“Most podcasters” need to get a little perspective. For anyone not already on the Apple Silicon bandwagon, the M2 MacBook Pro is a fine machine — it makes as much sense now as the M1 MacBook Pro did when it launched in 2020.
Every reason I’ve heard that it should “not be a thing” seems to come down to “it doesn’t fit in the lineup”. To which I say, so what? I’m still rocking the 2020 M1 model and will be for many years to come, as will many owners of this product. 
Well said.
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This is good to hear. I’m currently using the M1 MacBook Air as my primary machine but it’s not powerful enough to deal with fairly minimal a/v load I give it. I’m hoping that the new M2 Pro will handle the load better. Since I use an external monitor and a third party webcam the down sides on these aspects don’t bother me much.
A lack of power is not something I have experienced with my M1 MacBook Air. I can see there might be a problem if your workload requires more RAM, more SSD space, or more GPU cores than what can be spec’d on an M1 MacBook Air. But when I first got my new MBA it was so clear to me that it was running rings around my 2018 15-inch Intel i7 MacBook Pro.
Is there any way you can quantify or describe your “fairly minimal a/v load” and where your MBA falls short?
They’re just saying that it’s been superseded by the 2021 Pro and the 2022 Air for enough people that there will be too many accidental purchases of it, not that you shouldn’t have bought your M1.
I thought about replying to this twee on Twitter, but I stopped myself. Honestly though, this tweet thread was one of the dumbest takes.
First off, there are precisely 0 people with an 8K Canon Raw workflow who also buy the cheapest MacBoom Pro. Those are self-selecting professionals who are already happy to spend big on performance. They’ll buy the obviously better machines.
Second, even in Yuryev’s test, the M2 machine was still faster! Yes, it got very hot, but again, nobody will use it for this.
Canon’s video files have a reputation for being difficult on computers. Yuryev’s sensationalist approach doesn’t leave room for that level of nuance, unfortunately. I’m a Canon shooter (not 8K though), and I would never attempt that workload on a MacBook Air-class computer. In fact, even my old iMac Pro could barely handle Canon’s 4K files (the M2 would be a huge improvement).
I get that the problem is the heat, but I’d be much more concerned if the laptop got that hot while doing something its audience will realistically use it for.
I’m inclined to agree that it seems like a dumb take. He says it throttles hard, but then shows that the M2 performed an export in 19 minutes compared to the M1 doing it in 21 minutes. Surely that means the M2 is faster and thus the throttling isn’t really a problem?
I consider the 256 GB RAM storage slow down a more problematic issue - and then mostly because Apple isn’t being up front about it.
I’m sure other things could make it hot, but the Canon workflow is not a reliable indicator for normal situations.
Edit to add: from the perspective of a YouTuber or a semi-professional film director/cinematographer, there is no more taxing workflow than the Canon 8K RAW workflow. And it’s not a competition.
It’s like a F150 review focusing on how you can’t fit an elephant in the bay, so the folks who work at the circus can’t replace their 18 wheelers yet. Sure, but how well does it work for your average construction gig? (You would think this is a bad metaphor because who would want to put an elephant in an F150? But that’s precisely why it’s a good metaphor.)
Oh, I can make my M1 MacBook Air get warm. I just use an external Laptop Cooler with ventilation and fans when I’m pushing it hard. (To me, the M1 and M2 13-inch MacBook Pro machines are just MacBook Airs with built-in cooling fans.)
No, not 100 degrees Celcius! Not even close! That’s the boiling point of water! 212 degrees Farenheit! That’s like having a hot plate on your desk all the time and under your palms. Crazy, man! 
It’s a win win with the rise of energy prices. You can heat your home and fry an egg on it at the same time, all whilst processing your 8K footage.
I have been using a 13” M1 MBP for over a year and while I really like it, I don’t know why it exists as a M2. The only reason I own this machine is because I had ordered a M1 Air with a wait of over a month. A few days later i saw where apple had refurbished M1 Pros with two day shipping. And the price was within $30 of the Air i had ordered plus no shipping delay. It was a no brainer. I can see where active cooling would be beneficial but at that point, a buyer should be looking at a 14” Pro. Maybe Apple keeps it around for the niche of people who are staring out in audio/video work and need the cooling but just cant spend the money on a 14” or 16” Pro. It kind of reminds me of the old pre retina 13” MacBook Pro with horrible specs and a spinning hard drive that just kept hanging around for years after it should have been put to pasture.
I’m one of the oddballs who got the M1 version in 2020 because of the Touch Bar. With BetterTouchTool, I’ve replicated all my Stream Deck buttons on the Touch Bar, which I use as a mobile Stream Deck,
To be honest, I wouldn’t mind this old design with Touch Bar. I like it except for the “no Mag Safe”. But I do wonder how long the Touch Bar will live when devs stopped supporting it.
I’m actually in the minority who like the TouchBar. I think TouchBar negates the need (for me) to buy and manage StreamDeck, my version of minimalism. I think majority of the people who disliked it, didn’t know about BetterTouchTool and how useful it can be. Also, who needs Fn keys if you got BTT.
Another member of this minority. I wish Apple had brought it to the detachable keyboard of the desktops.
The distain that virtually all podcasters that I encounter have for this idea has the smell of group-think.
I think the idea of a Stream Deck Function row is much better than a Touch Bar. The Touch Bar seemed cool, but I found it too difficult to use in practice. Missing tap areas, issues with sliders, etc. If it was just programmable keys that each had their own grayscale OLED screen for your own icon, I think that would have worked out great. I would still be interested in that product.
Sure, by stream deck, I meant not having a separate device to carry/manage. Touchscreen/button or whatever, as long as it is customizable and on the keyboard somewhere, it works out great.
There’s only one dev whose lack of support matters — Apple.
I’m in the minority that have a very real use for Fn keys. I still use a (5250) terminal emulator daily for work. But… when I’m working, I’m at my desk, and when I’m at my desk I have an external keyboard.
I never understood it. I understand when, for example, ATP talk about how Apple never went anywhere with it, and that that is probably a very good reason that it will be going away soon, but that isn’t really a reason not to use it, such as it exists. It’s more than just group think… I also think it’s a bit of “I don’t want to get used to something if they’re going to take it away.” Except many have been worried about its imminent demise for more years than they keep any computer. 
So… just like tiny buttons on a menu bar then? More than half of the right side content of my menu bar is visual information. I can see my local weather conditions, my Bluetooth peripheral battery levels, my computer’s vital signs, how long until my next break, and the date and time. As a (very) recent convert to BTT, guess what I’m using the left side of my Touch Bar for.
Also… I’ve heard many people say they prefer the media keys to the Touch Bar. I’m firmly in the opposite camp. I have media keys on my Apple Extended keyboard and every single time I want to mute my audio, I have to stare at the keys to find the right one. By contrast, the Touch Bar mute button not only is easy to see, with no ‘F10’ legend cluttering it and wide spacing from its nearest neighbour, it also shows the current state.
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