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15inch MBA a good deal or is there a catch?

TJ82

TJ82

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 8, 2012
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Sold my old 16inch 2019 MBP over a year ago and haven't missed it, until now. Been using a Mac Studio and an iPad Pro and thought I was out of the laptop game for good..

Until I started wanting to learn new skills again, specifically Python at the moment. iPad seems almost useless for learning a lot of languages though there are some workarounds, but all terribly limited. The Mac Studio and 40inch monitor is lush but after work I'm tired and would like to get away from my desk and hit the sofa or bed and do a little learning and practise coding.

Didn't want to go crazy and spend too much, so the new 2k MacBook Pros put me off. Just noticed there's some nice coloured 15 inch Air's out now. Wasn't aware of these before and they also look quite powerful.

What's the catch with these? Big screen, powerful processor and 8GB RAM. Trendy midnight colour way. Looks legit but I've been with Apple a long time - has to be a catch. Some limitation on use with external monitors or something. Has to be a downgrade somewhere. Maybe the M2 chips aren't that great? (I'll check the performance of those after this come to think of it!).
 
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Apple_Robert said:
The 15" Air will have no problem meeting your needs. There is a lot of bad press around here about it from MBP users who typically always advise the MBP regardless. Ignore that noise. The 15" Air is a wonderful machine.
Click to expand...

Was just checking my Studio and it idles after startup at over 6GB RAM! Had to delete some background processes to get it down to that too. Would that mean 8GB on the Air would struggle? Always thought 8GB RAM was quite a lot, but maybe I'm stuck in the past..
 
I was looking at Best Buy site today and they had a 15" M2/16/1TB for 250$ off. I was somewhat tempted to replace my 15" 2017 but for that price range I am more tempted with a Studio for just a little more. I still have a few M1 Airs that still meeting all my needs but I have that new Mac itch..
 
TJ82 said:
Sold my old 16inch 2019 MBP over a year ago and haven't missed it, until now. Been using a Mac Studio and an iPad Pro and thought I was out of the laptop game for good..

Until I started wanting to learn new skills again, specifically Python at the moment. iPad seems almost useless for learning a lot of languages though there are some workarounds, but all terribly limited. The Mac Studio and 40inch monitor is lush but after work I'm tired and would like to get away from my desk and hit the sofa or bed and do a little learning and practise coding.

Didn't want to go crazy and spend too much, so the new 2k MacBook Pros put me off. Just noticed there's some nice coloured 15 inch Air's out now. Wasn't aware of these before and they also look quite powerful.

What's the catch with these? Big screen, powerful processor and 8GB RAM. Trendy midnight colour way. Looks legit but I've been with Apple a long time - has to be a catch. Some limitation on use with external monitors or something. Has to be a downgrade somewhere. Maybe the M2 chips aren't that great? (I'll check the performance of those after this come to think of it!).
Click to expand...
The Apple Silicon MacBook Air is limited to one external display. That’s the only real limitation that isn’t inherent in a fanless laptop.

On the other hand, if you are looking at learning Python, you can use Pythonista on the iPad. It is quite a nice Python IDE.
 
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Was struggling there because 16GB 15inch models seem hard to find anywhere except from Apple directly, and YT'ers mostly seemed to say you needed the 16GB.

Saw this video where a developer used the 8GB base model for over a year no probs so.. should be more than good enough for me too like you guys said 🤗 Found it a bit cheaper on Amazon. Maybe not that popular cos of the base config!
 
TJ82 said:
The Mac Studio and 40inch monitor is lush but after work I'm tired and would like to get away from my desk and hit the sofa or bed and do a little learning and practise coding.
Click to expand...

The 15" display is significantly bigger than the 13inches. I have both sizes around and I prefer very much the 15". It is perfect for the sofa :) It stays cool, not as my old 13" MBP that gets hot.

That said, I should mention that I took the maxed out RAM with 24GB, so I cannot say whether there is a difference to the 8GB. But there are a lot of reviews out there that say that 8GB is sufficient, at least for most use cases.

TJ82 said:
Was just checking my Studio and it idles after startup at over 6GB RAM! Had to delete some background processes to get it down to that too. Would that mean 8GB on the Air would struggle?
Click to expand...

Many people here have described, and in my eyes convincingly, that macOS takes los of RAM if it is there but can also work properly with less RAM.

If you have a chance to get a base MBA 15" with a right to return, you could get one and test if it is ok for you, and if not, returning it.
 
I have an M2 Pro MacBook Pro 14" with 16GB RAM (work computer) and a M2 MacBook Air 13.6" with 16GB RAM (personal computer). I purchased an Air as I wanted a Mac which I owned myself for personal use. Although one is a personal computer and another is a work supplied computer all my files are synced between both via cloud services and the same applications are installed on both. Usage is primarily Safari mainly (web apps), MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Illustrator. I also rarely play PS2 games on AetherSX2. Although surprisingly I find myself continuously using the M2 Air rather than the M2 Pro for personal and work needs. I really don't notice any issues with thermals on the Air and performance wise I can't really tell any difference for my usage cases anyway, including Adobe projects. The Air just has much better battery life in comparison, it lives a lot a longer, and is so much more portable if carrying around/traveling with. I think the main difference I notice is promotion where the Pro can achieve up to 120Hz while the Air can support up to 60Hz therefore graphics can appear smoother, but apart from that I definitely prefer the Air. I hope this helps you make a decision.
 
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jdb8167 said:
The Apple Silicon MacBook Air is limited to one external display. That’s the only real limitation that isn’t inherent in a fanless laptop.

On the other hand, if you are looking at learning Python, you can use Pythonista on the iPad. It is quite a nice Python IDE.
Click to expand...
I use a Hyper dock and my 13" Air drives 2 x 27" QHD monitors no problem. Albeit with software for 1 of the monitors.
 
Chuckeee said:
The only concern is that it’s passively cooled. So under a very heavy usage (i.e., video editing or production) it could do some self throttle. For your intended application, it sounds like a great machine.
Click to expand...

I do a decent amount of video editing on my M1 Air (iPhone 4k 60fps and GoPro 4k 120fps) and it holds up no problem. If it does throttle, I've never noticed. The m-series chips are just ridiculously good for video editing.

I thought about buying a Pro as my last laptop was a 2012 i7 Pro that I used for almost a decade, but the new Air is just so good that I can't justify a Pro machine. The 15" MB Air will be a great laptop!

You can add more than one external display if you use a Display Link adapter. I'm happy with my one 27" Dell 4k monitor.
 
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TJ82 said:
Was struggling there because 16GB 15inch models seem hard to find anywhere except from Apple directly, and YT'ers mostly seemed to say you needed the 16GB.
Click to expand...
Buy it refurbished from Apple. They show up all the time. Same warranty, same everything except the plainer box. The couple hundred dollar discount will pay for your 16GB of RAM.

8GB is enough for a lot of uses right now, but probably won't be a few years down the road as software and OS updates pile up. You don't want to find yourself in a situation later where you wish you could time travel back and retroactively spend that extra $200 on a RAM upgrade (or an SSD upgrade, for that matter).
 
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The catch is relatively expensive storage and memory options. Single external monitor support. M2 is halfway through its prime. Overall, it’s a great computer for most consumers.
 
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JPack said:
The catch is relatively expensive storage and memory options.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately that's just the baseline deal across all Apple products. Always has been (especially since aftermarket upgrades became impossible).
 
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Jack Neill said:
I was looking at Best Buy site today and they had a 15" M2/16/1TB for 250$ off. I was somewhat tempted to replace my 15" 2017 but for that price range I am more tempted with a Studio for just a little more. I still have a few M1 Airs that still meeting all my needs but I have that new Mac itch..
Click to expand...
that's just the midnight one however I believe?
 
I've been very happy with mine, but I use a VM in my workflow and 8GB on an M-series machine gets laggy on an external monitor so I picked up a 16GB 1TB (the specced out "stock" model). It is a remarkably portable machine and a true "lap"top unlike my 16" M1 Max. Obviously the performance is comparable or better in all but sustained number crunching, which I have other machines for. My only hesitation on the M2 chip was heat but I have not found it to be a problem even with intense "recreational" use (many media tabs open and such).
 
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JPack said:
The catch is relatively expensive storage and memory options. Single external monitor support. M2 is halfway through its prime. Overall, it’s a great computer for most consumers.
Click to expand...
All those caveats apply to any Mac, other than single-display support. Yeah, you can use a DisplayLink adapter if you don’t need superb response (e.g. if you’re a gamer - don’t bother).

I agree it’s a great option for many though. And I totally support @ignatius345’s suggestion - use the refurb store!
 
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chrise2 said:
I use a Hyper dock and my 13" Air drives 2 x 27" QHD monitors no problem. Albeit with software for 1 of the monitors.
Click to expand...
With other limitations like not being able to display movies/tv shows that have DRM. For business needs, it is probably fine but for many purposes, it might not be that great of an idea to use DisplayLink.
 
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