Who else got an 15" M3 MBA over an 14" M3 MBP?

[Torty]

Here and there I checked for the MBP 16" but price was not acceptable to me and for my light usage my MBP did it's job until more and more apps didn't run after an update because I run Mojave which is less and less supported by apps. Thanks to current market hype some money found it's way into my pockets and at the same time the new M3 MBA was announced.

I didn't do a lot of research when I ordered the 15" MBA 16/2TB.

Why MBA over MBP? My thoughts were:
Currently I still use my 2012 13" MBP.

- used it 99% in clamshell mode cause I found the 13" too small -> wished the screen was larger
- didn't like the noise of the fan -> wished it would be silent
- I used the sdcard card slot years ago when I used my digital cam, now i use only my iphone for photos -> I can live with a donge which could also be used for newer USB-C devices like iphone or ipad
- the MBA comes with only 2 USB-C connectors but so does the M3 MBP
- Today I checked again the displays 14" MBP vs. 15" MBA and I can't follow the hype about the MBP screens. But what was very visible to me was the difference in screen size. I work often with spread sheets so more screen space is very helpful.

Would have loved to have an USB-A slot but the MBP doesn't have one either.

Any comments?

 

[AlexMaximus]

I still use my MBP 17‘ from 2010 and it‘s about time look for something new. 10 years ago, I still was into gaming at that time, and no Air was around. My gaming habit declined and a tiny rest of it transferred to the Mac Pro tower. I am flirting with the 15‘ M3 Air with 24GB and 1TB together with a Sonnet Echo 20 Dock. The Air has a retina screen that will be even better as my MBP 17‘ non retina screen. So it will be an upgrade from my view. Since I will not game on the Air, I most likely will not overheat the system on just some regular photo stuff. I will get mine in about 6 weeks from now most likely. The Echo 20 can take an 8TB NVME, so in my case I skip the 2TB option in the Air and go for the 24GB Ram option.

 

[XboxEvolved]

Here and there I checked for the MBP 16" but price was not acceptable to me and for my light usage my MBP did it's job until more and more apps didn't run after an update because I run Mojave which is less and less supported by apps. Thanks to current market hype some money found it's way into my pockets and at the same time the new M3 MBA was announced.

I didn't do a lot of research when I ordered the 15" MBA 16/2TB.

Why MBA over MBP? My thoughts were:
Currently I still use my 2012 13" MBP.

- used it 99% in clamshell mode cause I found the 13" too small -> wished the screen was larger
- didn't like the noise of the fan -> wished it would be silent
- I used the sdcard card slot years ago when I used my digital cam, now i use only my iphone for photos -> I can live with a donge which could also be used for newer USB-C devices like iphone or ipad
- the MBA comes with only 2 USB-C connectors but so does the M3 MBP
- Today I checked again the displays 14" MBP vs. 15" MBA and I can't follow the hype about the MBP screens. But what was very visible to me was the difference in screen size. I work often with spread sheets so more screen space is very helpful.

Would have loved to have an USB-A slot but the MBP doesn't have one either.

Any comments?

Eh for only $100 more and a 1TB less you can get a M3 Pro that's better in every way and the fans barely ever, if at all rev up on here. The most intense thing I can do on my computer is probably play a game like RE4 Remake and the fans are never audible even when they are going. Most the time the fans never rev up. I really don't see value in buying 2TB when you can get an external SSD for much less and it has a SD card slot reader on the side but you do you.

 

[Torty]

Eh for only $100 more and a 1TB less you can get a M3 Pro that's better in every way and the fans barely ever, if at all rev up on here. The most intense thing I can do on my computer is probably play a game like RE4 Remake and the fans are never audible even when they are going. Most the time the fans never rev up. I really don't see value in buying 2TB when you can get an external SSD for much less and it has a SD card slot reader on the side but you do you.

I come from 1TB and started to delete and move stuff which is very annoying. I don’t like working with external solutions, it’s a no go for me. For me everything must be available locally. So 2TB is a must criteria for me.

 

[CalMin]

I LOVE my 14" M1 Pro. I also love my 15" M2 MBA. Side by side the M1 Pro's display is better in some situations, but really it's only an issue in some very specific situations such as HDR content which, frankly, isn't all that much when I live in a world of email and spreadsheets. The rest of the time I prefer the bigger screen of the 15" MBA - which works better for side-by-side content.

In fact, I've said in these forums (more than once) that if the M2 MBA could work with my dual external display setup I could make it my only Mac, so the M3 Air really piques my interest... Truth is that the M2 is so capable that it demolishes my daily office based workload and makes light work of any video work I do (light 4K projects for my Podcast).

I'm not in the market for a new Mac right now, but if I was shopping today, I would be quite torn over which way to go with this. It's great to have choices and even better when the choice is between two excellent options.

 

[geta]

Eh for only $100 more and a 1TB less you can get a M3 Pro that's better in every way and the fans barely ever, if at all rev up on here. The most intense thing I can do on my computer is probably play a game like RE4 Remake and the fans are never audible even when they are going. Most the time the fans never rev up. I really don't see value in buying 2TB when you can get an external SSD for much less and it has a SD card slot reader on the side but you do you.

Not everyone care or need the extra power and features MBP having, many value more fan-less portable light weight machines.

 

[thelookingglass]

I just went from 14" MBP to a 13" MBA and I'm loving it. I plug into a nice big ASD so screen size doesn't matter to me. I don't do anything with my computer that would require the extra power of a MBP. But boy oh boy is the slimmer size and weight a big plus in my book. I made the switch for that reason alone.

 

[Torty]

According spec the 14“ M3 MBP can NOT drive 2 external displays?

 

[snipr125]

According spec the 14“ M3 MBP can NOT drive 2 external displays?

No it cant, but Apple will be releasing a software update soon so that it can drive 2 external displays like the MBA M3 can (lid closed). Whether the M3 (or M1 and M2) had this ability all along, and Apple intentionally gimped them is another story.

 

[SAdProZ]

You made the right choice. Here is a chart showing your CPU and GPU upgrade:

Geekbench 6	MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012)	M3 MacBook Air (2024, 10-core GPU)
Single-core CPU score	549	3157
Multi-core CPU score	1100	12020
Metal GPU score	355	46735

The M3 CPU is between 5.75x and 11x faster than your old laptop, depending on single or multi-core process. The GPU will be 131x faster. Not to mention the media engine in the M3 Air will make dust out of any video file you throw at it, unlike your 2012 MacBook Pro.

Your screen is going from a 1280-by-800 TFT display to a 2880-by-1864 IPS display, so higher resolution and wider viewing angles. Brightness will go from 300 nits to 500 nits. Contrast will go from 600:1 to 1400:1. Color will go from 8-bit sRGB to 10-bit DCI-P3.

Battery is going from what I imagine is less than 3 hours, to up to 15-hours. And a fan-less design is a silent one. Although your new speakers should sound real nice compared to a 2012 MBP.

So the upgrade is insane. You made the right choice I think, considering a large display takes precedent.

(The display on the current MacBook Pros are overrated—the 69 ms pixel response is 8x too slow to properly support 120Hz, which means the screen is blurry during motion—and the mini LEDs cause blooming and ghosting that are distracting in certain scenes—so unless you specifically need to edit HDR video, I don't recommend)

EDIT: typo

 

[Torty]

You made the right choice. Here is a chart showing your CPU and GPU upgrade:

Geekbench 6	MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012)	M3 MacBook Air (2024, 10-core GPU)
Single-core CPU score	549	3157
Multi-core CPU score	1100	12020
Metal GPU score	355	46735

The M3 CPU is between 5.75x and 11x faster than your old laptop, depending on single or multi-core process. The GPU will be 131x faster. Not to mention the media engine in the M3 Air will make dust out of any video file you throw at it, unlike your 2012 MacBook Pro.

Your screen is going from a 1280-by-800 TFT display to a 2880-by-1864 IPS display, so higher resolution and wider viewing angles. Brightness will go from 300 nits to 500 nits. Contrast will go from 600:1 to 1400:1. Color will go from 8-bit sRGB to 10-bit DCI-P3.

Battery is going from what I imagine is less than 3 hours, to up to 15-hours. And a fan-less design is a silent one. Although your new speakers should sound real nice compared to a 2012 MBP.

So the upgrade is insane. You made the right choice I think, considering a large display takes precedent.

(The display on the current MacBook Pros are overrated—the 69 ms pixel is 8x too slow to properly support 120Hz, which means the screen is blurry during motion—and the mini LEDs cause blooming and ghosting that are distracting in certain scenes—so unless you specifically need to edit HDR video, I don't recommend)

Thanks!

 

[krspkbl]

I got a 15" M3 Air. Seen many people say you're better off getting a 14" MBP. That depends. If I didn't care about the screen size and knew I'd be doing more demanding stuff on it then I'd probably go with the MBP but the Air has more than enough power for me.

The 15" Air the perfect device for me. I like large screens and until last year the only way to get the biggest screen in a MacBook was to buy the super expensive 16" model which has specs that are overkill for me.

For £1,700 I can get a 15" Air with 16GB/512GB. For the same price I can get a 14" MBP with 8GB/512GB. I'd have to spend £1,900 just to match the Air and I'd still have a smaller screen.

If I needed more power then I'd not buy the 14" MBP but the 16" MBP.

 

[SAdProZ]

I got a 15" M3 Air. Seen many people say you're better off getting a 14" MBP. That depends. If I didn't care about the screen size and knew I'd be doing more demanding stuff on it then I'd probably go with the MBP but the Air has more than enough power for me.

The 15" Air the perfect device for me. I like large screens and until last year the only way to get the biggest screen in a MacBook was to buy the super expensive 16" model which has specs that are overkill for me.

For £1,700 I can get a 15" Air with 16GB/512GB. For the same price I can get a 14" MBP with 8GB/512GB. I'd have to spend £1,900 just to match the Air and I'd still have a smaller screen.

If I needed more power then I'd not buy the 14" MBP but the 16" MBP.

Thats a pet peeve of mine, when people say that. "You're buying a 15-inch Air with 16/512? You might as well buy a 14-inch MBP!"

Their brains aren't working.

A person choosing a 15-inch Air we know prioritizes screen size, otherwise they would have purchased the 13-inch. And we know they don't need the extra cores or ports of the MacBook Pro, otherwise they wouldn't be considering the Air. So why should someone spend even $100 or £100 more to buy a laptop with less of what they prioritize, which is display size?

(I'm not arguing it couldn't be considered, but I get annoyed of an automatic response when they haven't even asked about the buyer's priorities)

 

[Torty]

So my MacBook came much earlier than planned. Picked it up today at local Apple Store. I am VERY happy with it. Perfect size, incredibly thin, beautiful color, really nice and even display...
I got really had a wow effect.

Funny how I had to web search how to move apps with 3 fingers...

Edit: What is BETTER with my old MBP: Trackpad! I don't know why but very often the MBA doesn't recognize 2 finger zoom.
My old MBP also has a smoother trackpad which I find more comfortable.

Edit2: Trackpad sucks. Pinch to zoom is unacceptable bad especially for a 2750 Euros Macbook. Next days I will observe it.

 

[thadoggfather]

Thats a pet peeve of mine, when people say that. "You're buying a 15-inch Air with 16/512? You might as well buy a 14-inch MBP!"

Their brains aren't working.

A person choosing a 15-inch Air we know prioritizes screen size, otherwise they would have purchased the 13-inch. And we know they don't need the extra cores or ports of the MacBook Pro, otherwise they wouldn't be considering the Air. So why should someone spend even $100 or £100 more to buy a laptop with less of what they prioritize, which is display size?

(I'm not arguing it couldn't be considered, but I get annoyed of an automatic response when they haven't even asked about the buyer's priorities)

If there weren't reasons to get a 15 inch air, the product line wouldn't exist at all

 

[i486dx2-66]

Side by side the M1 Pro's display is better in some situations, but really it's only an issue in some very specific situations such as HDR content which, frankly, isn't all that much when I live in a world of email and spreadsheets.

It's a big deal in sunlight thought, right?

I haven't seen them in this environment... but Apple says the 15" M3 Air has 500 nits of brightness, whereas the 14" M3 Pro has 1000 nits brightness with 1600 peak for HDR content. So even if not doing HDR work, it seems like the Pro would have double the brightness when needed?

 

[CalMin]

It's a big deal in sunlight thought, right?

I haven't seen them in this environment... but Apple says the 15" M3 Air has 500 nits of brightness, whereas the 14" M3 Pro has 1000 nits brightness with 1600 peak for HDR content. So even if not doing HDR work, it seems like the Pro would have double the brightness when needed?

In practice it is a little noticeable but it's not like the 14" is usable in situations where the 15" is not. I mean sure, on the spec sheet the difference seems huge - i.e. 500 vs 1000 nits seems hugely different and while it is brighter at max setting, but the MacBook 15" is never unusable. But I'm really not sure how the nits scale works but as humans we don't perceive brightness linearly which may explain my subjective impressions on this.

All of this said, I'm not graphics pro or display expert. I'm reasonably discerning with these things and all I can say is that the 15" Air display is in line with any modern Mac - it's excellent. Just slightly less excellent than the 14".

 

[SAdProZ]

Apple says the 15" M3 Air has 500 nits of brightness, whereas the 14" M3 Pro has 1000 nits brightness with 1600 peak for HDR content.

From Apple's tech page:

• XDR brightness: 1000 nits sustained full-screen, 1600 nits peak (HDR content only)
• SDR brightness: 600 nits

So its more like 500 nits vs 600 nits, even in sunlight, unless you're using that app that "hacks" Apple's limit and turns on HDR brightness at all times.

 

[chouseworth]

Thats a pet peeve of mine, when people say that. "You're buying a 15-inch Air with 16/512? You might as well buy a 14-inch MBP!"

Their brains aren't working.

A person choosing a 15-inch Air we know prioritizes screen size, otherwise they would have purchased the 13-inch. And we know they don't need the extra cores or ports of the MacBook Pro, otherwise they wouldn't be considering the Air. So why should someone spend even $100 or £100 more to buy a laptop with less of what they prioritize, which is display size?

(I'm not arguing it couldn't be considered, but I get annoyed of an automatic response when they haven't even asked about the buyer', s priorities)

It's a little more complicated than that. I had a choice between an M3 MBA 15", 18GB, 1TB at $1899 versus an Apple refurb M2 Pro MBP 14", 16GB, 1TB for $1899. The nicer screen and extra ports along with the M2 Pro versus M3 made all the difference for me as I chose the MBP. The screen size difference between the 14 inch and 15 inch was just not a big deal for me. Bottom line, I think most buyers would be happier with the 14 inch M2 Pro MBP versus the 15 inch M3 MBA if prices are roughly the same.

 

[SAdProZ]

It's a little more complicated than that. I had a choice between an M3 MBA 15", 18GB, 1TB versus at $1899 versus an Apple refurb M2 Pro MBP 14", 16GB, 1TB for $1899. The nicer screen and extra ports along with the M2 Pro versus M3 made all the difference for me as I chose the MBP. The screen size difference between the 14 inch and 15 inch was just not a big deal for me. Bottom line, I think most buyers would be happier with the 14 inch M2 Pro MBP versus the 15 inch M3 MBA if prices are roughly the same.

You have exemplified the point I was making—you're implying most buyers are like you, weighing the same priorities as you do.

Do all buyers dress like you? Live in the same home type as you? Drive the same car type you do? Date the same body type and personalities as you? Go into the same education and career as you? Read the same books as you do? Eat what you eat? Watch what you watch? Hobby what you hobby?—So why do you assume everyone is like you when it comes to laptop preference?

You walked right into the thing I said not to do. You think you're most buyers. Thats not true. Apple has 48 buyer personas they target with the 15 inch Air. You are a mere 2% of that, or 1 of 48, yet here you are thinking you represent near 100%, that we all would just gladly prioritize HDMI ports and HDR over screen size, despite most people looking at a 15-inch not needing HDMI, or not needing SD, or not using their screens for more than productivity and not HDR movie editing; as if these screens don't look nearly identical in SDR mode, which is how most people will use them, and view them at the Apple Store. Yes, its complex, which is why assuming someone should just skip the 15-inch Air and buy the 14-inch MBP is wrong to do.

 

[geta]

It's a little more complicated than that. I had a choice between an M3 MBA 15", 18GB, 1TB at $1899 versus an Apple refurb M2 Pro MBP 14", 16GB, 1TB for $1899. The nicer screen and extra ports along with the M2 Pro versus M3 made all the difference for me as I chose the MBP. The screen size difference between the 14 inch and 15 inch was just not a big deal for me. Bottom line, I think most buyers would be happier with the 14 inch M2 Pro MBP versus the 15 inch M3 MBA if prices are roughly the same.

Hmmm… NO.

Even if a 13" (or 15") MBA with 16/24GB RAM and 1TB storage costs more than a 14" MBP with similar specs, I'd still choose the MBA without blinking.

 

[Torty]

Hmmm… NO.

Full agree and the price is almost the same if the MBP comes with M3 Soc.
BUT if the air’s pinch-to-zoom so much worse than my 12 years old MBP.. then something is wrong here.
If I need to buy a pro only to have a working track pad.. I don’t know if I should better look for something different.

 

[kschendel]

15" M2 MBA here instead of M3. I looked at the 14" MBP and it wasn't worth the extra cost to me. I don't use an external monitor, so I don't care about the extra ports. I don't use the laptop in strong sunlight, so I don't care about the brighter screen. (I did compare the screens in an Apple store, and yes certainly the 14" MPB screen is nicer. It's not hundreds of dollars nicer, for me.) I don't run heavy duty CPU grinders very often, so I don't need the MBP's cooling or CPU power. I don't game on it, or run GPU-heavy apps, so I don't care about GPU power. 16GB of memory is plenty for me, and in fact I might have gone with the base 8 GB except that I do occasionally need more.

I do care about the larger screen, hence the 15".

I agree with SAdProZ. Buy for your use case and pay no attention to someone with a different use case.

 

[maka344]

Hmmm… NO.

Even if a 13" (or 15") MBA with 16/24GB RAM and 1TB storage costs more than a 14" MBP with similar specs, I'd still choose the MBA without blinking.

Why? Genuinely interested.

 

[SAdProZ]

Why? Genuinely interested.

Until they answer, I’m going to ask myself this question:

What does a 15-inch Air have that a 14-inch MBP doesn’t?