Air vs Pro

[Kfbryant]

Looking for some advice.

I currently have a 2017 MacBook Pro that needs a brand new screen. Due to the cost to fix it I am looking at purchasing a new one. I am considering a MBA M1, MBA M2 or the new 13” MBP. I would like to make sure that I am actually upgrading but can’t seem to compare mine to the new one; the specs are worded differently. Can someone help me and tell me which model would be my best bang for my buck while actually upgrading?

Thanks

 

[jav6454]

First thing first, what are your needs? To determine the correct Mac to recommend we need to know what your needs are, what you'll be doing in it.

Furthermore, how long do you wish to keep this Mac for? Short (3-4 yr), medium (4-7yr) or long term (7+ yrs)?

 

[Falhófnir]

Any of them will be a gigantic upgrade from a 2017. Unless money is no object I'd perhaps suggest going for the M1 Air with the 16GB RAM and 512GB storage options for a similar price to the other two with only 8GB/256GB. If you can do what you're doing on a 2017 the M1 vs M2 CPU/ GPU power is going to be a complete non factor, while more RAM and storage may be useful, particularly in years ahead.

 

[Kfbryant]

First thing first, what are your needs? To determine the correct Mac to recommend we need to know what your needs are, what you'll be doing in it.

Furthermore, how long do you wish to keep this Mac for? Short (3-4 yr), medium (4-7yr) or long term (7+ yrs)?

I would like it to last 5-7 years. I know I do not need a Pro; I’ve just always had one. I do very basic things. I’m just not wanting to spend $2000 right now.

 

[jav6454]

I would like it to last 5-7 years. I know I do not need a Pro; I’ve just always had one. I do very basic things. I’m just not wanting to spend $2000 right now.

Look at the M2 MBP then. The Air offers some good performance for basic stuff, but it will throttle heavily when the M2 gets hot. M1 Airs are also good.

Given that you wish to keep this Mac for a medium time length, I'd say pick the 16GB upgrade and 512GB upgrade as well.

 

[ascender]

Unless you need the multi-core performance of the MBP, you could consider either.

There’s some other differences in the specs (screen, ports etc), but you might also have a preference based on weight, design etc.

Either machine will be more than capable of doing those “basic things” you refer to, for many years. Even the base Air.

 

[MandiMac]

I am considering a MBA M1, MBA M2 or the new 13” MBP.

As you're saying your needs are low, go for the MBA M1 as it's the cheapest version out there. The MBA M2 is better in the GPU department which helps when you are gaming, but if you're not, the M1 will be most likely overkill anyway.

 

[GooseInTheCaboose]

Unless you need the multi-core performance of the MBP, you could consider either.

There’s some other differences in the specs (screen, ports etc), but you might also have a preference based on weight, design etc.

Either machine will be more than capable of doing those “basic things” you refer to, for many years. Even the base Air.

How do you know if you need the performance of the 14”/16” vs the M2 Air? Where do you draw the line?

(Please don’t say ‘if youre not sure, ya dont need it!’ lol)

Like, what are some examples of tasks, usages or situstions you need an m1pro machine for, vs adequate the m2 air?

 

[MandiMac]

Like, what are some examples of tasks, usages or situstions you need an m1pro machine for, vs adequate the m2 air?

That's actually pretty easy to answer. If you depend on your machine for your work, where every second counts and you need the most performance, go for Pro or even Max/Ultra. If you're using it in your downtime, these upgrades make no sense.

 

[ascender]

How do you know if you need the performance of the 14”/16” vs the M2 Air? Where do you draw the line?

(Please don’t say ‘if youre not sure, ya dont need it!’ lol)

Like, what are some examples of tasks, usages or situstions you need an m1pro machine for, vs adequate the m2 air?

Does your job rely on you doing incredibly CPU-intensive tasks, which need a lot of power and the quicker you do them, the more productive you become? Video encoding; code compiling; music production; professional photo editing etc?

If you're just doing general productivity stuff which doesn't benefit from multi-core performance and needs the ability to churn through sustained workloads, then you could probably happily get away with an Air. Even if you do a bit of the above, the Air will still be able to do those tasks, but they'll just take a bit longer to complete on an Air. But as its not your core job, it won't matter to you.

 

[Pugly]

The M1 is as good or better than nearly any intel Mac released, so if you are getting along fine with an intel Mac the base M1 is great. An M1 is about 2-3 times faster than any dual core Mac, and the M1 is faster or just as fast as quad core or higher intel Macs.

Then the Pro chips are better for users that setup a computer to do a job and have to go away and just let the computer do its thing. So if you were waiting 30 secs that's cut down to 15 secs. Actually using the computer and editing and all the tasks and apps you want to run, they'll all run great on a base M1. But compiling code, rendering graphics, encoding video tasks like that you'll have less downtime with a higher end Apple cpu. But it can still be done, just at worst twice as long. If you setup your Mac to run something in the background, and you have to wait on it... that's the time to start thinking about a M1 Pro or the MBP with a fan.

The best analogy I can think of is perhaps a microwave... all microwaves cook about the same... but the more powerful ones will just be a little faster... same with the M1 Macs. Any older Mac there was some hard limitations of what you could get out of the entry models... that's not really the case anymore.

 

[IJBrekke]

Then the Pro chips are better for users that setup a computer to do a job and have to go away and just let the computer do its thing.

This is excellent, a great way of framing the debate. It also shows just how powerful the base M1/M2 is.