Reviewing Technology

I am beginning to realize the flaws in some YouTube tech reviews.

I recently purchased a MacBook Pro. I know, I know. I said I wasn’t going to; that I didn’t need one, etc., etc. But I saw an opportunity and I jumped on it. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and so far, I have not regretted it. As I count down the days of my return window, I am constantly using it and ensuring it is something I want to keep — so far, the answer is yes.

In helping me decide whether I wanted to keep the beautiful Space Black M3 Pro MacBook Pro, I started watching and reading a ton of reviews online to compare this model with other options, including different configurations of the MacBook I got, and comparing it to the MacBook Air to see if what I got is overkill.

The more I watched YouTube videos, the more unhelpful they seemed to become. I started to notice a pattern that I think most people see, but it didn’t really dawn on me until I was around 5–6 videos deep. Most YouTube Tech reviewers are in a constant loop, here is an example with some of the MacBook reviews I watched:

Step 1: Buy or get a review unit of a new MacBook.

Step 2: Use the MacBook so you can create content about that MacBook.

Step 3: Record a review of the MacBook using your experience of creating content about the MacBook.

Step 4: Provide general recommendations on whether the MacBook is good or not, mostly using your own experience of creating content with said MacBook as if it is something others will find useful or good.

It is this strange back and forth of buying a product for content and that product actually being the content itself but also the tool to create the content. What I am getting at here is that most of these reviews are very unhelpful for many who aren’t content creators.