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Does Apple cheaping out on M2 256 make you more inclined to get a M1 Pro MBP?

so

  • yes

    Votes: 32 38.1%

  • no

    Votes: 48 57.1%

  • not sure

    Votes: 4 4.8%
  • Total voters
    84
I initially placed an order for the 512GB M2 config. I’m just not too comfortable dropping $2200 (my country’s currency) on a MBA.

Plus there were few Apple refurbished M1 Pro MBPs being churned out where I am so that’s what I got. I’m not sure if the single processor benchmark on the M2 beats the M1 Pro but I’m very excited about the LED display, pro motion display and the heftiness of the MBP. I think I made the right choice.
 
I think Apple should state somewhere that the base model has a slower SSD performance than the 512GB machine, but I suspect that 99% of purchasers of the base model will not notice the "slow" speeds. I say "slow" because presumably they're still within Apple's tolerances for SSD performance. Most people buying that model will just be doing-so for general productivity and will occasionally do something which will push the machine.

Will they be doing the sort of tasks that stress the SSD or make the machine thermal throttle? Maybe, but I bet they don't even notice, other than the laptop getting a bit warmer (which seems to be what the initial reviews of the Air confirm).

I bet that anybody encoding 4K and 8K pro-res footage on a regular basis will be buying a MacBook Pro in the first place. If they really want an Air, I bet they'll want more disk space and cores. And even then, there's a good chance they've seen the coverage and can make an informed decision for themselves.

The recent Max Tech video titled "M2 MacBook Pro Review after 2 Weeks - Steve Would Be PISSED!" is an incredible watch and not in a good way. Are professional YouTubers still trying to say what Steve Jobs would think of product decisions? I thought we were over that by now.
 
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it would be interesting to see a video comparing the base model with a model with 512GB or 1TB with the same RAM - and see if there's any real world difference with typical productivity tasks.

That is to say:

- Opening up a few tabs on safari
- Reading & writing some email
- Doing some zoom or FaceTime calls
- Laughing a few MS office and iWork apps and using them to make a presentation etc.
- Editing some 4k family / days out with friends style videos in iMovie and editing photos in Photos

I'd imagine that there will be any discernible difference between the two. Not that I'm apologising for Apple - the base level M2 SDD should be as fast as the base level M1 SDD and it sucks that they've scrimped on this.
 
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kp98077 said:
DUMB question i know... so for the M2 Air if I choose 256 but 16gb, are there any big issues that will cause slow down compared to MBP 16gb, 512gb?
Click to expand...
For most uses the only time a slower SSD is going to be noticeable is if you run out of real RAM and need swap memory on the SSD. For that case, the difference in performance will probably be measurable. Going with 16 GB means that the need for swap goes way down for the majority of users.

The most common thing people do when writing to the SSD is to copy files. With APFS, the macOS filesystem, even that won't be affected much since APFS on the same volume uses what's known as copy-on-write. What this means is that if you duplicate a file on macOS, the new file uses the same contents of the old file until one of the two files has something new written to it and then only the new data is actually written to the SSD, not the whole file.

The other thing that causes a lot of writes is audio, images, and video. Compressing or exporting media can cause a lot of writes. If the CPU is used for the compression, then the CPU is probably the bottleneck but if hardware compression is done with the new M2 media engine, I suppose it is possible for the SSD write speeds to be the bottleneck but without testing, no can probably say how noticeable it would be.
 
Dealmans said:
to 16/1tb yes, who buys a 24gb/1tb air 2 lol will blow from heat no fans
Click to expand...
What does the amount of RAM have to do with heat? Sure it'll use a bit more power but nothing that will noticeably change how much heat is produced. And if you are using a lot of swap, another 8 GB of RAM will probably reduce the heat since it will need less swap.
 
Dealmans said:
to 16/1tb yes, who buys a 24gb/1tb air 2 lol will blow from heat no fans
Click to expand...
Agh, I just asked this question on another post I just made because I was super-concerned about heat levels on a new M2 MacBook Air and had been interested in getting those exact specs (24GB/1TB & was debating if 8-core or 10-core was better, in terms of not overheating). Here's a link to my post, if you have any other insights: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...processing-power-without-overheating.2351193/ Thanks for sharing your insights!
 
thadoggfather said:
I wonder if Apple will start manufacturing M1 Air's with 1x256 instead of 2x128 to cheapen out there too and give them parity with M2 Air base moving forward :/
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised. When it launched, the M1 air had a 128 gb option. So I think it may have been cheaper for apple to manufacture 256 gb M1s because they would just add an additional 128 gb slot. But 128 gb option is absent from M2 air, hence their decision to forfeit speed for profit margin.
 
xObeyThePanda said:
I wouldn't be surprised. When it launched, the M1 air had a 128 gb option. So I think it may have been cheaper for apple to manufacture 256 gb M1s because they would just add an additional 128 gb slot. But 128 gb option is absent from M2 air, hence their decision to forfeit speed for profit margin.
Click to expand...
Nope. The M1 MBA started with 256 GB at the low end. Previous Intel MacBook Airs had 128 GB as an option. The late 2018 True Tone 2019 model was the last one though.
 
I would not buy a Mac with less than 512GB so as others in similar situations have noted, the number of storage chips used in the 256GB configuration is irrelevant to me.

I bought the 14" M1 MacBook Pro solely for the MiniLED display. I use my laptop for media consumption and wanted the best display I could get and was willing to pay the large premium for it.
 
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jdb8167 said:
For most uses the only time a slower SSD is going to be noticeable is if you run out of real RAM and need swap memory on the SSD. For that case, the difference in performance will probably be measurable. Going with 16 GB means that the need for swap goes way down for the majority of users.

The most common thing people do when writing to the SSD is to copy files. With APFS, the macOS filesystem, even that won't be affected much since APFS on the same volume uses what's known as copy-on-write. What this means is that if you duplicate a file on macOS, the new file uses the same contents of the old file until one of the two files has something new written to it and then only the new data is actually written to the SSD, not the whole file.

The other thing that causes a lot of writes is audio, images, and video. Compressing or exporting media can cause a lot of writes. If the CPU is used for the compression, then the CPU is probably the bottleneck but if hardware compression is done with the new M2 media engine, I suppose it is possible for the SSD write speeds to be the bottleneck but without testing, no can probably say how noticeable it would be.
Click to expand...
SO as long as you have 256 but 16gb youre good?
 
jdb8167 said:
Nope. The M1 MBA started with 256 GB at the low end. Previous Intel MacBook Airs had 128 GB as an option. The late 2018 True Tone 2019 model was the last one though.
Click to expand...
Apple offered a 128gb for educational buyers. That’s what I was thinking of.
 
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It's probably not a big deal, but it is strange when performance goes down on a new model and with an increased price. Apple's SSDs have usually been the fastest in the price range... was SSD speed brought up when it was revealed? They should definitely indicate the slower speed if they market it at a higher speed.... just checked Apple's M2 Air info and they say "superfast SSD," with no qualifiers.
 
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