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Since it can't dissipate heat as well as the MBP, it would be wisest to configure it with the lowest power CPU and just deal with the waiting.

I was of the opinion the first ARM-powered Mac would be a revival of the 12" MacBook, but now I think it could be the MacBook Air. An ARM CPU should not need a fan (and could very well be faster than the Ice Lake-Y models in the Air) and with the larger battery pack of Air it could last for some time.
 
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All reviewers say , air base processor fine, macrumors says , give Apple 100 dollar more ... mhhh ... why would that happen?

That's not a contradiction. The base processor is OK. The $100 option is a really good value, though, and I recommend most people get it.
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You forgot: What's the Same:

Size. The Air isn't smaller as the name would imply. In fact it's even slightly thicker.

Nah. There's a small edge where it is slightly thicker, but most of it is thinner. Overall, it has less volume.

This is very important to mention because it debunks the claim that "there wasn't enough space for a proper cooler".
Microsoft did a better job on the Surfaces... they even have a thermal buffer so themperature doesn't jump immediately to thermal throttle levels when load is applied.

It's hard to compare when you don't even specify which product you mean.
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Macbook Air i7 Geekbench multicore score is not 2800...

The averages that ended up in the Mac Benchmarks section are lower than your score.

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Wrong information. Air’s don‘t use Y series CPU’s anymore.

Sure they do.
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Argh. Enough with the tired memes! We’ve been seeing comparisons where the low-end computer is only “best for web browsing and making spreadsheets“ for at least 20 years now.

For the most part, the increase in processor power over time has dramatically outstripped software’s increasing demands for that power. The new, low-end Air can likely run circles around most higher-end laptops from the first half of this decade.

I realize an Apple-centric forum is probably the wrong place to say this, but - people need to become more cynical regarding marketing claims.

Not sure what "marketing claim" you're trying to attack here, or which "meme" is "tired" here, but… MacRumors agrees with you?

Generally speaking, the MacBook Air remains best suited for lightweight day-to-day tasks like web browsing and creating spreadsheets, while the MacBook Pro is better equipped to handle more intensive tasks like rendering large video files.
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I was of the opinion the first ARM-powered Mac would be a revival of the 12" MacBook, but now I think it could be the MacBook Air. An ARM CPU should not need a fan (and could very well be faster than the Ice Lake-Y models in the Air) and with the larger battery pack of Air it could last for some time.

Makes sense to me. Introducing the MacBook again would be weird. I didn't like the convoluted MacBook line-up of much of the late 2010s. Which entry-level Mac should someone get? The MacBook is small, but expensive and very slow; the Air didn't exist for several years, and even when it did, had the problematic keyboard; the "Escape" was pricey.

I like that much of this confusion has been removed by removing the 12-inch and by making the "Escape" more of a Pro again — slightly more expensive, but also with most of the features of the bigger Pros, rather than in its weird own slot. Meanwhile, thanks to Ice Lake, the Air also finally became a lot faster (albeit at more than twice the TDP as the original 12-inch MacBook).
 
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The Touch Bar is the single reason I won't get the MacBook Pro.
Sticking with Air for sure.

I have a 2014 Air that I use every day and it's been flawless and I'm very used to quickly be able to turn volume and brightness up and down at the touch of one button and no searching for it.

This whole Touch Bar thing should have been eliminated with the butterfly keyboards.
Or at least give us some options.
 
Dealing with the question myself and have concluded it’s an altogether better value option to spec up the svelte MBA (10th gen i5, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD) than go for the base spec MBP (8th Gen i5, 8GB RAM and 512GB) for exactly the same price.

The (lack of) Touch Bar just clinches it!
 
Which one will still be working fine in 6 years time? I have a mid 2014 MBP i7 with 16GB Ram. It is still working fine but is no more supported by my company. So I need to upgrade soon. Would a maxed out MBA (i7, 16GB RAM) be better than a similar priced MBP (2GHz i5, 16GB RAM)?
 
Hmm - my 2015 MacBook Pro (i5) currently has a 720 single core, 1594 multi-core Geekbench score. The computer runs everything I current need very well - I don't do video editing or games. The MacBook Air scores suggest that I could be fine even with an i3 2020 MacBook Air for several years if I bump it up to 16G RAM - does that make sense?
 
Hmm - my 2015 MacBook Pro (i5) currently has a 720 single core, 1594 multi-core Geekbench score. The computer runs everything I current need very well - I don't do video editing or games. The MacBook Air scores suggest that I could be fine even with an i3 2020 MacBook Air for several years if I bump it up to 16G RAM - does that make sense?

You could, although I would recommend the $100 i5 upgrade.

The thing to consider with the Air is that it will have less thermal headroom than your current Pro. Those speeds can only be hit for relatively short periods of time. It's hard to say how much this will matter for you, but if it does, you're probably better off with a $1799 Pro.
 
Great comparison, and it's surprising to see how similar the Air is to the Pro in terms of features. The MacBook Air is pretty good value!


To some this would actually be a disadvantage to the Pro and an advantage to the Air!
how do you explain that? if you don't want to use that Touch Bar, don't use it, and you still have a n option, options are good. You know you cn set the Touch Bar to basic configurarions, like fn keys, right?. No probably not, the would ruin. perfectly good complaint
 
Dealing with the question myself and have concluded it’s an altogether better value option to spec up the svelte MBA (10th gen i5, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD) than go for the base spec MBP (8th Gen i5, 8GB RAM and 512GB) for exactly the same price.

The (lack of) Touch Bar just clinches it!
Having a TouchBar doesn't make a computer "worse". The question is whether a TouchBar is better or worse than having physical function keys.

Like for like, in this case i5/16GB/526GB, the MBA is $100 less. Swap out the i5 in the MBA for an i7 in the MBA to help even up the multii-core Geekbench scores and the MBA comes out $50 more than the MBP.
 
Touch Bar, really?
Touch Bar is awesome!
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I would hate to see what it's like running a 6K display off a MBA. My 2018 13" quad core MBP is just barely good enough to run a 4K display. Just because the specs support it doesn't mean it would be a good idea to buy that laptop to drive a 6K
Good enough, in what sense? My 2014 MBP runs a 4k display exceptionally well. I'm not a gamer, but hey if you read gaming forums, you don't buy a Mac to game, so that can't be it. Movies, no sweat, as a second display, no sweat, playing different movies on both displays - no sweat, playing movies on one display and working on another display, no sweat. So I'm not saying you just made that up, but if you are forming a conclusion on a particular use case, it may not apply to other use cases.
 
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Yes, touch bar is awesome but very few spend the time and money for bettertouchtools...bec of this is awesome...and Apple should make it like this by default for their customers
 
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I was of the opinion the first ARM-powered Mac would be a revival of the 12" MacBook, but now I think it could be the MacBook Air.

Adding or leaving out the "Air" is really just marketing.

But...

If such an ARM MacBook would consume less power it could be smaller (smaller battery) and lighter while being without any moving parts (fans) making it much closer to the last MacBook than the Air.

It would also make sense to keep the size of the MacBook (maybe with smaller bezels and a 12.5 - 13" display) and have the MBP slightly bigger (14" and 16"), but thats just guesswork.
 
Once again, lets add a disclaimer. Your results will actually be better than this article postulates because it uses the Geekbench average scores which are irrelevant. apparently anyone, especially those that don't know what they are doing, can run a Geekbench and get it added to the averages. Search on the CPU number and you can see the disparity. Typical scores seem to run at least 20% higher than the "averages", and you will see many non-sensical entries (too low to function). Why the pros at Geekbench can't account for CPU loads, or exclude cases that are non-sensical needs some 'splainin!

And this extends to all brands HP, DELL, Lenovo, so its a universal problem
 
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I have a mid 2014 MBP i7 with 16GB Ram. It is still working fine but is no more supported by my company.
Thats a curious statement, why would they not support it? I have a similar machine, run Catalina (public betas) and have 0 issues. So the computer works, it is still fast enough for everything I do, and runs all the latest software. I could see if you are in graphics, the graphics processing is getting old (still works great, but new graphics are way faster), the SSD interface speeds are slow (but still faster than a Dell XPS), and the ram is very slow compared to 10th generation intel chips, but still the fastest that the CPU supports
 
You forgot: What's the Same:

Size. The Air isn't smaller as the name would imply. In fact it's even slightly thicker.

This is very important to mention because it debunks the claim that "there wasn't enough space for a proper cooler".
Microsoft did a better job on the Surfaces... they even have a thermal buffer so themperature doesn't jump immediately to thermal throttle levels when load is applied.
The MacBook Air is thicker on the end that doesn't matter. Where it does matter is up front near the trackpad/armrest area, where it's noticeably thinner than that of the MBP.
 
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Air wins alone in form factor and weight. Its a nice machine for everyday use.

They both fit in the same skin tight sleeve, the form factor is nearly exact. The weight is less than a third of a pound. I just returned my new Air for the 13", totally worth it.
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I'm confused why the Touchbar would classed as an 'advantage'.

In the very least, you have to know that the touchbar justifies a higher cost than a bunch of function keys.
 
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Thats a curious statement, why would they not support it? I have a similar machine, run Catalina (public betas) and have 0 issues. So the computer works, it is still fast enough for everything I do, and runs all the latest software. I could see if you are in graphics, the graphics processing is getting old (still works great, but new graphics are way faster), the SSD interface speeds are slow (but still faster than a Dell XPS), and the ram is very slow compared to 10th generation intel chips, but still the fastest that the CPU supports
I actually don't really understand it either. The argument was that they don't want to have legacy support hanging around and therefore do not support anything older than 5 years. But as you, I run Catalina without issues. I am not sure whether this was aimed at old PCs, or whether their migration software that makes our machines corporate compatible has issues with older specs.
 
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