MacBook Buying Guide for 2025 — Air or Pro?

MacBook Buying Guide for 2025.

So now that we have
the MacBook Air with the M4 chip,

we have the M4 Pros,
the M4 Maxes, and stuff like that.

Basically, we have the whole line-up.

I wanted to go through what I think

are the ones worth buying,

which ones are maybe--

Maybe you should avoid.

And sort of just going through

which one you should buy

based on

what you're going to use the machine for,

because I think pretty much

all of the MacBooks for sale, right now,

from Apple brand new,

are all good buys.

Now, of course,

some of them are better buys than others,

which I wanted to go through in this video.

So I have a bunch of MacBooks here.

I have the 13 inch Air,

I have the 15 inch Air,

this 15 inch Air, by the way,

it's it's an older model,

it's M2,

but I just have it here

for demonstration purposes

to show you the size difference, basically.

And then I have 14 inch Pro,

I don't have a 16 inch Pro on hand,

but just imagine this but a bit bigger

and a bit thicker.

I have a table here,

which I'll put on screens

that you guys can see.

In the table,

I have the MacBook Air 13 inch,

the MacBook Air 15 inch,

the MacBook Pro 14 inch with the M4 chip,

the MacBook Pro 14 inch
with the M4 Pro chip

and the MacBook Pro 16 inch
with the M4 Pro chip.

So all of these are the base models.

I am primarily going to be covering
the base models.

Now, when it comes to sort of upgrading

the base models

with different options and stuff,

of course, there is the so-called
Apple tax, right?

They do charge a premium

for upgrading the models.

So I would highly recommend actually

trying to stick with the base models

as much as possible

and then only upgrading

if you absolutely need to

on unified memory and storage.

Because right now

what makes the Air models

so, so good value

is that they've lowered the price,

Apple have lowered the price,

which is unheard of,

they never lower the prices
of their products.

They have lowered the price of the M4 Air,

both the 13 inch and the 15 inch.

You can now save $100 on them.

So it starts as $1,000.

At $1,000, the M4 Air really is

absolutely incredible value.

I can't state enough

how good value this is.

This is one of the best value laptops, period.

I don't know why

you would consider anything else

when you're looking for a laptop

around the thousand dollar mark.

It also has now
the upgraded unified memory.

So before, 8 GB was the minimum.

Now, it's 16 GB.

And let me tell you,

I've been using this over the last week

for all of my work,

and I've kind of just realised that 16 GB,

even for the heavy stuff that I do,

is fine.

If it's fine for me,

with what I'm doing,

video editing, photo editing,

sort of heavy stuff,

then for everyone else

who's doing a lot less intensive stuff,

they are going to be completely fine.

This is out of all of the MacBooks,

I think, out of everything in the line-up,

this is the best value MacBook

you can get right now.

However,

if you're not interested in a MacBook,

bit of a sidetrack here,

if you're not intered in a MacBook,

and you have a monitor,

you have a keyboard and mouse,

this is actually the best value Mac.

This is the Mac Mini with M4 chip.

Yeah, if you don't need a MacBook,

and you're happy to have
your computer on a desk

connected to an external monitor

or whatever else,

then yeah, this is the best value.

But considering that you're paying $1,000

and you're getting a display,

a keyboard, mouse,

everything all in this one package

which you can carry around,

which is also incredibly thin,

blows me away every time,

when I look at this thing,

how thin it is.

It is so, so thin.

It's just insane.

Yeah, this is by far
the best value machine.

With the base model M4 Air,

you get the 10-core CPU

and the 8-core GPU.

But if you do upgrade to the 15 inch Air,

you get the 10-core CPU

and the 10-core GPU.

So you get two extra GPU cores
with the 15 inch Air.

But with the 15 inch Air,

the only reason you would choose this

is for the larger screen size.

I don't think there is anything else
really going for it,

because you are paying $200 extra

for the larger screen size.

I think this actually makes it

one of the worst value MacBooks
in the line-up,

but that doesn't mean it's bad.

It's like saying

all of them are amazing

and one is just less amazing
than the other.

That's the way it is.

So yeah, if you really want that 15 inch size,

and you don't want
the 16 inch MacBook Pro,

which is quite bulky and big and thick,

then yeah, it probably makes sense.

Maybe it might make sense for you

to spend that $200

to go for the 15 inch Air.

I think either of the MacBook Airs

are great for anyone

who is just doing simple day-to-day stuff

like you're browsing the web,

you're maybe editing
the odd video here and there

doing some odd photo editing,

spreadsheets, documents,

anything like that.

This is going to be
completely fine for you.

Because I've been using it for the past week,

it has made me realise

how this pretty much covers 80 to 90%

of what I need it to do.

I'm only paying the extra

with these sort of M4 Pro, M4 Pro Max,

the 14 inch MacBook Pro.

Just so that the sort of
10, 20% frustration

that I get from this

is handled by these machines.

That's really it.

The other limiting factor with these

is that you do only have
two Thunderbolt ports.

They are Thunderbolt 4, which is good.

You have two Thunderbolt ports

and obviously you have
the MagSafe charging,

which is nice.

So you can still have the two ports free

while you are charging the device.

There is, of course, a headphone jack,

but maybe it would have been nice

to have maybe an extra Thunderbolt port.

But I think a lot of people

who are buying a machine like this

probably aren't actually connecting it up

to many peripherals very often.

So I can see why they have
two Thunderbolt ports in here,

it's probably enough for most people.

Battery life on these machines
is up to 18 hours

depending on your usage.

And yeah, you will have
no issue whatsoever

going through a full day

without having to connect it up to power.

Unless you're doing something
like super heavy,

like video editing or something like that.

Most people are going
to be able to go a full day

without having to connect to power.

And that's the experience
that I've been having

with these two machines.

If you do feel like you need
to upgrade the storage

on either of the Airs,

I would think very, very carefully,

I would think very hard

about how often

and how much storage do you actually need

and is it worth instead

buying an external SSD, an external drive.

Because you can get drives

which are much thinner than this,

This is quite thick,

but you can get drives,

which are much thinner

that can just fit in a bag or whatever,

fit in your pocket

and you can have extra storage

without having to pay the sort of
premium Apple tax,

because they're charging $200

each time you wanna upgrade the storage,

which is a lot of money.

For $200,

you can get a 2 TB
external drive no issues,

and you'll be completely fine
with these machines.

---So think very, very hard

if you do actually need
to upgrade the storage

because I don't think it is worth it

unless you have a very specific use case.

Next up, bang in the middle of the line-up,

is the MacBook Pro 14 inch
with the M4 chip,

not the M4 Pro chip but the M4 chip,

the same chip that you get in the Airs.

That model goes for $1,599.

You get 16 GB of unified memory

and you get 512 GB of SSD storage.

But there are some other benefits
to that model.

You get three Thunderbolt 4 ports,

so an extra port compared
to the standard Airs,

you get an SD card slot,

and you get an HDMI port.

So there's a lot more connectivity

when it comes to the 14 inch.

But the 14 inch is thicker and heavier.

I have the 14 inch here.

And yeah, it's such a big difference

compared to the 13 inch.

The 13 inch is so light.

This is actually quite bulky,

even though it's not even a 16 inch.

This is a 14 inch.

I don't have any issues carrying it with me,

when I'm travelling,

when I'm going on holiday,

when I'm going for any work trips
or anything like that.

It's not an issue carrying it.

And it's also my personal favourite,

the 14 inch size.

For me it makes a lot more sense.

I actually think the 16 inch
is too big for me,

especially because if I do need
the extra screen estate,

I usually just connect it
to an external monitor.

The other huge benefit
of the 14 inch Pro

over the Air

is the better display.

You get 120 Hz has ProMotion display,

which is like Mini LED.

It's big significant difference

compared to the Air.

It also is double the brightness.

The Air is a 500 nits in brightness,

but the 14 inch Pro goes
to a 1,000 nits in brightness

and that's sustained.

It can even go up to 1,600

when you're watching HDR your content.

So if you plan to use your laptop outside

and maybe in brightly lit rooms

like cafes or whatever else,

yeah, that can actually make
a big, big difference.

Just being able to see
what you're working on.

The battery life as well is 6 hours more

compared to the Airs.

Naturally, because it's a thicker machine

they can fit a thicker battery in it.

So if you are someone
who wants better battery life,

who wants a better screen,

who wants the ports and stuff like that,

but you're happy with the performance
of an M4 chip,

this is, I think, actually
pretty worth the upgrade.

I think $1,599 that it goes,

I think that is actually
a good price for it.

In the past,

I wouldn't have recommended the laptop

in the middle of the line-up,

but right now,

if you don't wanna spend $2,000

going up to the M4 Pro machines,

yeah, $1,600 dollars,

I think this is really good value.

You're getting a lot

more sort of Pro features

compared to the standard Air.

And then the 14 inch Pro

with the M4 Pro chip,

it goes for $2,000.

So you are spending $400 more
compared to the one below it,

which just has the M4 chip.

But you do get the M4 Pro chip

and as a name suggests,

that's a Pro chip, Pro-level chip,

you also get 24 GB of unified memory.

So 16 GB ,

16 GB, 16 GB,

but 24 GB,

when you go up to this model.

So for the $400 extra,

you're essentially

getting the same design, the same chassis,

all the same ports and everything,

but you're getting the M4 Pro chip

and you're getting 24 GB
of unified memory.

Again, that's actually,

I think, worth the money.

I think that's worth the price that it goes for.

For $2,000,

it's a Pro-level machine,

people who are buying this machine

are usually buying it

for specific use cases,

which are probably tied to their job

or tied to them making money

in some way or another.

So it really is incredible value, I think.

I think

if you're someone

who does sort of any video editing,

AI work,

photo editing or anything like that,

this is the best value machine

this is what this machine is perfect for.

I think the only reason

you'd be going up to the M4 Max chips

is if you're looking for very heavy stuff.

But I think

people who are interested in those chips

already know what they need

and what they want.

They already have a good idea

of how capable the machines are.

They're simply just adding
incremental things

that will make a difference
to their workflow.

The base model, M4 Pro chip

has the 12 core CPU

and the 16 core GPU,

so it is a big jump up

from the standard M4,

which has a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU.

Yeah, the GPU cores, especially,

will make a big difference

for any sort of just art-related stuff

and video-related stuff,

it just makes a big difference.

You also have the Media Engine and stuff.

But I think they all have Media Engines now.

As far as I can remember,

I don't have it written down here.

The battery life, though,
is less compared to the M4

because it's M4 Pro,

it obviously uses more power,

but it's around 2 hours less,

so 22 hours,

24 hours, 22 hours.

22 hours is still a lot.

You're going to be fine
throughout the day.

I think, though,

if you're someone
who does heavy video editing,

from my experience,

when I've been video editing on this,

on the M4 Pro

or the M4 Max,

any of those chips,

it lasts around 4 to 6 hours.

That's all I'm doing for those hours.

So that can kill battery life
very, very quickly.

But with these machines,

you do get the upgraded
power supply as well,

the charger,

which charges the machines quicker

than it does the Air models.

I think Air models,

you can choose

between like 35 or 60 watt.

But with these, I think they're like 70

and 96

and even 140 watts

for the 16 inch models.

So you do have

the upgraded power supplies,

which makes it easier

to keep them topped up.

This is my personal favourite,

so my machine actually

has the M4 max chip.

It also has upgraded unified memory

and it has upgraded storage

up to four terabytes.

So I paid a big premium

for that for terabytes,

even though it starts at a 512.

I have a very specific

use case for my work

and for everything I do.

This is worth the upgrade because

basically my work will easily pay for it.

Like it just easily, easily pays for it.

Like this

is just actually quite a small expense

considering how much

work I can get done on it

and how much it helps my business.

I also much prefer the 14 inch size

over the 16 inch size

because I travel quite a lot for work

and I'm getting around a lot.

I just prefer the small form factor

over the 16 inch.

It just makes more sense for me.

And I think this design is all I it's,

it's pretty much perfect.

It obviously would be nice

if it was thinner, like the air,

but then you're

not going to get the thermal

and output capacity

and the better sort of magical voice.

But this is an incredible machine.

Like this is so, so good.

And I've been very, very happy

since I bought it in October, November,

whenever the M4 line of chips

came into the market price.

Next up is a 16 inch.

So I have a 16 inch here,

but the 16 inch MacBook

Pro starts at $2,499.

It has the M4 project,

but it's actually an upgraded version

of the one that's in the 14 inch pro.

So instead of a 12 core CPU,

you get a 14 core CPU and it's over 16

GB, you get to 20 core CPU,

everything else stays the same.

So you still get the 24

gigabytes of unified memory,

the 512 gigabytes of SSD storage,

the screen and everything's all the same,

but obviously it's just bigger.

You get a 16 in size,

16 inches is big guys

like I've used a 16 inch

and it is massive.

Like it's much bigger than you expect.

Like this already looks quite big.

The 15 inch and 16 inches

ozone hole is bigger,

so it definitely makes a big difference

if you're someone who does work

a lot on the go

and you don't have access

to an external display

on a regular basis,

I do think the 16 inch

just makes the most sense.

Also, if you're someone

who's doing a lot of heavy

sort of graphic intensive

CPU intensive work

and you need to upgrade the chip

to like the M4 max or whatever

it might be,

Yeah, it just makes a big difference.

I think that machine is mostly

the top dog for a reason,

but you are paying top dollar

for it as well.

The other benefit of that machine

because it's bigger,

you also have a bigger battery,

so the battery does last longer

and you also get the Hunter

40 wall charger

so it can charge you more quickly.

The 16 inch is definitely much more

just targeted towards the price

for the price that you're paying.

Everything that you get

with that machine.

I think

most people

who are probably interested in 16 inch

probably aren't even watching this video.

They know a lot more.

The sort of technical

output of that machine.

But I think for people

who are watching this video,

you're probably more interested

in sort of the as in the process.

So based on the price

and comparing them

and seeing what makes sense

for you,

by the way, for anyone interested

in the difference between space,

black space, grey and silver,

I have all three colours here.

So we have space,

black space, grey and silver.

I am of course

biased towards space, black.

I just think it looks incredible here.

I feel like they almost

look very similar.

The space grey in the space black,

but in person,

like the space black

is definitely darker.

It's hard to show on camera really.

Maybe at this angle you guys can see

depending on the light on the machine,

you can see how much it changes.

And then there's the silver.

I actually like the silver

more than I expected.

I think it looks really clean.

Like I said earlier,

if you're going to get

any of these machines,

think very hard about

if you need to upgrade the unified memory

and the storage.

I think the unified memory right now

across all the machines is pretty good.

16 gigabytes on the as

is is more than enough for most people.

I think, like I said,

for the edge cases like that

ten, 20% edge cases,

you might need to upgrade

to the other machines,

but you've got to really think about it.

A lot of people who also buying

this machines

want them to last a long time.

So say you want to buy a MacBook

that lasts around five years or more.

Let's just say five years or more.

I think all of them

are actually a good choice,

which is insane to say

any MacBook

that you choose in the Line-Up,

any of the base models

are all going to last five years or more.

I've had personal MacBook

ads like older ones

last ten years, which is just outrageous.

I've had to change the battery

because the batteries have sort of died,

but it's easy to change the battery.

MacBooks are designed

to last a long time,

so don't worry too much about, you know,

is it

going to feel whole

in like a year or two?

It will not.

Like I think these machines

are going to last

for five or six years quite easily.

I would also think about these machines

as an investment.

So I've written down a few things here.

How much time will it help you save

all the

any current

frustrations that you have

with your current laptop

that it might solve?

Will it help you make money

or get your job done quicker?

I think that one is a very important one

because if a machine is going to help

you make money

or get your job done quicker,

then surely it's worth the investment.

How much would you use it every day

and what are you going to use it for?

So very much.

Do think about these as investments.

Don't think of them as toys.

I think a lot of people think all that,

but it's just a fancy toy, whatever.

No, no, no, no.

Like I think

especially the pro models,

think of them as investments.

Think of them as

how are they going to help

you day to day,

how they're going to help you

with your work, with your job,

with making money, all this stuff.

The reason why I'm happy to spend

three or four or $5,000

on a MacBook

for myself is because I know for my work

and for what I do that is well worth it.

That's actually a very small cost

in the grand scheme of things,

of how much I make.

Like it's

just a very small investment,

but it's such a good investment

so very much.

Do you think of it like that?

Also something I would highly recommend.

If you don't care about

getting the latest or greatest,

look at the older models.

Look at M2

Chair, one and three chip,

especially the pro machines

and the MAX machines.

Those machines are still amazing

right now.

This machine in particular

here is actually the M1 Max

and it is still ridiculously powerful,

like it still handles

pretty much everything I throw at it.

I've upgraded to the M4

max specifically

just for like the storage,

the unified memory.

But like

when you look at the older models

with those chips in them,

they're also still going to

last three, four or five years.

Like they're so, so powerful.

And you can save a lot of money

by going for one of those models.

Whether it be on Apple's

refurbished section,

they do have a refurbished section

on the website

which actually updates daily.

So when you see products on there

that you know, you've got to be quick

to go quite quickly,

Obviously you can look on

like Amazon, eBay

for renewed

or refurbished models for older models

because they usually going

for quite a heavy discount.

And if you want to save some money

and you don't care about Cezanne later,

so great is nice.

Such a good way to save a lot of money.

So just to quickly wrap up,

if you're someone who's doing

books on the work

board, processing Excel stuff

and you just need to

maybe the odd sort of video

editing or photo

editing, the ads are great,

but you, like these

machines are fantastic.

If you're someone who's looking

for a pro-level machine,

I think you really know the answer.

You know,

if you're someone who's doing very heavy

video editing,

AI work,

photo editing,

whatever it might be,

then you have the pros of the

IT make sense

Right now,

I don't think any other machines

are bad value.

They're all really good value.

And, you know,

if you don't even need a MacBook,

you know, you still have the Mac Mini.

And he kept this up

to like a display or whatever.

And you still have great value here.

It's just

really impressive to me

that Apple are now at the stage

where all of their machines

are pretty much good value

upgrading them.

Maybe it's a great value,

but the machines themselves,

the base models

that will will great machines.

Make sure to check out

one of my other videos.

I've done videos on the best

Mac displays for Macs right now.

If you want to connect it

to an X on display.

I've also done a mac accessories video.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed it.

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