Get the app

Shadowing practice: M2 MacBook Pro: Why Does This Exist?

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
Line 1

Full transcript

  1. All right, so this is the new 13 inch M2 MacBook Pro.0:03
  2. And I don't think anyone should actually buy it.0:09
  3. Wait, what?0:11
  4. Yeah, no, I think it's a great computer, first of all.0:12
  5. Don't get me wrong, but with the introduction of the M2 MacBook Air and the existence of the 14 inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro, they've managed to squeeze any reason0:15
  6. for this machine to exist at this price to basically zero, nobody should buy it.0:25
  7. Yeah, but nobody, I mean, that seems pretty harsh.0:30
  8. Matter of fact, I'm here, let me challenge you on that.0:33
  9. This is a great computer, change my mind.0:36
  10. Okay, well, let's just start with the design.0:39
  11. So Apple's been going through their laptop lineup, upgrading everything with this new square shape, larger displays with thinner bezels, getting rid of the touch bar, and actually adding ports.0:41
  12. But this particular refresh didn't get any of that.0:51
Show all 102 lines Show fewer lines
  1. So this brand new laptop looks exactly the same as the M1 MacBook Pro from two years ago, which looks exactly the same as the 13 inch Intel MacBook Pro0:54
  2. with a touch bar that dropped in 2016, because it is exactly the same.1:04
  3. I could give them sustainability credit, I guess, for recycling and old design, and apparently using the same boxes from the M1 MacBook Pro, just with new stickers on them.1:09
  4. But yeah, this exact shell design is literally six years old and is starting to look kinda out of place now next to Apple's other notebooks.1:19
  5. Like, can you imagine any other company trying to reuse a six year old design?1:27
  6. Like, you're trying to tell me a 2016 Asus laptop re -release would fly today, like a six year old XPS drop?1:31
  7. Like, that's wild.1:38
  8. Yeah, but this isn't that.1:40
  9. Like, let me tell you, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.1:41
  10. And I'm not just saying that.1:44
  11. Like, this is a really good laptop design, all metal jacket, A plus hinge.1:45
  12. And let me just remind you, you reviewed it and you loved it.1:49
  13. The screen was bright and high resolution, still is.1:52
  14. The speakers were best in class, still are.1:55
  15. Great trackpad and keyboard.1:58
  16. And by the way, some people do really like the touch bar.2:00
  17. You said so yourself.2:03
  18. It might not do a whole lot, but it still has its few advantages.2:04
  19. Okay, but that is in a vacuum.2:08
  20. Like, that's the thing.2:10
  21. By itself, I would agree with you.2:11
  22. This computer is a perfectly good laptop, buy it.2:12
  23. But as soon as you put it alongside the new MacBook Air, which is basically the same price, it's actually worse at basically everything.2:16
  24. Like, I got hands on time with the new M2 MacBook Air that's about to come out next month, right?2:25
  25. The Air has a larger display with thinner bezels.2:29
  26. And in that notch, there's a new 1080P webcam instead of a six year old 720P webcam.2:32
  27. It has MagSafe with a color matching cable, which enables fast charging and essentially frees up an extra port, since that's one more USB -C port that you're not plugged2:38
  28. into.2:46
  29. And it's all in a package that's thinner, weighs less, and is basically the same price.2:46
  30. So why would you buy this MacBook Pro?2:52
  31. How is it even Pro anymore?2:54
  32. You know what, that's a good question.2:56
  33. Why would you buy this Pro?2:58
  34. The answer, I think, first of all, is it is the cheapest Pro in the lineup, technically, that's true.3:00
  35. But really, the reason you get this over the air is the thicker chassis supports active cooling.3:05
  36. So it's got a fan and all the benefits that come with that.3:11
  37. I mean, benchmarks are in and to the surprise of absolutely no one, it's pretty clear that this M2 chip is awesome.3:14
  38. It's living up to the 10 to 20 % better multi -core CPU performance.3:20
  39. And even more impressively, the two extra GPU cores over M1 is giving it 30 to 40 % better GPU performance, which is basically the only area where you could3:24
  40. say M1 was lacking.3:34
  41. So this is awesome for any applications that lean on the GPU.3:35
  42. Everything's faster, Final Cut is faster, Premiere is faster, any games you might play are all faster.3:39
  43. And the cherry on top is it has a dramatically improved media engine, same one from the higher end ships actually.3:45
  44. So you can actually pull off some heavier Final Cut Pro edits.3:50
  45. So for something like that, when you're in a program for hours and things are getting hot, okay, that's when you'd need the fans to kick in, keep performance high,3:53
  46. longer than the MacBook Air ever could, no throttling.4:00
  47. So if you've got the sustained workloads and the long performance stuff, you should get the M2 MacBook Pro.4:03
  48. No, no, those people should just go straight to the 14 inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro.4:08
  49. Just go straight to the big brother.4:14
  50. Look, if you know you're gonna be doing workloads and things that the MacBook Air can't handle, then you should just go to the actually pro laptop, the upgraded machine.4:14
  51. If you're gonna get a nice laptop and you wanna do extra performance stuff on it, you weren't gonna get the baseline MacBook Pro, right?4:24
  52. You were gonna bump it up, first of all, because you want at least 16 gigs memory, right?4:30
  53. And second of all, because the 256 gigs of baseline pro storage is kind of insulting, and that version has particularly clipped SSD performance worse than even the M1 MacBook4:35
  54. Pro.4:46
  55. So to get to one terabyte and 16 gigs, you're already looking at like $1 ,900 for this machine.4:47
  56. At that point, just get the 14 inch Pro, because that laptop is on another level of performance.4:54
  57. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's absolutely awesome to see the jump from M1 to M2.4:59
  58. And that's gonna enable a ton more great stuff for the most popular laptop for the everyday baseline users.5:04
  59. But if you zoom out, there's still a big difference in performance when moving up to the higher end chips, M1 Pro, and then M1 Max.5:10
  60. The amount of additional performance you get for the extra $2 ,300 is massive.5:18
  61. If that's what you really want, that's what you should get.5:23
  62. Plus, you get a much better, brighter, mini LED, higher refresh rate screen too, and the webcam and the notch is way better, much better speakers, and you actually get5:26
  63. some ports while you're at it.5:35
  64. So I just, I don't know, you shouldn't get a literal worse version of all of those things.5:36
  65. I mean, $2 ,300 isn't nothing.5:41
  66. I mean, it's not zero, but like, I don't know, really squeezes this new MacBook Pro quite a bit.5:44
  67. And plus, you can't get around the fact that it's literally worse at all those things.5:51
  68. I think you're forgetting something.5:54
  69. Oh, really?5:56
  70. The MacBook Pro has studio quality microphones while the MacBook Air does not.5:57
  71. I mean, so technically, they both are listed as having triple microphone arrays with beamforming.6:03
  72. It's just Apple chose to call the one in the MacBook Pro studio quality.6:09
  73. It might have a slight difference, but really, are you gonna pay extra for that and then sacrifice all this other stuff?6:13
  74. Okay, I think there is one redeeming factor.6:18
  75. And what is that?6:21
  76. Battery.6:22
  77. The MacBook Pro has surprisingly excellent battery life, better than I think pretty much all of us expected.6:24
  78. We saw the 20 hours of video playback quoted on stage, but in real world use, this might be the best battery life in any modern laptop we've ever seen.6:29
  79. There's people out here getting 16 to 20 hours of actual real world use.6:38
  80. The Verge's laptop reviewer, Monica, wrote a hilarious piece about how long it took her to run down a battery.6:44
  81. And across the board, it's a tremendously long performer.6:49
  82. So if you want the best battery in any laptop, get this one.6:52
  83. Okay, so that is awesome to see, but at the same time, those other laptops already have great battery life too.6:56
  84. So you're not trying to spend just to get a slightly better battery and then sacrifice all those other things we talked about.7:02
  85. It's really quite a small difference.7:10
  86. So the ideal customer for this new MacBook Pro M2 is somebody who just needs a slightly better sustained performance than the new MacBook Air and is willing to sacrifice7:12
  87. screen size, webcam, speakers, ports, thickness, and weight to get it.7:26
  88. For someone who is literally about to buy the 13 inch M1 MacBook Pro.7:33
  89. Enterprise.7:37
  90. Yep, enterprise, that's it.7:37

English speaking practice with a fast paced American tech review

This clip is Marques Brownlee arguing with himself about whether anyone should actually buy the new M2 MacBook Pro, and the claim and rebuttal shape of it gives you real material for english speaking practice. It sits at B2 and moves at 202 words per minute, faster than 63 percent of the catalogue, so it pushes your speaking speed without losing you.

The two voices are easy to tell apart, one stating a flat opinion and the other pushing back, which makes it a good clip for english shadowing practice: you always know whose stance you are repeating. The american accent throughout is clear general American, useful for american accent training if that is the accent you are working on.

Real reductions in this MacBook Pro debate: kinda and ain't

Two lines carry reduced forms worth lifting straight into your own speech. In "But yeah, this exact shell design is literally six years old and is starting to look kinda out of place now next to Apple's other notebooks.", kinda compresses kind of into one quick beat with almost no pause before out of place. In "Like, let me tell you, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.", ain't stands in for is not, and the whole idiom is said fast as one unbroken breath group, which is common in casual american speech. Elsewhere in the recording gonna turns up six times and wanna once, so the argument stays casual even though the topic is a laptop refresh.

  • "And I don't think anyone should actually buy it." is a flat declarative with no softening; practice a confident falling pitch that lands on buy.
  • "This is a great computer, change my mind." is a direct challenge split into two short beats; match the push in the tone, do not read it flat.
  • "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." is a fixed idiom; say ain't broke as one glued unit with no pause before broke.

How to shadow this M2 MacBook Pro line, in order

Work through the opening in the order it happens, since the claim and rebuttal only make sense as a sequence, not as isolated lines to improve english speaking and listening together.

  • Start with line 2, "And I don't think anyone should actually buy it.", and shadow this line on its own until the stress falls on buy rather than anyone.
  • Move to line 9, "This is a great computer, change my mind.", and repeat it until the challenge in the tone comes through, not just the words.
  • Isolate the kinda in line 16, "starting to look kinda out of place now next to Apple's other notebooks.", and slow it down before speeding back up.
  • Finish on line 21, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.", said as one breath group with no gap after ain't.
  • Once those four lines feel automatic, run the full opening at the clip's own 202 words per minute to check your pace against a native speaker and improve your english accent on the harder consonant clusters.
Download on the App Store