M1 MacBook Air 2020 — BIGGEST MISTAKE I’VE EVER MADE

Summary

In this video, Arthur Weiner shares his one-year experience with the M1 MacBook Air, highlighting its impressive portability, battery life, and performance for everyday tasks. He discusses the differences between the M1 Air and the more powerful M1 Pro models, recommending the base M1 Air for most users but advises upgrading to 512GB of storage for better value and convenience. Weiner also addresses the rumors about the M2 MacBook Air, suggesting that the current M1 Air is still a great choice without the need to wait for the M2.

Takeaways

• 😎 The M1 MacBook Air has significantly improved the user's work experience, being both powerful and portable.
• 💻 The M1 MacBook Air is recommended over waiting for the M2 model, as the improvements might not be significant enough to delay the purchase.
• 🔋 The M1 MacBook Air offers impressive battery life, allowing for all-day work on a single charge without worrying about power outlets.
• 🚀 Despite being a base model, the M1 MacBook Air is capable of handling most tasks efficiently, even for a previous Windows user.
• 🖥 The M1 MacBook Air's portability is a standout feature, making it easier to use in various settings compared to heavier laptops.
• 📱 The lack of a fan in the MacBook Air is an advantage, as it keeps the device cool without the need for active cooling.
• 🖼 The display on the MacBook Air is considered good enough, even though it's slightly dimmer than the MacBook Pro models, and lacks a 120Hz refresh rate.
• 🔊 The MacBook Air has good sound quality, although the new MacBook Pros have superior speakers.
• ⌨ The typing experience on the MacBook Air is highly praised, with a comfortable keyboard and a design that prevents hand discomfort.
• 🔌 The MacBook Air has limited ports, which may require the use of dongles for additional connectivity.
• 💾 The base model's 256GB storage is considered insufficient, and upgrading to 512GB is recommended for better value and less frequent storage management.

Q & A

What was the main issue the author had with their previous laptop, the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo?

The main issue was that it was hard to use as a laptop due to its performance dropping significantly when not connected to power, making it more like a stationary machine.

What is the author's opinion on the M1 MacBook Air's portability and battery life?

The author highly appreciates the M1 MacBook Air's portability and battery life, stating that it can work all day on a single charge and is easy to carry around.

What are the specifications of the base model M1 MacBook Air mentioned in the script?

The base model has an 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU, 8GB of unified memory, and 256GB of storage.

Why does the author suggest that the M1 MacBook Air is capable of handling most tasks on the go?

The author found that even with the base model, they were able to complete most of their tasks without worrying about battery life or performance issues.

What is the author's view on the M1 MacBook Air's display in comparison to the 14 or 16-inch models?

The author believes that the 13-inch display is not significantly inferior and is sufficient for most tasks, including video editing and graphic design.

What is the author's opinion on the need for a 120Hz refresh rate on the M1 MacBook Air?

The author does not consider the lack of a 120Hz refresh rate a necessity, stating that while it would be enjoyable, it's not critical for their work.

How does the author compare the webcam quality of the M1 MacBook Air to the newer 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros?

The author finds the 720p webcam on the M1 MacBook Air sufficient for Zoom calls, and notes that the 1080p camera on the MacBook Pros may not make a significant difference due to internet compression.

What is the author's recommendation regarding the storage capacity of the M1 MacBook Air?

The author recommends opting for the 512GB SSD over the 256GB option, as the latter is not sufficient and constantly requires cleaning.

What mistake did the author make with their first M1 MacBook Air purchase according to the script?

The author's mistake was choosing the 256GB storage option, which they found to be insufficient and not worth the cost savings.

Why does the author believe that the base model M1 MacBook Air is a good choice for most users in 2022?

The author believes the base model offers great value for its price, being powerful enough for most tasks without the need for additional features that come with more expensive models.

Outlines

00:00

😀 M1 MacBook Air Experience and Recommendations

The speaker shares their one-year experience with the M1 MacBook Air, emphasizing its portability and battery life. They contrast it with their previous Windows laptop, the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo, highlighting the impracticality of using the latter as a true laptop due to its heavy reliance on power for intensive tasks. The M1 MacBook Air's base model is praised for being capable of handling most tasks on the go, with its unified memory and storage options being sufficient for daily use. The video also discusses the rumors about the M2 MacBook Air and advises viewers to consider the M1 Air due to its impressive performance for its price.

05:02

🖥️ Comparing M1 MacBook Air with Pro Models and Display Quality

This paragraph delves into the comparison between the M1 MacBook Air and the M1 Pro MacBook Pro, particularly the 16-inch model. The speaker appreciates the M1 Air for its lightness and portability, using it for tasks that do not require heavy graphics processing. They discuss the display quality of the M1 Air, noting that while it is slightly dimmer than the Pro models, it is still adequate for most users. The absence of the 'blooming' issue and the inclusion of features like True Tone and wide color support are highlighted. The paragraph also touches on the webcam quality, sound, and keyboard experience, concluding that the M1 Air offers a well-rounded package for both casual and professional users.

10:04

💾 Storage Considerations and Performance Insights for M1 MacBook Air

The speaker reflects on their choice of storage for the M1 MacBook Air, regretting the initial decision to opt for the 256GB option due to its limitations. They argue that investing in a 512GB SSD would be more beneficial, especially considering the inability to upgrade the SSD or RAM later. Performance tests comparing the M1 Air with the M1 Pro are mentioned, indicating that while there are differences, they are not significant enough to deter the purchase of the M1 Air. The paragraph concludes with a strong recommendation for the base model with 512GB storage, asserting that the M1 Air is powerful and well-suited for a variety of users, and that waiting for the M2 model may not yield substantial improvements.

Keywords

💡M1 MacBook Air

The M1 MacBook Air is a laptop powered by Apple's M1 chip, which is the first of its kind to use ARM architecture in a personal computer. It represents a significant shift from Intel processors and is known for its performance and efficiency. In the video, the M1 MacBook Air is praised for its portability, battery life, and ability to handle various tasks effectively, which are key to the video's theme of evaluating its suitability for different users.

💡Max Studio

Max Studio likely refers to a high-end configuration or setup for video editing and other creative tasks. In the script, it is used to highlight the difficulty in choosing the best Mac for one's needs, given the range of powerful options available, such as the 20-core CPU and 64 GPU options, which are mentioned to be potentially overkill for some users.

💡M1 Pro

The M1 Pro is a more powerful version of Apple's M1 chip, designed for higher-end models like the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. It offers enhanced performance capabilities, particularly for professional tasks that demand more processing power. The script discusses whether the M1 Pro is necessary for the viewer's needs compared to the base M1 MacBook Air.

💡Portability

Portability refers to the ease with which a device can be carried and used in different locations. The video emphasizes the M1 MacBook Air's portability as a key feature, allowing the user to work from various places without being tethered to a power source, which is a central theme in the discussion of its suitability as a travel-friendly laptop.

💡Battery Life

Battery life is the duration a device can operate on a single charge. The video script highlights the impressive battery life of the M1 MacBook Air, which is a critical aspect for users who need a laptop that can last through a full day of work without needing frequent charging.

💡Unified Memory

Unified memory, or unified RAM, is a type of memory architecture where the CPU and GPU share the same memory pool, allowing for faster data access and improved performance. The script mentions the base model with 8GB of unified memory, discussing its adequacy for most tasks and the potential benefits of upgrading to 16GB for heavy users.

💡Storage

Storage refers to the physical or virtual space available on a device for saving data, files, and applications. The script discusses the limitations of the 256GB storage option on the M1 MacBook Air, suggesting that for most users, opting for a larger 512GB SSD would be a better choice to avoid frequent cleaning and management of storage space.

💡Thunderbolt Ports

Thunderbolt ports are high-speed data transfer interfaces that support various peripherals and displays. The video mentions the two Thunderbolt ports on the M1 MacBook Air, noting that while they are sufficient for most users, the lack of additional ports might require the use of dongles or adapters for certain devices.

💡Resale Value

Resale value is the estimated price for which an item can be sold in the second-hand market. The script touches on the resale value of the M1 MacBook Air, suggesting that the base model might be more desirable in the resale market due to its balance of cost and performance.

💡M2 Chip

The M2 chip is the anticipated successor to the M1 chip, expected to bring further improvements in performance and efficiency. The video script discusses whether it is worth waiting for the M2 MacBook Air instead of purchasing the M1 model, concluding that the current M1 MacBook Air is already powerful enough for most users and the upgrade to M2 may not be significantly different.

💡Display

The display refers to the screen of the laptop, including its size, resolution, brightness, and color capabilities. The video script evaluates the M1 MacBook Air's display, noting its high resolution, brightness levels, and color accuracy, and discusses whether the smaller size or lack of a 120Hz refresh rate might be a concern for potential buyers.

Highlights

The M1 MacBook Air has significantly improved the user's work experience.

With the max studio available, it's challenging to pick the best Mac for individual needs.

The 20-core CPU and 64-GPU options may be overkill for some users.

The M1 MacBook Air is a great solution for many users, capable of handling various tasks.

The M1 MacBook Air is the user's first Mac, transitioning from a Windows user and an ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo.

The ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo was difficult to use as a laptop due to its heavy reliance on power.

The M1 MacBook Air is lightweight, thin, and powerful, with all-day battery life.

The base model M1 MacBook Air with 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU is surprisingly capable.

Portability is crucial, and the M1 MacBook Air excels in this aspect.

The M1 MacBook Air's battery life is impressive, with minimal loss even with basic tasks.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro's battery life is not significantly better than the M1 MacBook Air.

The M1 MacBook Air lacks a fan, which is an advantage as it doesn't need active cooling most of the time.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is used for heavy video projects or 3D scenes due to its superior specs.

The M1 MacBook Air's Retina display has a resolution of 2560 by 1600 and is bright enough for most tasks.

The M1 MacBook Air can connect to one external monitor up to 6K at 60Hz, which is sufficient for most users.

The M1 MacBook Air lacks a 120Hz refresh rate, but this is not a critical feature for most users.

The webcam on the M1 MacBook Air is adequate for Zoom calls, with 720p resolution.

The sound quality on the M1 MacBook Air is excellent, though lacking bass compared to the MacBook Pro.

The typing experience on the M1 MacBook Air is one of the best, with a comfortable keyboard.

The M1 MacBook Air has only two Thunderbolt ports, which may require the use of a dongle for some users.

Performance tests show that the 14-inch M1 Pro is significantly faster in certain applications.

The extra features of the MacBook Pro may not matter much for common users or students.

The base model M1 MacBook Air with 512GB of storage is recommended for its value and performance.

The M1 MacBook Air is recommended for 2022 as it offers great performance at its price point.

Transcripts

i made one mistake with my first m1

macbook air after one year of experience

i'm 100 sure that you should not do it

but before we move to this i have to

admit how awesome this machine is it

literally changed the way i work

[Music]

today with the max studio available it's

much harder to pick the best mac for

your needs is the 20 core cpu option and

64 gpu option way overkill or maybe you

should go with m1 pro 16 inch or 14 inch

or just the basic m1 air will be enough

for the tasks you do every day a lot of

questions to be answered but still the

m1 macbook air looks like a great

solution for

many users and i thought that by sharing

with you my one year experience with

this laptop will help you with this

buying decision because this small

machine is still capable of doing so

many things in 2022 i'm excited hope

you're excited too and let's get into

the video hey what's up my name is

arthur weiner and in this video we've

discussed the rumors about the m2

macbook air and whether you should wait

or get the m1 air today go ahead and

watch this video if you need details but

long story short i would recommend

getting the m1 air today it's not really

worth waiting for the m2 in my opinion

but

why is it so good to begin with m1

macbook air is my very first mac i was a

windows user previously and my latest

windows computer was the asus zenbook

pro duo fully specced out it got the

second display touchscreen and by the

way the main display is also touchscreen

all that 4k all this stuff but the thing

i didn't like about this laptop is that

it was very hard to use it as a laptop i

mean technically it's a laptop but once

you launch premiere pro after effects

it's like you know a couple of hours of

work and you find yourself sitting

somewhere in a coffee shop attached to a

socket not to mention that it's

impossible to perform graphics heavy

tasks on this laptop when it's not

connected to power so for me it was more

like a stationary machine although a

very powerful machine rather than a

laptop that i can easily travel with but

then the m1 macbooks came out light thin

powerful you can work all day long on a

single charge and i thought will the m1

air cover all my needs and that's where

the interesting things started to happen

at first i was very skeptical about this

laptop because it didn't look like a

powerful machine and all you can do with

it is type browse the web edit photos

you know the very basics but the reality

was

very different i got the base model 8

core cpu 7 core gpu 8 gigs of unified

memory and 256 gigabyte of storage i

decided not to spend more money on my

very first mac simply because i was not

sure and i was surprised that even with

the base model i was able to complete

most of my tasks on the go and i think

it's crucial for any laptop to be able

to work with no problems and thoughts

about the battery life even if you

travel around your house it's also

important because i personally find it

exhausting sitting on one place all day

long sometimes i want to move my body on

a couch or on a toilet

but

i didn't tell you that so portability

matters and even though i have the 16

inch macbook pro sometimes i find myself

using the m1 air more just because it's

easier to carry and i can get done like

80 percent of my tasks on it as a

previous windows user the battery life

and being able to work on a battery

power highly appreciate it on the

zenbook duo by unplugging the cable i

was losing the performance significantly

on the macbook you can forget about this

issue just put it on charge once or

twice a day and keep in mind that with

the basic tasks like web browsing

listening to music zoom calls you might

lose less than 50

throughout the day this is mind blowing

sometimes you might even charge it once

every two days and yes the included 30

watt charger is pretty compact as well

you may have heard that the battery on

the 13-inch macbook pro is much better

but my experience shows that the

difference is not that significant it's

not worth getting the 13-inch macbook

pro just because it kind of has a bigger

battery and active cooling macbook air

lacks a fan and get it as an upside

because on the pro model 99 of the time

there is no need for them to cool the

system yes you will get slightly faster

renders but even with 8k raw m1 air is

just 2 and a half minutes slower on the

30 minute distance do i regret getting

the 16 inch macbook pro

no not at all when i need to get done

some heavy video projects or 3d scenes i

move to my m1 pro because it has more

graphic scores and impressive xdr

display to complete my color grading

perfectly but for the rest i use my m1

macbook air and i'm so happy with it we

actually get the best from both worlds

on the one hand it's light portable on

the other good enough even for

professional tasks it has a retina

display with a resolution of 2560 by

1600 it's 16 by 10 and 400 nets of

maximum brightness and the question you

may have is

is it bright enough and do i need to

upgrade to the 14 or 16 inch model to

get a brighter display and i would say

no you don't it's slightly dimmer but

not to the point where you cannot see

the screen this new display goes down to

500 nits with a regular use it can go up

to 1000 nits but only when editing or

viewing hdr content plus the new mini

led display causes the appearance of

this bloomin issue on the air you just

don't have that and it still has true

tone as well as white p3 color it is

really a nice display the screen may

seem a little too small and inconvenient

to use programs with complicated user

interfaces like premiere pro but if

you're gonna use it for tasks like

creating a ted talk video or a 10 minute

youtube video a review like this or

creating a thumbnail in photoshop then

it's not that big of a deal having the

13-inch display it's enough especially

if you're gonna use apps that are fully

optimized for mac os for instance final

cut or davinci resolve instead of

premiere pro then there is no reason to

get worried about the screen size more

than that you can connect one external

monitor up to 6k at 60hz to the m1

macbook air which i think is enough

having the second display right on top

of the macbook i really haven't seen a

single person faced with this problem oh

i need macbook air and three extra

displays that i'm gonna use every day if

you need two to three extra displays

you're probably a professional and

you're probably gonna need a separate

computer for this but for macbook air

one extra display is enough the current

m1 air lacks 120hz refresh rate the

promotion do i need it no would i enjoy

it definitely yes it surely pleases into

the eye these smooth animations playing

games but it's not something that i

strive for and i definitely don't need

it for my work having two macbooks side

by side of course i would prefer the

macbook pros display over the macbook

air but it's not a dramatic difference

it's not like oh my god it's so terrible

i can't use it anymore it's really good

and well balanced display the webcam on

this laptop is like a webcam to expect

on a laptop if zoom calls is all you

need then it's good enough yes it's 720

the 14 and 16 inch macbook pros has 1080

camera but always add to this the speed

of your internet connection which

compresses the image so i don't think

it's that big of a deal the sound

quality is more important in my opinion

and it's really nice on this laptop

[Music]

of course the new macbook pros have new

speakers which are basically the best

speakers on a laptop today in my opinion

but still the speakers on the macbook

air sound great however they lack bass

compared to the macbook pro keyboard

typing experience is one of the best

i've had on a laptop there are two

reasons for this one is the bottom part

of the macbook having this angling down

shape the edges are not digging into my

hands as it usually happens with the

macbook pro and two it's just

comfortable and easy to get used to

you can not adjust the brightness of the

keyboard on the keyboard itself so you

will have to move to the control center

and manually adjust the brightness but i

prefer keeping the brightness on auto it

works just fine one thing that i wish

this macbook had is more ports here we

have just two thunderbolt freeports on

the left side so i always ended up with

using a dongle that has a usb type a

type c and a card slot however

considering that this device is not made

for pros two ports for most users should

be enough most of the time in terms of

performance these thunderbolt ports were

pretty consistent i've plugged in

different hard drives ssds dongles

everything worked just fine cannot say

the same thing about the zenbook i had

some weird issues with the speed

here

no issues if you're still in doubt and

the 14 inch m1 pro seems a billion to

you let's run some tests and see the

real difference because the difference

in price is noticeable one thousand

dollars more for the 14 inch m1 pro pro

res experts like four times faster

blender like 90 percent better the only

thing that is almost the same is the

h.264 expert but either way i don't

think it's critical waiting one minute

more to export 50 photos from lightroom

so the truth is that all the extra

features of the macbook pros don't

really matter that much for a common

person or student one more thing is the

resale value so if you don't plan on

using the macbook for three or five

years then you should consider reselling

it for a better deal and usually people

are looking for the cheapest option they

can find and that brings me to the next

point get the base model at least for

the resale value but on top of that

there is not that big of a difference

when upgrading just the cpu and the

unified memory some people noted that

with 16 gigs of unified memory you will

get a better performance less bucks and

lags but in my experience i didn't

notice anything critical that would

disappoint me so there is no regret in

getting the 8 gigabyte option but the

real mistake i've made is the storage

256 gigabyte option is a joke it's

nothing and you will end up cleaning

your mac every other week or so paying

200 bucks more for 512 gigabyte ssd is

so much worth it of course you can get

an external ssd

but i am not a fan of it i prefer using

the internal ssd that is perfectly built

and integrated by apple and by the way

you can not upgrade your ssd and your

ram so just keep that in mind now can i

recommend it for 2022

120

i do and i honestly think that apple

made a mistake at some point because m1

air is just too powerful for this price

again i don't see a reason not getting

this laptop today waiting for the m2 i

don't think they will make it way more

powerful we'll probably see a slight

difference there but not a significant

one in conclusion the m1 macbook air i

recommend is the base model but with 512

gigabyte of storage just get it and you

won't regret it i'm pretty sure this

machine will last me next three to five

years easily if you have any questions

left drop them down in the comments i'll

do my best to help you out with your

problem also smash the like button if

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