The M4 Macbook Air is probably still the best laptop for most people, but what if you want a little bit more power for tasks like video and photo editing, along with active cooling?

You might think it is a no brainer to go for the pro, but I don’t think the spec bump is really worth it.

There is however one feature that does make the Macbook Pro worth it over the Air. First let’s start with the specs of my machine:

These specs don’t provide that much benefit over the Air. Sure you get a slightly larger display, that is also brighter and you get the active cooling as well, but the Air can be configured with 32GB memory and a 1TB SSD for about $600 less.

Battery life on both is great, Apple even touted this in their recent Unplugged commercial that I saw on YouTube. My experience backs that up, I can almost get through 2 weeks of use on a single charge.

I mostly use this at night on the couch, writing and managing tasks for my creative endeavors.

I’ve also moved to recording audio for my YouTube videos and podcasts on Saturday mornings. I pretty much charge it once a week and have about 40-50% battery remaining at that point on Saturday morning when I plug it in while recording.

Okay, so specs are solid, keyboard is great, thermals are better if you push it, battery is strong... honestly, at this point, I was still leaning towards saving money with the Air. The Pro advantages felt... niche. Until I saw this.

The one feature that I think actually makes the Pro worth it. This feature is far from a money grab and definitely isn’t a gimmick. I’d even argue it is a necessity if you are constantly on the go with your laptop and now that I’ve used it, I wish my iPad Pro had it too. That feature is:

Nano Texture

In the studio with an LED light you can clearly see the difference, especially with the screen on.

The true benefit comes in more real life scenarios. You may be sitting in a coffee shop with your back to the window, or out on a bright sunny day you’d rather not be chained to your desk to work.

This is where the Nano Texture display shines.

I sit with my back to a window in my office and the studio display has a large glare on the left hand side of the screen that is distracting to me, especially if there is a dark window like Final Cut Pro open.

In my living room and sitting room I have the same issue, really noticeable on the iPad Pro where everything you type or touch moves the display slightly causing that glare to shimmer.

With nano texture though it squashes that unnecessary distraction. I assume this will reduce eye fatigue, giving you back better focus and the ability to work anywhere.

Sure there is a slight hit to contrast, but Apple says this isn’t a coating, it is actually a treatment to the glass, theoretically it should hold up well over time, but time will be the ultimate test of durability.

The Nano Texture display certainly isn’t a gimmick and I think it is fairly priced given the benefits.

Ultimately at this point you can’t buy a bad mac, it just isn’t possible. Similar to the 911, Apple is continuously improving the design with these smaller improvements stacking up over time. If you buy any 911, it is still a 911.

If you want to check out my full thoughts my video is live here.

I typically do a weekly review. Or I had. I’ve been slacking at that for a few weeks now, it hasn’t felt as necessary and definitely not as potent.

Maybe my overall stress level is better at this particular moment, I just don’t feel the need to do it.

I think I could benefit from a monthly prep though. Doing an App of the Month series this might make more sense. Pretty much all of my planning needs to revolve around getting that video out as early in the month as possible.

When I ignore that, I end up focusing on other things and have to pivot to the App of the Month and kind of rush the video through production.

A monthly review certainly takes longer, but you do it less often, so would it be benficial for me? I’m going to try it out and report back. With App of the Month, 2 Podcast episodes per month, 3 other YouTube long form videos and a newsletter every week, it seems like my cadence would support it.

This way I have weekly deliverables to hit. Lately my brain has been mush after work, so I’ve been giving myself grace and not focusing on too much at a time.

Having a more regulated schedule could help that out, but ultimately I’m still flexible since this is not my primary income at this point.

I don’t often post about it but I am also obsessed with personal finances. I was recently listening to the Diary of CEO episode with Morgan Housel.

https://share.snipd.com/snip/b07a545e-ed7b-4796-8108-a9ea8ffdb09b

They talked tech, tarrifs and having endurance as a business owner.

I took some of the podcast Snips that I created and turned them into a Threads post. It went viral, at least for me. It is sitting at 192,000 views as I write and was about the housing market, which they talked about on the show.

Going viral is a reminder of how much many people suck. Rude comments, people with no profile pictures, using names other than their own, commenting bullshit on someone else’s post.

It is like this on every platform. Largely Threads might be the best so far, but it can still be terrible. YouTube Studio calls the place where you review comments as a creator, “community”. The actual community is very small, people leaving meaningful comments who genuinely enjoyed or had questions about your video.

The rest is largely unhinged people writing ridiculous comments, hiding behind the keyboard like it is 2008.

That is the reality of putting yourself out there online. It is not easy, but if you can ignore the noise and keep posting, you will get better.

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