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Apple M1 MacBook Air vs. M1 MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide

MrKahuna said:
If someone truly needs "sustained performance under heavy loads" shouldn't they be waiting for the updated Silicon iMac, Mac Pro, or 16" MBP (or buying the high end Intel versions if they can't wait?)
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Not necessarily.

I do a lot of video web streaming and need computers both to encode/steam and also to act as media playback devices.

Neither of these are heavy lifts, but I cannot have any hiccups or interruptions.

So in my case, an M1 MBPro with a fan sounds incredible. I would never throw a $3,000 computer at that task. It’s overkill. But also the Air makes me a little nervous. I’m liking the difference between these two machines.
 
I feel Apple really didn't do a great job of differentiating the models. Yes, one has a fan and one doesn't...but in practical terms nobody has any clue what that means, because we don't know the thermal characteristics of the new CPU. Also Apple give the user the option of 7-core or 8-core GPU, without giving any baseline to know what the difference is. With AMD graphics in the laptops you can at least search for the GPU models to compare, but here the user is left to guess whether one extra GPU core will be worth the extra cash.

I use an a12x iPad Pro and never experience any sluggishness, so in theory the M1 in the Air should be fine for those "normal" tasks of photos/email/slack/messages/web browsing. But I also want to use it for development, and want to know if one Xcode build task is going to push the CPU to start throttling...I guess I'll have to wait for another dev to take the leap and find out.
 
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Two things to mention:
1. We still don't know how those 8/16 GB Ram will translate on M1 chip, so instead of moaning, let us wait until the devices are out and well reviewed and then we can complain (at least for real).
2. MBA has 8 core CPU and 7 core GPU vs 8/8 core CPU & GPU to MBP. Since Apple didn't mentioned any clock speeds, my guess will be there is the key to the difference + the active cooling. MBA has lower clock speed than MBP - 1 GPU core and no active cooling.
 
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The MacBook Air is really a cool machine - just got a 8/8 Core, 1TB, 16GB version for my wife.
Unclear why one should get the Pro now - the 14inch version next year might be much more compelling.
 
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I'm happy that I got my 2020 MBP i5/16/512 for over $200 off last month. Apple can spend the next couple of years working out bugs and optimizing.
 
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One thing I wonder is... The 13" M1 Macbook Pro has a fan, but the Air does not. This means that the M1 chip's thermals allow it to operate without a fan.

They have the same chip.

Does this mean that on the MBP, the fan will stay off most of the time and only come on during heavy load? It would be nice to have a laptop that runs fanless under light usage, but can maintain performance with a fan when necessary. It would also be nice to have a "quiet mode" that keeps the fan off and just throttles the CPU as necessary; this would be great for use in a recording studio situation.

Another good reason to keep the fan completely off under light load is reducing the amount of dust that gets in the machine. I bet the fanless Macbook Air will be a GREAT machine for dirty and dusty environments.
 
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MacBH928 said:
Somebody else brought this, but seriously if the same chip in the Air is in the MB PRO...what makes the MB a PROFESSIONAL device? I know it has a fan but will the fan really gives that significance of a difference between an Air and a PRO work device!?
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Yes. Perhaps in performance where the MBP won't thermal throttle like the Air does/will.
 
AppleTO said:
So, what happens when they get to M7? Am I the only one bothered by the fact that this naming scheme has already used substantially?
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What do you mean "what happens when they get to M7"? We are on iPhone 12, macOS 11, iOS 14. The 'naming scheme' that you're disappointed with is... sequential numbers?

Edit: I misunderstood your question and point at first. You were talking about the motion coprocessor; that's my bad. My suspicion is that Apple is going to recycle M7 and pretend like its branded motion coprocessors never existed in a mildly similar fashion to them re-using 'MagSafe'.

zorinlynx said:
Does this mean that on the MBP, the fan will stay off most of the time and only come on during heavy load? It would be nice to have a laptop that runs fanless under light usage, but can maintain performance with a fan when necessary. It would also be nice to have a "quiet mode" that keeps the fan off and just throttles the CPU as necessary; this would be great for use in a recording studio situation.
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I'm wondering the same thing. If the fan stays off most of the time and only comes on during extreme sustained workloads it's kind of a win-win.
 
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MacBH928 said:
Somebody else brought this, but seriously if the same chip in the Air is in the MB PRO...what makes the MB a PROFESSIONAL device?
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Who said it was a professional device? What is a "professional" device? Which professional association do I need to be a member of in order to buy a MacBook Pro? Or do I just have to use it for paid work? If you can have professional golfers, are there professional Minecraft players?

"MacBook Pro" is just a trademark, folks. At best, it means "better than the one without 'pro' on the box".

In practical terms, I'd guess that having a fan and bigger battery means that this one can run the CPU at a higher clock speed for longer (power consumption/heat increases dramatically with clock speed) - but Apple haven't published that level of detail and the only speed claims they are making are vs. the previous two-port 13" MacBook Pro. It certainly looks like it is substantially faster than the 2-port Intel MBP it replaces (which had the same restrictions on max RAM and number of ports).

The rather thin (see what I did there?) distinction between the entry-level 13" MBP and the the MacBook Air has been a thing for a long time - so although I'm slightly surprised that it hasn't gone away with Apple Silicon, I guess Apple's market research people must have a vague idea of what they are doing.
 
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AceFernalld said:
What do you mean "what happens when they get to M7"? We are on iPhone 12, macOS 11, iOS 14. The 'naming scheme' that you're disappointed with is... sequential numbers?


I'm wondering the same thing. If the fan stays off most of the time and only comes on during extreme sustained workloads it's kind of a win-win.
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M7 already exists, it’s a motion coprocessor.

They simply want to know if apple will just use the name again, or if they will skip it.
 
I own a 2016 MBP with that flawed keyboard and seriously wanted to get rid of it as it broke now for the second time. I was all in for the macbook air, until they told us that they kept the same camera system. This is the deal braker. It simply is non-negiotiable.
 
Both are shiet, 2 ports, 16gbs of ram is not what you want on a machine that you spend 1.5K for, just wait for the refresh next year with M2 chips, 32 gigs of ram and 14&16-inch screens.
 
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MacBH928 said:
Somebody else brought this, but seriously if the same chip in the Air is in the MB PRO...what makes the MB a PROFESSIONAL device? I know it has a fan but will the fan really gives that significance of a difference between an Air and a PRO work device!?
Click to expand...

The M1 13" MacBook Pro looks to be the modern successor the the 13" MacBook Pro without Touch Bar since that model also only had two TB3 ports due to only having a single controller.

I believe the rumors of a 14.1" MacBook Pro model coming in 2021 and I believe that one will offer more ports (4) and will replace the current (Intel) 4-port 13" MBP.


Imory said:
The M1 MacBook Pro seems to be entirely based on the 8th-gen Intel version it replaces. They have the exact same cooling (one fan instead of two) and the chassis doesn’t support the pair of woofers you see on the 10th-gen 4-TB ports version that they’re still selling for 1799.

So this seems like a stopgap made for the average user, while the entire redesign with higher performance chips will be released sometime next year.
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Agreed.


Peperino said:
The 13" is not really a "Pro" Machine. The difference with the Air is very little. Is the Pro just 2 more hours of battery life, 8 core default, a fan and a lame touchbar?

I would call it Air Pro.
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It might morph into that with the next models which will likely incorporate re-designs, with the M-powered MBPs offered in 14" and 16" sizes.

Or it will just be a cheaper MBP like the old 2-port Non-Touch Bar model was with the 14"/16" 4-port models anchoring the higher end.

zorinlynx said:
One thing I wonder is... The 13" M1 Macbook Pro has a fan, but the Air does not. This means that the M1 chip's thermals allow it to operate without a fan.
Click to expand...

This makes sense - the iPad Pros have 8+8 core SoCs and they don't need fans and do not appear to noticeable throttle their performance.
 
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borntrouble said:
I own a 2016 MBP with that flawed keyboard and seriously wanted to get rid of it as it broke now for the second time. I was all in for the macbook air, until they told us that they kept the same camera system. This is the deal braker. It simply is non-negiotiable.
Click to expand...
The ISP from the new processor should significantly improve camera quality even without new hardware. We just can't determine how significantly yet. It is really a slight to their customers, though.
 
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