The all-new M2 Macbook Air.

Mac Buying Guide • Fall 2022

Around this time of year, I usually get a lot of calls and texts with that very question - “What Mac should I buy?”

It’s gotten a little more confusing as of late because of the range of Apple’s new M1 (and now M2) chips and the variety of machines you can buy now. That’s good, but it makes it more confusing for the non-nerd. So being a nerd, I’m here to help.

First off, do not buy the old-style 13-inch Macbook Pro, still with the TouchBar. Yes, it has an M2 and active cooling, but you can get so much more for less. No one should buy this computer in my opinion.

Again, these all all my opinions, but I talk to lots of people, young and old, every year and advise them on buying new computers or iPads.

If you are a student, in high school or especially college, most students (about 90% of you) should be able to get by with the brand-new M2 MacBook Air. This laptop has a new slim design, new colors, and is powerful enough for almost every task you can throw at it. If you’re not a design student using Photoshop and InDesign and Final Cut Pro and other intensive applications, you should be good with the baseline M2 MacBook Air. You always want to get as much RAM and storage as you can afford (you will see that theme in this article), but 99% of you should be able to get by with 16GB and 1TB of storage. The only problem with the M2 Air is that it’s brand new and you might not get one until September.

If you are a design/film student, meaning you will be using applications like Photoshop and Final Cut Pro on the regular, you should be able to get by with the M2 MacBook Air. But if you are editing 4K or 8K video, working with huge layout or photo files, you’ll need to at least bump up to the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip. The M1 Pro chip puts you on a whole other level with these applications and workflows. Your render and export times will be cut in half, your computer will stay much cooler because the MacBook Pro has active cooling (meaning: a fan) where the M2 Air does not. I do a lot of video editing and compression and design work, and I have the base-model M1 Pro MacBook Pro. It’s been wonderful so far, and fast enough for all my workflows.

If you’re a business professional, and you work in an industry such as networking, IT, ministry or youth ministry, accounting, teaching, marketing, or any categories like that, you can probably make it just fine with a 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip. If the MB Pro is out of your price range, get a mid-range M2 MacBook Air. It will still do what you need for less price, albeit a little slower.

If you are a design professional, the least you would need in my opinion is the MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip. But you might want to upgrade to the M1 Max chip. The power you get from the Max chip is unreal. It can carve through 8K video and huge Photoshop files like butter. And if you don’t need something portable because you’re always working at your desk, seriously consider a Mac Studio with M1 Max, or if you have the budget and need the power an M1 Ultra. My nerd side wants all the power all the time, and I’ve been tempted by the Mac Studio, but I need something portable. If you’re a design pro and want a great big 4K or 5K screen and a lot of power, give a serious look to the Mac Studio with M1 Max or Ultra. Most can get by with the M1 Max unless you are rendering 2-hour 8K videos or something.

If you don’t fall into any of the categories I’ve named off so far, you need not consider yourself a power user. That’s okay! That means you get to spend less money and frankly, you have more choice. If you want a nice 4K screen with a slim profile, you like colors, and you don’t need a laptop for portability, get the M1 iMac. It’s an all-in-one desktop that’s perfect for Youtube-watching, photo editing, and web surfing. You can edit HD and 4K videos and big photos on it too if you want. Plus it’s available in many colors.

When buying a computer, here’s a few things you shouldn’t do:

• Don’’t buy the cheapest model you can. Always look to get a mid-range model. Don’t know what I mean by that? I mean don’t get the smallest storage and smallest bit of RAM (also called Memory). At least get something mid-range, because it’s likely you can’t upgrade these machines. At the very least, upgrade the storage (also called SSD or Hard Drive). The lowest storage option is usually the slowest storage - and yes, slow drive speeds can slow down your computer after a while.
• Don’t buy direct from Apple unless you want something that’s just come out. Amazon and Best Buy are always running sales on year-old devices and computers. Again, if it’s been out for more than six months, you’ll probably be able to find a deal on it, and Apple’s same warranty applies no matter who you buy it from.

I hope this guide has been helpful! If you have additional questions, you can find me on Twitter or email me directly.

Apple today released newly-designed MacBook Pros with brand new M1 "Pro" and "Max" chipsets. For creatives, this changes everything.

No longer held down by Intel, Apple has been allowed to "unleash" it's in-house silicon to heights that it we would never have seen when they were waiting on Intel to catch up. With the introduction of the M1 chip earlier this year, Apple was already well ahead of the entire industry when it came to raw processing and graphics power. Now they're just leaving everyone in the dust.

Apple is not one to over-promise and under-deliver. In fact, most times, they do the opposite. These new computers, on average, are 5-7 times faster than the regular M1. Apple has clearly done a lot of optimization with these chips for limited power consumption and to minimize heat issues. The star of the show might have been the new processors, but it was the MacBook Pros that stole the show.

On the new MacBook Pros, they have new screens with an iPhone-like notch at the top to maximize screen real estate. The new screens also have 120Hz ProMotion, as well as take on the XDR moniker now. The new chassis is like something from 2005, and I love it. I couldn't help but look at the new laptops and think about my first Apple notebook - the iBook G4. When you see it, you'll get what I mean. Gone is the Touch Bar, a less-than-revolutionary tiny touch strip above the keyboard that almost no one used. In it's place is a full size black keyboard, surrounded by black on the case as well. Last but not least, Apple claims to have "advanced connectivity" - which really means they brought back some ports. Full-size HDMI, SD Card slot, as well as three Thunderbolt ports now blanket both sides of the computer. Even the prodigal son, Magsafe, has returned!

There wasn't too much to not like about Apple's event today. We got new AirPods, new colors of HomePod mini, and even a new "voice-only" Apple Music plan (we'll have to see more about that later).

Apple is clearly listening. It's good to see. If you would have told me just two years ago we'd have ports added back to the laptop line, I'd have said you were outside your mind.

Just goes to show that you never say never.

Dark Sky, one of my favorite weather nerd apps, has sold to Apple today. Guess I’ll be using  Weather next year.

Very rarely do I get a high-demand item on Day One. I just got lucky with Apple's Airpods. 

It was early December 2016, and I was sitting in my office getting some work done when Twitter refreshed and several people and sites started saying that Airpods pre-orders were now open. I had $160 saved for months, so I was ready. I went directly to Apple's site and placed my order. 

They sold out very quickly, but I got a package a few days before Christmas containing what would be the best Apple accessory I've ever owned. 

For the last 7 months, there has literally not been a day when I haven't used Apple's Airpods. It is not an understatement for me to say that, aside from the iPhone, they are my favorite Apple product of all time. 

Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago when a friend was asking me questions about them. "Why do you just get some and try them out?" I asked. 

"Because I can't find them to buy them!"

The search for Airpods had completely fallen off my radar - after all, I wasn't looking anymore. But I wrongly assumed that six months after the official release that they would have been readily available. Turns out, they were still pretty scarce. My friend was able to get some at a local Verizon store, but Apple.com still says 6 weeks for shipping as of July 2017. 

But if you are able to get your hands on some, I feel strongly that you will not be disappointed. 

From the date of this post - 24 July 2017 - and still shipping in 6 weeks from Apple.com. 

 

The Best Wireless Earbuds By Far

To me, it was astonishing at how small these devices were. The case is no bigger than a small dental floss case, and some people have even made stickers for the Airpods case to camouflage it. It opens and reveals the tops of the actual Airpods and clicks closed with far too much fun. Apple clearly spent lots of time on the design of how this all fit together. The case also charges the Airpods - you'll find a lightning connector on the bottom of the case to charge the case. 

The battery life is outstanding - and if it wasn't, this would be far less of a product in my opinion. I regularly get 4-5 hours of listening in both ears on one charge. The Airpods case gives me another 2-3 full charges for a total of about 16-20 hours of continuous listening. Most times I'm not using them 20 hours a day, though, and I usually go a few days without even charging the case. If you're someone that talks on the phone all day, you could probably talk for 50 hours straight just using one Airpod, and then charge that one and use the other one. 

Oh, and that's one of the cool features - you can use each Airpod independently if you like. Sometimes it's nice to use just one. You can hear your surroundings or talk to someone else. 

When you have both Airpods in your ears, there's a number of things you can do. If you pull on out of your ear, your music automatically stops. Put it back in and it resumes. Same for any audio coming from your device, not just music. 

Double-tap on either Airpod and you get one of two things: 1) Siri - which can control volume, do an internet search, or initiate a phone call or 2) simply start/stop your audio. I opted for the second option (which you can change in Settings), because I don't want to have to take the Airpods out of my ear to stop the music because I have little kids around. 

One of the coolest features was simple syncing. I jump back and forth from using my Airpods with my iPhone and my iPad. All you have to do is simply open the case with the Airpods inside near the device of choice and you get a little box that pops up and says you're connected. No jumping through Settings, no going through Bluetooth hoops. There have been occasions when this doesn't work, and in that event I just swipe up to Airplay controls and manually connect from there. There's a tone on your Airpods when a device is connected. 

Airpods are shaped exactly like Earpods, and they will fit the same. And they don't fall out easily at all. You can shake your head, ride a bike, or go for a run and they don't fall out. And keep in mind, these are completely independent headphones, 

 

Drawbacks

There are a few drawbacks to having Airpods. None of them dealbreakers (for me, at least), but some you should watch out for. 

Size. Like I said, these things are tiny. So tiny that they are very easy to lose. On some occasions, I've dropped the case with the Airpods inside on a tile floor and the case and the Airpods when all different directions. Best to keep them in the case when you're not using them - because if you don't, you will lose them. 

Exterior sounds. Airpods will not be good in high noise environments like for mowing the grass or in factory situations. Crowded rooms and subways or buses should be fine. But you will want some noise-cancelling headphones for these loud places - Airpods probably won't cut it for you. 

Earpod compatibilty. If Apple's regular Earpod earbuds don't fit your ears, these probably won't either. However, that being said, if you're always getting your headphones jerked out of your ears, give Airpods a chance. It may be the headphone cable that was the culprit. I have heard from people that couldn't wear Apple's regular headphones that were able to wear Airpods just fine because there wasn't a cable to snag them out of their ears.  

Conclusion

If you are looking for a great pair of truly wireless earphones and you have $160, Apple's Airpods may be for you. If you like the regular Earpods but want something more convenient and fancy, check out the Airpods. And lastly, if you want to be on the bleeding edge of tech and have true wireless freedom, Apple's Airpods may just be the ticket for you. 

If you'd like to know what Apple said and announced today in one succinct list, look no further. Looks like a lot of great improvements coming to all four platforms. 

watchOS 3

• 7X faster
• Apps launch instantly, info is updated in the background
• Swipe from left to right to switch watch faces
• New watch faces - Simplicity and Activity
• Activity sharing with other watch users
• New app: Breathe - helps with breathing exercises to combat stress
• Free upgrade in the Fall

tvOS

• Sling TV app announced today
• New Apple TV Remote app, also functions as a controller
• Siri on TV: search by topics now (i.e. "Find high school comedies from the 80's)
• Also: "Search YouTube for ---" 
• Launch apps for Live TV: "Watch ESPN 2"
• Install apps with Siri as well: "Install MLB app"
• Single sign-on for app authorization to watch TV
• Dark mode

macOS

• Renamed from Mac OS X
• New version named macOS Sierra
• Auto Unlock - authenticate from you Apple Watch
• Universal Clipboard - images, video, text pasted from your iOS device
• iCloud Drive - all your files available everywhere
• Optimized Storage - older files compressed to free up space on your Mac
• Apple Pay - now on the web, securely authorize using Touch ID on your iPhone
• Tabs - in multiple-windowed apps like Maps
• Picture-in-Picture - video inlay on top of apps
• Siri - find files, follow-up commands, play music, search the web, message
• Available in the Fall as a free upgrade

iOS 10

• Biggest iOS release ever
• User Experience: redesigned lock screen with 3D Touch support
• Clear All with 3D Touch (finally!)
• Control Center also redesigned
• Slide from the right to access Camera instantly, slide left for Widgets
• More info on 3D Touch app widgets
• Siri API for developers - devs can now write apps for Siri
• QuickType - now with Siri intelligence 
• Photos - advanced computer vision on the phone such as facial recognition
• Advances AI to analyze content of photos, on the device
• Maps - new design, open to developers
• Music - all new Apple Music app designed from the ground up
• News - all new design, clear sections
• HomeKit - new app called Home, control your home, integrated with Siri
• Phone - voicemail transcripts 
• VoIP API so Slack, Facebook, Skype can be taken like regular phone calls
• Messages - rich links, play videos right inline, bigger emojis, bubble effects