Buying advice: First MacBook - MacBook Pro 14” M1 Pro or MacBook Air 2022 M2?

[DD88]

Looking to buy my first MacBook Pro 14” M1 or the new MacBook Air with M2 chip. 16GB RAM and 1 TB hard drive. Initially i was sold on the new M2 apparently being faster and the midnight colour however it looks like I can get more performance or equal performance on the MacBook Pro for roughly the same price. I’ll be using it for my artwork, storing my photos, photo editing and possibly video editing too. As I said I think the Midnight colour was great but in all honesty Space Grey is just as nice and the MacBook Pro has more ports doesn’t it ?
Am I over thinking this? I already have an iPad Pro and love the space grey version of it so I’m definitely leaning towards a Macbook Pro

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

So many more reasons to get the Pro than an upgraded Air

 

[wakka]

A few things that may help your decision-making:

1) Even the most basic 14" Pro is more powerful than the Air
2) Either machine will be fine for the workload you've described
3) The Air you've priced up is basically the same price as a base Pro. The Pro's improved screen and more powerful chip make it a better deal at that point IMO, unless the fact that the Air is a bit thinner and lighter is enormously important to you

 

[MajorFubar]

14" MBP is still going to be way more powerful in the real world then an M2 MBA. But that does come at the cost of weight.

But if your priority is artwork I'd go for the 14" Pro because of the better screen.

 

[DD88]

A few things that may help your decision-making:

1) Even the most basic 14" Pro is more powerful than the Air
2) Either machine will be fine for the workload you've described
3) The Air you've priced up is basically the same price as a base Pro. The Pro's improved screen and more powerful chip make it a better deal at that point IMO, unless the fact that the Air is a bit thinner and lighter is enormously important to you

Great stuff, thank you !

 

[DD88]

So many more reasons to get the Pro than an upgraded Air

Thank you, I’m beginning to see that

 

[DD88]

14" MBP is still going to be way more powerful in the real world then an M2 MBA. But that does come at the cost of weight.

But if your priority is artwork I'd go for the 14" Pro because of the better screen.

Oh I didn’t even know it had a better screen, sold ! Lol

 

[44267547]

Looking to buy my first MacBook Pro 14” M1 or the new MacBook Air with M2 chip. 16GB RAM and 1 TB hard drive. Initially i was sold on the new M2 apparently being faster and the midnight colour however it looks like I can get more performance or equal performance on the MacBook Pro for roughly the same price. I’ll be using it for my artwork, storing my photos, photo editing and possibly video editing too. As I said I think the Midnight colour was great but in all honesty Space Grey is just as nice and the MacBook Pro has more ports doesn’t it ?
Am I over thinking this? I already have an iPad Pro and love the space grey version of it so I’m definitely leaning towards a Macbook Pro

Since you have such a stark difference of models that you’re looking at, one thing you didn’t mention, what’s your budget? Is there a certain cap limit you won’t go over in terms of spending?

 

[DD88]

Since you have such a stark difference of models that you’re looking at, one thing you didn’t mention, what’s your budget? Is there a certain cap limit you won’t go over in terms of spending?

roughly in the £2100 range

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

mbp 14 pros and cons vs mba

+bigger screen
+much better contrast
+MUCH better brightness ,which comes in handy for outdoors viewing ,hdr movies ,or if u like to blind yourself
+120hz is really nice
+better speakers
+better keyboard
+bettter multi core performance
+fans for sustained performance ,or for cooling the laptop if u are outdoors/in a a very hot place
+faster ssd i believe ?
+thinner bezels? not sure either
+faster charging
+ one more usb-c port
+hdmi and sd card reader.although the sd reader isn't that fast .and hdmi is only 2.0 AND DOESNT HAVE DDC SUPPORT

-thicker and heavier
-bad ergonomics
-hotter
-worse battery
-worse single core perf
-may collect dust more easily because of fans/holes
-moving parts
-tad pricier
-dark chocolate is far superior to white's

 

[boak]

A few things that may help your decision-making:

1) Even the most basic 14" Pro is more powerful than the Air
2) Either machine will be fine for the workload you've described
3) The Air you've priced up is basically the same price as a base Pro. The Pro's improved screen and more powerful chip make it a better deal at that point IMO, unless the fact that the Air is a bit thinner and lighter is enormously important to you

1) Not in all tasks
3) You can't really use a spec'd up Air and compare to a base Pro model, no? You need to compare the prices for equivalent memory and storage

 

[boak]

How mobile will you be with this machine? If budget's not a concern and you won't carry it around much, get the MBP.

 

[Odessa]

mbp has adaptive sync, meaning you can do things like video editing at native 25fps if you need to. The screen is miniLed with great color contrast and higher dpi but some people that are sensitive to low pwm complain about headaches with it. Not only that, it has ghosting, high latency and bloom with black and white animations... on a day to day usage it fine for me imo but something to be aware of, the ips display of the air is not 'worse' in every way, a minority might prefer it for such reasons.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Well for me I got the 14 inch Macbook Pro since I wanted that amazing 120hz 1440p screen, as well as the additional ports. Now for the config you're aiming at the Pro will be $400 more than the Air, however the M1 Pro is more powerful than the M2 so you'll be getting your money's worth.

But that's just my two sense.

 

[MauiPa]

Comparing specs on apple.com and Geekbench scores (estimated for the M2):
the MBP will give you:
5-10% better CPU performance,
40% More GPU cores
Better display, better speakers, better mics
more ports
lower batter life
Active Cooling
30% heavier
double the memory bandwidth
if you set both to 1TB and 16GB Ram, the NBP is 2199 the M2 MBA is 1899 (although the MBP likely can be had on discount to around the same price as the new and not yet delivered M2 MBA which will take a few months to get discounts)

So wiegt, active cooling and upgraded specs. I'd get the MBP

 

[uczcret]

roughly in the £2100 range

The 16GB/1TB MBA is £1,949 whereas the 14" 16GB/1TB MBP is on sale at third-party retailers for ~£2,150.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the MBA will go on sale next month, supplies will probably be limited and lead times for BTO orders (which the 16GB/1TB configuration is) will probably start delivering in August/September if you don't place your order within the first few minutes.

Echoing other users, if you value portability and lightness more go for the MBA, otherwise the MBP is the better option.

 

[jeroenvip]

I had a MacBook Pro 2020 13 inch Intel i7 with 16 gigs of ram and went for the MacBook Pro 14 inch 10 cores / 16 gpu cores / 16 gb memory / 1 TB storage.

In short there is nothing to compare to this machine. Not regretting it on bit. If you already plan to spend 2000 on a base modal, the 500 extra for the CPU and memory only extend its lifespan.

apple really nailed it with this machine, also the multiple monitor setup is perfect.

 

[MayaUser]

mbp 14 pros and cons vs mba

+bigger screen
+much better contrast
+MUCH better brightness ,which comes in handy for outdoors viewing ,hdr movies ,or if u like to blind yourself
+120hz is really nice
+better speakers
+better keyboard
+bettter multi core performance
+fans for sustained performance ,or for cooling the laptop if u are outdoors/in a a very hot place
+faster ssd i believe ?
+thinner bezels? not sure either
+faster charging
+ one more usb-c port
+hdmi and sd card reader.although the sd reader isn't that fast .and hdmi is only 2.0 AND DOESNT HAVE DDC SUPPORT

-thicker and heavier
-bad ergonomics
-hotter
-worse battery
-worse single core perf
-may collect dust more easily because of fans/holes
-moving parts
-tad pricier
-dark chocolate is far superior to white's

how do we know it is hotter since we didnt even tried the M2 in that slim design with 10 gpu cores consuming 16W instead of 12W just on gpu side?! lets first put our hands on it
i bet the M1 pro in the 14" Mbp is much colder (here im talking about the M1 pro and not M1 max)

The rest you are on point and agree 100%
From my point if you have to build up the Air, better go with the 14 base Pro...but if you are fine with the M2 Air,8gb Ram,256ssd then go for the air still a difference in price

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

how do we know it is hotter since we didnt even tried the M2 in that slim design with 10 gpu cores consuming 16W instead of 12W just on gpu side?! lets first put our hands on it
i bet the M1 pro in the 14" Mbp is much colder (here im talking about the M1 pro and not M1 max)

The rest you are on point and agree 100%
From my point if you have to build up the Air, better go with the 14 base Pro...but if you are fine with the M2 Air,8gb Ram,256ssd then go for the air still a difference in price

I expected that reaction when I commented


you're right .I based my assumption on the fact that M1 is much cooler than M1 pro from my experience ,and that A15 is more power efficient than a14...but then again ,who knows how well M2 is scaled ...and as u pointed out ,the body is thinner with less room for passive cooling

aight wanna bet still ? I'll see you when we get M2 reviews )

yeah and in spite of the aforementioned points ,I still prefer to buy an air lol ,it's silly but I rly like it ,something about MBP 14 pulled me off (I tried it for 2 weeks )

when they release the MBA 15 I'll be in real trouble,because I'll have to spend more for it than I would for similarly specced MBP 14 ..which is quite insane

I talk too much

 

[DD88]

How mobile will you be with this machine? If budget's not a concern and you won't carry it around much, get the MBP.

Not too mobile will just be using it in the house

 

[boak]

Not too mobile will just be using it in the house

MBP then if there's no budget constraint. Base CPU should be roughly equal for base MBP and M2 MBA. But the graphics cores are much more important for your workloads.