M3 MacBook Air: Time to upgrade? 

Photographer here, m2 air, clicked to see if I need to upgrade to m3. Thanks for saving me some money :)

I have a 2016 15 inch MacBook Pro that pulled me through high school and university. Back then I had to do a few projects involving some simple video editing so I went for the “Pro” at the time for power. But honestly these M chip MacBook airs are probably way more powerful than the intel chip MacBook Pros from back then that I think the MacBook Pro isn’t necessary for students nowadays that might only need a bit of power for light video work.

The plus side of Apple rolling out new chips so fast is that the M1 Pro and Max MacBooks are starting to go for crazy good prices used now

I got an M1 two weeks ago ,love. Great battery ,great screen ,great iconic shape, love it. See no need for anything else . People go crazy running after the newest thing . The new Mac Air is just slightly faster than the M2 iteration .

Buy a refurbished M2 with 16gb ram.

Shout out to that halogen lamp in the back. Bring the 90s back!!!

Watching this video using Macbook Pro i7 16GB 2011 (Upgraded to SSD and OpenCore) here. lol I'm glad I'm not rushing to buy M1 now that M3 are available.

Upgraded from a 2015 13in Pro 16GB/512GB to a 15in Air M3 24GB/1TB. So far so good. It’s nice to have a computer has some meat on her bones.

M1 Air with 8GB of RAM - agree with your assessment of whether it’s “enough”. LR and Resolve projects work well enough for about an hour, but eventually start to chug. LR especially likes to build a very large cache if you’re batching out RAW. Anyone beyond a “dabbler” in those kinds of apps would do well to look to the Pro series or make sure to budget for the RAM upgrade.

Interesting. I use my M1 7 core GPU Air with an external 4K 60Hz display and I've never had any issues. Runs everything super smooth. My previous laptop could handle 2 displays along with the internal one, but only does 4K at 30Hz 😬🤷‍♂

Man this was a solid review. Level headed, and real use case to the point. Thanks Tyler!

I have been using a 2014 MacBook Air since new. Just ordered a MacBook Air - M3 - 16GB - 512! I can’t wait haha

Wish he mentioned the specs of the M3 MBA he was using when it came to editing.

Anyone else notice this video is artificially sharp? For some reason I see Stalman's face is weirdly sharp.

I was thining of getting M2 Air with 512GB storage because of slow SSD speed on the 256GB, but after reading some articles, I realized that M3 Air with 256GB has the same speed as 512GB, so I''m going for the base M3 Air 256GB. $100 cheaper than getting M2 Air with 512GB!

I recently replaced my 2015 15" MacBook Pro equipped with quad core i7 2,8-4,0GHz 16GB ram with M3 MBA 15" 16GB ram. Ran some tests and simple architectural rendering in Archicad is over 3,5 times faster. Web pages loads 2-3 times faster. Laptop is cool and lasts 4-5 times longer on battery compared to old model. I run some Windows x86 software via VMware fusion and windows 11 on ARM too so now it is perfect replacement. On old one fans could go wild even with simple tasks due to older CPU.

Hi I would like to state this... I am subscribed to a lot of tech review channels, I am in awe with your LR presets you apply to your videos. Your videos look soft on the eye and it has a calming effect. Please make a video on how you edit your videos giving detail on every step it would be a banger video. Ppl like your edits.

An audio guy in China found out the M3 Air basically has the audio performance of MacBook Pro, ie M3 now has the power to drive high-end headphones, which could be important to some.

Anyone who needs multiple displays is doing more intense type of work even if it;s just a lot of multi-tasking which is a major reason for multiple displays.

really glad you did this video... I'm HOLDING my breath for the M3 iPad pro, however I'm REALLY intrigued on the M3 MB Air. I know I know two different platforms. I edit now on a PC from 2016 and although it can easily edit my R5C 4k footage, It does bog down a bit with LR and C1 on both the R5C raw files and my newly acquired Hasselblad X1Dii. I plan to keep my PC for more of a archiving photos and video but I'm looking for that on the go simple yet powerful device. I think in the end handling them side by side I just really enjoy the iPad user experience. I'm literally refreshing apples website daily... I'm not worried about internal storage however If I get the iPad I would be ok with 512gb as I have a fast USB-C external 4TB

Thanks Tyler. Very helpful as always.

I bought an M2 as soon as M3’s were announced.

Flex that X100💪

20% faster than my M2 Air with 24 gigs of ram is not enough to warrant upgrading. I'll probablty go for the 2026 M7 Pro Max 17" Air.

I Have still in box m2 air 15 16/1tb bought at 1500. Should i return to get m3 15 air 16/512 at 1600? Slight improvement over M2 but i like thats 2 more years of OS support

Super helpful video, would love to see a M3 comparsion video!

With prices being the same - $2100 USD, should I get a refurbished 14 inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro (10 Core CPU, 16 Core GPU, 16GB RAM, 2TB SSD) or a new 15 inch M3 MacBook Air (8 Core CPU, 16 Core GPU, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD). I will be photo & video editing using 10-Bit Sony footage, luts, & plugins among other things like web browsing, watching videos, etc

aight cool, it's another macbook, but what's the sweet jacket you're wearing?

Why isn't anyone talking about the ssd speed of the 256gb version on the M3?

Thanks again for a great non-hyperbolic review that lays everything out perfectly. I'm still frozen between trying to decide if I was 16gb or the 512 SSD (to avoid getting that slower 256) for $200 more.

I bought the 15in for Christmas so i won't be buying a M3. Maybe by the time M5 I will be ready for a new computer

Want to upgrade my m1 air but extra 400 for 1tb storage and 200 for 16gb makes no sense. I hope base m4 Will have at least 12gb and 512 storage

MacBooks really need a bare minimum of 12gb of RAM because MacOS uses a lot of it. The problem with 8/256 is that the swap isn't that great either because of the single nand, so there really needs to be some changes. If they could do 12gb and 256gb with two 128gb nand chips that would significantly improve the base models.

By the time smartphones will be coming with 64GB RAM, Apple will still make base models with 8GB and charge $200 for another 8 gig. 256 SSD is also a joke.

How’s the midnight color holding up so far? Any scratches and chipping?

There are two more TSMC M3 variants coming with new technology.

People need to get over the two-display issue, which is no longer an issue. Get a Pro if that’s what you need; as indicated when talking about memory. And while on that topic, same thing, people need to get over it. Has memory pricing changed? It’s always $200 per level. Get it, or don’t. It’s your $. If at this point you don’t know how to save such as trade-in, refurb, business expense, or discounted gift cards, that’s on you.

$200 for 8GB more RAM or 256GB more storage is outrageous at a time when you can buy 2TB of the fastest and longest lasting NVME drives for less than $200.

I feel like this Air could totally replace my 2016 MBP with a 2.7Ghz quad-core Intel i7 and 16GB of RAM (which I still edit on), and that's wild to me. I used to totally avoid Airs because I didn't think they were powerful enough, but now that seems like it's changed. Time to upgrade?

What 4K footage you are testing?

it's called "greed". It’s one thing when you make an expensive product and include all the new technologies in it and for 5 years you can forget about updating the gadget. It’s another matter when they deliberately (artificially) stretch out modernization (including programmatically limiting the capabilities of equipment) in order to add some little thing every year and sell it to those who are ready to spend money on minor upgrades every year.

Still using a 2013 MacBook Pro…

Best colour is Space Grey

I brought this M3 after owning for 11 years a retina display late 2013 and I am feeling that I downgraded. You can't even connect 2 monitors.

Going from 8gb of ram to 16gb is literally a 20-25$ difference in parts. Going from a 256gb ssd to 512gb storage is 10-20$ in parts. The lowest price mac is not sustainable long term because it wears their ssds prematurely with constant swap usage. 8GB of ram is fine until you start using a few programs then you are back to slower swap memory. The prices of upgrades are soul crushing and prevent more widespread adoption. Raising the base sizes would solve all of those issues and people would pay for the difference.

Does the m3 have the same ssd nand issue with 256gb that m2 had?

8 gb of ram shared between cpu and gpu, at least for PC there was dedicated ram for cpu and gpu, however I do prefer unified memory but 8gb is a joke

JUST GOT A M2 REFURB WITH 16GB AND 512 SSD. worth possibly returning im still a couple days to get a m3 base model or should i just stick with this ?

Just bought the M3 15", how do I set it up with my two monitors? Do I need to get a DisplayLink that others have mentioned?

What camera do you use? The quality is insane

I'm still using my 13" Intel Macbook Pro (2017) and looking to finally upgrade this year. What I noticed is that right now, at least where I live, the 14" MBP M1 Pro and 13" Macbook Air M3 are the same price with the same configuration (16GB memory, 512GB SSD). Between the two, which one would you recommend more?

8gb not enough, I am struggling with my m1 air, with 20 tabs open on brave using swap around for 2gb.

I’d say if you have any of the M-series MacBooks (especially the Air) it’s not worth upgrading to the M3 Air.

Can someone with more technical experience than me explain why my crap 3 year old HP work laptop can handle two external monitors with the lid open but a brand new MacBook cannot? I don’t really need/use external monitors on my current MacBook setup and I’m planning to upgrade to the M3 MacBook anyway but I’m legitimately curious.

Its funny how every Tech RU-vidrs use video editing examples to show performance when 99% of regular people could give a rats ass about video editing.

8gb of ram is totally fine for 90% of people, that are not doing programming, video editing or anything that’s putting the fans on. If your air is heating up and slowing down, then the air is not the product for you…

The mac book pro allows SD card. does it realy make a big difference ? there are different ways to connect your camera to your laptop. thx

Base model good enough for a student?

I'm a Dell Windows user thinking of switching to the MacBook Air. Is it possible to still use the laptop's keyboard while using two external displays (with the laptop display off)?

Hey, I have been on the fence on getting a base macbook air. I usually work in figma will 8 gb be ok, for storage I am thinkng of buying an external ssd.

base model with 8gb ram and 256gb is a scam in 2024.

Recomiendas mejorar a 16ram o 512ssd ???

Will the M2 macbook air get dual monitor support in the future ?

I have a m2 13 inch in midnight but cannot bare the fingerprints on it, I’m going to trade it in and get 860$ would it be better to spend a 250$ extra to get the m3 in space black or get the m2 for only 100$ more. Although sounds dumb it’s a personal opinion.

Hey, Im planning to buy a computer to use for college, and I’ll probably have to use stuff like excel, do u think a MacBook is a good choice? Another think, I just use computer for basic things, I don’t have a lot of documents in it, which storage do you recommend? Thanks for the video

Anyone gonna talk about the base MBP also having 8gb of RAM? 🤣

Thumbs up to Apple for the amazing things they do. The iPhone 15 Pro has been a joy, using a cheap rig with cheap USB 3 hub and Shure MV 88+ mic to shoot ProRes Log. Sigh, wish I could like MacOS. Tidy file freak here, wish Apple would devote a tiny portion of its billions to find a way to keep those . dot and .tmp files hidden. Okay, slam me, I'm ready, but I don't think you'll manage to dent an 82-year-old who still thinks WordStar was the last and only real word processing app.

I can glue a 2Tb SSD to the back of the display, but as long as 16Gb RAM is an upgrade, I keep my wallet closed...

No point upgrading

I want to output on 2 monitors should I buy the M2 and get a dongle (if so which one) or just get the M3

Apple gaming relationships. You mean Epic Games right...

0:37 2023* ... again a poor mistake

M3 Pro Max base is $3,199 with ed discount. Just do it! Thank me later.

Tablets have 12gb of ram, wifi 7, Bluetooth 3.4, an amoled screen, 120hz, better speakers, while this laptop has none of these for a higher price. It s not time to upgrade, it s time to switch

this video should have been like 5 mins lol like very minor changes between m2 to m3.

What I want to know is if you’re reviewing the Fuji X100VI 😊

0:37 2023*

I don’t care if it can handle most things with 8GB of RAM for 256GB of storage it’s about Apple being so cheap!!! RAM and storage hasn’t been cheaper than it had been in the last few years.

The 256gb is the worse part. That isn't enough even for non power users. You fill that in a blink of an eye, and their upgrade price is a scam. No computer at this price should have 256gb of storage. It is a smartphone storage.

apple is a looter

well they already shit all over it with the release of m4, why even bother with m3 at all???

Just got my M2. Time to upgrade? LOL.