screen. Mine stays docked vertically in clamshell mode at my desk about 95% of the time, so screen size doesn't really matter for me. It's nice to have the smaller form factor for when I do have to take it on the go.
decided to buy the 13 inch model after the 15 inch bulkier brother came out
no regret
I will never bring a brick over 1.5 kg for going out
as for the audio differences, who will let the sound coming out in Starbucks? so no difference to me as I use airpods all the time
besides, the 15 inch model does not have more port like type-c or type-a, the size and weight increment is totally wasted
Excellent video, mate! I bought the 13" M2 Air (16GB/512GB) about 6 months ago and couldn't be more pleased. My desktop PC remains my main work/gaming machine so an uber powerful laptop wasn't necessary. The 13" M2 Air is perfect as a complimentary thin/light work device. I use a pair of iLoud Micro Monitors to turn it into a sweet little mobile entertainment platform.
16Gb and 512Gb should have been the base spec for both sizes really at this price point.
13" M1 MacBook Air, 16GB/1TB. I'm actually a fan of small laptops, and this machine should have years of productive use ahead of it. However, I'm starting to notice that my aging eyes don't necessarily see the screen so well any more. So I am tentatively considering a 15".
@friscodog How did you decide between 13" and 15"?
Love your videos. I feel you share honest opinions rather than trying to be part of the hype cycle. Through work I have both a 13 MBA and a 14 MBPro. If a base model works for your needs (email, web, streaming), then run don’t walk to the MBA. But if you add ram and/or bigger ssd, the price quickly creeps into the 14 Pro territory. Once there, the base 14 Pro outclasses either MBA: Best screen on a laptop, m2 pro chip, better sound, and basically same weight as the 15 MBA.
I actually prefer the 13” M1 without that stupid notch.
well done
Another Kyle here lol.. I returned a 14" MacBook Pro after having the 15" Air for a day. I absolutely love the larger screen approaching size of the 16" model, but significantly less weight, bulk and thickness to lug around. Actually got to try the 15" Air out for the first time on an economy flight the other day and it was totally do-able amazingly. I'd say if the base model specs are good enough for you, might as well grab this guy for the amazing new form factor. I think of it like a super-slim and lightweight 15" MacBook Pro without the terrible butterfly keyboard or the battery-leaching touchbar - Basically the MacBook Pro I've always wanted in the past for only $1199 -$150 Apple Gift Card on the EDU store. What a deal! I always upgrade every couple of years anyhow, so as I do not keep for the life of the machine I find spring for the ridiculously-priced upgrades not worth it as you get almost no return on them when you go to re-sell or trade-in anyhow. So if you need more power than the base model of this guy, you might as well step up to the 14" MacBook Pro. I enjoyed the heck out of the 120Hz DR display, but I can live without and the extra horsepower as a trade off for the enhanced mobility and $700 savings! Oh, and just got my dBrand Swarm skin in the mail last week and got it applied. The whole thing looks stunning with Space Grey I must say!
I saw the 2023 student deals and took a pass on it. In December, BestBuy offered the 15" MBA for $1,049 and made the purchase. A fellow traveler had the 13" MBA on a transcontinental flight and they used it for document creation. It looked very small and when I went to the store confirmed the 13" was incredibly small. The 15" was equally light and still works well on a transcontinental flight. As I have an 11" iPad Pro, I feel comfortable taking both on business trips.
Thank you for starting on the base model and letting us know when you think its time to upgrade specs.
A lot of reviewers act like if you get the base model it's going to crash the minute you open it... and the world will stop and everyone will be looking at you on why you bought the base model. 😂
But thank you so much for keeping it simple. You found a brand new viewer, because you dumbed things down enough for me to understand, and then let me know when it's best to upgrade, look at updating specs and things like that.
Thank you for being honest, and talking to us like a human
I am going back to college and decided to switch to macbook land from surface tablets. I started with the m1 13 in which was great considering the battery life but i always had a 15inch laptop. So when i saw an open box base model at best buy available for the m2 15 in i snagged it quickly. The m2 was going to be more for me to use at home and i was going to use the 13 in for going to work and school. However recently i have solely using the 15in m2. I like the keyboard layout better on it. But it gets the job done and im thinking of selling my m1 after just 1 year. But the m2 15in i love it best purchase yet!
16gb/512gb/70w charger for general use BUT I wanted it to last a good 5-7 years hence upgrades
So, i bought the 13” M2 MBA 8/10 core, 16gb ram, 512gb SSD, Slate Gray at the release date, have had it for just more than a year and have had no issues, i do mostly offices work, but needed more storage, and I’ve always bumped up my RAM, 16 seemed like the sweet spot for me. I also use a Samsung T7 External SSD, 1T
Thanks for the best review of the 15 inch MacBook air on RUclips. Very true and informative, no BS like most of the review of the different MacBook Air line reviews on youtube. Thank you so much sir, I appreciate you. I just hit the subscribe button.
Howdy. Came across this video per RUclips’s suggestions. Great analysis of the two machines. As an M2A 13 owner, I prefer the smaller size’s portability. It’s plenty powerful enough for my workflow with the specs I have (16gbRAM/512SSD) and If I need a larger canvas, my external monitor works perfectly.
The 15 I think contradicts the functional reason why the air exists unless you want to replace your computer set up at home
I dont edit videos,I dont convert videos into 4k. I just wanted a quality laptop that does basic stuff and if I needed to a little extra. Therefore the 15 inch macbook air is the perfect choice for me; considering I haven't had a macbook since 2011.
I'm no where a pro user, don't do any editing or pro work, just browsing, word, excel & a lot of content, I rarely have more than 2 tabs open, even so, after 2 years, I only have about 50gb of free storage left on my 2020 M1 Pro 13 inch 8GB & 256GB machine.
To recommend an 8gb & 256gb in this day and age is frankly negligent, just to make the Air seem cheaper 😡
Frankly, however you so called experts spin it, both the Air's are compromised lap tops, especially in quality of screen, speakers & pro motion, having lived with these compromises for 2 years, my next MacBook will be the 14" or 16" MacBook Pro M3.......oh and you can use them outside in bright light with the vivid app for $10
I hopped on an EBay Open Box 13” M2 MB Air. With taxes it was $900 and some change. It’s been amazing but when buying brand new I’d just pay the extra $200 (technically $100) for the bigger screen and slightly better performance.
Another amazing video, Kyle! Thanks for sharing!
Cheers from Brazil!
There is reserved area in SSD that is used for ram swap, and it is not visible to user. Plus the SSD on that section is running in SLC mode. A few years ago there were software bugs that had abnormal ram swap activity. Now even with heavy usage, the SSD you can use will not be impacted whatsoever.
Great video, you explain all the options so well. You just popped up on my feed, I’ve been searching for this comparison lately. I want to buy this as a gift for someone but with only light gaming and productivity/surfing I am not sure whether 256 or 512 is the way to go.. I lean towards the 256 🤔
The Base model 15-inch Macbook Air is the best laptop of 2023 period, but ONLY if you are not a heavy user, it will do most other tasks with ease and yes it can do video editing but not obviously huge 4k video editing.
If you really need a workhorse to crunch video, music or other data for semi-pro or Pro reasons then buy a Macbook 13-inch, or if you have a really fat wallet just fully spec out that 15-inch.
I have the base model 15 inch and it is the most beautiful and powerful, fast and light laptop I have ever owned and it does everything I personally need from a laptop. I also have the M2 Mac mini, now that is something that should I need more power, I can always refer to.😁
Well said
This video has totally helped me to know what to choose as am planning to buy a MacBook Air 13 inch
Got 15" Air with 16G/1T. Very good laptop except for the limited port count. An SD card slot should have been included.
Lightroom works well except for some unexplainable breaks it takes (though I notice this on other computers as well). Machine-learning image processing like Topaz AI tools work fast. The screen is (barely) large enough for serious work. Image and sound quality is good.
I like the keyboard of the 13 en 15 inch air more then the 14/16 inch pro. They should be the same but feel different. Nice video thnx
Heloo Bro, thanks for your review 🙏
Any idea when Macbook pro M3 will be launched ? . Do you think we will be getting by this year ?
I have a old intel macbook pro 16, planning to upgrade to a new one.
I have a macmini M2 , which i am using purely for desktop .
Planning to purchase a powerful portable mac pro in future soon.
Hi, am torn between getting MacBook Air 15” and MacMini M2. I’ve been enduring my my old 15” MacBook Pro which has reached the max of OS upgrade and I could not use newer features of Lightroom and Photoshop. I mainly use it for photo editing on my huge catalogue build up throughout the years and using external hard disk while editing cos I ran out of space for my 500TB storage on my MacBook Pro. I usually used to have multiple browser tabs opened and usually more than 20tabs. I do not bring my MacBook outside of house most of the time. Currently I do not have decent table and monitor for now, though I wish to make some room in future.
Assuming I’m fine to increase ram and/or storage for both MacBook Air and Mac Mini series. What would you advice?
Holy smokes. Your studio setup is fantastic!
Thanks for watching!
I'm stuck in the never-ending loop of "which one to buy". I last had a MacBook Air 13in (mid-2013) with 4GB RAM which I would do very light video editing on (4K footage from my iPhone, short-form for TikTok or slightly longer for RUclips) in FCP but I turned that on recently and the screen is dead (can only see the part of the screen where light leaks through from the Apple logo on the rear!).
SO... here I am with some money set aside for a new machine. For those same uses, maybe some online web dev (Wordpress). THEN Apple bring out the 15in Air. Then there's the research saying to upgrade the RAM and SSD if possible, or go for a refurbished MBP 14. I'm beyond confused as to which way to go to get the same longevity out of the device that I had from my last MBA!
If you want your next machine to last as long as your old one, you need at least 16gb with 512gb, don't listen to these so called pro influencers, who change their kit every 2/3 years and never look at longevity and mostly they use the air as their 2/3rd devise.
The 14" Pro has a much better micro LED screen, pro motion, more ports, much better speakers and with a vivid app for $10 one off, it will give you a constant 1000 nits, so you can use it outside, it's also far more comfortable to use when flying.
Hands down the 14" Pro is a far better machine!
Where can I get a link to the wallpapers you've used in the video?
Yo mama
worth having it just for google chrome working, excel and youtube, mainly? or should i go for a cheaper windows+ipad?
cheers from Brazil!
I see the link to your wallpaper pack, but got links to the wallpaper on the laptops featured in the video? Those look gorgeous
Helpful video. Also awesome set of wallpapers (the green is one is so perfect). If possible can you please share the wallpaper link.
Hi Kyle! I am planning to buy MacBook Air M2. I'm currently doing my master's, we usually run programs like MySQL, R programming and Python. I work with large datasets and also im planning to keep the laptop for at least 4 to 5 yrs.
What would you get if you were in place of me??? baseline version or the 16gb ram version ???
I would go 16!
Really useful video, where can I get the green and yellow leaf wallpapers from please?
I have an old Mac I want to upgrade to MacBook Air M2 13'' base model would be be good for school? im going to start college soon classes will be online from 9-5. besides that I just watch yt, and twitch. just need it to hold up during classes.
Kyle, I just started watching… but I need to know where to find this wallpaper from 15’ MacBook 🤪🙏🏻
I make all these wallpapers - I haven't put them into a wallpaper pack or anything yet!
@@KyleErickson oh that’s cool! 😄
Yep nice one, already screenshoted to make similar with AI
@KyleErickson I would also like to get my hands on this wallpaper. :)
It also could be an awesome dynamic wallpaper. Imagine following the sun as it slowly sets and disappears behind those distant mountains.
@@KyleErickson Awesome - looking forward to gettint these 2.
Loved this detailed comparison 🙌
why you gatekeeping the wallpaper in the thumbnail 🤔
Hi Kyle! I have MacBook Pro 14" M1 which works fine for me. But I am in need of secondary machine especially for zoom calls when my 14" is at work. I do want to buy MacBook Air M2 as my secondary machine but I am confused between base model or 16gb RAM and 512gb storage. What would you get if you were in place of me??? Thanks for your help! Also, Thanks for the comparison video between 13” and 15” !
I would just get the base model if all you're using it for is zoom calls!
@@KyleErickson Thanks Kyle! I was thinking the same and you confirmed it. (The only reason I wanted 16gb was for its longevity but I think base model will do just fine)
I am buying Midnight MacBook Air M2 13" for its portability and not 15" . For everything else I have my MacBook Pro 14".. Thanks again Kyle for this video! Greetings from Texas!
Great video!
What is that widget/app that he uses to get the performance statistics in the top menu bar?
If I could only choose 1, is it better to stick to 8gb & upgrade to 512gb ssd so that the system doesn't stutter during swap usage, or is it better to upgrade to 16gb ram & stick to 256gb to reduce the likelihood of the system needing to use swap to begin with?
@@user-hk4xz8gx6z yes but the problem is that external SSD would not help alleviate the swap issue...
Go for RAM upgrade 100%!
I have a 15 inch MacBook Air 8GB of Ram, 512gb of storage , going to Grad School for UX Design!
Are you happy with 8GB RAM? I’m thinking about getting the same one.
@@antonia428 depends on what u do , I recommend 16GB tbh
Yeah, I ended up getting a 16/512 Pro. Thanks for your reply! @@Applecore365
Can i have the link for the wallpaper ? @kyle
i have a 2017 macbook pro 13” . still getting the m2 air
I would love a speed test on an M2 pro chip running DaVinci resolve effects like magic mask people tracker, vs M2 Max and vs Nvidia 4070. That's for the great content!
How about the M1 MBA? is it still worth it?
with the price drop of the base M2 13-inch air, I don't think it is tbh. only $100 difference and you get the nicer display, a touch better performance, better keyboard, and magsafe
15is good
Why anyone would use a compact laptop for rendering video is beyond me. For that there is a desktop.
Probably same day edits gigs for events when portability is a must.
I got the 15” for $2k🔥🙃
Do people actually buy weed eaters to mow a pasture? They don't buy entry level portables to do a full length movie either.
What????
People should not buy a minimum system and expect to run a video editing service. The Air serves a very similar purpose as the iPad. The point was, you could likely mow a pasture with a weed eater, but it is rather a silly expectation for the weed eater.@@Sloimer
@@poorfesorit’s also very hard to turn down literally one of the best displays money can buy jammed into a laptop.
I have 4 Airs in service in my home, they are perfect for what I bought them for, my main computer is still an old 2009 Mac Pro because it has massive storage with 4 16T drives and a couple Drobo boxes attached to network. Eventually it will become a server but I really don't enjoy the iPad like Mac OS at all. But hey I have used Apple for over 40 years and am not likely going to change now.
@@poorfesor I’ve become quite an Apple fan over the last 5 years because of their displays, ease of use and build quality. I tried going back to PC’s a few times and it just feels like plastic junk by comparison. Right now I’m torn between getting an Air or a Pro - I may just get both. I’ll probably be an Apple person for life.
love Your comparisons and videos!