I like it BIG! - MacBook Air 15"

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Apple has usually reserved large screens for their (expensive) Pro lineup of MacBooks... until now! Apple has finally cracked and given people what they want, a MacBook Air with a screen large enough to actually work on. Will Alex be impressed with this new screen size, or have sacrifices been made to make this work?
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 The MacBook Air is great!
0:26 Unboxing
1:26 Weight and size comparisons
3:31 Design impressions
4:48 Sponsor - GoTo Resolve
5:20 Alex hates the notch
6:04 Screen specs
7:29 Keyboard and trackpad impressions/comparisons
9:44 Performance specs
10:16 Speaker and display impressions/comparisons
12:22 Benchmarking - Shadow of the Tomb Raider
14:28 Webcam and Mic impressions
14:56 Teardown and comparison to 13" Air
16:50 Pricing and overall thoughts
18:30 Outro

[@Seanreagan]

I meaaannn, I had a 13" M1 Macbook Pro, and just picked up this 15" M2 Air, and i'm enjoying it so far. I got the super base spec at $1300 and i'm happy with it. I'm probably main use case though, about 1-2 hours of video editing daily, maybe 30 minutes for photo editing, and otherwise just light content consumption. No complaints from me!

[@mophead99]

For photo editing and video editing what's the performance gains between the m1 and M2? I'm really struggling to find data to benchmark effectively!

[@kaleroe]

Alex is the type of guy to knock on his MacBook before opening it.

[@graemejohnson9025]

every review he does, ev cars, computers, laptops, he sucks up to the company.. to get more hits/views

[@thekasperrr]

@@graemejohnson9025 What are you going on about?

[@graemejohnson9025]

He is so fake.. does manufacture blow Jobs to get Freebie

[@badadvice787]

@@graemejohnson9025 He usually starts out with the positives from my perspective. Starting out with negatives in a review isn’t a good idea unless you just end up having to roast it, then it doesn’t matter as much. These are all the negatives viewer retention drops and they don’t even see the positives. Maybe, maybe I’m wrong.

[@thebestdamager7400]

Why would he ever need/want to suck up to apple? LTT is, as is openly known, not on apple's list and doesn't even talk with them. Also LTT openly criticizes apple when it does mistakes and the audience knows this. If anything, they would get more views for criticizing apple.

[@totallynotmyeggalt6216]

I wouldn't be surprised if the key travel is the same between the 13" and 15" models, but the additional flex of the larger chassis creates a deeper feel.

[@ChrisJ972]

I really do not think the chassis of all currenr Macbook Models (13, 14, 15 or 16 inch) do have any flex… At least all my Macbooks since 2015 didn‘t have it, especially not while typing.

[@totallynotmyeggalt6216]

@@ChrisJ972 You can see the keyboard deck flexing in the video when Alex pushes on it. It's certainly still a very rigid chassis for a laptop and probably better than any Windows laptop.

[@edmn]

@@ChrisJ972 There is flex, but none when typing in a usual manner.

[@MrSiKO12]

I’m surprised that it took them this long to make a bigger Air. This thing is gonna sell incredibly good

[@labibh]

Their mac sales were down for the past year, thats why this was released. It will cannibalize pro sales, but overall sales will increase. Honestly a 15 inch model should of been released years ago.

[@mikemcmike6427]

@@labibh the Mac sales were down from the last two years. But that was also the year of the M release and both were record breaking sales years. So ya they were down but simply went back to normal levels, not to some rock bottom horrible sales level.

[@stormbreaker82]

The reason the sqles are down isn't the size . Its when they desided to slow down the ssds inside

[@officialANON001]

@@stormbreaker82 99% of people buying a macbook air do not even know what a SSD is. On top of that the only people who know about that are people who watch tech youtubers. Then on top of that people need to actually care. So yeah thats definetely not the issue lol. More so just everyone bought a M1 macbook and will not need to upgrade for 5-6 years.

[@av1204]

I never owned a Mac and I bought one

[@Piketom1]

At the university where I work this is going to be a very popular computer. We have many faculty who don't need a computer to do more than basic computing for teaching and research but are dead set on having a Mac. In the past, they have always used the 13" MacBook Air but the display was too small for multi tasking. The 15" Air will fill that need beautifully.

[@HardwareScience]

It would be unthinkable to see these laptops in Mexican universities, at lest from what I’ve seen. They’re relatively expensive and well, corruption here also plays a role.

[@shapelessed]

Well, I've got the 13" M2 MacBook Air and quite honestly I was shocked by the performence of its CPU. That thing beat my Ryzen 7 3700X while consuming 10% the power... And before you ask why not M1 - The M2's efficiency cores are about 2x faster than in M1, and I use power saving on the mode a lot.

[@GeckoClever]

@@shapelessed isn't that several years behind processor with transistors more than twice the size? Isn't ryzen laptop at 7000 now?

[@xmlthegreat]

​@@shapelessed are they? The M1 has had better battery life in every test I've seen.

[@jasonhe54]

@@GeckoCleverRyzen laptop is at 7000 series (7040 series) but the 3700X is also a desktop CPU so not sure why they’re comparing a desktop CPU to a mobile CPU in terms of power draw. Though it does still the performance of Apple Silicon vs a desktop CPU that draws far more power. That might’ve been the point

[@CHiCguitar]

I'm watching this on the 15" Air and it still fits in my backpack. It's either sitting on my lap, a table or in my bag and it's not a noticeable difference from my 13" M2 Air. Ever since my switch to Mac I've been sad about the larger laptops being nearly $3000. The only reason I got a new computer from my old one because of the size. I am SO happy with it. I recommend this over the 13" 100% based only on size. The speakers were just a nice surprise.

[@akapeegly6463]

4:23 lowkey glad he did that, no reviews are talking about the flex on the bigger foot print

[@letsgowalk]

I find it baffling how reviewers keep saying how these Airs can’t handle heavy duty projects, and are fine for basic users who only surf the net and check emails… First of all, why would anyone spend $1,400+ on a device just to check emails?! They can easily do that on a $200 Chromebook or the lowest level iPad. I have the M2 13” MBA, and it’s been breezing through massive 4K video renders for months using Lumafusion. Heck, even my iPad Mini 6 is able to render 4K videos easily (albeit a bit slower). So, no. A $1,400 M2 equipped marvel of a machine is not just good for checking emails…

[@ohmahrie]

“Why would anyone spend 1400 on a device just to check emails” Because they have the means, the money, and don’t care. The majority of users do not care about the power and just want to know if the device can run their apps fast. They don’t know what ram is or SSDs are or the difference between a pro and an air besides “well one has a brighter screen and has a fan I think” just because you know that spending that much on a basically Facebook and KZbin device is silly, but the user base that Apple has made billions from obviously doesn’t, so reviewers are talking to THAT user base. They’re telling people which device is perfect for THEM. Why would on an Apple video you go “yeah bro grab a Chromebook”, that’s not what they searched for. They’re going to ignore you and click on another video

[@elderman64]

The majority of people buying these things are the people who use it for the most basic stuff you could imagine. Typing out letters, emails, surfing the web etc. You underestimate how stupid the average person is

[@quantuminfinity4260]

0:19 “It is quite light, but very heavy!” -Alex

[@defic]

The airs are Pro lites for software developers. Crazy long battery life, lasts 2 days for me (m2 13.6" air). For my projects, it is too fast to compile so there is no throttling.

[@SpencerKraisler]

I can’t imagine the airs being used for SWD

[@bassyey]

@@SpencerKraisler A craftsman will use the tool available to him. He will be judged by his creation and not the tool, well except for whiners with subpar skills.

[@bielgaucho_real]

​@@SpencerKraisler I used M1 air since launch and it is incredibly performant while lasting the whole day unplugged .

[@Rick-vm8bl]

@@SpencerKraisler Been using an M1 Air with only 8gb ram for software dev since it launched. Works absolutely fine, with mutiple compiles going along with some resource intensive IDE's. It's FAR more capable than people who only look at specs realise.

[@sangun123]

@@SpencerKraislerpre m1 you’re right but since the m1 they’re pretty good in comparison to other laptops in their price range

[@nbrowser]

I just got one of these last week, 15" Air 1TB/16Gb in Starlight...I upgraded from the 13 inch M2 and it was well worth it for the extra screen real estate, it's an amazing laptop for what it is.

[@attilamagyar91]

Alex really got comfortable at the camera after many years.

[@nml305]

“This is getting heavy” *Is lifting like 10lbs

[@aBeerFromHere7994]

0:55 Apple might use this tip and ship a 35W charger with 1 USB-C next time. LoL

[@AzVfL]

There's a 30W with 1 port already

[@danidee3663]

I bought it and LOVE IT!!! I traded in my 13 inch M2 Air from last year...I definitely wanted the bigger screen.

[@shervilgupta92]

Hows the build quality?

[@mark601]

Dell owner here and TBF they got windows hello in the bezel but the macbook's webcam is just so much better

[@kevinwetsch5209]

I really like that check joke. I've been there with Apple. I will never forget the day I bought my 15'' MacBook Pro. It has held up well over the years.

[@fryfly5599]

productivity and cooling benchmarks would have been nice. Also for people like me that wanna buy a 15" laptop soon, how does it compare to a similar priced xps 15, especially regarding the batterylife / performance ratio?

[@waytoobiased]

the performance-per-watt is gonna be quite good (Apple Silicon is good at that), although the cooling solution is...not great overall, all those things are gonna be about as good as or *slightly* better than the 13'' M2 air

[@toosafelol]

Personally I use the M1 air for programming and with the occasional compiling it never really gets hot since it's work load are just 5-30s builds.

[@daftrok]

In what UNIVERSE is 3.3 pounds considered heavy for a 15" laptop? Hell, in what universe is 3.3 pounds considered heavy for a 13" laptop? Also the MacBook Pro 14 is $700 more expensive. All you need is upgrade to 16GB ram and will still be $500 less.

[@random_bit]

Yeh but if you're a dev or pro you want the pro model sadly :( I was hoping the 15 inch would come with HDMI + SD card slot but nope

[@vojtechvokoun]

@@random_bit wouldn't make sense, it would be too similar to the Pro for a lot of people

[@MJWG2k]

I really disliked the weight test. Obviously a 15“ laptop is going to be significantly heavier than a 13“. I don’t know why they would compare it to mainly 13/14“ devices

[@elpacoba]

​@@random_bitwhy precisely? I can see the HDMI but sd card is way more niche

[@ogheneovoojugo5343]

​@elpacoba there are still many other positives of the pro...mini led display,120hz,a fan,better m2 chip,better external display support too

[@valeriimeln]

Man, thanks for the durability testing (flex test), cause seems like very few youtubers really don't care about it (but I think a lot of consumers do care)

[@AndrewPL5]

Nobody will notice or care...the thing about youtubers is they point out stuff that most people don't realize or know or care about.

[@valeriimeln]

@@AndrewPL5 Agreed, but I'm just grateful for this guy for covering this topic

[@MrMilkyCoco]

Honestly only razer makes durable feeling laptops like apple does. Most people wont care but its nice to not feel like the laptop is flimsy as heck. When I got the air for my mom i was like damn for this thin a laptop im surprised about how it feels. Like it could be used as a damn weapon >

[@JustinEmlay]

Over 99% of users wont care.

[@BrandonNZ]

I just purchased an Apple certified refurbished 16 inch MacBook Pro M1 for roughly $100 cheaper than the 16gb / 512gb version of the MacBook Air 15. Absolutely winning in my books!

[@mikemcmike6427]

I bought mine a year ago used. I was worried because I have the worst luck and literally 2 months laters rumours about the 15inch started circling. But now I’m content my 16inch is better in every way and was cheaper than a new 15 with worse specs. I paid 2300$ canadian for a 16 inch with 26gb ram and 1tb. It was only 2 months old

[@spencercarruth9706]

So long as weight isn’t much of a concern, sure. The 15” Air weighs over a pound less than the 16” MacBook Pro, and that can make a bigger difference to many people than you would think

[@BrandonNZ]

@@spencercarruth9706 agree. For me however the screen size and extra ports outweighed the benefit of saving a pound in weight.

[@makasete30]

Yeah, I got that model on release (work laptop given to me) and it runs like a dream. It is heavy to carry out and takes up a lot of space in my work bag, but the battery lasts forever and it’s so quiet. I don’t like the notch, though. You got a great bargain and in my book the benefits outweigh (pun intended) the lightness of that MacBook Air.

[@eriknelson5585]

If you’re a student this config with the 15in air is 1579$, close to 400$ less.

[@malcolmportelli9059]

I have the 16 inch macbook pro m1 pro and honestly I think it is the best laptop I ever had and I had a lot of dells and hp. I can't seem to get used to the keyboard that much just because I am used to smaller laptops.

[@bogxd]

4:44 Alex is manhandling these

[@smashallpots1428]

i still think the base model M1 air is a banger deal for someone who just needs laptop

[@user-nl4ch1pz4x]

the wedge shape actually makes it feel thinner in hand, love my M1 air

[@MidwestPyro55]

M1 air is the best

[@eTiMaGo]

Love mine, though I wish I got 16GB, I sometimes do pretty heavy work (Android Studio + Visual Studio + Photoshop) and then it starts to suffer and lag. But if I keep the work reasonable, it's just mind-blowing, especially the battery life...

[@thomasmoreau8297]

I rock that one..I edit in Lightroom and even did some Davince Resolve video editing! It freaking rocks!

[@seljd]

17:17 "it starts at $1300" I just checked, it's 1740€ for the base model here in Slovenia

[@TechMediaLifr]

US prices always without Tax...

[@LAndrewsChannel]

US prices are always before any taxes or fees so no surprises there.

[@GeckoClever]

@@TechMediaLifr Tax isnt 33% in Slovenia either. So what's your point?

[@awwastor]

VAT is included in the price in Slovenia, and it's higher there on computers than in the US

[@TechMediaLifr]

@@GeckoClever that you still can‘t base it off of the US price. It should be 1450€ with the current exchange rate and 22% Tax in Slovenia, but that‘s Apple for you. They gladly take more for a weak Euro, but don‘t give back for a strong one.

[@OccupiedMuffins]

That whole section about how "heavy" the 15 inch is was kinda wierd, like 3.3 pounds for what the 15 is, is absolutely incredible and a small feat of engineering.

[@chewsir]

A very small feat as LG, Lenovo and Acer make 15" laptops that are about a pound lighter than the Air. Still a good machine.

[@justinyadao744]

@@chewsiruz they use plastic and wonder why the resale value would be 25% after a year 🤦🏻

[@GuyGamer1]

​@@chewsir I find a lot of people doing spec comparisons forget that the touchpad, keyboard, and chassis are equally as important for a laptop as the spec sheet. I'll take the extra pound for the laptop to be a pleasure to interact with. I've been looking for windows laptops (my apps won't run on OSX) that are as powerful as a MacBook Air, at the same price, with decent build quality. Zenbook seems to be the only serious contender, but the touchpad and keyboard are nowhere near as good, it only gets a third of the battery life, and has a lot of fan noise under load. However you do get an OLED. Apple processors are so far ahead in terms of efficiency. This means you can run demanding applications while having zero fan noise (passive cooling). The M2 pulls 20W under load and the i5-1350P (its closest performance competitor) pulls 65W under the same load. A laptop with a 1350P needs to make significantly more noise and triple the battery usage to get the same performance.

[@theboynrw]

I like it BIG! I like it CHONKY!

[@SirW0nka]

I'm actually more comfortable with the fact that the 15" weighs around 1.5kg than the 13" weighing 1.3kg. That 1.3 is quite heavy compared to alternatives on Windows. Anyway both weights are still very respectable.

[@catlover9998]

Even though it is not Thunderbolt 4 certified, it supports USB 4 which is the same protocol. It doesn't have support for multiple displays which is a Thunderbolt 4 requirement.

[@lerbyn]

0:18 "it's quite light, but very heavy" chose one you can't have both

[@Raja995mh33]

They really kinda have to complain about SOMETHING because it's Apple. It's light weight but NO it's heavy 🙄

[@mikemonroe9167]

Get the 15", upgrade either the RAM or the SSD, and live with the sacrifice you're making on the upgrade you didn't choose. To me $1499 is the threshold where anything higher and the money starts to not make sense. You have a refurbished 14" M1 MacBook Pro sitting there at around $1539 + tax. After that you're getting into M2 14" MacBook Pro territory. They would both be the better option at that point unless you REALLY desire the Air's portability and quietness. Just a suggestion from a current M2 15" MacBook Air owner.

[@NetvoTV]

But even it is lighter, it still a thing to carry with some footprint, do one really benefit from a not so much more slimmer laptop? If it going to be your only computer, is 16 inch Max still better to get real performance gaming plus works? I using my 2012 15 inch MacBook Pro and I want to do game/app development, video & photo editing, AAA gaming and so on, I not sure where I will move to later hence PS5 seem not ideal right now, should I?: 1) get M2 Max 16 inch MacBook Pro 2) wait for M3 Max 16 inch MacBook Pro 3) get M2 24GB RAMS 15 inch MacBook Air+ Steam Deck

[@rapu4]

I don't think the user can even upgrade RAM or SSD on Macbooks post-purchase anymore

[@shervilgupta92]

Hey man, hows the build quality of the machine? Is the flex noticeable?

[@mikemonroe9167]

@@shervilgupta92 it’s incredible. No issues at all a month later.

[@mikemonroe9167]

@@NetvoTV while the 16” air can do all of these things surprisingly well. It’s probably not the machine you want. Especially if you are doing long sessions. I create music in Logic with it every now and then worry free. Completely capable.

[@danek893]

Well, I’m just back from the store, 15” is heavy and it flex a lot if you one it one hand compared to the rest.

[@forthesixagain2992]

I have the 13 inch air and just ordered the 15 inch! can't wait!

[@HeisenbergFam]

"I like it big" I have a funny feeling Linus wrote that title

[@Wokiis]

I use the 13" for Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve etc, it's not breaking a sweat tbh. Many workloads requiring human action are actually "bursty" when you think about it. Like, you edit, it renders, you prepare the next edit, it has already cooled down. The important thing is then that it responds and does the job fast, which the M2 typically does. The final render might take a bit longer but.. to paraphrase Technology Connections here, I don't sit in front of my computer when it renders. I'm done. Often, it hardly matters. (Though I also have a desktop PC to send the really big render-jobs to I suppose ;)

[@letsgowalk]

Yeah, it’s annoying how these reviews constantly say that MBAs can’t handle heavier tasks, and are more suitable for basic duties like emails and web browsing, as if someone is going to spend $1,300+ just to do that…

[@HiddenPants3833]

Thank you its great content. Good luck on your way to more awesome tech.

[@2nd-place]

The 14” Pro is the sweet spot for me. I’m going to upgrade to the 3nm based M3 Max next year from my Intel MacBook Pro. Should be a bigger jump in performance and battery, depending on how they balance it.

[@defic]

Just fyi the 14 pro has the worst battery life out of apple silicon macbooks. And out of those the max chips have the worst battery life. Wanted to get the 14 pro but ended up with m2 air and love the freedom the long battery life gives. Easily 2 day battery life for software development.

[@rayhananthaaa]

​​​@@defic whatever it is, still miles better than the last Intel MBP 16. A huge upgrade for us

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

What the guy before me said. I own a 14 M1 Pro and I love everything about it, everything, except battery life. I mean, it's not terrible but the Air is on a class of its own. That being said, while I do wish its battery life was better, I now can't live without the magnificent display and audio, it's too good, and I kinda need two external monitors.

[@NetvoTV]

But even it is lighter, it still a thing to carry with some footprint, do one really benefit from a not so much more slimmer laptop? If it going to be your only computer, is 16 inch Max still better to get real performance gaming plus works? I using my 2012 15 inch MacBook Pro and I want to do game/app development, video & photo editing, AAA gaming and so on, I not sure where I will move to later hence PS5 seem not ideal right now, should I?: 1) get M2 Max 16 inch MacBook Pro 2) wait for M3 Max 16 inch MacBook Pro 3) get M2 24GB RAMS 15 inch MacBook Air+ Steam Deck

[@chrisgraham6031]

⁠@@NetvoTVit’s not so much the extra thickness, but the 16” is a proper chonker in length and width too, and it doesn’t fit in many 20l or smaller rucksacks. The extra weight is very noticeable to carry around too. I had the option of both for my job, and took the 14”. I might be just used to windows machines, but the battery life has been phenomenal on it too! I’m not sure AAA support of Apple Silicon is really there yet, and buying something so expensive based on future promises is quite risky.

[@geetarwanabe]

In 2023, Apple are still wanting £800 extra to go from 256GB to 2TB SSD (no definition of what speed), extra £400 256GB to 1TB, extra £400 to go from 8GB to 24Gb "memory" (no definition anywhere on what type or bandwidth it is) Fully decked out 15" will set you back £2600 excluding the preinstalled software. Just insane markup

[@kanji.debian]

Yeah, it is definitely expensive, I don't understand why he says it's not. The upgrade pricing is a joke. At least it should be user upgradeable, so only non technical dumb users would pay the Apple troll fee.

[@jakub7244]

256GB is again shit SSD with low speeds, so basically 512+ is mandatory if you want fast SSD. And paying 200€ for 512GB ssd upgrade is a scam in 2023.

[@adredy]

i know this is never change 16-512 now is minimum 256 sounds like phone or tablet

[@shanecoleman2937]

Unified memory sadly means RAM upgrades won't be a thing. Agreed on the SSD though. Apple could just stick a M.2 NVME slot on the device and I don't believe for a second that thinness or performance would be impacted.

[@doniscoming]

I love the laptop but 8GB of ram for 1300usd is INSANE...

[@bastienx8]

Except that you can do basically the same with 8GB of ram on macOS as with 16GB of ram with windows

[@doniscoming]

@Bastien Cron haha yeah lets list things You can do on MacOS vs. Windows, so You feel better about Apple ripping us off...

[@jamesbuckwas6575]

That heavily depends on the workload you are running, never mind the fact that you'll need to over-spec the laptop anyway in case you decide to (god forbid) change the workload you perform on your $1000+ laptop and you can't upgrade it after the fact.

[@bastienx8]

@@doniscoming Well, on my friend's M1 macbook air I can edit 8k video reasonably well, run Stable Diffusion locally, or do light things for more than 15 hours. And that's with a 2020 thin and light laptop that costs less than 1k$. I'm curious to know which windows laptops can do the same

[@jcfawerd]

You should see how much Microsoft is charging for its surface..... Intel Core i5 + 8G RAM + 256G costs $1100 (without promotion), ARM SQ3 + 8G + 256G costs $1200, it's not even as fast as M2

[@Melchirobin]

5:53 compare the camera quality. The notch does not need to be as wide as it is but the sensor size does make a good deference.

[@Garrettdx1988]

I took a shot every time he said, "that said." I'm dead.

[@richmahogany1710]

isnt it about time they just renamed the air to the macbook now that there's only the air and the pro?

[@thepenguin9]

Tell you what I think they've nailed the mac book design, the distinct edges are just super crisp 👌 👌 (I hope that makes sense it helps if you imagine running your finger over the edge)

[@Thewaterspirit57]

Was kinda hoping the 15 inch air would have one extra USB-C port, cuz it’s bigger, but not thicker for the extra stuff.

[@duanmcinnes]

Great thorough review. Much appreciated.

[@Darthwriter]

Nice video, thanks. I purchased one on day one and did have the 13" M2 prior. Not sure why you think the keyboards were somehow different. I went back and forth and they felt identical for the couple days I had both at the same time. Overall, I really enjoy typing on the 15. But those kinds of things are obviously very subjective. Again, thanks for the vid.

[@elliotlewis9333]

why would you buy a brand new laptop when you already had the brand new 13" version? Do you not consider the environmental concerns when consuming a brand new LAPTOP that is basically a bigger version of the same you already have? It just seems wasteful to me.

[@CallumAi]

@@elliotlewis9333 I doubt he’s putting the old one in a drawer and never using it, or throwing it away… If he sells it or hands it down, someone else gets to use it without environmental cost.

[@bobandboby]

I wonder how well base model Air will perform with Windows laptop of the same price when doing real life workflows that are not gaming framerates or blender or syntetic benchmarks. E.g. code compiling, compressing files, running python or javascript code, docker builds etc.

[@davidfodre1375]

It's obvious, the Air will choke fast and the Windows laptop will take over, especially for something long, like compiling Firefox

[@shapelessed]

Web dev here. Although web isn't generally multi-threaded by design, the backend side (Node) uses multiple threads for async actions, I do also play with Rust a bit and I tested it here a bit too, so here is what I'm gonna say - The base M2 beats my Ryzen 7 3700X PC in code compilation and the IPC is like 40% higher. Generally, that thing never broke a sweat. My Ryzen CPU would probably need like 10 to 12 cores to reach the speed of the M2 if we set them both to the same power level.

[@dominikhanus9320]

Windows laptop of the same price is very vague naming. I think in comparison to windows device with similar price, similar size/weight and same form factor style (thin and light) I’d guess the Air would keep pretty competitive and completely obliterate the device on quality of life metrics (power on battery, fan noise an battery life)

[@mrmoosetachio]

@@shapelessed 3700x? That's a, what, 4 year old processor now? 5 years? Compared to the new Mac? Yea the 5xxx and 7xxx processors you'd find in laptops today would smoke the 3700. Not a great comparison for laptops today. But good to see you had a big upgrade personally!

[@bastienx8]

@@mrmoosetachio The 3700X is a desktop cpu with several times the power consumption. I dont know if a 5xxx or 7xxx laptop cpu beats a 3xxx desktop cpu

[@drk_dst]

Talking about the notch brought up the thought in my head if they might turn it into a dynamic island 🤔

[@RebelBoringly]

Does it have the same SSD….quirks? As the M2 air? Have to upgrade storage to not have throttled performance?

[@Neoxon619]

I still wish they put in some bigger speakers for the larger version, as the empty space on the sides look weird without speaker grills.

[@IdentifiantE.S]

It seems pretty obvious i hope too

[@neerajkarunanidhi6804]

I would’ve liked 2 more USB C ports. Having only 2 ports on a 15 inch laptop is inexcusable. I understand the logic with the 13’ but this feels bad.

[@GrzegorzMikos]

15" has 6 speakers while 13" has 4, so what are you on about?

[@lars2894]

They did. The MBA 15 has 6 channel vs 4 channel on MBA 13.

[@kzed]

It does have more speakers

[@surfntrucks]

Pro tip for the MacBook Air M2. Get the 16gb RAM and install your pro apps and games on an external M.2 SSD. This will keep your internal free for swaps etc. This works even for the base MacBook Air M2. Keep all of your lighter productivity apps on the internal.

[@peanuts.13]

I guess the point is that you shouldn't have to do that without selling your kidney

[@4riel]

lmao

[@brhill2]

All right, I've narrowed it down to MacBook Air with 16Gb ram/1Tb storage or the Lenovo slim/Yoga Pro 9i 32Gb ram/1Tb storage with mini-LED screen. Any thoughts?

[@barbrooo8022]

All depends on your use case and expected needs/wants.

[@krims254]

Not sure to get this or the counterpart dell xps 15. Similar price range too.

[@suryakamalnd9888]

"I like it big" -tHaTs wHaT sHe sAiD Me: so Linus started to write video titles 😂

[@savagepro9060]

"I like it BIG!" . . . same thing my wife said, BUT, all I had was 12"

[@ITZZHIRO]

im going into a computer science degree in september and i'm on the verge to get the air 15 or a refurbished 14 pro m2 mid spec for 200 more which one is more worth considering the laptop will be used for university work, loads of word and powerpoint files and coding with studio code?

[@SuperHawk54]

It’s very very impressive and the fact that I have the 2020 Intel i3 MacBook Air and upgrading to this MacBook Air M2 15 in 2023 , im definitely going to excited when I get it since it will be my first MacBook with the new M2 chip when I never had an M1 chip MacBook so it’s going to very interesting but yet excited for the performance! I got the 24GB RAM with the Base storage since I have an external HDD

[@simplicity8480]

NGL, It will never not feel weird to have apple content on short circuit so far out in front of any potential review of that same product on Mac Address.

[@TalesOfWar]

Expect a much more in-depth "we actually used this as a daily driver for a while" type content from Mac Address, rather than this first look.

[@budokai910]

@@TalesOfWarand with an actual reviewer

[@zebedeesummers4413]

@@budokai910 This person is a reviewer they are just not currently doing a review.

[@kdupuis77]

I’ve had the 16” M1 Pro base model since launch and loved it, but over time have grown to realize it is far more machine than I could ever use, quite beefy/heavy for my use case nowadays and was looking to downsize. I had ordered the 14” M2 Pro and was liking it until WWDC dropped the 15” Air. Fortunately was able to get a hold of one within my return window. Ultimately, decided to keep the base model 15” Air and pocket the $650 net refund by returning the 14” Pro. This thing is absolutely perfect for Office tasks, web browsing, email and video watching/light gaming. I feel the $650 savings combined with the enhanced portability and bonus larger screen (though of course not as nice as the Pro) makes it perfect for me, especially since I tend to upgrade every couple years anyhow. Overall very happy with this guy!

[@NetvoTV]

But even it is lighter, it still a thing to carry with some footprint, do one really benefit from a not so much more slimmer laptop? If it going to be your only computer, is 16 inch Max still better to get real performance gaming plus works? I using my 2012 15 inch MacBook Pro and I want to do game/app development, video & photo editing, AAA gaming and so on, I not sure where I will move to later hence PS5 seem not ideal right now, should I?: 1) get M2 Max 16 inch MacBook Pro 2) wait for M3 Max 16 inch MacBook Pro 3) get M2 24GB RAMS 15 inch MacBook Air+ Steam Deck

[@geroni211]

@@NetvoTV well you are doing video editing, this guy isn't. So for him, extra power isn't really usefull whereas for you it might be

[@thinkpadherrenrasse4334]

Got all day battery on Air M2 on my case (Zoom meetings, lots of Chrome tabs, emailing). So instead of getting a huge powerbrick, I got one of that tiny 30W GaN charger and charge the laptop overnight (not worried about the charging speed). In case I need some juice outside, I have my 10,000mAh 20W power bank that I can plug in anytime.

[@lekalotte2825]

What's the weight difference / advantage?

[@car_tar3882]

I imagine the notch space was needed for the camera and if that is the case than the question is would you rather have a giant bezel with the menu bar under it or a moth with th menu bar to the side of it

[@seeseasaw]

should have extra port

[@mrbobgamingmemes9558]

True, dongles will significantly reduce portability

[@mccullummedia]

I feel like I’m the only one who could care less about the weight of a device. I have three backpacks of camera gear and computer tech that I bring everywhere with me. Plus the heavy weight is equal to quality.

[@acidburstman]

here I am always babying my laptops whenever I handle them. Meanwhile OP bends it in every possible direction lol

[@sleepysonic]

That's really nice if Apple is starting a trend of USB-C ports always remaining connected when the others are loaded. It's the behaviour people want, even if it's not as simple as that.

[@pranav3312]

i dont understand... what do you mean?

[@DrMacintosh]

What are you even saying?

[@kevin_spanish]

Bro had a stroke while typing this

[@abc123fhdi]

he's complaining when the 15" air weighs less than the 14" pro and every other 15" laptop. If you want light just for lightness then get a 13" and sacrifice screen area. If you want it to still be light and have screen get the 15 air.

[@dgblkbelt]

He's right! It's 30% heavier than truly light 15 inch machines, and even slightly heavier than an LG gram 17!

[@abc123fhdi]

@@dgblkbelt yeah but those are made out of plastic and feel cheap, more likely to get scratched or cracked, would rather have something nicer and more durable that I can trade for near original value in a couple years.

[@dgblkbelt]

@@abc123fhdi That has nothing to do with your erroneous original comment. There are lighter machines, period. And magnesium alloy is not plastic. And my 2019 LG gram 17 is still going strong with no problems to date after hundreds of thousands of travel miles. The "Air" is comically heavy by lightweight machine standards.

[@adampeacock7992]

I dunno whether to get this or a new iMac. I need a new desktop but have no portable option and maybe the 15 inch air would cover both bases to some degree?

[@ialrakis5173]

stupid question, isn't there a 2 - 1 cable to still charge at full capacity from that dual brick?

[@timblewee]

Wow, the bigger one is heavier than the smaller one! Who would have thought?

[@Toby-vj3os]

Pretty weak if 3.26lbs is a deal breaker considering the solid construction and battery life. Lol my first laptop in the 90’s was like 5 lbs and a inch thick with 4 MB ram and something like 80 mb HD. Then you needed to carry a extra pound power brick just to plug it in cause battery life was about 1.5 to 2 hours. Took about 5 mins to come on to a useable state. And DOS/WinNT a freaking nightmare So for. 15 inch MacBook this is a dream

[@nickiebanchou]

it still saddens me to basically now have no other choice than dropping a 4 figures sum, AND being stuck to MacOS, ( and of course the repairability of a tablet) if you want a laptop that has a day of battery and good screen and speakers ... 😢

[@sabbath9503]

Asahi Linux looks like a great option if you really dislike MacOS, and it's something I'm going to start using when I buy my first Macbook during the M3 release. Most of my gripes with MacOS come from window management and the non-standard modifiers, but there are workarounds for my issues, like using Yabai for window management. Homebrew works well enough, and all of my work takes place in a browser and a terminal. The only thing I dislike about the Air is the keyboard not having a black background like the Pro, but I don't use the laptop's keyboard anyway, so I shouldn't really worry about that.

[@piotrgrzonkowski9220]

There should be a trigger warning for every video Alex handles stickers 😂

[@azothony8509]

I don’t know why this happened but I screamed a lil bit when you threw it lmao 0:12

[@Cceptus]

Alex you’re my favorite dude love your honesty and energy seriously you’re one of the best

[@deletegarbage-my2jl]

he's far from honest.

[@Cceptus]

​@@deletegarbage-my2jl go back to 4chan

[@rechiecanonigo3800]

He’s complaining about the price of the base model 15” Macbook Air but there’s no other 15” Windows laptop that can provide the same performance, battery life, & premium build for $1,299

[@vinyfiny]

Yeah $1300 seems pretty reasonable if you view it as a premium laptop/ultrabook (which it is realistically).

[@mgaming7]

LTT bashes Apple every chance they get. Meanwhile Linus "I can not recommend ANY windows laptop until they fix the stand-by issues."

[@jcfawerd]

@@mgaming7 and they mention it for a few videos and then letting it go, what a hypocrite

[@prince_saini]

Last year I bought a Mi Notebook Pro 14. It has the same build quality as MacBook Air. Good 2k 16:10 display 16GB RAM 512GB SSD which has double the speed of MacBook Air's base 256GB SSD i5 11th Gen which is more than sufficient for my software development needs. All the ports USB, HDMI, Type-C, Thunderbolt 4 ⚡ And it costs half the price, just $650 😅 (It can also run GTA V 😉)

[@vinyfiny]

@@prince_saini MacBooks are overpriced when considering what Apple spends to make one, but the M2 will beat the brakes off an 11th gen i5 in a number of CPU intensive tasks while using substantially less power. When Apple was using Intel chips there was very limited reason to buy a MacBook over a comparably equipped Windows laptop, but with Apple silicon the combo of long battery life and top tier performance are basically impossible to beat (if you need it).

[@JarOfRats]

I had a 17" Windows laptop 16 years ago. Is 15" really "big" to iPeople?

[@teldorinst4tic20]

Is there a Lab test coming for camera quality to fully quantify just how good/bad the camera is? Many manufacturers slack in this area and it would be nice to put some pressure on them to get good scrub. 😅

[@Revon-Feuer]

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID HAHAHAHA

[@dudebro4089]

LETS GOOOO😂😂😂😂

[@Revon-Feuer]

@@dudebro4089 😂

[@xp8969]

​@@dudebro4089 dude, bro

[@Revon-Feuer]

@@xp8969 WAIT I DIDN'T REALIZE, HIS FUCKIN NAME 😂

[@Flocano]

Ahahhahahahhahahahhahahahhhahahaahhahahhahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhagagagagagag

[@safebet5841]

The problem for me is that you can only connect 1 external screen

[@teg24601]

Officially. There are adapters to add more. But if you are using more than 2 screens total, you likely are doing something more professional, and would be better off with a Mini Pro or MacBook Pro 14.

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

​@@teg24601 I don't think you really know the meaning of "officially". You can connect only one external monitor period. Using DisplayLink or any other type of "virtual desktops" or similar is totally valid, but it's an aftermarket solution, nothing "officially or unofficially" about the number of displays it supports.

[@teg24601]

@@AlejandroLZuvic I don’t think you understand English. One display is supported by the chip, and therefore “officially”. The other USB options are therefore “unofficial” options.

[@thor.mukbang]

@@teg24601 There's no way to drive more than one external display without using an external chip like DisplayLink. The M1/M2 only has one physical chip for one external display.

[@JustinEmlay]

According to the Apple website those ports are Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports.

[@DarveshSD]

can you do a video on the entire lineup of MacBook laptops from apple?

[@mayanksingh1189]

Alex, Anthony and Linus are the best in business for LTT. So much detail, and their way of explanation and presentation are immaculate. 👍👍

[@vinyfiny]

In what world is it reasonable to not expect a high refresh rate display at that price?

[@micosstar]

11:11 lol; wish we had more of these fun moments in laptop reviews (:]

[@Bethos1247-Arne]

the notch is not intrusive as the screen adds the 2% extra height just for ne notch, which either divides the menu bar or is invisible (blanked out with black background) in fullscreen mode. The HDR display is only useful for HDR content. I rather have a slightly larger SDR screen for my every-day work.

[@Justin-ro8uj]

Apple's notch-driven design aesthetic is one of the clunkier things they have done as a company. There is no reasonable justification for a notch that massive, especially in a laptop without facial recognition. I get that the intent is to add FaceID later with the space they have already created but it looks terrible and lazy which is a shame because their silicon and overall build are miles ahead of the competition.

[@ILoveGrilledCheese]

No justification for a notch? You mean like for the faceid? Where was this energy when Samsung and Google did the notch lol

[@Justin-ro8uj]

​@@ILoveGrilledCheese Google got clowned for the massive notch on the Pixel 3 XL. Samsung only used it in their A-series and quickly switched to hole-punch style cutouts. At least in the iPhone you can kind of justify the notches because of FaceID (even though TouchID was more reliable, faster, and more secure). But a notch this massive on the Air with no facial recognition is ugly and pointless. I am an iPhone 13 Pro user btw, I don't hate Apple, but wow do they make some stubborn decisions from time to time.

[@theogKavani]

“Miles ahead of the competition” is a bit of a stretch lol

[@thekasperrr]

I love alex

[@jjjj-ms1ln]

do macbook + lightweight linux mean the best battery on laptops?

[@thomasflinn4622]

Love the videos! Might I ask what desk pad you have?

[@avieshek]

256GB SSD and 8GB RAM is just smartphone territory in this age which is a joke for a laptop especially in that price range. Could you test the screen response times now that Apple is taking 'gaming' into focus?

[@Pasi123]

8GB RAM and 256GB SSD was common in laptops a decade ago. It's crazy how a 1649€ laptop has so low amount of RAM and storage in 2023, and unlike 10 years ago, you can't upgrade anything

[@viper627]

"Quite light but very heavy."

[@ericpmoss]

Early in the video I thought you said “dual 35W charger”. I think it’s actually 35W total.

[@jammiedodger7040]

Would it not make more sense to have 14 and 16 for the Air the same as the Pro.

[@davido3530]

Put thermal pads on it

[@Raja995mh33]

No, don't. It will kill your warranty and will also extremely hurt your battery because the chassis heats it up. This thing is very well designed. The people at Apple are not stupid.

[@davido3530]

@@Raja995mh33 1. Legally, in the USA, it wont. 2. The heat that makes it to the battery is a trivial amount that won't hurt it in any noticeable way. The added heat makes the device uncomfortable to have in your lap during extended heavy workloads such as code compilation, but for some, the benefits outweigh that.

[@julfy_god]

that notch is terrible! waiting for your reviews of laptops with new amd line up of u- and hs-processors

[@Evie0133]

0:17 It’s literally only 80 bucks more for a larger display and better speakers lol (once you match the specs and included charger)

[@JesseArt]

It always amazes me that people are so willing to pay $2000+ for use cases that could be satisfied by a Chromebook or cheap windows laptop.

[@ThisisTechie]

What “cheap Windows laptop” can do video editing? 😂

[@claudiameier666]

chromebooks dont have years of support tho. and apple stuff is very well built

[@Metal_Maxine]

New set? Can't say I like it so far - it's just too random looking.

[@Augustus_Imperator]

I'm one of those who wanted a laptop to just do laptop things, I'm not playing valheim or something on it, that's why the two most important things for me are keyboard and thermal upgrades, and I'm sad to see the results on those two things from Apple. I would gladly pay the same amount of money for a M1 and instead get better thermals and keyboard, but I can't sadly, I'll buy an other HP instead of a new MacBook it seems.

[@GeckoClever]

@@destructodisk9074 He's reviewing size, weight, speakers, performance, display, and even price. Are you mentally damaged?

[@Augustus_Imperator]

@@destructodisk9074 Iinus did a review of the one that is being compared here, and he wasn't reaIIy Iiking the thermaIs, they are worse than a 13" M1 1st gen

[@mihirsrivastava8472]

@@Augustus_Imperator This one is way bigger with a bigger heatsink for the same chip so the thermals will probably be much better

[@Dino-Kupinic]

MacBook Pro?

[@Augustus_Imperator]

@@Dino-Kupinic macbook air 13" M1 and M2, and Iinus said that the M2 was much worse than M1 with the thermaIs, he anaIyzed the 2 because both fanIess

[@blurayauthority]

You start out the video praising the 13” saying “…it’s not even that expensive” yet you make countless references to “how expensive” the 15” model is which is only $200 more than its 13” counterpart. Seems pretty inconsistent.

[@thebaccathatchews]

What are the thermals?

[@albyx]

It's nice that the notch is easy to ignore but that's just luck; Apple is VERY lucky people aren't making a bigger deal about it. It is STILL ugly. What reason is there for having a notch? They have nice displays but seem unwilling to make new camera modules appropriate for the design. It's like they have all these crappy cameras in supply and so they're just going to run through them until they have to actually have to buy new module stock.