I remember when Luke started reviewing only old MacBooks before he did the latest macs. Perhaps we should all do these MacBook yt reviews so we can make enough money to buy macs? Lol
Literally every one of the tests and benchmarks in these reviews focuses on maxing out the computer's performance and, as a result, biases your brain to think that the Air is a total slouch because *of course* it's not as fast as a Pro. In reality, the Air is a well-built, portable, snappy little computer that does a GREAT job with writing, editing documents, doing research, keeping up with your email, etc. If you run demanding tasks like video and photo editing, get a Pro. Period. But if you don't, the Air is a very good computer and a big step up from 2019.
I haven't tried the dual-core 2020, but I had a dual-core 2019 Air and it felt... slow. I think the quad-core i5 just runs those relatively simple tasks better and more quickly. It feels crisp and capable. An i7, on the other hand, makes no sense to me. A processor or RAM upgrade is a nice addition for your Air, but once you start trying to "spec it out" you really should just get a Pro.
Antphoneigh I don’t know, even though I know the iPad Pro is marketed as a alternative for a laptop, for many people it just isn’t the same and doesn’t provide the same functionality.
i think that they want to delete it from their product lineup, because you have the ipad pro which is more powerful than the MBA and it cost about the same
MacBook Pro 13' 2019 is perfect for the musician . MacBook Pro 16' for visual artists. ...so the new 13' is getting closer to the performance of the gpu images processor which suit both the visual artist and musician producer as well. 13' is the perfect size, is so portable and amazing , makes you a cyborg.
This channel including Max Tech and Dave2D are my 3 favourite tech channels. Your explanation are so straight to the point, clear and precise. Everyones who planning to buy a Mac should watch this!
It would be great to see you to a "lap" test and run both machine thru several different task at different processor demands and see how long you can keep the computer on your lap before it gets too HOT to handle. I think this would be a valid point for many people to see.
I have had the air for two weeks now and I'm considering returning it. It gets so damn hot just watching HBO or surfing the web. it's really frustrating because it's a better machine except for a cooling fan and a slightly larger bottom.
With the pro you are forced to have the touch bar and no slim wedge design. Do you need the pro performance? Can you live with spending more to get an older 8th gen cpu?
Same here. I was 90% sure i'd be going with the base MBA with i5 and 16MB of ram. Now i'm thinking that for an extra $100, I should go with the base MBP with the same specs. Aside from 8th gen chip and slower ram, and tbh, these won't be making a real world difference. How hot and loud one will run WILL make a real world difference. The screen on the MBP is also has slightly better color and 20% brighter. Or I could go with the base i3 and only bump up the ram for future proofing it a bit but then again, not much future proofing having a dual core as the brain of the machine. Man on man... I keep my Macbooks for a very long time (MBP '07 still works. I don't see myself investing in a dual core laptop in 2020...
GREAT comparison video! You show the pros/cons of each machine accurately. There are WAY too many MBP fanbois who won't talk about the MBA positives and reasons why the Air might be a better choice for some users.
I ordered my 2020 mb air day one with the i5 upgrade and the 16g of ram. I couldn’t be happier especially since I’m coming from an 300 dollar pc laptop I got in 14/15 lol my mb air 2020 is solid and it does everything I need it to do and more!
Any heating or loud fan noise issues?? That's the configuration I want to get on the MBA 2020. I want to use it for college and was wondering how well you think the air is holding up?
@@jamesbaker8847 Same here, I have the mba base model with a dual core processor. I aint gonna like it can get hot sometimes, especially when using chrome but that's just it, it runs perfectly fine without any issues. If you are a student who will be using microsoft office and stuff like that a lot then mba it's the right one. It can handle some light photoshop or some light editing but I wouldn't recommend it on a daily basis, as it's going to hurt the cpu and the laptop won't last that long.
I found this video very interesting. I purchased a base model Macbook Air 3 weeks ago. As it was my first ever Macbook I assumed that the dual core I3 would be adequate for some iMovie editing, excel, word etc as well as the usual things like RU-vid etc. The latter is true but trying to edit basic 20 minute videos even in 1080p on a dual core Air has been horrible. It stutters and lags and takes an eternity to export the videos. The entry level Air truly is designed for the most basic tasks and very minimal multitasking. Luckily I have managed to arrange a return to Apple outside of the refund policy as I was so unhappy with the product. Ive now ordered the 2020 quad core i5 MacBook Pro so hopefully will have a lot more luck with my editing. Seriously, I hope this helps anyone who was considering anything a little more taxing against buying the Air.
Just bought a 2020 MacBook Air and thought I might regret it after watching this. Definitely made the right decision for what I use it for. No regrets!
Wggebejejr it’s a good computer but you need to be careful what surfaces you set it on when using it. I had one and it ended up over heating and stopped working :( I’m definitely getting the pro.
Madison Still waiting for mac stores to restock on the pros (here in the Philippines) since they ran out but I already have a reservation! :) What are you gonna use it for?? However, if it takes longer, I guess I’ll hold out for the apple silicon macbook pro instead (hopefully the rumors are true!)
Thank you Luke. Helped me overcome the 8th & 10th Gen processor conundrum. Have decided to purchase the low-level 512GB MBP 2020 but bump the RAM to 16GB. Thanks so much!
With that SSD and RAM upgrade you are only 200$ short of the 10th Gen, which in my opinion is value for money -> 2 fans, woofers, faster ram, faster processor and graphics.
@@surajchowbenemohanraj8442 I am in Sydney, We don't have the cheap pricing the US has. The 512MB (2020) MBA with 16GB RAM = A$2284. The 10th Gen MBA 2020 = A$2829. That's nearly $600 difference. Like I said, we don't have the luxury of ultra competitive pricing the US has.
Hi Luke! Upfront full disclosure: I am an IT guy familiar and constantly using the Apple products line-up, however I am not an Apple products’ fan. My beef with Apple is regarding their business and pricing approach as well as the right to repair issue. Their products' quality is undeniable, especially the pleasurable “touch and feel” experienced while using their products. I just believe that the pricing/performance ratio does not justify the selling price. The disclosure put aside, I would like to tell you that it has been a while I watch your RU-vid reviews and “how-to upgrade” videos. Even though I have not always shared your opinion I have always enjoyed watching your videos. I admire your obvious passion for the Apple products as well as your balanced approach: you give credit where is due, but you do not hesitate to be critical of Apple’s failings. I like your sense of humour and the here and there sarcasm inserted in your videos. Keep up the good work as I am looking forward for your next videos! Cheers!
I just returned a MacBook Air 2020 because it was a terrible Zoom client. Zoom must be pretty CPU/GPU intensive and the fan just ramped up to full strength for the entire call. I’d imagine most video conferencing will result in the same thing.
This was a great video 👍 I pretty much already knew I was leaning towards the pro but this video helped and you don’t put a weird emphasis on every last word of a sentence like every other tech RU-vidr
I was going to comment how your video is WAY more useful than the other tech review with 1M views then I noticed you posted this 3 days ago and the views are justified.
I returned my 2020 i5, 16gb, 512gb ssd MacBook Air. Im coming from a 2015, 15inch pro with dual graphics, but decided to switch to the air because of the form factor and because my workflow doesn't require too much power. HOWEVER, I really cannot recommend this laptop, maybe the i3 version as it runs a lot cooler than the i5 version. but my i5 version was constantly above 70. degrees at just the most menial tasks, the fans would spin and be unbearably loud. I installed Macsfancontrol and that did not really help as the fan spinning faster didn't really drop the temperatures due to non existent heat pipe in the air. The air was at 70-80 degrees plus with just safari at 5 - 7 tabs, Mac photos app, Spotify, discord or Skype. sometimes while on a discord video call, the laptop would be at 90 degrees with just safari open. The real killer is when it comes to screensharing. Ive been using screensharing a lot more due to covid-19 and how we are working from home more now. the MacBook Air cannot handle screen sharing at all! Even with just safari with 3 - 5 tabs open, once I start screen sharing, the processor instantly shoots up to 100 degrees. the fans are at full blast and the screen sharing would be ok for the first 3 - 5 minutes. After that, the computer slows to a crawl and is running at maybe 20 fps. This is probably due to the boost clocks going down due to high temperatures. Ultimately the laptop is unusable. I understand the design of the MacBook Airs cooling system. the fan in there is acting more as a case fan instead of a cpu fan. think of it as an exhaust fan at the back of a computer tower. HOWEVER, It couldn't have hurt to just put in a heat pipe to let the processor stretch its legs abit more. Id avoid the air i5 and go for the i3. Or even the base model pro if you need bit more power.
AhmadStpats I do own the base Modell. So 256 gigs and the I3. I’m very happy with it. Works perfectly fine with All my office stuff and also with GarageBand and I-Movie. It very very rarely gets as hot as the fans would even start spinning. And if it does (for example when playing Chess against it lol) it’s far quieter than any other Notebook I know. So a clear recommendation for the I3 from me!
Thanks Ahmed. Between your comment and this video, I will opt for the baseline mb pro and just upgrade the memory. I am a science and match teacher, doing online lessons. I finally felt it was time to upgrade from my 2007 MacBook. I was worried about it getting hot and I still need to make my lessons visually appealing. No michael bay type special effects, but something better than a talking clip art.
1299 and 1799 mbp have different speakers. its been like that since 2019. 1799 always have the better ones. because Im using the 1799 2019 one and my lil sis have the 1299 one.
You’re the absolute best reviewer out there, man. Thanks for thinking about us normal folk who might just want something simple or to have the same laptop for many years! Thanks!
Haha I am in my MacBook 2009 mid 5,2 and it has the original hard drive well actually everything is original even the ram it is very slow and it has macOS Catalina thanks to dosdud1 😆 😂
I have my custom spec MacBook Pro 2018 and it's more than double the performance in cinebench than the base model MacBook Pro 2020. Consider buying one of these refurbished!!
This video is really very helpful for me and now I got some clear view on what to choose between the air and the pro 👍🏻👍🏻 Thanks a lot for helping 😊 Subscribed ✅
Jonny Ive 2021: We have now created a unique new cooling pipe system for the Air. We call it the iPipe. Um... there are no other changes this year. By the way its going to cost an extra 299 bucks (excluding taxes).
I have the 2020 MacBook Air with the I5. My daughter has the MacBook Pro with the !5. I really cant tell much difference in the performance. We aren't doing Video editing or anything. The Air is my first Macbook after a lifetime of windows PC's and so far Im happy with it
Initially I had ordered a quadcore MacBook Air with 512GB of SSD. But then, Apple released the new MacBook Pro models. Plus, I watched more RU-vid reviews. Well, I just changed my mind and my order to the 4-thunderbolt-ports version of the MacBook Pro 13"... and also 1TB of SSD. I am so looking forward to this new machine!
Probably the best video I’ve watched on this subject. All in all, the MacBook Pro does the same as the Air, with the possibility for heavier, more substancial tasks. For this reason I think I’ll go for the Pro. Thanks
Get this, I have a Macbook Air 11" - Mid 2012, and I use Final Cut Pro X every single day with no problem. I import as proxy media and I get no dropped frames. YES rendering takes at least 30 mins on a small 3-4 min video at 1080p, 60 FPS. BUT it works for me, as well as this, I use Lightroom and Photoshop near enough everyday. I don't even bother editing 4K footage. What I do is edit my footage from an external hard drive that is free of space and yeah it works. I'm still surprised after 8 years it's still going. I have taken such good car of it though, never even dropped it or throw it about.
Thank you finally a video that has helped me. I had ordered a MBA i5 & I canceled the order as I plan to do video editing on final cut. I’m going with the base model MBP
Tough decisions!!! I am currently using Lenovo Y50-70 but it started to age very fast, and I want to upgrade to MacBook. I have been browsing non-stop on which one should I go for, and I found your video absolutely helpful.
Thank you! I only recently discovered your videos and have found them very useful, and appreciate your calm approach. Indeed, I thought buying a random, cheap MacBook Pro on eBay was such a “fun” idea, I bought one too! We’ll see what arrives!
Really Luke?? What the heck is wrong with 720p? It amuses me when I see you reviewers complain about things like a web cam that has 720p and a Touch Bar that is in many ways useful and in many ways invisible during use. Seems that you aren’t being totally objective and pandering to a few.
Okey, so I ordered a 2020 MacBook Air with 256 GB SSD, 1,1GHz 4 core processor, and 16GB RAM, around 2-3 weeks before they announced the new MacBook Pro, and therefore choosing the Air, since it was new, and had better stats than the old MBP, for the same price. I want to use it for my studying, mainly for downloading documents, some study related apps I need for uni maybe even use pages some time, and use it as a second screen at the uni (I´m mainly using an iPad 7 and Apple pencil to write on and make notes), . After seeing (a lot) of videos about the new MBP, and now this comparison, I wonder if I bought Computer too soon, and should I have bought the MBP, or is the Air "good enough" for the kind of work I want to use it for? I don't intend to do any rendering or things like that, I just wanted to expand my Apple ecosystem with a portable Laptop.
The air is more than enough for you , I would say going to the pro for a student would only be useful if you're wanting to edit videos or create music maybe play really intense games.
@@aarif1202a Okey, really glad to hear that! I was starting to worry since it seemed as if everyone said "don't buy the Air, the Pro is better, and the only really option", and that the Air just was good for looking at.
@@drano1614 definitely not. If you're not editing or intense gaming and don't think you ever will , pocket the couple hundred you saved and use it for something else. As a student I doubt you would even use the air to it's full potential so there is no worry in it not being good enough for YOUR needs.
It's not just "good enough," it's a GREAT computer for those tasks. If you don't absolutely need to render videos/edit photos etc., you're wasting your money on a Pro.
I know it's off topic but my one month old 2020 Mac Book Pro 16 inch just died 3 hours ago, just like an old dog in his sleep (simply would not reboot). My 2017 M.B.P. is bloated with an expanded battery, bent housing and detaching bottom plate but still works. I just love the APPLE family, so much fun and joy - - - ness! Spent the last couple of hours with APPLE Service just to get a pick up organised. APPLE Japan told me not travel to an APPLE outlet (Covid 19). That phone call went to 3 different Countries with 3 different operators because I am based in Japan right now and nobody seems to really know how to handle a clapped out brand new computer. I am totally APPLED out.
This is a long debate already guys that is why it is called Macbook Air means for light use or minimum users while the Pro is for professional users or heavy loads of used!
MacBook Air seems pretty decent for that price, 1,299 I mean. I would use it for development, it should suit me just fine. No crazy gaming, nor video editing. Just text input. Nothing more. Furthermore, with corporate discount I can even max it out to 16 gb of RAM.
I was watching this video last night with an upgraded air on the way (core i5 16gb ram 256 gb ssd), halfway through the vid I decided that I was on the fence and you pushed me to the other side. I just bought the pro (10 gen i5 16gb ram 512gb, the “higher end” 13 inch)
Good review but how can dismiss or ignore the fact that the MacBook Air has a considerably dimmer screen than the Pro?? People spend hours looking at the screen and it isnt even mentioned.
Hi, I am a sound engineer in a professional studio. I can see and hear Macbook Pro is a little better in sound and camera quality. I am positive. However, both should connect to the real speaker if one wants to listen to music in full sound frequency. Both are impossible to produce in full range.
Hi Luke, I have a base model 2020 retina MacBook Air and it is so awesome, I love it so much, I have had it For almost a year now and it is still fast!
This idea just occurred to me - if Apple adds under-screen Touch ID to iPhones eventually, what stops them from adding “four finger authentication” to Touch Bars? Completely agreed that the TouchBar provides questionable benefit. I’ve been using a 16” Macbook Pro and really miss easily accessibly keyboard brightness keys. Improved security might make the TouchBar more worth it. Edit: Lmao. Best benchmark video by far.
I currently have a MacBook Air (late 2018) model and have done so much review watching between iMac MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (will probably trade in the Air) if I get the Pro.
Hello. At the moment, MacBook Air 2017. I am considering buying either a MacBook Air 2020 with 512 GB of disk space, or a MacBook Pro with 256 GB of disk space. The tasks are simple: watching movies, listening to music, converting music and movies. Downloading from the Internet. I would like to know your opinion which is still better.
Great video. I have a 2019 iMac and a 2015 MacBook. I want to ungraded my laptop to do the occasional FCP editing and stay portable for movies, surfing etc. I was thinking about the Air, but your video has made me rethink this.
I think the current 2020 Macbook Pro is more damage control than actually an update. Probably a big update coming this year where they won’t have to mention the keyboard change anymore.
Thanks to Ahmed’s comment and this video, I will opt for the baseline mb pro and just upgrade the memory. It’s still not yet available where I am (Thailand). I am a science and match teacher, doing online lessons. Schools in my country won’t open until at least July. I finally felt it was time to upgrade from my 2007 MacBook. I was worried about the MBA i5 getting hot and I still need to make my lessons visually appealing. No michael bay type special effects, but something better than a talking clip art.
food for thought. wouldn’t the speaker sound be better on the air because it’s thinner so the sound has less material to travel through. the speakers may really be the same in both devices but the thickness of the pro slightly distorts the quality. idk tho
I am happy with my 13" Lenovo Yoga 740. Saved myself a grip of money for the same things and I have a touch screen, a USB drive along with 2 USB C. finger print reader... as well as a metal chases and a better screen. That being said for me personally a Macbook Pro would do the job for me although the speaker thing is interesting.
To have more accurate comparison in the cam quality, I would advice to have them both at the same location and looking at the same direction. Light can affect cameras, a lot. Especially poor quality ones like the ones in these laptops. For the life of me I Can't figure out why Apple doesn't spent a few more cents to get better cameras. They are just bad. BTW, I love your sarcasm. :) Great video.
I had both, 2020 base M1 beats 2019 with ease. Don't get wrong, the 2019 was a good machine but it got hot easy. I didn't do any extensive tasks either, I just did college work. I would recommend a refurbished 2020 M1 over a new 2019.
I’m in the market for a new laptop specifically a new MacBook, I’m considering getting a used 2016 or 2017 MacBook 12 in I’m also considering the 2020 MacBook Air base model with the i5 upgrade, as I get 10% student discount, what does everyone think?
