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Apple M1 MacBook Air vs. M1 MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide
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Excellent comparison, MR. Very helpful.
Glad I went with the Air. I am confident it can handle what I need and want to do. It’s a sweet stop gap between my aging 2013 27” iMac and the M2 Macs.
I am excited to see what the M2 chips can deliver, but more than that I am psyched to get creative on a Mac again. I’ve been waiting for a long time and am eager to dive back in.
Glad I went with the Air. I am confident it can handle what I need and want to do. It’s a sweet stop gap between my aging 2013 27” iMac and the M2 Macs.
I am excited to see what the M2 chips can deliver, but more than that I am psyched to get creative on a Mac again. I’ve been waiting for a long time and am eager to dive back in.
This going to sound ridiculous but taking away the two USB-C ports is becoming a deal breaker for me. I was all set to trade my late 2016 model to get the improved battery life but I need to figure out a way to mentally come to grips with losing that versatility. Least they could have done was change the implementation with one on each side. Gonna probably wait for 14 inch with the mini LED display that are rumored.
pretty sure it will be #1. the built in display will be hard wired into an internal display port that is always active.
My understanding is this is a replacement for the 8th Gen core low end MacBook Pro, NOT the 10th Gen MacBook Pro with 4 ports which is still for sale for a reason. They started with the lowest end models (mini too) not the higher end ones.
Bought air 8/7 256 with 16 gb ram
clock speed on the same architecture has rarely made much difference (in my experience in the past 10-15 years, let’s say) but ram seems to make a difference - and this a 5 year machine to use as an iPad and access cloud apps for work on the road. Possibly a waste on the extra ram but it’s tax deductible in my circumstances - so 50% off
it was iPad app compatibility that sealed the deal on buying version 1 - I need a new iPad and don’t mind a newer laptop at the same time
(I’d like to have chrome open while I’m watching a movie on the road)
clock speed on the same architecture has rarely made much difference (in my experience in the past 10-15 years, let’s say) but ram seems to make a difference - and this a 5 year machine to use as an iPad and access cloud apps for work on the road. Possibly a waste on the extra ram but it’s tax deductible in my circumstances - so 50% off
it was iPad app compatibility that sealed the deal on buying version 1 - I need a new iPad and don’t mind a newer laptop at the same time
(I’d like to have chrome open while I’m watching a movie on the road)
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The two laptops are basically identical. There could be a difference in performance at full load due to the lack of a fan. I think that the upcoming 14-inch will replace the current 13-inch with the latter being a stop-gap solution. In contrast, Air will stick around in its current state while 14-inch will be a beefier laptop on the level with the 16-inch. They had to throw M1 into the 13-inch at this point to show the intent and capabilities. To sum up, Air is a reasonable buy while 13-inch should be passed over. At least, this is what I will do.
I still have not seen anyone I know at the office use the Touch Bar on the Mac...seems like a tchotchke and a half-baked attempt to have a touch screen on the Mac...gotta check a box somewhere 😀
it depends what you use it for. For many folks the options are great.
A lot of people need more ram and also likely need more power cores but it appears either that
1. Apple isn’t technologically ready to offer more yet
or
2. They can maximize their future earnings by holding back what is already able to be produced today.
it’s obviously just a “late 2020” iPad Pro shoved in existing laptop chassis
They didn’t take away 2 ports. The base 13” Pro has long had only 2 USB-C ports. The higher-end model with 4 ports will likely be replaced next year with the rumored 14” model and a faster M1X or M2.
Getting one for my daughter. All she uses besides Zoom and the stock apps is Affinity, and it'll be faster than her 2015 i5 Air.
I’m in the same situation as you. Ordered the new MacBook Pro M1, upgrading from the MBP from early 2015. I must say, that I don‘t hope that the new MBP 14” will be just around the corner. That would make me feel less happy with my new purchase.
What is your thoughts about that?
720p Web Cam is a deal-breaker and an insult to those would-be buyers. Remember, it was in 2011 that Apple first introduced iPhone 4 with a 1080p cam. Almost a decade now, no improvement or transfer of technology? Shame on Apple. Don’t be a sucker.
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I think that it will only replace the higher end four TB ports 13 inches at first. Basically, Apple will continue to sell the 13" MBP at the 1299 and 1499 price points, and the 14" MBP with mini LEDs will be introduced at the 1799 and 1999 price points. It's only a few generations down the road that the 14" MBP's design will be made available at the cheaper price points. This has been Apple's 13" MBP's modus operandi for a while already (retina, Touch Bar, etc.).
If we expect a 14" MBP in 2021, when do we expect it? June? Sooner/later?
I think I'll wait for the M1(s) next year!gotta love Apples stupid naming conventions.
Apple doesn't put 's' on the SoC. Just the phones.
Pretty good chance will see 'X' and 'Z' show up as suffixes to the M1 M1X , M1Z . If Apple does a fourth then 'Y' would be a strong likely candidate. So the ones based on A14 baseline micro-architecture would be:
M1 , M1X , M1Y , M1Z ( x , y z with z being the "end of the line" like it end of alphabet. ).
sometime in 2022 may get
M2 , M2X , M2Y , M2Z
(again trailing behind the A15 baseline micro-architecture design )
I think Apple is going to push the idea that the "M" implementations are a major fork from the A series. "Extra special work just for Mac users" so won't align them. If that veneer ran thin over time... then could always just to pick up the 16 , 17 numbers from A-series and just use the M prefix .
Apple is likely going to keep the "Mac" SoC variants to less than a handful of models. They don't really need lots of digits or numbers to track that small amount. There are also not that many Mac Models to fit also. The MBA and MBP 13" at this point is pretty close to being divided between ( don't want "touch bar" and OK with "touch bar". ) Later enclosure designs that could just be a build-to-order difference.
MnA
M- mac
n - generation/iteration number
A - a few iterations of "bigger' and 'broader' I/O. No adjective ... then probably pretty close to iPad Pro SoC.
Way simpler than the drunken sailor , lost in a maze scheme that Intel has and AMD amazingly tries to mimic somewhat. Too many CPU products to name and complexity usually goes sideways.
You are right, and I can't wait for what next year has to offer. Even 16 hrs of battery life on the 16-inch would be huge.
Yes we do: it will translate into 8/16GB of RAM.
You can do a lot with 16GB and it is perfectly adequate for the sort of things you get these entry-level Macs for, The intel versions of the Air and the lower-end "2 port" 13" MBP that these Macs are replacing also maxed out at 16GB.
People who currently get 32GB+ of RAM (unless it is just for bragging rights) do so because they need to hold large amounts of data in RAM (multiple large bitmaps, sound sample banks, vast arrays for number-crunching) that can't be streamed/swapped to SSD - and 1GB of data on Intel is still 1GB of data on Apple Silicon, especially when they're both running fundamentally the same operating system and applications.
M2/M1X - or whatever the next iteration of the chip that goes into the higher-end Macs is called - will have to offer larger RAM options. Now, if those are going to be hyper-expensive, we may have a problem.
