WEBVTT

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- Apple's got a brand new MacBook Air

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and it's the biggest one yet.

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It's actually got a 15 inch
screen instead of the 13 inch

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MacBook Air screen that you're used to.

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This is a new product, new version

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just introduced very recently
at Apple's WWDC conference.

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And in a way it's something
pretty radically new

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because we have not seen
a lightweight MacBook Air

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with this kind of screen size before.

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But in other ways it's not that new at all

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because it's essentially almost identical

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to that M2, 13 inch
MacBook Air from last year

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just updated with a bigger screen

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and a couple of other little tiny tweaks.

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And if you think that it's a big deal

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that Apple has a new
screen size on this, well,

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it kind of is because when you
think about the MacBook Air

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what you've always had is
that classic 13 inch model.

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I remember reviewing the very first one

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back in maybe 2008 or so, and
pretty much every one since.

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So this is the first time
I'm getting to see it

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with a bigger screen size.

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It's not, however, the first
time I'm seeing a MacBook Air

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with a non 13 inch screen.

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You might remember many, many years ago

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they briefly had an 11 inch
version of the MacBook Air

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which I thought was a great idea.

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I think it ended up
being a little too small

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for people to use most of the time

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especially because it had that, you know,

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old school MacBook Design
with big bezels around it.

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So that did not last very long.

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The 13 has always been the standard

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and I always like it because I
tell people a lot of the time

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that that 13 inch MacBook Air
is one of the most universally

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useful laptops most people can buy.

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It's powerful enough,
it's inexpensive enough,

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it'll last a long time.

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Well-designed, well-built.

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MacOS is a lot easier to use

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for a lot of everyday
functions compared to Windows.

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At least a lot of people find that.

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So it's a great machine.

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But as I have gotten a little older

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I've discovered one
little bit of a fatal flaw

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in using a 13 inch
MacBook Air all the time.

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Especially if you're
sitting at a desk all day,

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whether you're working at home,
you're working in an office,

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and a 13 inch laptop is your main laptop

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it starts to strain your
eyes after a little while.

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It's hard to do that as your
all day everyday computers

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especially if you're
getting a little bit older

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and your eyeglass prescription

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is getting a little bit stronger.

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13 inches, just not
gonna be your, you know,

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all day everyday do all
your work kind of machine.

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Now for Apple, your only
other options before now

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were to trade up to a MacBook Pro

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which currently comes in a
14 inch and 16 inch version.

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Those are great machines

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but they're very powerful
and very expensive.

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Not something a mainstream
consumer really needs.

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Now, besides the screen size

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there are a couple other
super tiny differences

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between the 13 inch Air
and the 15 inch Air.

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Obviously the screen is bigger,

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the resolution is ever so slightly higher.

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You don't really get a
huge resolution bump.

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This has actually got four
speakers in it instead of two.

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Obviously with a bigger body
you have more room for that.

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You can get better audio out of it.

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Apple promises battery
life of up to 18 hours.

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And I know in my testing

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unlike a lot of other computer makers

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Apple's battery estimates are often

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pretty close to the mark.

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And if you think about it

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a MacBook is basically if you open one up

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you're gonna find it's basically
just a giant battery inside

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with a little bit of
computer wrapped around it.

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So a bigger body lets you
have a bigger battery.

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So I would definitely expect

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very good battery life from this.

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But in the these things are
exactly the same category

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even though this is a bigger,
more desktop friendly machine

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it's still only got the two
USB-C ports and the MagSafe

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and the audio jack on the other side.

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No extra ports, no HDMI, not
even a USB-C on the other side

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so you could plug it in from either end.

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You're always plugging
it in from this side.

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Bringing out a new MacBook
Air in this 15 inch size

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I think is really interesting

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because Apple is finally back
in the 15 inch laptop game

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and you think of 15 inch laptops

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as being a very common size.

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Apple's not had one in a couple years.

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The MacBook Pro used to be 15 inches.

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They got rid of that.

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They went to 14 and 16 instead.

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So now with this model,
Apple has a 13 inch,

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it has a 14 inch, it has a
15 inch and it has a 16 inch.

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And obviously the 13 and 15
are the less expensive Air

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and the 14 and 16 are
the more expensive pro.

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So when I first started thinking about

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the 15 inch MacBook Air

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the rumors that it was
about to be announced

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I said to myself, how
much would this cost?

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It's basically the same as
a 13 inch, hypothetically.

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You got a bigger screen

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so I feel like you can't
charge too much more for that.

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So the 13 inch M2 Air was

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right before this was announced, $1199.

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I said for something
like this, maybe $1299,

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maybe $1399, that would
really be pushing it.

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The 15 inch Air starts at $1299

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which I think is a
pretty fair upgrade price

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for getting a bigger screen,

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a bigger body and more battery life.

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At the same time, apple lowered the price

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on the 13 inch M2 Air to $1099.

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So there's a little bit
more of a difference

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between the prices now, but
I do appreciate they brought

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that regular 13 inch Air price down

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because it was always a
little bit too expensive

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because people think of the MacBook Air

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as a $999 classic computer

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and if you really want to pay that much

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you can actually still get the old M1 Air

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which is the slightly older design

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but still a great machine that
is still available for $999.

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So between the $999 M1 Air

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up through $1099, $1299 for this guy,

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once you get up to the Pro's,
it's $2000, $2500 at least.

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Apple now has laptops
across a wide spectrum

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of prices and with a very
wide spectrum of screen sizes.

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So in my hands on time using
this new 15 inch MacBook Air

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it behaved pretty much as I expected.

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Performance was almost identical

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to last year's 13 inch M2 MacBook Air.

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But I'd set this up on my desk at work

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and I was very comfortable
using it all day

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as my main screen.

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So I appreciate the fact
that I get the convenience

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and design features and
macOS features that I like

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from the old MacBook Air, but I get it

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in a bigger screen size that
I feel more comfortable using.