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15" M2 MBA vs 14" or 16" MBP - 16GB/1TB

rick3000

rick3000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 6, 2008
648
298
West Coast
My 2014 MacBook Pro 15" has battery swelling again. It of course happened the first time a few months after my AppleCare ended, and this time they said they no longer have the parts, despite the '14 and '15 being basically identical and the '15 having a special warranty for battery issues. The issue has killed my trackpad so I am now in need of a new Mac. I might attempt to replace the battery myself, but not as long as this is my primary computer. I knew I would need to upgrade this year or next year, my MBP is 9 years old, although I'm still pretty happy with it.

I have looked extensively at the 16" MBP 16GB/1TB, which is $2700, but about $2500 on sale. AppleCare is $400 up front or $150/year. I'm hesitant to go smaller than 15", so I'm also looking at the 15" M2 MBA 16GB/1TB which is $1900. Apple Care is $240 or $80/year. I spent over $3k on my last MBP but if I'm being honest I'm not doing as much pro stuff anymore, just the occasional photo editing and videos. Although I am power FCP user when I do edit. The 14" is intriguing coming in at $2300 on sale for the 16GB/1TB, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the screen real estate.

Coming from a 2014 MBP it looks like the 15" M2 Air has a similar IPS screen, similar pixel density 220 vs 228 ppi but more brightness ~480 nits vs ~320 nits. Are their any glaring issues I'm going to notice going from a Pro to an Air, even an older Pro? I'm hestitant to give up the SD and HDMI, but I can live with using a dongle for the amount I actually use both of those. Are their any known issues with the 15" MBA? I've seen a few posts about the screen which seem to just be the color profile, and the mouse tracking speed which seems related to screen scaling.

Any advice or opinions? Any glaring issues going from the Pro to the Air? Am I making a mistake spec'ing out a MBA? Thanks!
 
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rick3000 said:
My 2014 MacBook Pro 15" has battery swelling again. It of course happened the first time a few months after my AppleCare ended, and this time they said they no longer have the parts, despite the '14 and '15 being basically identical and the '15 having a special warranty for battery issues. The issue has killed my trackpad so I am now in need of a new Mac. I might attempt to replace the battery myself, but not as long as this is my primary computer. I knew I would need to upgrade this year or next year, my MBP is 9 years old, although I'm still pretty happy with it.

I have looked extensively at the 16" MBP 16GB/1TB, which is $2700, but about $2500 on sale. AppleCare is $400 up front or $150/year. I'm hesitant to go smaller than 15", so I'm also looking at the 15" M2 MBA 16GB/1TB which is $1900. Apple Care is $240 or $80/year. I spent over $3k on my last MBP but if I'm being honest I'm not doing as much pro stuff anymore, just the occasional photo editing and videos. Although I am power FCP user when I do edit. The 14" is intriguing coming in at $2300 on sale for the 16GB/1TB, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the screen real estate.

Coming from a 2014 MBP it looks like the 15" M2 Air has a similar IPS screen, similar pixel density 220 vs 228 ppi but more brightness ~480 nits vs ~320 nits. Are their any glaring issues I'm going to notice going from a Pro to an Air, even an older Pro? I'm hestitant to give up the SD and HDMI, but I can live with using a dongle for the amount I actually use both of those. Are their any known issues with the 15" MBA? I've seen a few posts about the screen which seem to just be the color profile, and the mouse tracking speed which seems related to screen scaling.

Any advice or opinions? Any glaring issues going from the Pro to the Air? Am I making a mistake spec'ing out a MBA? Thanks!
Click to expand...
I settled for the !4" 16gb, 1 tb ssd MBP M2. In my case a 15" screen was to big for me. Too much real estate. 14" was my sweet spot. I like the sd card slot, the screen, and the speed of the machine as well as the fact that it has fans if need be. I have not heard the fans, however, since getting the machine. I agree that you can always try the 15" MBA and see if you like it.
 
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If you're perfectly happy with the performance with a 9 year old Pro....you will be more than amazed with the new M2 15 Air. The M2 15 Air will have around triple the performance.

15 screen TOO large? Just use it for a few days, you'll never go back. And I don't know about people complaining about yellowing and what not, just calibrate it.

And you're right about dongles, you can get a good one for a mere $30.
 
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I went with 14 Pro and picked up for a difference a 27 4K external display with DCI-P3($169 - LG 27UP800).

If I were you, i would go with Air and just pocket the difference or spend on monitor. Air is perfectly capable and does everything on the same level as MBP 16, unless pushed into the non-codec zone of edits. But as you said, you will not be tapping into that red zone.
 
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If you use it on the go you might be happy to finally get the weight down noticeably, the Air or 14" would be better for that. The 16" is great if you are mostly at home with it or don't want to use an external monitor.

Keep in mind one of the main differences between the Pros and the Airs is the miniLED display that enables HDR, with third party apps you can unlock 1000 nits in all applications which is nice for a bright summer day outside, and it generally has better contrast and darker blacks.

The current Air displays will be better than what you have on your MBP, but the 14" and 16" are drastically better still.

The 14" has one advantage and that's base model (500GB SSD) pricing. The older M1 version can be had for as low as $1599 though I don't think it is sold anymore at this point since Apple stopped manufacturing it in favor of the M2 version. In any case, you can find it for under $2000, just the upgrade to the 1TB version already costs a good amount extra. But that is of course how Apple operates, the base model has a tiny SSD on purpose so you are almost forced to spend a lot more.

If you don't mind the extra weight and the price difference isn't big, then the 16" will always be much better than the Air. On the Air you have to pay the upgrade prices for the additional memory too, whereas all 16" come with 16GiB already. The Air upgrades bring it too close to the Pros in price in my opinion so personally I went with a MBP instead.

arcite said:
And I don't know about people complaining about yellowing and what not, just calibrate it.
Click to expand...
Few people actually have a hardware calibration tool at home, so if your suggestion is to "just calibrate it" at least mention the lower triple digit price tag for that.
 
With that usage pattern: I'd get the 15" MBA in 16/512 config and bag the 300/800 USD difference up to the 14 and 16" Pros respectively.

If I was worried, that I repeatedly and frequently would need 10+ minutes sustained performance, which is not the 15"'s forté, the mac Mini M2 Pro would be my next stop.

Finally, if mobility was key, the 14" screen was to small for me, and I had a need for performance also, then the refurb. story has some 10-15% savings already on 16" m2 Pros.
 
mr_jomo said:
Finally, if mobility was key, the 14" screen was to small for me, and I had a need for performance also, then the refurb. story has some 10-15% savings already on 16" m2 Pros.
Click to expand...
But make sure to double-check with Best Buy, Microcenter and a couple others. For me refurb Macs have never made sense as I always got a brand-new device from a retailer at a similar cost instead, or even a lower one.
 
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okkibs said:
But make sure to double-check with Best Buy, Microcenter and a couple others. For me refurb Macs have never made sense as I always got a brand-new device from a retailer at a similar cost instead, or even a lower one.
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Good advise!
 
I'm in the same spot with a 2014 15" MBP except my issue is heat. The power supply is getting too hot as is the computer itself. I'd be all over a 15" Air if it had 120Hz and a MiniLED screen. I'm still likely to get one but holding out for a bit.

James
 
15 air is great but 14 pro is better just giving up an inch and gaining a lot. They are on sale now at Costco new for 1750 base. Killer deal! I know everyone talks about the 15 screen being larger which it is but the 14 is wider.
I’ve noticed simple things load slower on the 15 compared to the 14 pro such as exhhange email Photos and text. Just be aware of that it’s just slightly less snappy.
 
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kp98077 said:
They are on sale now at Costco new for 1750 base. Killer deal!
Click to expand...
Not a killer deal, to put it into perspective, the previous gen 14" base model was $1599, that's $150 less, and it had the faster SSD too. So you pay $150 extra to get a bit more performance with the M2, and it's certainly a very decent deal, but the M1 14" was the actual killer deal.
 
kngelv said:
I'm in the same spot with a 2014 15" MBP except my issue is heat. The power supply is getting too hot as is the computer itself. I'd be all over a 15" Air if it had 120Hz and a MiniLED screen. I'm still likely to get one but holding out for a bit.

James
Click to expand...
That’s odd what year is your 14?
 
kp98077 said:
15 air is great but 14 pro is better just giving up an inch and gaining a lot. They are on sale now at Costco new for 1750 base. Killer deal! I know everyone talks about the 15 screen being larger which it is but the 14 is wider.
I’ve noticed simple things load slower on the 15 compared to the 14 pro such as exhhange email Photos and text. Just be aware of that it’s just slightly less snappy.
Click to expand...
A extra inch is a lot to some people! Especially if you using for a works machine.
A screen being wide isn’t necessary a good thing, I prefer ones that are 3:2
 
okkibs said:
Not a killer deal, to put it into perspective, the previous gen 14" base model was $1599, that's $150 less, and it had the faster SSD too. So you pay $150 extra to get a bit more performance with the M2, and it's certainly a very decent deal, but the M1 14" was the actual killer deal.
Click to expand...
i think u got the mbp confused with the mba, the base mbp definitely does not have a crippled ssd speed like the base m2 mba.
 
ilikewhey said:
i think u got the mbp confused with the mba, the base mbp definitely does not have a crippled ssd speed like the base m2 mba.
Click to expand...
They are right. M1 Pro SSD speeds across the board are 2 times faster than M2 Pros.
For example, my 512gb M1 Pro 14 does 6000MB/s while the same M2 Pro 14 gets around 3200MB/s.
So it is crippled when compared to what they sold on the previous model.
 
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As someone else has pointed out, you can try it for 14 days and see if it fits. It coming from a 9 year old mbp to a new m2 air will be a big upgrade overall.
 
ctjack said:
They are right. M1 Pro SSD speeds across the board are 2 times faster than M2 Pros.
For example, my 512gb M1 Pro 14 does 6000MB/s while the same M2 Pro 14 gets around 3200MB/s.
So it is crippled when compared to what they sold on the previous model.
Click to expand...
wait seriously? lmaoo how did that happen. fast nand ssd are like dirt cheap nowadays.
 
rick3000 said:
Any advice or opinions? Any glaring issues going from the Pro to the Air? Am I making a mistake spec'ing out a MBA? Thanks
Click to expand...
Just helped a friend get a 15" M2 MBA with 16 GB RAM / 1 TB storage for under $1600 (before taxes) on the used market (although this particular device was new in box). A good deal for sure, but you can find similar deals online if you look.
 
I've gone back and forth on this. I have a 15" m2 still within the return window but am considering a refurbished 16 M1 MBP... I don't need the power but I could get it cheaper than the M2 MBA.
 
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