It's the cable to a light you're seeing, sorry. I am still in the process of rearranging my office and at the moment the only mains socket is just slightly too far away from where I need that light. I thought I'd got away with it...
I wonder if either current model of Mac is a little too capable for writing. The 2013 MacBook Pro I use still works just fine for me. Unlike a notebook which needs replacing when full there is still unused iCloud and backup storage available. After eleven years of trying I still cannot type faster than the screen so I’m pretty sure I do not ‘need’ an upgrade.
Mr. Gallagher you write for an online tech magazine I can't remember the name of at the moment but I really appreciate your articles about Apple. Great work! Cool to see you online with that British accent. So at some point, Bob's your uncle. Thanks for all you do! Subscribed.❤
I think the pro would be better if the MacBook is you’re only computer and you want to keep it longer. When the new Mac OS came out this year, any one who bought the 2019 MacBook Air didn’t get the update. That means anyone who spent over $1000 on it, pretty much got screwed. Just 4 years. The MacBook Pro that came out in 2018, got the update. They got at least 6 good years with it.
The 2019 one would be Intel, wouldn't it? It's still useable, but the change with Apple Silicon has been incredible. It's a shame that it's meant a cutoff between OS versions but I do know it's because the Intel Macs couldn't physically cope.
Awesome video! Quick question, was that Final Cut Pro you use for video editing? Or do you use other software, especially for a Macbook Air M1. Thanks!
Thanks. It was Final Cut Pro, yes. I've recently used DaVinci Resolve for a client and I think that's very good, but I adore Final Cut Pro and will use it everywhere.
I mean it about finding the 13 inches less of a problem than I thought. But I haven't edited video on it and that is where I find the 14 inches of the MBP better, yes.
In March of 2022, after finding a miss-priced M1 Pro 14in MBP online and asking people I trusted if I was really seeing the lower price I thought I was seeing, I snapped it up. It has served me very well, and it's still faster than I am, so I'm not really looking to replace it. In fact, I didn't even realise it was an M1 Pro until .. 5 minutes ago when I checked what year it was from! My experience with the M1 Pro and the M2 that's in my iPad Air is that screwing things up by mistake is SO Much easier with M-class chips. I wouldn't trade these things because of it though, but I have learned to tread with care. My only beef with the MBP is that I bought a Stream Deck and a friend now has it because the Stream Deck must be plugged directly into the computer - no dongles allowed and I don't have enough free ports to make use of it.
@@WilliamGallagher On the iPad it's either over scrolling or very nearly deleting apps. I have always had a knack for hitting just the wrong combination of buttons and discovering unintended consequences which sometimes got reported as bugs when I could replicate it and describe it to programmers. On the mac I most notice it with using the mouse - especially with any mail software. I have accidentally deleted mail before even knowing what it was about. Luckily I've been able to fish out anything important from the bin. Most of my screw ups are caused by impatience and often not being able to control what my hands do - my fine motor skills are not fine at all!
I once use the Apple II to write. MAKE god damn sure that is has at least 48 kb of memory to use it to write. So make sure the Macbook Air has 48 kb of memory and you will be safe for using it to write.
At this very moment, I have Slack that I use with one client, that's over to the far left. Next to it is a rotating bit between OmniFocus, my To Do app, and Fantastical, my calendar. In the centre of the screen at this second there's a Zoom meeting I'm supposed to be concentrating on, and behind that is Drafts, where I'm about to write an article. Then the rest of the screen is presently taken up with Safari, which is what I'm typing this to you in. But behind Safari is Pixelmator Pro, in which I'll do the illustrations for that article. So while you can easily see I don't need it for writing per se, it is immensely useful for writing when I'm doing it for the clients I am now, and doing the associated work that comes with it. I really, really like the wideness but I'll tell you that the resolution isn't great. It's better than on the cheap monitor I had before so it's okay, but whenever I see another monitor, I have display envy.
Long time Air user, I just survived nine months with a 14 inch MacBook Pro M3. This week I traded it in to go back to an M3 MacBook Air 13 inch. I couldn’t actually stand the Pro screen, the mini LEDs just felt like I was sitting too close to my TV. And the keyboard… I came to feel like my fingers needed to be anvils with every key press on the Pro. So much force was required to type. Back on an Air now for three days, and I am flying across the keyboard. I know some people treasure bouncy keyboards with lots of travel. I personally can’t get anything done on them.
I’ve had a similar experience with the keyboards and I’ve had the same experience. I wonder if it’s because the previous keyboard had so little travel. But certainly the air and pro keyboards feel so different to me.
I choose not to choose between these two. I'm very happy with my M2 Mac mini with base memory.,. it runs Scrivener, Affinity Photo and MS Office. Why would I want to spend more?
A video on how to have two Macs and ensure they are synchronised would be good - as I am looking at the new Mac Mini for my office and will keep my MacBook Pro when I am, well, not in my office!
Oh? That's interesting... My immediate thought was that they just sync, but I have had many times when they haven't. Thanks: I'll have to think about how to do it but it's on the list now.
That's a good point and one I didn't think to address. I don't know why I didn't, either, since it did cross my mind when I was setting up the desk with those two Macs. I remembered that my MacBook Pro is bright and I knew the MacBook Air was dimmer. But then I looked at the two, found that the Air seemed okay -- and then that it was set to about a quarter of its brightness.
I used to have a "Macbook", the seminal fan-less mac (w/ Intel i7). It ended with sporadic system crashes and it was hinted to me (Genius at Apple) that it's the constant high temp causing connection issue with the CPU. Of course it didn't render the computer completely useless - it's just knowing that it might crash when temperature creep up was enough for me to get rid of it by selling. I was fortunate that I was still able to recover 1/3 of the machine cost by selling to a third-party, compare to virtually nothing if Apple. I know that Apple Silicon is not comparable to Intel but this experience still haunts me, on having a workhorse without a fan. Of course, there's the worry of whether the machine is still being used by someone else and that they're putting up with this...
Currently writing on 2015 MacBook pro that I bought from new and it's fine for my needs. When it dies I'll get an Air, agree with the view that if you are only writing the Pro is overkill.
I'd hang on to that 2015 model as long as you could, but I tell you, when you move to any Apple Silicon Mac you are going to be absolutely startled at how fast and responsive everything is.
My first MacBook was the first MacBook, back in 2006 (his name is George) but after a 15" Pro and happily in a 12" MacBook (stolen), the 13" MacBook Air has been my home since 2020. If you're only writing, I don't need much else -- it's already faster than me and larger screens feel overwhelming.
You called your first MacBook George? I've got to ask. Is there a story there? Sorry about the stolen 12-inch MacBook: those got a lot of criticism for their keyboards but every time I used one I envied its owner.
@@WilliamGallagher Harrison, the underrated Beatle (it was a playful rib at my then-partner). I never had any problems with the MacBook keyboard--and I use it the point that the letters/symbols rub off.
@@DianeShugart So what did your then-partner name his or her Mac? This is the kind of detail RUclips comments were made for. And for me, incidentally, it always seems to be the S key that wears off. Years of compulsively saving every moment.
I'm now using one to transfer footage from my phone to my MacBook Pro and I love the speed, but I haven't worked from one permanently. Apparently with the Thunderbolt 5 option on some of the new Macs, external drives should work as quickly as internals. But I'll believe that when I get to try it.
@@WilliamGallagher The thing I don't like about externals with laptops is when going on vacation. Worry about losing the drive or misplacing it. One time I lost track of an important external drive with all my work documents on an unencrypted drive. But I found it but it was a scare.
Hmm... Middle if the line Macbook Pro with the 16 inch screen, $2,899. Middle of the line 15 inch Macbook Air plus middle of the line iMac, about the same price. Decisions...
Thank you. I so hope you enjoy the workshop videos. Next Monday's is a sequel: what to do when you've done all the right things but still been rejected.
You’re not getting extra Ram. The additional Ram is required by their AI. They’re not giving you anything, the value is not more, they’re are simply adding the REQUIRED Ram for their product to function normally with their AI. Don’t fall for the marketing.
@@SLTX757 First, you used … wrong. Second, there is a difference between a work around and new value. If it provides more ram by turning features off, it’s not new value. New value would be adding enough Ram for the AI to work AND more workable Ram for the user. If you’re turning off features, then that’s like saying your new car gets more mileage if you turn off the AC and entertainment system.
@@A4000Except if you weren’t going to use the AI features in the first place it doesn’t really matter, does it? It also isn’t clear whether Apple Intelligence will be using the additional 8GB RAM consistently all the time; my guess is that it wont and so the suer ends up coming out ahead regardless
They are great and I think they're getting more so. But I was thinking of all of this again earlier today when I was shooting a new 58keys video and doing all of that editing alongside writing articles and the like. But, grief, the lightness of the MacBook Air, that is so appealing.
I have M2 air and I’m quite happy with it. The only annoyance is that it scales extremely bad with external 1440p monitor. I didn’t know until recently that Apple has this issue with 1440p monitors. It’s a bummer, as I just recently bought a high quality Dell Ultrasharp monitor for my Windows desktop. I wanted to buy Mac mini M4 to replace my desktop PC, but now I need to rethink. M4 mini would mean that I also would have to buy a new 4K monitor.
I can't unsee your cable arrangements 🙈
It's the cable to a light you're seeing, sorry. I am still in the process of rearranging my office and at the moment the only mains socket is just slightly too far away from where I need that light. I thought I'd got away with it...
Right? all that money spent on tech and the cables in front are just awful
Cables management is overrated those days 😂
I have a 2019 i5 pro and 2020 M1 Air. I love both and use the i5 daily and still love the Touch Bar. Viva Unix!
I'm a touch typist so the Touch Bar was always a delay, although actually I only occasionally got to use it.
I wonder if either current model of Mac is a little too capable for writing. The 2013 MacBook Pro I use still works just fine for me. Unlike a notebook which needs replacing when full there is still unused iCloud and backup storage available. After eleven years of trying I still cannot type faster than the screen so I’m pretty sure I do not ‘need’ an upgrade.
I envy you having unused iCloud space; I constantly up to the limit of mine.
Mr. Gallagher you write for an online tech magazine I can't remember the name of at the moment but I really appreciate your articles about Apple. Great work! Cool to see you online with that British accent. So at some point, Bob's your uncle. Thanks for all you do! Subscribed.❤
Thank you and toodleoo. I can only hope I've spelt that right.
I think the pro would be better if the MacBook is you’re only computer and you want to keep it longer. When the new Mac OS came out this year, any one who bought the 2019 MacBook Air didn’t get the update. That means anyone who spent over $1000 on it, pretty much got screwed. Just 4 years. The MacBook Pro that came out in 2018, got the update. They got at least 6 good years with it.
Opencore legacy patcher would probably fix the problem for the 2019 MacBook Air.
The 2019 one would be Intel, wouldn't it? It's still useable, but the change with Apple Silicon has been incredible. It's a shame that it's meant a cutoff between OS versions but I do know it's because the Intel Macs couldn't physically cope.
Awesome video! Quick question, was that Final Cut Pro you use for video editing? Or do you use other software, especially for a Macbook Air M1. Thanks!
Thanks. It was Final Cut Pro, yes. I've recently used DaVinci Resolve for a client and I think that's very good, but I adore Final Cut Pro and will use it everywhere.
@@WilliamGallagher thank you! :)
After owning Macbook pro M1 14” I just can’t imagine going for Air. Mainly because of the screen.
there is a 15" air..
I mean it about finding the 13 inches less of a problem than I thought. But I haven't edited video on it and that is where I find the 14 inches of the MBP better, yes.
In March of 2022, after finding a miss-priced M1 Pro 14in MBP online and asking people I trusted if I was really seeing the lower price I thought I was seeing, I snapped it up. It has served me very well, and it's still faster than I am, so I'm not really looking to replace it. In fact, I didn't even realise it was an M1 Pro until .. 5 minutes ago when I checked what year it was from! My experience with the M1 Pro and the M2 that's in my iPad Air is that screwing things up by mistake is SO Much easier with M-class chips. I wouldn't trade these things because of it though, but I have learned to tread with care.
My only beef with the MBP is that I bought a Stream Deck and a friend now has it because the Stream Deck must be plugged directly into the computer - no dongles allowed and I don't have enough free ports to make use of it.
I can't ask, I just can't ask, but I'm going to: what kinds of things are you screwing up?
@@WilliamGallagher On the iPad it's either over scrolling or very nearly deleting apps. I have always had a knack for hitting just the wrong combination of buttons and discovering unintended consequences which sometimes got reported as bugs when I could replicate it and describe it to programmers. On the mac I most notice it with using the mouse - especially with any mail software. I have accidentally deleted mail before even knowing what it was about. Luckily I've been able to fish out anything important from the bin. Most of my screw ups are caused by impatience and often not being able to control what my hands do - my fine motor skills are not fine at all!
@GaelyneGasson Eeeek. I know you can alter the speed of scrolling but now I’ll worry about this for myself.
@@WilliamGallagher If you haven't had a problem on the M1 MBP, you'll be fine. I'm just particularly "un-nimble"! 😊
I have a 2017 Macbook Air. Works pretty well. I will do an upgrade soon. Thank you!
If you do upgrade, would you let me know how you get on? I think you will find moving from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon one will be fantastic.
@@WilliamGallagher Sure will do.
I have been a mac owner for several yrs and recently was gifted a macbook air. I am honestly impressed with the speed for being a 2015 model
A free MacBook Air? I know it's an Intel Mac but that was very good of someone. Excellent.
Thanks so much for your excellent advice! Enjoyed it very much
Thank you, that's very good of you to say.
I once use the Apple II to write. MAKE god damn sure that is has at least 48 kb of memory to use it to write. So make sure the Macbook Air has 48 kb of memory and you will be safe for using it to write.
Made me beam.
😂🎉🎉🎉 i❤
Nice video as always, wondering why a writer needs such a huge widescreen monitor or is it pure indulgence?
At this very moment, I have Slack that I use with one client, that's over to the far left. Next to it is a rotating bit between OmniFocus, my To Do app, and Fantastical, my calendar. In the centre of the screen at this second there's a Zoom meeting I'm supposed to be concentrating on, and behind that is Drafts, where I'm about to write an article. Then the rest of the screen is presently taken up with Safari, which is what I'm typing this to you in. But behind Safari is Pixelmator Pro, in which I'll do the illustrations for that article. So while you can easily see I don't need it for writing per se, it is immensely useful for writing when I'm doing it for the clients I am now, and doing the associated work that comes with it. I really, really like the wideness but I'll tell you that the resolution isn't great. It's better than on the cheap monitor I had before so it's okay, but whenever I see another monitor, I have display envy.
really enjoyed this one!
Thank you.
Long time Air user, I just survived nine months with a 14 inch MacBook Pro M3. This week I traded it in to go back to an M3 MacBook Air 13 inch. I couldn’t actually stand the Pro screen, the mini LEDs just felt like I was sitting too close to my TV. And the keyboard… I came to feel like my fingers needed to be anvils with every key press on the Pro. So much force was required to type. Back on an Air now for three days, and I am flying across the keyboard. I know some people treasure bouncy keyboards with lots of travel. I personally can’t get anything done on them.
Oh, that's so interesting. I hadn't appreciated any difference in the keyboard. And I prefer the screen, but chiefly because it's brighter.
I’ve had a similar experience with the keyboards and I’ve had the same experience. I wonder if it’s because the previous keyboard had so little travel. But certainly the air and pro keyboards feel so different to me.
I choose not to choose between these two. I'm very happy with my M2 Mac mini with base memory.,. it runs Scrivener, Affinity Photo and MS Office. Why would I want to spend more?
That M2 Mac mini is a very nice machine.
A video on how to have two Macs and ensure they are synchronised would be good - as I am looking at the new Mac Mini for my office and will keep my MacBook Pro when I am, well, not in my office!
Oh? That's interesting... My immediate thought was that they just sync, but I have had many times when they haven't. Thanks: I'll have to think about how to do it but it's on the list now.
I suppose one other factor between the two is the screen brightness if you’re travelling a lot in sunny locations (not such an issue in the U.K. 😂)
That's a good point and one I didn't think to address. I don't know why I didn't, either, since it did cross my mind when I was setting up the desk with those two Macs. I remembered that my MacBook Pro is bright and I knew the MacBook Air was dimmer. But then I looked at the two, found that the Air seemed okay -- and then that it was set to about a quarter of its brightness.
I used to have a "Macbook", the seminal fan-less mac (w/ Intel i7). It ended with sporadic system crashes and it was hinted to me (Genius at Apple) that it's the constant high temp causing connection issue with the CPU. Of course it didn't render the computer completely useless - it's just knowing that it might crash when temperature creep up was enough for me to get rid of it by selling. I was fortunate that I was still able to recover 1/3 of the machine cost by selling to a third-party, compare to virtually nothing if Apple. I know that Apple Silicon is not comparable to Intel but this experience still haunts me, on having a workhorse without a fan. Of course, there's the worry of whether the machine is still being used by someone else and that they're putting up with this...
Ouch. I get still being haunted, though: I continue to twitch from when I had so little storage that it was slowing the Mac down.
Currently writing on 2015 MacBook pro that I bought from new and it's fine for my needs. When it dies I'll get an Air, agree with the view that if you are only writing the Pro is overkill.
I'd hang on to that 2015 model as long as you could, but I tell you, when you move to any Apple Silicon Mac you are going to be absolutely startled at how fast and responsive everything is.
Hold this thought...I might get to this later...still contacting many on the day when everything changed...
Can't imagine what you mean. And actually I am now trying very hard not to think about any of it.
honestly if you have the dough go for the best and most maxed out.
I agree. Painfully expensive at the time, but they last for so long.
My first MacBook was the first MacBook, back in 2006 (his name is George) but after a 15" Pro and happily in a 12" MacBook (stolen), the 13" MacBook Air has been my home since 2020. If you're only writing, I don't need much else -- it's already faster than me and larger screens feel overwhelming.
You called your first MacBook George? I've got to ask. Is there a story there? Sorry about the stolen 12-inch MacBook: those got a lot of criticism for their keyboards but every time I used one I envied its owner.
@@WilliamGallagher Harrison, the underrated Beatle (it was a playful rib at my then-partner). I never had any problems with the MacBook keyboard--and I use it the point that the letters/symbols rub off.
@@DianeShugart So what did your then-partner name his or her Mac? This is the kind of detail RUclips comments were made for. And for me, incidentally, it always seems to be the S key that wears off. Years of compulsively saving every moment.
@@WilliamGallagher The names varied and were definitely NSFY. (He's a graphic designer and really pushed the Mac to its limits.)
I don’t regret asking, I don’t. No. No, I don’t. No.
256 is fine if you need more use external drives
I know you're right, but I still twitch because of such a bad time with a too-small SSD in a Mac mini once.
External drives suck. I would never do that to save money.
I'm now using one to transfer footage from my phone to my MacBook Pro and I love the speed, but I haven't worked from one permanently. Apparently with the Thunderbolt 5 option on some of the new Macs, external drives should work as quickly as internals. But I'll believe that when I get to try it.
@@WilliamGallagher The thing I don't like about externals with laptops is when going on vacation. Worry about losing the drive or misplacing it. One time I lost track of an important external drive with all my work documents on an unencrypted drive. But I found it but it was a scare.
i am still using a 4gb i7 Air 2011
I'll never tell anyone they should upgrade anything, but I do know you would be astounded at how much faster any current Mac is.
Hmm... Middle if the line Macbook Pro with the 16 inch screen, $2,899. Middle of the line 15 inch Macbook Air plus middle of the line iMac, about the same price. Decisions...
Oh, that's hard. That's so hard. I hadn't thought of that.
Somehow missed the first writing workshop video! Up next! Thank you for your work!
Thank you. I so hope you enjoy the workshop videos. Next Monday's is a sequel: what to do when you've done all the right things but still been rejected.
I use a used MBA M1, it's still good enough for every task in my job.
And you got it used? That sounds like an absolute bargain.
@WilliamGallagher yes it cost 550$ in good condition and 97% battery life. Good for me 😃
You’re not getting extra Ram. The additional Ram is required by their AI. They’re not giving you anything, the value is not more, they’re are simply adding the REQUIRED Ram for their product to function normally with their AI. Don’t fall for the marketing.
Except you can literally opt out of using Apple Intelligence…
I don't know yet how Apple Intelligence works in practice: I don't know if it loads its whole LLM into RAM at the start or just on demand.
@@WilliamGallagher this is true. I really enjoy your content and look forward to the next video.
@@SLTX757 First, you used … wrong. Second, there is a difference between a work around and new value. If it provides more ram by turning features off, it’s not new value. New value would be adding enough Ram for the AI to work AND more workable Ram for the user. If you’re turning off features, then that’s like saying your new car gets more mileage if you turn off the AC and entertainment system.
@@A4000Except if you weren’t going to use the AI features in the first place it doesn’t really matter, does it? It also isn’t clear whether Apple Intelligence will be using the additional 8GB RAM consistently all the time; my guess is that it wont and so the suer ends up coming out ahead regardless
Get a MacBook Pro to call it a day and get writing
Ha! I like it.
For me MacBook Air
They are great and I think they're getting more so. But I was thinking of all of this again earlier today when I was shooting a new 58keys video and doing all of that editing alongside writing articles and the like. But, grief, the lightness of the MacBook Air, that is so appealing.
I have M2 air and I’m quite happy with it. The only annoyance is that it scales extremely bad with external 1440p monitor. I didn’t know until recently that Apple has this issue with 1440p monitors. It’s a bummer, as I just recently bought a high quality Dell Ultrasharp monitor for my Windows desktop. I wanted to buy Mac mini M4 to replace my desktop PC, but now I need to rethink. M4 mini would mean that I also would have to buy a new 4K monitor.
Oh? That's so interesting, I had no idea about that. I thought Macs were great at coping with different monitors. That's a pain.
@@WilliamGallagher If I understood it correctly, this is an Apple Silicon issue. Intel Macs probably scaling just fine.
It's been there since M1, so it's more like a feature, than a problem. I think Apple won't change it, or "fix" it. It is what it is.
Yeah, for a Mac you need a 110ppi or a 220ppi monitor for perfect scaling.
lmfao. Writers dont need anything more than an Air. period. This video doesn't need to exist it's common sense
If only writers only wrote.