MacBook Buying Guide (Early 2024): Which Should You ACTUALLY Buy?

[@JustJoshTech]

👉 Best Deals on MacBooks: www.justjosh.tech/best-tech/Best-Apple-MacBook-Laptops 🎉 Ugreen Revodok Pro 210 (29% OFF): bit.ly/48YUnsR 🎉 Ugreen Revodok Series(up to 40% OFF): bit.ly/3Oaw5nB 🎉 Check out Ugreen US Official Store(up to 40% OFF): bit.ly/3U1xDUQ

[@Terabyte75]

Hi. Can you please show us unbixing laptops ? I always ask myself what is inside their box. I mean, some laptops have cool mouse in their box. Meanwhile, some others dont have a charger in pack Thanks for all the cool videos you built❤

[@BrianSinai]

My machine has died and I'm doing my research on what to buy. I have to say that finding this channel has been an enormous help. Detailed, informed information from someone who knows what he's talking about and delivered without gimmicks or filler. There's a bewildering array of options out there and this channel brings some order to my thought process. 👍

[@FreeYourMac1]

yeah, what machine did you have, and what part failed? beware owning any current Macbook without applecare!

[@oakacc952]

​@@FreeYourMac1Why you say that?

[@FreeYourMac1]

"Planned obsolescence"... since late 2016, Apple has been making their computers much more expensive to repair.. so you have to buy a new one! @@oakacc952

[@aaronax726]

Literally bought a 14in MacBook M3 Pro because of you and your videos last night!!!

[@JustJoshTech]

Glad I could help!

[@aaronax726]

@@JustJoshTech lov u

[@karan4277]

if it's the m3 pro chip, is there a genuine setback in daily tasks (like browsing, documents, netflix, a million tabs open, light games) because of the 150 bandwidth instead of 200? That's the only downside he keeps talking about

[@voltgaming2213]

@@karan4277no it will not 150 GBPS is still a lot faster than windows equivalent and it will fly through all of the task you mentioned but if you are editing Large video projects you will see increased rendering time as the bandwidth is slower,bandwidth is like high way lanes and depends on how much traffic you will put on it for your use case

[@bhawanigurung9913]

Which color n how much gb?

[@bryans8656]

I faced the upgrade dilemma when I wanted to by an M2 MacBook Air. I came to my senses and purchased a refurb'd M1 Pro MBP 14 (16GB/1TB) for less money.

[@jimtipton8888]

Great choice!

[@houssamalucad753]

M1 pro 14" is the absolute best value laptop in the world rn (if not gaming at least)

[@febryanmz]

​@@houssamalucad753 macbook selling point is not for gaming. only their brand and limited use.

[@DwaipayanRC]

I am using this M1 pro 14 inch base model laptop from 2022 and its going good. I'm using 1TB External HDD for files

[@houssamalucad753]

@@Lex-rc1gr good thing is all 14" M1 macbooks have 16gb and more, and I wouldn't worry about the updates, even after years when they stop, you can still use your laptops perfectly fine, you just won't receive new features... By the time the lack of updates make it unusable you'll have graduated school.

[@breadone_]

i really love how you mention the benefits to programmers. finally a tech reviewer that doesn't just go on and on about video export times

[@TakarieZan]

Bought a base M1 MacBook Air in the color I like. I use it for all the cloud work in a light weight and sturdy chassis. Great battery life and have had zero issues in the last week. Boots up faster than my Ryzen 5 Desktop too. So for anyone concerned about the 750 MacBook Air don’t be as long as most of your work is in the cloud. I also open like 20 tabs at a time and I am fine.

[@jeffersonmp4]

how many people's work relies on the cloud?

[@badwolf8112]

@@jeffersonmp4anyone working from home by connecting to a remote virtual desktop

[@TakarieZan]

@@jeffersonmp4 most. Cloud as in any online work. Including excel, gmails, browser work etc. basically if you are doing office work or consuming content you are fine.

[@Erispedia]

@@jeffersonmp4 at least as many as office workers.

[@Rickyp0123]

many @@jeffersonmp4

[@chriscasillas]

I've never heard anyone recommend getting the base model of a MacBook, save the money you would have spent on upgrades, and upgrade the whole laptop more often. That's actually a great idea. For the record, I'm typing this comment on my base model M2 Air.

[@kawaiidere1023]

Do you not need at least 16GB for it to run properly? Do you only use 256gb memory? I’m used to windows using like 2gb ram and having 32gB memory with a modern processor for $800. My iPhone runs out of memory and is meant to last at least 6 years, constantly rebooting stuff. My iPad 9 also has ram issues, but the storage is upgraded so it works properly. I hear 8gb ram causes MacOS to eat the ssd from over hotswapping, as well as preventing proper chip usage

[@chriscasillas]

@@kawaiidere1023 My base model M2 Air runs just fine. I regularly have 5-6 apps open at a time. The heaviest app I use often is Photoshop. The laptop blazes through everything I throw at it. SSD swapping is the only thing I’ll have to watch over time. I also have every document and graphic from our 11 year old church on the 256GB drive. Still have 1/3rd of the drive free. I think the base model is plenty for 90%+ of the users out there.

[@Captain-Obvious1]

@@kawaiidere1023 Yes, the SSD isn't going to last long.

[@Xanzkin]

​@@kawaiidere1023 the Mac is very memory efficient so 8gb ram will slay day to day casual, office and school tasks no problem. Even in my use case as a CS student where I run the basic programming softwares, Parallels (windows VM) and video game emulators I've never once had problems with my base air M2

[@rubensbaena5724]

After watching your videos, I was looking for a refurbished M1 MacBook Pro to replace my 2016 old MBP. Luckily, I came across a heavily discounted 14” 2023 M2 pro w 1TB and 32GB… OMG, what a beast! this thing showed me how much time I was wasting on photo processing, now done in a fraction of time. Thank you so much for the very informative and unbiased videos. I’m sure many others are making more conscious and informed decisions when purchasing new tech, all thanks to you and your team! 👏

[@lizzy1519]

its litteraly the deal I look for

[@arvi8843]

How much did you pay for it?

[@oakacc952]

Yeah, how much did you pay for it? If you don't mind!

[@Captain-Obvious1]

The SSD and memory have usage limitations and can't be replaced. I seriously wouldnt be buying a silicon MBP used.

[@HtheKing]

​@@Captain-Obvious1why not

[@maurocigliuti7575]

i went with the 14” M3 pro 12/18 36gb configuration and couldn’t be happier with the choice on retrospect. Snappy, powerful, silent, all day battery life, portable and slick. Pretty much everything you could ever ask for in a laptop.

[@Georgiaboy_]

Same here

[@EaglePride312]

How much did it cost

[@basketballfan23]

I got the m1 air with 16 gb of ram and no issues for years!

[@taupangnang1245]

Awesome! Just please don't do any heavy 3d animation scene on it 😂

[@basketballfan23]

@@taupangnang1245 no animation plans! I am able to run Batman Arkham City very smoothly. It looks like It maintains 60fps easily.

[@monhero9300]

Never buy a laptop with 8 gb ram in 2024

[@one_step_sideways]

Don't buy a laptop with 16GB either, trust me, Windows 12 will be a memory hog with on-device AI features. Just get a laptop with 2 RAM slots. Even if it's a 5-year old ThinkPad T480, because even that can be upgraded to 64GB of DDR4-2400 RAM.

[@tracystamatakis]

The fact that Apple sells a Pro laptop with 8 gigabytes of ram in 2024 is an insult to the their customers. Also most Apple laptops have ssd drives of 512. They make phones with larger ssd’s and more ram.

[@abhinandanbanerjee5471]

I got a Samsung Book 3 360 8 Gb for 450 after trading in my 2017 macbook air. I'm fine.

[@ManasRoy-jm6op]

8GB is fine for Linux. But for Windows and Mac min 16GB

[@marksurge4]

Good thing I bought a laptop in 2023 with 8 GB

[@cameronbosch1213]

Ultimate MacBook Buying Guide: MacBook Pro with M3 Pro or base M3 Max. Either size. If you go above that base M3 Max, stay with the 16 inch That's it.

[@aiphucvinhcnchanoi5081]

Thank bro. I almost get a M3 pro for video editing instead of M2 pro. Now I will get an M2 pro

[@aiphucvinhcnchanoi5081]

I bought the M2 Pro 16 inch 12 core 19GPU as your recommendation. So far so good. Move from windows, have some issues with onedrive sync other than that no problem :)

[@FoxxFire]

I can already see the new business plan you communicated to the audience bleeding into the videos, and it's pretty awesome. Having the sponsor not be the subject of the video really makes a difference (although trusting even a sponsored laptop review from you wasn't an issue; it's just different, if that makes any sense). I also love how you're promoting your website, and I'll be happy to give a little back to you at no cost to me by using an affiliate link when I buy a new machine. I can also see the difference in editing you guys are doing, including adding in the stock, but useful, b-roll that adds some personality to the video. If I can make one small request it would be, I think when you do the cut away a-roll shot to the other camera, if you look at the camera it would make such a big difference. Using that shot when you're looking straight ahead at the other camera, it just doesn't look as polished. And look, I am 100 percent certain you are far, far better at this than I could ever be, and I hope you don't take this suggestion the wrong way. And I also can only imagine how difficult it would be to plan exactly when you are going to cut away to the other camera (i imagine the choice of when to do so is made in post; my suggestion, therefore, may be unreasonably difficult to implement); I just thought I would mention it. Thanks for another awesome video, Josh. Have a great weekend man.

[@JustJoshTech]

Firstly thanks for this great comment. I appreciate you are seeing all the hard work we are putting in. With regards to B Cam. We are trying to use it carefully. Either to further emphasise a point or if we have to make a cut and want to hide it. The second case is getting rarer though as we have more b roll these days. It is a good safety though.

[@HorizonOfHope]

Got an M2 Pro 14” refurbished. Saved a thousand bucks (Australian). Sick.

[@JustJoshTech]

Love it. I have both M2 and M3 and notice no difference. You will, however, notice the $1k saving

[@HorizonOfHope]

@@JustJoshTech Absolutely! It was on your advice, and Dave2D, shoulda mentioned that! :D You know your stuff.

[@andrewalexander5436]

Hey Josh, recommendation for a video - could you do a developer-centric video, especially for higher end MacBooks? Like I have an M1 Max with 64 GB RAM (I run a lot of VMs and also have been playing around with local LLMs) and it would be good to know comparisons to M2 and M3 Maxes in real world tasks for a developer that are CPU intensive, like building/compiling (maybe XCode and Android simulator build and launches), docker containers, etc to see if upgrading would ever actually be a benefit to my workflow (my guess is right now - probably not). I never see any youtubers doing software developer-centric "real world" videos, it's all final cut pro, photoshop, and other creative stuff. You're a former software dev though, so I feel you're probably best suited for the sort of comparison I'd love to see

[@agambhandari4917]

Thanks for the comprehensive review. Got an M2 air at around 900 USD 2 months back, seems like the right choice.

[@NoahRJ]

What tasks do you use it for?

[@aronmarden]

"Go buy that laptop, you deserve it" Hahah love it. I was on the cusp of deciding on and buying a MBP 14" M3 - very glad I stumbled on your videos to make sure I choose the right one. Hello from the tech space in Sydney!

[@Treborray]

You made a great point about the Air not getting warm to the touch. My M3 Pro gets at least 10 degrees warmer than my M2 Air did while doing the exact same task.

[@HtheKing]

Are the speed increases in tje m3 Pro worth it then?

[@StelmachsWorld]

Thanks for this video man! Apples pricing model (schemes) just get me going back and forth on different models till I eventually just give up lol

[@bhaal2k6]

I watched many videos to tell me which MB would be the right for me and this is by far the best Video I watched in the last days.

[@JustJoshTech]

Glad to hear it!

[@saturnotaku]

The M3 Max in the 16-inch had a lot more fan noise than I expected even in tasks that weren't as intensive as what a lot of folks who could use its power would perform. The extra performance was absolutely not worth the tradeoff of heat and fan noise versus my 14-inch Pro with 12 CPU/18 GPU M3 Pro. Even the standard 18 GB unified memory configuration hasn't been an issue running a VM in Parallels, Adobe Creative Cloud, and large Excel documents. I agree that most people who want the M3 Max's power would be far better served purchasing a cheaper M2 Max from Apple's refurbished store.

[@Techno_Rama]

@saturnotaku All good points and valid for most people. I just want to add that I decided to stick with m3 max 14inch 16/40 after realizing with Max Tech help that in low power mode(no fan noise audible) the m3 max is still between 20-30% more powerful in CPU and up to 85% more powerful in GPU, than M2 Max in full high power mode

[@18PregnantAndProud]

its because they added +4 performance cores on the M3 Max

[@janushomer9111]

It doesn't matter how awesome their line up is. I really like the improvements they've made with the M chips and battery, but I truly hate they base 8gb ram and 256gb ssd offerings. I won't be giving them my money.

[@_Digitalguy]

Same, I prefer do to more research and find a Windows laptop that is quiet and has good battery life, than being screwed with a 8GB Macbook air (the pro are too heavy for me)

[@johnmoore1495]

It’s truly unfortunate as they’d be the no brainer pick if their base models came with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD at the same price or even $50 more to cover the margin loss.

[@_Digitalguy]

@@johnmoore1495 it's Apple, they will wait as much as they can, and they move to 12GB, not even 16GB as the baseline

[@johnmoore1495]

@@_Digitalguy wouldn’t surprise me. 12GB for the base chip, 24GB on the pro chips, 36GB on the Max chips, 48GB on the full Max chip (they already do the last 2.) I just genuinely don’t get their Mac strategy. Like do they purposely not want to grow their market share while simultaneously providing a better product? The base models are what sell the most by a long shot, just raise the price $50 to cover the difference in margin and keep the ridiculous upgrades.

[@TepidPeppermint]

Love that you are straight to the point and so well-structured in your videos! It's very easy to follow. I also love that you include other non-apple options for people who like apple but are also consider other products with sometimes better cost/performance ratio.

[@eraditortv]

Amazing video man. Can u conduct a similar research on the galaxy book 4 series?

[@JustJoshTech]

Funnily enough i'm filming one on the Pro version today

[@eraditortv]

@@JustJoshTech Thanks a lot man. Love you. Have been watching a lot of ur videos...the information and your energy are really great🔥

[@JustJoshTech]

@@eraditortv Thanks mate!

[@eraditortv]

@@JustJoshTech hope I'm not bothering you. If possible could you add a gaming section with fps etc for the book 4 pro? It'd be tremendous help. Thanks anyways🤛

[@solutionboytv]

Good video but it stopped before covering the MacBook Pro M3 Max 16” versions. These are the really pricey ones, so I don’t want to screw up with my decision. I’m getting different opinions on whether the 14/30 or 16/40 is better for video editing? I’m looking at either the 14/30 with 96gb RAM or the 16/40 with 48gb RAM? As I say, mostly Resolve video editing, Photoshop & lots of Lightroom, plus some 3D in Blender. Wouldn’t mind trying some gaming though, although folks seem to say the 14/30 would be crap for that. Surely that’s not the case, it’s still a massively powerful computer?! Anyhoo, which one should I get, any thoughts anyone?

[@SantiagoT75]

This is by far the best laptop review channel. Lots of attention to the details which matter most to those who are seeking to get a new laptop. Good job, Josh!

[@JustJoshTech]

Thank you so much. That means alot

[@Vikushu]

I was so excited about the new Macbook Air's when they came out. But the only thing keeping me from buying one for myself is it's exorbitant price for what it offers. It's specs are egregious for what's considered a premium laptop. I would be way more excited for any Macbook if their base prices were about $300 less.

[@one_step_sideways]

The red pill is that 99% of MacBook users don't need a MacBook. They could easily do away with cheaper used business laptops that don't lock them away from future upgrades with planned obsolescence. My laptop of choice is the ThinkPad T480 with an i5-8250U or higher and an Nvidia dGPU, unless you don't have any that are in stock for a decent price of around $250. A base spec with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD that sells for very cheap can be upgraded up to 64GB RAM and can take an M.2 2280 SSD and a 2242 SSD, with beefier heatsink, external hot-swappable 72Wh batteries (good for around 10 hours of battery life). What's more, you can add a 5G modem and replace the stock screen with a 1080p IGZO low-power display, if you're willing to cash out on them. The keyboard is user-replaceable, too. It's the last ThinkPad of its kind. The newest ones are no better than MacBooks.

[@johnmoore1495]

I’d rather see them increase the base spec to 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD for the same base price than see the price drop by $300 for the current spec. It’s a joke that you can buy a $1100 laptop in 2024 that can’t even back up your iPhone because of how hard they’re gimping the storage.

[@Lifeafter40]

As an accountant i realized I don’t need the pro. Going to get the 15” MacBook Air with 1tb storage 16G memory that seems more beneficial. First Mac ever as 20+ years of being a windows user. Wish me luck 😅

[@ThatWasherNerd]

About to enter my senior year as a computer science major. I'm taking an iOS dev course next semester, and I'm looking for a decent all-around computer that can handle school projects. I'm thinking of buying a refurbished M2 Pro with 16GB of RAM from Best Buy.

[@puduhari1]

This fall, my son is going to Stanford to study Computer Science. Which macbook should he get? Please recommend just one (if possible). 11-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU , 18GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD Storage for $1999, or 12-Core CPU, 18-Core GPU, 18GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD Storage for $2399 or something else?

[@alanthomasgramont]

Note, if oyu are using the Apple card you can get a macbook for 1 year deferred interest. It might be cheaper to pay full price at the Apple Store if you're not paying cash. And dropping $4000 is not easy. The interest saved over a year is far more than $200.

[@johnmoore1495]

I would not recommend financing a laptop to the general public unless you have savings so you know there’s zero chance of missing a payment. The moment you miss a payment, all that differed interest gets added.

[@alanthomasgramont]

@@johnmoore1495 yep good advice. Don’t buy something you can’t afford.

[@marianbencat6658]

I Have Macbook Air M2, 24GB/512GB. Running 2x Rider with 4 docker backends And realtime Orleans server with 5 000 running Actors... + 2x Webstorm IDE with Huuuge projects. IT runs without any problems And still not any issue with memory pressure... Please... I have 10+ colleguees in the same situation. Please reconsider Air for programmers... IT Is suitable for 90% of them. Pro Is required fór graphics And AI.... Not for frontend / backend developers

[@arvi8843]

Did you get the 13 or the 15?

[@marianbencat6658]

@@arvi8843 13". I am using 43" LG C2/ 38" LG ultrawide in the Office as monitor

[@Oldsoularash]

The first section of the video was all that I wanted from a rewiewer. Fantastic job.

[@graytonw5238]

Great review, especially for those who may be unfamiliar with Macs like myself. I'm a Windows guy who does freelance work, but I wanted to try developing on a MacBook to see what it's like. A couple days ago I ended up buying a 14" MacBook Pro with M3 Pro chip, 16GB RAM and 512GB storage on sale for $200 off at a local Microcenter. The build quality of these machines is fantastic. For my needs I think the specs are perfect.

[@clarity7531]

I have an M1 14" Pro 16/512 and it's honestly the best Mac I've owned over the years. Is it worth considering upgrade to M2 or (now) M3? I can't imagine it being all that much better. I don't do a lot of super intensive tasks, but i prefer the better screen, refresh rate, and speakers over the Air.

[@NotaDoctorOrLawyer]

@justjoshtech Love your insight and intel (no pun intended) on this and direct to the point. After watching would you say that the 14" is better than this 16"? The 14" im looking at is a 14-inch MacBook Pro Apple M2 Max Chip with 12‑Core CPU and 30‑Core GPU - 32GB unified memory / 1TB SSD / 400GB/s memory bandwidth VS a 16-inch MacBook Pro Apple M3 Max Chip with 16‑Core CPU and 40‑Core GPU - 48GB unified memory / 1TB SSD / 400GB/s memory bandwidth. Its a difference of $800 plus the portability aspect of the 14 is more enticing. This is my one big purchase every 5 years and am struggling with which to invest in as a designer who is graphic illustrator now going into 3D and possibly video...I know to avoid the M3 Max 14's, so I figure the M2 Max 14's are a good purchase. Which would you choose? ....I see the Newer M3 Pros only have 150 CPU while the Older M2 Max has 400 CPU mem bandwidth...I should go M2 Max right? thanks so much.

[@gerald1964]

Theoretical available memory bandwidth is primarily a function of the number of memory modules, rate at which the RAM modules are clocked, and the number of bytes that can be transferred per memory read or write cycle. I suspect that the Apple hardware system design engineers just fine-tuned the design over prior generations for cost, power consumption, and heat generation. For example, my understanding is the binned M3 Max uses three 12 GB memory modules in the base configuration but the non-binned M3 Max uses four 12 GB memory modules which accounts for the 300 GB/sec vs 400 GB/sec available bandwidth. In either case, I would not expect additional high-performance M3 CPU pipeline stalls or DMA transfer stalls for example in a binned M3 Max system simply because three memory modules are used instead of four. However, it would appear that the two additional p-cores in the non-binned version of the M3 Max does necessitate the need for the additional RAM module such that CPU performance does scale linearly with respect to the number of p-cores. The same argument applies for GPU cores. Apple marketing folks will cite higher memory bandwidth values to make it sound like the customer is getting something even more than additional p-cores and GPU cores but the higher memory bandwidth just sensibely goes hand-in-hand with the a system with more p-cores and GPU cores.

[@johnmoore1495]

I love how Apple has been using the bandwidth stat as a way to hide the facts that the *_UNIFIED MEMORY™️_* is just normal run of the mill LPDDR5 soldered to the SoC.

[@gorzaryan]

I have may be strange but important question for me:) 13 inch is smaller for me(or for other people) while I don’t want to care with me a big weight. So we have a MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Air 15, but when we talk about 14 inch model, each CPU configuration comes with different weight. Air 15 is 3.3lb(1.51 kg), Pro 14 M3 is 3.4lb(1.55 kg), while M3 Pro model is 3.5lb(1.61 kg). So the question is, can you really feel the difference between weights of models. Cause Pro M3 significantly better screen than Air 15 while little heavier. At the same time M3 Pro heavier than M3. What is better? in this case we talk about just little more than everyday tasks, like few virtual machines and it can be fixed with 16GB of Unified Memory.

[@johnmoore1495]

You’re really worried about 0.2lbs difference across the 3 models? You won’t even feel it. I would say get the bigger Air. The base M3 MacBook Pro is terrible value as it comes with the normal M3 chip, not the Pro chip, and still only comes with 8GB of RAM… for $1600. Assuming you’re not doing anything on the VMs that’s maxing out the processor, you shouldn’t need active cooling.

[@pxnchx93]

I’m a programmer Which one would you recommend? MacBook Pro 16” with: M1 Pro, M3 Pro or M3? 16gb minimum of course

[@Mstgkillr]

I've spent many hours (weeks) researching my 16" MBP purchase. I think I have it narrowed down to the following: M1 Max 32GB/8TB $2,320 (lots of storage) M3 Pro 36GB/2TB $2,969 (Max RAM for Pro) M3 Max 16/40 64GB/2TB $3,909 (More RAM than I need currently) Honestly, price is not a huge concern, but I don’t want to waste money either. However, battery life, heat, and fan noise while doing minimal tasks (web surfing) are... and not much of a concern when doing any heavy lifting. I would also like to future proof this machine if it makes sense. Anything remotely intensive would be limited to Fusion 360 (3-D modeling/printing), light video editing, etc. It appears the M1 Max might be the best deal, but I really don’t need 8TB of storage as I have a NAS with more than enough storage (~100 TB). What is the M1 Max missing over the M3 Pro/Max… maybe WiFi? I did well with my 16”M1 Pro 16GB/512GB, but needed to upgrade the storage, so I’m looking for at least 2TB. In an attempt to future proof, I assume I should be looking for 32GB of RAM or more. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[@owenlerry6339]

Just bought the M3 pro, 12 core, 18 gig memory 1TB 👌🏻

[@craft340]

Should I buy a used very good condition MacBook m1 16gb 512ssd for 770$ or add more money and buy new m3? I have a bunch of applications running together but nothing serious that requires a powerful CPU. I also like when the laptop is quiet.

[@cavazosa4]

Just found your channel a day or two ago, you make great comprehensive reviews with really good advice. It’s a perspective not often seen in most you tube videos. Thank you and keep up the good work. I subscribed!

[@NTRSCHAND]

Man you are the real deal. Proper, solid, honest advice without any fanboying or anything like that. I'm gonna pick up an M3 Pro base model thanks to you!

[@glennsan1998]

Don't forget about the Apple Refurbished store. You can easily save over 10% and quite possibly up to 20%. Same 1 year warranty as a brand new one also.

[@abstractwars]

My focus is on photo editing, video editing and 3d (blender) equally. M2 max or m3 pro?

[@vikingsfan2218]

I guess the base M3 Pros are for people who are just doing basic tasks on their laptops (and should honestly just go for the base Air) but are willing to spend a little extra for the Pro design and for the upgraded display/speakers At least there's enough of a difference between the base MacBook Pro and Air this time around to justify the base Pro's existence. During the M1 generation, they were basically identical and during M2, the Air was better in almost every way

[@007.M-D]

Your mother can be proud , so thumbs up 😉👍

[@alfredoaraujo9294]

Love to see a video comparing the m1 pro vs m2 pro vs m3 pro series and max series when it comes value in 2024.

[@A_Planner_and_a_Dreamer]

Hey, Josh. Really loving this channel. Your honesty is very refreshing. Need a MacBook Pro for graphic design. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and maybe motion graphics. I’m also gonna also be using one for 3D rendering specifically for jewelry and watch design. And perhaps game development as well (Not for AAA games, so nothing crazy). Currently eyeing the MacBook Pro 16 with the M3 Max 40 cores, 48GB RAM, 1TB storage. Good enough?

[@pruity]

Ye

[@Trippykiyay]

I just got the 32 gb mem, 2TB storage configuration last week at best buy for $1400. I have the mac book pro 14 as well, and i can honestly say this one is a very strong competitor. I am loving it.

[@martincohen8991]

I had filled the storage on my 2TB 13" M1 MBP so I wanted a 4TB machine. This was last December. I looked around and found that B&H Photo had a 4TB 64GB 16" M1 Max MBP for $3000, $1900 off the original price. I got it and have been quite happy with it. They don't have any more of these, so I am glad that I got it when I did.

[@ahaua1]

Excellent review and information!!!!!!

[@xiazou4103]

This was the best video thx you!

[@JustJoshTech]

Glad you liked it!

[@besttoro]

This is by far the best comparison video of the M3 MacBooks. Now I have some clarity. Thank you.

[@aelaan12]

I got a M2 MAX 14", for some heavy lifting, it barely gets the fans going, mostly after 10 minutes it feels lukewarm. Good overview, specifically for the MacBook Air peeps. I need to start planning to replace my wife's M1 MBA, which still runs perfectly fine, so she doesn't see the value yet. All I can say is people need to plan ahead, while my MBP was very expensive, I did buy it refurbished from Apple. Still better deal than at BB or Amazon. We do not have a lot of choice here in Canada with regard to large retailers.

[@johnmoore1495]

Your wife is right lol, no need to pointlessly upgrade tech. M3 Air isn’t going to do anything special. It’ll still come with 8GB of RAM considering Apple just put 8GB in a $1600 MacBook Pro. Even if she destroyed her laptop right now I’d tell you to just get a new M1 Air again for $750 (regularly on sale by retailers) if you can find it priced similarly once converted to Canadian shekels. I’d wait to upgrade her laptop until the base Air comes with 16GB of RAM or there’s a massive leap in chip performance. We’re only looking at 30% increase from the M1 to the M3 in the best scenarios.

[@RobinJanashak]

Thank you! This was a very well done video and was just what I need to determine which MacBook is best for me as a first-time user.

[@DanielSantos-ym8vd]

I highly appreciate this guide, I got the M3 pro 14 with a $200 discount, fantastic laptop and the black color is so nice.

[@marekgitarzysta5193]

A very good, concise and "to the point" overview

[@design-dwg5785]

Unless they're the same price, there's little reason to spend the extra money for an M2 macbook air. The M2 lineup practically tanked because of the almost insignificant uptick in performace.

[@johnmoore1495]

Yeah considering M1 Airs can be bought for $750 brand new, there’s no reason to get an M2 air unless you want the 15 inch model.

[@straylight08]

Great video. Sounds like you've got feedback on your mic though dude

[@rodrigocosta8828]

Maybe u guys can help me here. I'm a student and im thinking about buying a laptop for my needs at university. Basically multi-tasking, writing reports in word with extensions (Mendeley), seeing multiple books and documents at the same time. But I wanted quality without being much outdated and for a low budget (around 500€ for a refurbished laptop). Many people recommended me to seek a macbook according to my needs and the quality I wanted but I'm lost in the models and the quality of them. If u guys can give me opinions on the best possible options I can get for a macbook I appreciate it 🫶

[@geraldndoro1]

Saved 450AUD on the 14inch MB PRO 12 CORE 1TB by simply not buying from apple. Thank you for this great video!

[@kenglod]

Josh, any chance you'll put out a video on the best laptop for music production? cheers!

[@JustJoshTech]

Its definitely on our radar to do, but it isn't in the next handful. I would say, hopefully this year we will.

[@sabakvantaliani-ph2vw]

Very nice video John! Do you think 18 gb is enough to set up a windows virtual machine? Nothing too exaggerated, just to do some excel, medium spreadsheets... and few more things for windows...

[@emmaoneill579]

Maybe a comparison video between a MacBook refurbished and a new one so people get the truth about the refurb and just how good they are, my MacBook refurb came with £320 off it with m3 pro chip 18gb RAM. No issues I checked it had only been opened twice in the period of ownership before me which is more likely the QA testing they do before it goes out as a refurb.

[@edcharles2702]

Got a good deal on a 16” M1 MacBook Pro. It’s as great as it was when it was first launched!!

[@KifoNemkana]

Absolutely LOVE this video! my question is, is it worth it to buy the 12 core M3 pro vs the 11 core? the testing provided shows essentially the same results

[@JustJoshTech]

I wouldn't bother unless as I said it's a better deal to step up the model. There is a 12c base model with 1tb. So if you were planning to upgrade the 11c to 1tb storage then it's worth it

[@Jptrex-27]

Hey Josh, you said that m3 pro is great for developers but you didn’t talk about memory. Is it enough the 18gb or should I go for 36gb?

[@ShinilPayamal]

Was seriously looking at the base M3 Pro version and adding 18GB memory and 512 GB storage, taking the total to 36GB and 1TB of storage. Now, having second thoughts.😊

[@johnmoore1495]

Yeah don’t bother, if you need more storage get an external thunderbolt drive. And you’re not going to use 36GB of RAM unless you’re doing very heavy work.

[@ShinilPayamal]

@@johnmoore1495 Thanks for the reply. I will primarily be using the machine for: 1. Editing KZbin videos using FCPX and/or Resolve 2. Playing 'in browser' or standalone Web3 games, occasionally. 3. Editing audio for my Podcasts.

[@markmoriarty7760]

The whole notion of 8gb not being enough is NOT true. I have had 6 Macs in the last 2 years (including my daughter) and 5 of those with 8gb and have never had an issue with low memory. The reason being, I don’t do intensive activities and I think for the majority of people that would be the case. Sure if you are a professional or have a video or photography hobby get 16gb or more. But really for everyday use 8gb is fine. Windows computers definitely need more than 8gb but there are still plenty of those with only 8gb at the base model eg, Surface Laptop Go 3 and Surface Laptop 5 etc. I check my ram use and it always says there is 3gb or more available with little or no swap. Horses for courses!

[@bisket2003]

Wlulkd love to get a video like this on used macbook or slightly older models that you can get on a decent deal. Its so damn hard to decipher between some of them.

[@PLANETWATERMELON]

That was a fantastic video. Just nailed a MacBook Air M2 15 inch for $875 with 4 cycles on the battery. Yippy!

[@PaulClarke-gf5hw]

I am stuck between a 14 and 16in MacBook pro - I have tried both but still cannot decide !

[@michelleolivier296]

why do you not show anything on the mbp 14" m3 max 14core

[@phantom0908]

I love this information! This is very helpful when I'm attempting to find the MacBook that is right for me.

[@sebastian.tristan]

You should do the same for Linux laptops. You could review Tuxedo, System 76, etc. laptops.

[@johnmoore1495]

Not going to happen when the market for those is so small.

[@sebastian.tristan]

@@johnmoore1495 The market is small but it is increasing.

[@capitan__cat]

Wow, thanks so much for breaking down which laptops suit each profession best. Here I was trying to get a pro when I don't do any coding or real video editing. Thanks for saving me money!

[@FeyLionheart]

I am with an old 2019 Macbook Pro 16inch (Intel Chip with AMD Radeon Pro) and this video helped me (to a limited degree because I am also a college student). I am trying to step away from corporate greed with Apple and am a gamer (I also record and upload the games I play- with my current performance I cannot record any high-performance games such as World of Warcraft). I can't stream either with this. I was hoping this video would help me with the gaming aspect. I will look at your website to see if I can find more information there.

[@henry.iconic]

Hi, John. I'm considering to buy my first MacBook after four years of working as a software engineer, my daily activities aren't too demanding, so should I go with the m3 16/512 or m1 pro model? 14" In my country, these two versions are priced the same.

[@allisterwhitehead]

This is excellent. I make music and I need a relatively powerful laptop or desktop but the computer market is quite strange today. iMac's are now smaller and less powerful so why bother? Base model Mac Studio with monitor is easily good enough or I could just buy a MacBook Pro M3 Pro and a monitor for roughly the same price. Not as much power with the laptop for sure but with obvious portability and more versatility. I think you've cracked it!

[@LeonelTuto]

Hey Josh, love your content! I’m looking to upgrade my MacBook Pro to one with an M chip. I do a lot of creative multitasking, including photo editing in Adobe Photoshop, design work in Illustrator, and video editing in Premiere and FCPX. My current MacBook Pro 13-inch (2017) with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD just can’t keep up anymore. Plus, my monitor goes blank after about 20 minutes when using graphic-intensive programs, hence why i have to use an external monitor. Based on your experience, what specs would you recommend for good memory bandwidth to handle my workflow efficiently? Thanks!

[@AiraSanchez-g5b]

What’s better MacBook Pro laptop or IMac?

[@xortegaccaedu]

The audio was a bit echoey for a majority of video. Overall, the video is very informative, thank you! Glad your ma is proud.

[@ecc3d452]

GREAT video, incredibly informative

[@romariofitzgerald]

The MacBook Air M1 in my experience is actually still pretty solid for Mobile and Web Development. For context I’ll have 2-3 Ruby, Elixir or JavaScript API’s running locally, plus a couple React Based Apps. OR I’ll have 2 React Native Apps (running via XCode and Android Studio) along with the API that these Apps consume from. This is of course my personal machine, my work issued laptop was a MacBook Pro M1 Pro, and it was much faster when compiling and was able to do more multitasking (I.e me unnecessarily leaving a lot of other taxing things running in the background). But aside from that there wasn’t much speed benefits outside of compile times. Also, you’re likely doing doing whole recompiles of your application very frequently, so don’t expect a massive improvement unless your application is particularly demanding - which typically you don’t want your application to be, unless it’s something like a video game

[@MT-ry8gv]

Im Curious: I love LaTeX - is M1 macbook air good enough? I plan on getting an imac m3 for at home and m1 macbookairm1 for when im on the way

[@tito525000]

Which laptop should I get if I need to get a new one? The MacBook Air M3 (15 inch, 16 GB) or the MacBook Pro M2 chip (14.2 inch, 16 GB)? The difference between the two is only $100 for the M2 pro.

[@jeffersonmp4]

Good arguments. You deserve it!

[@coreycleaver8386]

Hey Josh. Looking to replace my 2013 MacBook Pro (yeah it lasted this long.) I use my laptop very often but really only use it laptop to watch Netflix/youtube and some occasional video editing. I have never been a huge fan of MacBook airs (I had many friends that had them and they just never felt right to me.) what would you recommend for someone in my situation?

[@DanThomas1161]

It sounds to me for your use you can keep USING your old 15 MBP.

[@vanessawilson5646]

Loved this. Got the new space black 14 pro since I work in post.

[@owlmostdead9492]

I think nobody should upgrade if it is not needed, the M3 MacBooks are lacking ThunderBolt 5, AV1 encode (less important but still) and are just way too expensive, especially if you need more than the base configs. Thunderbolt 5 is going to be a game changer since unlike TB4 it actually doubles bandwidth.

[@anaroquea]

Thanks for your video. I'm planning to upgrade my current MacBook Pro 13'' 2020 - Intel i5 / 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD. Since I still have an Intel processor to work in music production and it's not that bad for me, do you think I should upgrade to another Pro, or I would be fine with a MacBook Air 15'' - M2 / 24GB RAM / 1TB SSD? Sorry about posting a very specific question, but it might help anyone who still have Intel chips.

[@YellaFerrari]

Upgrade

[@AllanArnold-j5x]

Hi there! I'm looking to purchase my first Apple MacBook, and I'm interested in learning video editing using software like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects. Additionally, I want to dive into photo editing with Lightroom and Photoshop and then start my youtube channel. I'm aiming for a laptop that will last me at least 3-4 years. Currently, I'm using a Windows laptop for simple tasks like Word, Excel, and web browsing. Any recommendations or advice on which MacBook model would suit my needs best?

[@UltramarineDad]

Beep boop 🤖

[@zonumev]

Excellent video presentation!

[@diotitus]

Thanks for the video. Honestly, I would just look for either refurbished or lightly used MacBooks from recent 1 or 2 generations from websites like Swappa, eBay, or Amazon Renewed or buy a brand new one at a discounted price from a third-party retailer like Amazon or Best Buy.

[@JaMySeA]

Hi. I’m planning to switch to a MacBook from a windows laptop but there is an application that isn’t available on MacOS (Microsoft Publisher) so I was going to run windows 11 via UTM. Which MacBook and with which configuration should I get so I can still run windows on it smoothly? I was tossing between MacBook Air for its price, thickness and weight and MacBook Pro for its brightness and screen refresh rate.

[@tvm2209]

How much could I sell a maxed out 64GB RAM 4TB SSD MacBook M1Max 16” for?

[@billbrimmer7047]

You never miss anything. Enjoy your reviews and advice. I’m a Windowsvuser, but may take the plunge and spice up my life with an Apple.