1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,000 Apple's MacBook Air is one of the bestselling laptops in the world and if 2 00:00:03,919 --> 00:00:10,480 anything, one of the most ubiquitous. You've seen one at a university. You've 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:17,359 seen one at a coffee shop. And today, we get another new MacBook Air. This is the 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:20,560 MacBook Air M4, now upgraded with, as I 5 00:00:17,359 --> 00:00:22,840 just said, M4, their latest and greatest 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:28,320 chip. Look at that. There's also, if you're seeing right here, this 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:33,440 sexy new color. What is this called? sky blue or something like that. Sky blue. 8 00:00:31,119 --> 00:00:38,160 Wow, that looks pretty sharp. Hey, I just need to mention here that this is 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:40,079 pretty much the same color as my M3 uh 10 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:44,879 which is Silverstone and they call it sky blue and it looks pretty much the 11 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:50,800 same. Just saying. Just saying. In the box here, we've got uh typical Apple 12 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,160 propaganda. I miss Apple stickers. I 13 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:56,160 know that they don't do them anymore, but I think honestly that's kind of a 14 00:00:53,920 --> 00:01:02,879 crime. We've got a sleeved MagS safe to USBC cable here, which is about this 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:05,920 long. And then a power brick. What is 16 00:01:02,879 --> 00:01:07,840 this 30watt USBC power adapter that 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:12,400 comes by default, but if you upgrade from the base model, which is what we 18 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,799 have here, you can get a 35 watt dual 19 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:18,240 USBC power brick or a 70 watt, which is the max charging rate that this thing 20 00:01:16,159 --> 00:01:23,040 can handle. Um, but by default, you get that 30. I like this because in like 21 00:01:21,119 --> 00:01:29,040 direct light and honestly on this top down camera this the color of this thing 22 00:01:25,439 --> 00:01:31,040 looks like almost OG just Mac gray 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:36,159 especially like there but then looking at it in person offaxis it looks it's 24 00:01:33,759 --> 00:01:41,119 super blue offaxis. Yeah, it really it doesn't show up well on camera but it 25 00:01:38,799 --> 00:01:49,200 genuinely is pretty blue. Now, right off the bat on the top here, this thing, as 26 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:51,680 far as I can see, is identical to last 27 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:56,240 generation. Uh, in terms of dimensions, in terms of weight, aside from the new 28 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:00,719 color, you could totally fool your friends saying, "Oh, I've got the new 29 00:01:57,759 --> 00:02:04,159 MacBook Air. It's so nice." Even the M2 look the same. So, there's not so much 30 00:02:02,079 --> 00:02:08,479 of that like I need to flex on my friends factor um these days with Apple, 31 00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:15,120 which is kind of interesting. Now, speaking of being identical, the IO is 32 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:16,800 also uh practically identical. 3.5 33 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:21,440 millimeter headphone jack on one side, two USBC ports, and the MagSafe charging 34 00:02:19,599 --> 00:02:27,920 port. Outsidewise, man, they might as well be the same laptop. But inside, 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:32,319 huh? Just kidding. It's also the same. We've got the same size trackpad, the 36 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:36,959 same size screen, the same specs on the screen, same resolution, same 37 00:02:34,239 --> 00:02:40,800 brightness, no high refresh rate, which h man, I really thought this year was 38 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:45,519 going to be the year, but no, we still have the same 60 Hz liquid retina 39 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:49,920 display that's around 500 nits brightness and not the fancier screens 40 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:54,720 from any of the MacBook Pros. No high refresh rate to be seen, unfortunately. 41 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:59,760 Now, in terms of what is inside the insides of this laptop, that new M4 chip 42 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:03,519 is coming with two more cores, which is pretty nice. Um, they're efficiency 43 00:03:01,519 --> 00:03:08,000 cores, so nothing too crazy in terms of performance buff, but you will seemingly 44 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,360 some amount of performance increase. There must be we'll get into the Labs 45 00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:16,159 testing in a bit. And then we're also getting a bit of a RAM bump, which is 46 00:03:14,159 --> 00:03:21,920 yes and no. Apple when they launched the M3 Air had an 8 gigabyte base model 47 00:03:19,519 --> 00:03:26,000 option uh which they later discontinued so that the base model was actually 16 48 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:29,519 gigs and didn't change the price. This new generation they're not making that 49 00:03:27,599 --> 00:03:34,159 same mistake again. The base model is 16 gigs but you can also go higher this 50 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:38,000 time around. So instead of the max being 24 gigs on the top spec model, you can 51 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:42,879 actually go all the way up to 32 which is a nice buff. It also technically has 52 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:48,640 a tiny bit bigger battery. you're talking like 1Wth hour difference. Uh, 53 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:52,319 and they don't rate the like listed battery performance any differently. And 54 00:03:50,799 --> 00:03:57,439 at least based on what I know from the M4 MacBook Pro, uh, the M4 chips tend to 55 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,640 draw a tiny bit more power. So, I suspect that's probably just trying to 56 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:05,760 compensate for that. Now, speaking of the M4 MacBook Pro, uh, compared to 57 00:04:03,519 --> 00:04:11,439 that, you're getting a lower starting storage, uh, 256 instead of 512. You're 58 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:14,640 getting two less GPU cores at base. It's only eight instead of 10. And then 59 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:19,120 you're also, like I mentioned before, getting a lower refresh rate, less 60 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:26,240 bright screen. That being said, it's a fair bit cheaper. This new laptop, 100 61 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:28,400 bucks less, $9.99 USD, which is still a 62 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:32,080 lot of money, don't get me wrong, but we're in a different era. I was talking 63 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:36,080 to Belle, our ShortCircuit producer, a little bit earlier. He's got an M1 64 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:39,520 MacBook Air. I'm like, aside from the looks and a couple other things 65 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:43,120 performance-wise, do you really desire for a new one? and he was like, "Me, 66 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:49,120 this laptop is going to last a long time." So that $1,000 US, while it is a 67 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:53,120 lot of money, is an investment that I actually think will have decent returns 68 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:56,720 in the long run if you just need a laptop to do stuff. And it's it's no 69 00:04:55,040 --> 00:05:00,800 slouch. It's it's not just a spreadsheets and email machine. This 70 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:04,000 thing can cook a little bit. Other than that, I just got to show you this. Our 71 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:09,280 sponsor. Just kidding. It's not on the screen. Bam. It's actually right here. 72 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:14,800 It's freaking Dbrand, baby. And look at these skins. Wow. Look at this crazy 73 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:18,639 design. This is their X-ray line of skins, which as the name implies, they 74 00:05:16,639 --> 00:05:22,080 X-ray scanned these MacBooks. And that's what the internals kind of look like. 75 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:25,440 It's so high-tech. You can even see the Apple logo. That's a talking point they 76 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:29,120 gave us. So, I had to make sure that I hit it. You're welcome, Dbrand. Now, I'm 77 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:32,560 going to try to apply this live, but uh if you are bad at this, even though 78 00:05:30,639 --> 00:05:37,280 Dbrand has some great instructional videos, it's a two for one deal. So, you 79 00:05:34,479 --> 00:05:41,600 get both the dark skin and the light version. And you can kind of decide 80 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,600 which one you 81 00:05:44,199 --> 00:05:49,919 want. Look, it looks kind of like Belle's but like more cooler. See, he's 82 00:05:48,479 --> 00:05:53,759 used to being slightly less cool than me. So, get your Dbrand skin for your 83 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:58,639 MacBook Air M4 or any other of the devices that they make skins for at the 84 00:05:55,360 --> 00:06:00,960 link down below or at shortlinus.com. 85 00:05:58,639 --> 00:06:05,360 That's a great domain. Now, the MacBook Air 13 doesn't have top firing speakers. 86 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:11,680 So, if you are really into listening to music, you should buy 87 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:13,730 speakers or a 15-inch MacBook Air. I 88 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:20,680 guess that is also technically an 89 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:26,479 option. Oh, you know what? Maybe maybe you can 90 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:30,960 kind of say that they are kind of top firing cuz they come out of the like air 91 00:06:28,479 --> 00:06:35,840 vent thing and like bounce off the screen. They sound honestly like pretty 92 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:41,440 damn good for not having like speaker grills here. Now, let's try the 93 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:41,440 keyboard. I'm not expecting anything 94 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,800 different since one group more. It feels 95 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:52,880 identical. The touchpad is still great. It's still an Apple touchpad and um 96 00:06:51,039 --> 00:06:58,960 still a lot of Windows laptops need better touchpads. Is Is the camera any 97 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:00,720 different? It looks It looks the same. 98 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:04,319 Does it sound any different? I'm just going to say some stuff. I'm just going 99 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:07,440 to say some stuff. I'm just going to have to say some stuff and then you're 100 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:11,199 going to hear what it sounds like. And I suspect it's probably going to sound the 101 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:16,319 same. And it looks pretty much the same. Uh, it looks good. On to the Labs 102 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:19,120 testing then. Eh, now in terms of gaming 103 00:07:16,319 --> 00:07:22,400 performance, it's not going to blow your socks off in terms of performance, but 104 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:27,919 it seems like there's depending on the game, uh, from a a frame or two to a 105 00:07:25,599 --> 00:07:32,639 couple of frames of improvement there. uh anything that's CPU dependent like 106 00:07:30,479 --> 00:07:38,479 Stellaris which is like a realtime strategy kind of top-own game uh there's 107 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:43,520 a big improvement and that also really shows up in productivity testing. So, in 108 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:48,560 Blender, uh, on the CPU timeline, it was like half the time, which to me didn't 109 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:53,919 seem like it made sense, but maybe this thing doesn't over thermal throttle as 110 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:59,599 much or something. And the GPU test, you know, 2 minutes down from 2 minutes and 111 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:02,479 45 seconds. That's a huge improvement. 112 00:07:59,599 --> 00:08:09,680 Uh, Inbench multi-threaded scores going from 600 to 800. Singlethreaded scores 113 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,759 going from 140 to 170. Photoshop, 114 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:16,080 Premiere, good performance bumps there. And in terms of the power consumption, 115 00:08:13,919 --> 00:08:20,800 like I mentioned with the M4 MacBook Pro, it's a little bit higher. They're 116 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:25,360 giving these things a sprinkling in just a little little bit more juice in there. 117 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:30,400 And then for battery, interestingly, Apple doesn't say that the M4 Air is 118 00:08:27,759 --> 00:08:34,959 better on battery. They list both the M3 Air and the M4 Air as having 18 hours of 119 00:08:33,279 --> 00:08:39,680 battery life. And while the laptops we tested didn't last nearly that long, in 120 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:44,399 the more realworld Plex video playback tests we do, both the M3 and the M4 Air 121 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:48,480 performed about the same. So those extra CPU cores shouldn't hurt battery life 122 00:08:46,399 --> 00:08:53,760 very much. More battery life, more performance. Damn, girl. And then in 123 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:58,399 terms of the display, it does hit the rated 500 nits brightness. We actually 124 00:08:55,519 --> 00:09:02,080 tested it around 520. So I mean, I don't know what else there is to say. It's 125 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:05,839 faster than the last generation. It's cheaper than the last generation. It has 126 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:10,399 more RAM than the last generation. It's got more CPU cores than the last 127 00:09:07,839 --> 00:09:14,880 generation. It has more colorways than the last generation. All you get is more 128 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:18,800 uh except for the price, which is lower. Like I said, I don't know that if I had 129 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:22,240 an M3 Air, I would be running to the Apple store to upgrade. I don't know if 130 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:26,640 I would be running to the Apple store if I had an M2 Air. I don't know if I'd run 131 00:09:24,399 --> 00:09:32,000 to the Apple store if I had an M1 Air. But if you had an Intel MacBook Air or a 132 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:38,720 Windows laptop or maybe your MacBook died, this is still excellent. It is a 133 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:44,880 really, really freaking great laptop and at an even better price than it was 134 00:09:40,959 --> 00:09:46,480 before. It's not cheap, but if you need 135 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:50,959 something for work, you need something that do does stuff, you should probably 136 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:55,040 buy this. Most people I know buy MacBook Pros and they're stupid. They should 137 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:57,920 just buy MacBook Air. It's plenty enough for most people.