MKBHDS video review

[Sammy in SoCal]

MKBHD’s review finally debuted today and…..nothing new that hasn’t been already said. It took him 3-4 days to pump out this review after everyone else. DAVE2D and Max Tech were better than his.

Mkbhd went over the same points already discussed. Midnight fingerprint magnet, ssd 256gb slow issue, and yes the thermals suck compared to the regular pro and made the suggestion to buy the 2k laptop for prolonged sustained workflows. Yawn.

 

[ian87w]

Well, duh. When Apple send a review unit to any of these youtubers, they also got a "review guide," the main marketing points they should hit. Add on the trend of what others are saying, you have to say similar things as well so you will be in the milieu. That's why for these reviews, I'm starting to lean towards Maxtech as they do their extensive benchmarks and comparison tests with other models.

I still enjoy MKBHD videos for their production value. But review wise, it's clear that he's bored doing small tech reviews like laptops and smartphones. He seems to be more interested in looking into robotics and cars.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Why is this a big deal? The guy is a YouTuber who gets special treatment from Apple.

 

[ian87w]

I rewatch MKBHD's video again, and... I still think his opinion is better than most other youtubers.

When talking about the pros and cons, including the slow SSD, most other youtubers will simply follow Apple and blame the user. Aka you only buy the base MBA if you are a basic user, or why you do extensive things on this Air. Things like that.

I like MKBHD's perspective. His opinion is, you should consider the M2 Macbook Air as a $1500 laptop, meaning that's the minimum you should get, and such you should consider that config to be the real base model, not the $1200 one. That's more apt. If you want cheaper, go with M1. If you want more, get the 14" Macbook Pro. Makes total sense, and with that logic, the M2 Macbook Air sits perfectly fine between the $1000 M1 MBA and $2000 14" MBP.

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

MKBHD’s review finally debuted today and…..nothing new that hasn’t been already said. It took him 3-4 days to pump out this review after everyone else. DAVE2D and Max Tech were better than his.

Mkbhd went over the same points already discussed. Midnight fingerprint magnet, ssd 256gb slow issue, and yes the thermals suck compared to the regular pro and made the suggestion to buy the 2k laptop for prolonged sustained workflows. Yawn.

What were you expecting? Were you looking for some top secret information about the product that no one else has had access to?

 

[cosmogrammar]

I rewatch MKBHD's video again, and... I still think his opinion is better than most other youtubers.

When talking about the pros and cons, including the slow SSD, most other youtubers will simply follow Apple and blame the user. Aka you only buy the base MBA if you are a basic user, or why you do extensive things on this Air. Things like that.

I like MKBHD's perspective. His opinion is, you should consider the M2 Macbook Air as a $1500 laptop, meaning that's the minimum you should get, and such you should consider that config to be the real base model, not the $1200 one. That's more apt. If you want cheaper, go with M1. If you want more, get the 14" Macbook Pro. Makes total sense, and with that logic, the M2 Macbook Air sits perfectly fine between the $1000 M1 MBA and $2000 14" MBP.

It was interesting that he seemed to be saying, don't get anything less than 512GB for the storage. The opinion I've seen around (and what I've been planning on doing) is to upgrade to 16GB of RAM before going for the upgraded SSD storage. I use cloud storage for everything & don't push my computer *that* hard for the most part, so 16GB seemed to make sense for me, but this makes me wonder if I should go the other way.

 

[ian87w]

It was interesting that he seemed to be saying, don't get anything less than 512GB for the storage. The opinion I've seen around (and what I've been planning on doing) is to upgrade to 16GB of RAM before going for the upgraded SSD storage. I use cloud storage for everything & don't push my computer *that* hard for the most part, so 16GB seemed to make sense for me, but this makes me wonder if I should go the other way.

I think it's because the 8/512 is the preconfigured mode at $1500. You have to BTO to get 16GB of RAM. Most people will simply get the preconfigured model and they'll be the one that's most available in retail stores. In any case, his recommendation that if you want less, simply to go for the M1 Air.

In the end, you have to make your own decision based on your needs and budgets. Just be aware of the caveat of reduced SSD performance on models with 256GB SSD.

 

[thadoggfather]

MKBHD’s review finally debuted today and…..nothing new that hasn’t been already said. It took him 3-4 days to pump out this review after everyone else. DAVE2D and Max Tech were better than his.

Mkbhd went over the same points already discussed. Midnight fingerprint magnet, ssd 256gb slow issue, and yes the thermals suck compared to the regular pro and made the suggestion to buy the 2k laptop for prolonged sustained workflows. Yawn.

im wondering why the delay too.

the intro with the M/M2 key thing was clever, but even then he's had way higher production intro's.

I liked the content though, he had some bold takes: get the 1499 one or nada, or get an M1 Air or M1 Pro 14"
and only lukewarm about the Midnight. Pricing is deceptive and the 256gb halved speeds isnt great.

But it was very much like a quick wrap of a review. was expecting greatness

 

[Cryates]

Love Marques, but I can’t help but feel like he was bored with this review video. These small tech reviews are probably his most-viewed videos, but in talent, his team is beyond this type of content at this point.

 

[ninethirty]

After everyone complained about moaned about iJustine and all the other "shills," MKBHD basically says the same thing as they all did, just with less enthusiasm.

Hilarious.

 

[ian87w]

After everyone complained about moaned about iJustine and all the other "shills," MKBHD basically says the same thing as they all did, just with less enthusiasm.

Hilarious.

Of course since he had a guide to follow, but he still provided a better perspective than other YouTubers. Basically we should simply see the $1500 model as the actual base M2 MacBook Air. If we want less, we should get the M1 MacBook Air instead. Kinda makes sense to me. I don’t think there are any YouTuber that had that perspective. Most of them simply blame the consumer, “you’re using it wrong.”

 

[ninethirty]

Of course since he had a guide to follow, but he still provided a better perspective than other YouTubers. Basically we should simply see the $1500 model as the actual base M2 MacBook Air. If we want less, we should get the M1 MacBook Air instead. Kinda makes sense to me. I don’t think there are any YouTuber that had that perspective. Most of them simply blame the consumer, “you’re using it wrong.”

No he didn't. He said the same things everyone else said. There was no new or better perspective.

But I want to understand something here. You think people require a dude on YouTube to say "If you want less, buy the cheaper MacBook Air that's still available?" That's the quality that MKBHD brings vs the "shills?" I've made some terrible career choices then. To think that I could have been a multi millionaire for being able to express common sense on camera. Oof.

 

[ian87w]

To think that I could have been a multi millionaire for being able to express common sense on camera. Oof.

Err, how do you think people making money from self help books, motivational speakers, etc? Common sense is a rarity these days that they are that valuable. Some people are just smarter than us that they capitalize on that.

 

[filmbuff]

I wish all the reviewers who mention the slow SSD speed would give an example of what effect that has in real life. Like he said it might slow down if it's using a bunch of swap file, but how much will it slow down? I'd like to see a demonstration of when that would happen and how much it slows down by.

 

[MTD's Mac]

I don't know, I thought MKBHD's review did a little better job than most others in discussing the position of the M2 Air in the lineup, and confirmed some things others had reported (fingerprints, slow SSDs on base models, thermal throttling). I also thought the 5-minute threshold for throttling was a helpful insight. Since I rarely do 5-minute tasks, I'm going to stop worrying about that particular aspect.

Each major YouTuber sort of has their Apple produce review niche. Max Tech does benchmarks (not very interesting to me, personally), iJustine focuses on aesthetics and user experience, MKBHD does big picture overviews. And there's always some overlap. Watch the channels you find useful, skip the rest.

 

[Cryates]

I watched the Marques video again and I think it's better content than I initially thought - He goes more in-depth than I thought he did in my initial watch, and was more positive on the product than I initially thought. His only actual complaint is the price, which is totally fair.

 

[bbfc]

I liked his review. It seems more in depth and he questioned the price tag (and called it a $1500 laptop, because really the 512 GB should be the standard), which is fair as this thing is definitely over priced.

 

[EastHillWill]

I liked his review. It seems more in depth and he questioned the price tag (and called it a $1500 laptop, because really the 512 GB should be the standard), which is fair as this thing is definitely over priced.

You think so? I don’t think it’s OVERpriced at the 1200 base or 1500 upgrade level, but rather where it should be given how it’s positioned. It’s a premium, everyday laptop from Apple which should last many years. I do however think the top-end models are overpriced, largely due to these massive memory price hikes from one level to another. I’m not sure anyone should spend 2000-2500 for an MBA. That seem…unwise. Although I guess if you need that much memory in a highly portable form factor 🤷‍♂️

 

[bbfc]

You think so? I don’t think it’s OVERpriced at the 1200 base or 1500 upgrade level, but rather where it should be given how it’s positioned. It’s a premium, everyday laptop from Apple which should last many years. I do however think the top-end models are overpriced, largely due to these massive memory price hikes from one level to another. I’m not sure anyone should spend 2000-2500 for an MBA. That seem…unwise. Although I guess if you need that much memory in a highly portable form factor 🤷‍♂️

Definitely. The upgrade prices are ridiculous. With a few upgrades you get in to MBP territory, which is crazy.

 

[EastHillWill]

Definitely. The upgrade prices are ridiculous. With a few upgrades you get in to MBP territory, which is crazy.

Definitely agree on the upgrade prices. The margins they make on every memory upgrade are incredible. That’s a billion dollar company in and of itself!

 

[vadimyuryev]

I wish all the reviewers who mention the slow SSD speed would give an example of what effect that has in real life. Like he said it might slow down if it's using a bunch of swap file, but how much will it slow down? I'd like to see a demonstration of when that would happen and how much it slows down by.

Here you go. Here's the multitasking section of our M2 MBP vs M1 MacBook Air video:

 

[ian87w]

I wish all the reviewers who mention the slow SSD speed would give an example of what effect that has in real life. Like he said it might slow down if it's using a bunch of swap file, but how much will it slow down? I'd like to see a demonstration of when that would happen and how much it slows down by.

Maxtech already showed it. It doesn’t take much. That’s imo unacceptable for a $1200 laptop. Apple is stingy enough giving a $1200 just 8GB of RAM, they neuter it further by cutting the SSD performance in half by using single NAND chip. Really bad combo since swap will happen with such low RAM.

If you just need to have one app open at a time, might as well just get an iPad.

 

[ian87w]

Definitely. The upgrade prices are ridiculous. With a few upgrades you get in to MBP territory, which is crazy.

That’s intentional. Upsize your happy meal just for a few dollars more. In the end, Apple would prefer you to spend $2000 on the MacBook Pro.

 

[ninethirty]

That’s intentional. Upsize your happy meal just for a few dollars more. In the end, Apple would prefer you to spend $2000 on the MacBook Pro.

Let's be more specific though. While Apple certainly isn't going to limit options for upgrading and making more money if one is intent on spending it, if you're trying to spec out an air to do what a MBP does, yeah, they want you to lean towards a MBP instead. You should want to lean towards a MBP instead.

This isn't some evil conspiracy by a greedy company looking to deceive us all.

 

[Zest28]

Maxtech already showed it. It doesn’t take much. That’s imo unacceptable for a $1200 laptop. Apple is stingy enough giving a $1200 just 8GB of RAM, they neuter it further by cutting the SSD performance in half by using single NAND chip. Really bad combo since swap will happen with such low RAM.

If you just need to have one app open at a time, might as well just get an iPad.

You are probably joking, but my M1 12.9 iPad Pro is officially my M2 MBA replacement now.

I’m now waiting for next year and see what the 3nm M3 MBA will bring.