Macbook Air M2 for Graphic Design — Or Should You Buy the M1?

Apple did it again, making it more confusing for people to choose what to buy. Here I am sharing why M1 and M2 macbook airs are excellent for graphic .
#apple #macbookair #logo

BOOKS
----------------------------------------------------------------

Books written by Alex can be found at Design The Scenes' Shop:

The only books I recommend for designers:

Books for design attitude:

GEAR
----------------------------------------------------------------
My design gear:

----------------------------------------------------------------

Intro music from Uppbeat:

----------------------------------------------------------------

*As an Amazon Associate I earn a tiny commission if you purchase from my links, but it doesn't cost you anything and the price is the same as if you would purchase yourself.

[untamedmedia]

I have purchased the m2 air, higher version with updated 16g and 1tb. I have been going back and forth about exchanging it. I love the size and lightness. I haven't had to do any real work on it yet to truly test it. But everyone I speak to at apple is always telling me for what I do I need the the pro. And that it was silly for me to pay so much for the air when I can pay 200 usd more and have a 14inch pro. I've watched videos that confirm this idea.

I'm really struggling to decide. My work and business includes mostly illustrator and indesign projects for well known brands and organizations. Photoshop occasionally and some video editing. Most of my video editing I outsource as it's not something I enjoy but I do scrub through footage and do some smaller shorts myself.

Budget isn't a concern for me. For context I worked on an hp spectre 360 1tb 16g for like the last 6 years bf it broke. I was teased constantly at the ad agency I consult for. Lol. It was quite slow and froze alot with my work load.

Is the pro really for pros and the air for every day users like they say? Am I future proofing enough? I just want to make the right investment for the next stage of my career. I would love to hear your thoughts.

[danmoody]

Adobe recommends 16GB ram for creative cloud but in 6-8 years' time do you think that will be the case?

[marbenlawas]

I agree with this, I think even if M1 or M2 are capable for light motion graphics than my 15 inch 2019 MBP. You just need to know what you need, but the newer Apple silicons can last you for years even to the non pro one’s.

[supersmashmaster]

I have a 2014 Macbook Pro that I am looking to upgrade from for school. It handled most creative cloud apps pretty well, but I need more storage and more power for some other apps like dimensions and possibly after effects and premiere. I’m confident that an M1 MBA with 512 SSD and 16GBs of RAM would suit me perfectly, but one thing I’m not sure about is when comes to heat and if that’s any concern, since the MBA has no fan like the pro. That’s really my only concern that has me stuck between the Air or the Pro. Would mostly prefer the Air as it fits good with my price range.

[phmln]

Hi, would you think the Mac Air M2 16g+512g is enough for using Pts, Ai professionally and light motion graphic on AE sometimes?

[laurensiavictoria]

Hi!! Thank you for making this channel. I really love your channel, its very helpful for me to learn about branding. I'm about to buy a new laptop this week, i mostly work using Photoshop, Ai & Ae. Do you think is it better to buy macbook pro M1 14" or macbook air M2? Thank you so much!! Hope u will reply🫶🏼

[ruyalhadas]

i'm strill struggling to decide wich mac to buy:
1 - a MacBook Air with 8GB Ram - 512 SSD
2 - A MacBook Air with 16gb Ram - 256 SSD (in this case i need an external ssd)
3 - the new M2 model with 8gb ram and 512 ssd.

As graphic designer i often need to handle lots of heavy files (offline media mostly) and tons of simultaneous tasks. i was counting with one friend of mine coming from Canada to bring the new model to me but recently the economy is a mess and it's affecting my money value

Thanks for your video as always

[nicolasb.henry]

I am an artist and really like your channel especially your real life approach. I am using mainly light to medium photo editing. I consider also graphic design use and some artistic work similars so I start to begin your channel. I am just in betweeen MBA M1 or MBA M2 as their prices dropped sharply. I will upgrade to the pro version once my budget will better. I think to go to M2 with 8gb Ram and 512gb

[yarakawi]

Hi!! Thank you so much for your review;
I’m a new graphic design student, mostly I use Adobe indesign, illustrator and photoshop… is the MacBook air M2 with 8gb ram enough or should I upgrade for 16 gb; also is you choose to upgrade … shall I just go for the pro 14 inch ?

[Leo-fsts]

Hi, first i want to thank u for all the efforts and amazing content,
And i would like to kindly ask you which laptop or a desktop to buy for graphic design for POD .the software I'll be using are Ps and adobe illustrator.
Is the performance of Macbook pro M2 with 8cpu, 8 gpu, 8Gb Ram enough to get a job done or should i buy an upgraded one .
What would you recommend ?
Thank you.

[grapixsupply]

For an average use of Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and Indesign; would a Macbook Air M2 overheat?

Graphic design and simple animations/ motion graphics are my leisure activities. Would it be perfect and not overheat? Especially that Macbook Air doesn’t have fans.

Looking forward to your kind response.

Thank you.

[Thesoulsearchersclub]

Great Video! I am having such a hard time trying to figure out which specs and laptop to get. I just got a job editing large format photos and mainly use bridge, camera raw, and photoshop. I have a lot of other side projects I want to do as well and want to future proof myself and was thinking M2 air 24 G Ram and 512SSD 8 core. What do you think? Do i need this much Ram? Ive been going back and forth from MBP M1 and MBA M2

[ReidDesigns]

Been buying Mac’s for 20 years and you expressed beautifully how it works, buy what you need but make sure you future proof yourself. My only issue is recently I’ve come to realize that a Mac’s shelf life is really3-5 years max, so I think of it in terms of how to ROI on a new machine in 3 years.

[casarus]

Would you recommend the M2 Air 15' 8/512 over the M2 Air 13' 16/512 for junior UX/UI designers?
I feel like I would benefit much more from a bigger screen than from extra RAM.
Unfortunately, all of those upgrades in one MacBook are too expensive for me, so I need to choose one of those :)

[ghostbaleada]

I think that for long term use RAM is more valuable, rather than upgrading the storage I will go for 16gb of ram and get a cheap 1tb SSD, that way it doesn't get laggy when new apps

[bearttalk]

hello, thank you for video. that’s so inspiring.
but i have question, really glad if you reply it. is that enough for graphic designer using MacBook Pro M2 with 8gb RAM and 256gb SSD? the software are Ps, Ai, Ae, InDesign, Canva, Gdrive, Gmail, Zoom and Ms Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote). because i just have budget for 8/256 gb.

[salvadorlavado]

Great video! Luckily budget is of no concern. I usally work on Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign - Ps files can be as big as 8gb with lots of layers. Do you recommend I go with the Air M2 24GB/ 1TB SSD? Or even go with greater CPU/GPU by getting a Mac Mini? Or would that be a waste? Thank you in advance! :)

[Dil-]

Dude, I really love your content. Its clear especally for a graphic designers prespective.
Currently I am not doing much of graphic design work but more of an office admin kinda work and on the go.

I'm deciding between:

Option 1. M2 Macbook Air : 8GB 256GB SSD 8 Core GPU
Option 2. M2 Macbook Air : 16GB 256GB SSD 8 Core GPU
Option 3. M2 Macbook Air: 16GB 512GB SSD 10 Core CPU

I am planning to have this device to be used for at least 5 years, hopefully that I won't need to change into a new one as this will be my first upgrade after 10 years. (Since 2012 Macbook pro)

Just that the thought of the Option 3, for the same price I could get the 14" Macbook pro where I am currently at right now but the deciding factor is portability as well. I don't like if it heats up fast. I am fine with both design, I like the almost full on display. Can you help advice me on this.

Thankyou soo much again for the review

[jesusvalencia]

hey im a current senior in highschool right now and can’t decide wether to buy the m1 air or the m2 air. i do have an internship currently where i frequently use apps such as photoshop and lightroom as well as some similar video editing signs and social media apps as well. i don’t want to spend the extra money on the pro but i also don’t want to get the older m1 air model. but i have noticed many people prefer the m1 air over the m2 air bc of the storage, for the purposes i’ve listed above would you recommend staying with the m2 air with 256 storage or just go down to the m1 air with the 512 storage ?

[GoddessInTraining]

My son is turning 18 and going to school for graphic design. Which do you suggest?