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Fully Loaded Air <----- Over Pro

C

chefwong

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I hemmed at hawed at this. Not even sure if this was the correct choice as if I'm holding the Air and Stack a 14 Pro ontop, they both feel fairly similar in -heft- although I know the air is going to be lighter.

I'll find out how how it behaves on a dock, connected to a single display. I ordered a fully maxed out Air 13 , max ram, etc.
I wanted a lightweight laptop. I have hated my 16 since I got it. I came from a MBP 14, figured I wanted larger display, hated it, downgrading back in size.
 
15" Air M2 works great for me connected to a 34" curved widescreen monitor, I upgraded from an intel MBP and zero complaints. I will upgrade to another Air, I think the only reason to go Pro is if you really need the internal fans and/or want the better screen.
 
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I bought a 16" M1 Pro months before the 15" Airs were originally released. If the 15" Air had been released earlier I would have got that. I wanted a largish screen.

The 16" pro is a real brick though. I don't take it out often due to the weight and Im honestly thinking of now getting a 15" Air M5 or M4 and trading the 16" in despite it being worth little now. I use a Studio display with it and don't notice the 60hz for my use cases when I look up from the macbook pro screen (software development) .

I considered the 14" pro but that's hardly slim either.

I would consider dropping to a 13" Air too since I have the studio display as well.. maybe.
 
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chefwong said:
I hemmed at hawed at this. [. . .]

[. . ]I wanted a lightweight laptop.[. . .]
Click to expand...
You will apprciate it if you travel by air and carry your computer with you. My last Windows machine before I switched was a Dell notebook and even that got too heavy for my wants and desires. That was some time ago now and I don't travel like that any more, but I've stuck with MacBook Air since. But it may come down to what you need to do on the computer and whether the Air is capable enough.
 
Yes, I'm currently using a 15 inch M5 air 32gb/2tb still in it's return period. It's perfect for all my work, very fast, better keyboard IMO. Do miss the screen sharpness though.

Work = Normal email/slack/browser tabs. Claude Desktop, Codex, Docker (small on demand python scripts) git, airtable, Splashtop, Tailscale. Had to export a quick video for a colleague in premiere, I mean like less than a minute. Photoshop launches instantly. Even tried qwen 3.5 35b-a3b with the "write me a short story test" and it got 57tk/s.
 
I have both on my desk right now....the loaded MBA and a MBP 15Pro.....
I was wrong. Initially felt the Air 13 and Pro 14 were comparable in overall size and weight. They are in width....but the Air is noticeable more compact for travel.

Just need to see how how it will get when connected to a external display now.
 
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I was in a similar boat I ended up with keeping the AIR since I have a studio at home for when I need extra horsepower. The Air is amazing for portability and still works great with an external display when I need it.
 
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SirithX said:
15" Air M2 works great for me connected to a 34" curved widescreen monitor, I upgraded from an intel MBP and zero complaints. I will upgrade to another Air, I think the only reason to go Pro is if you really need the internal fans and/or want the better screen.
Click to expand...
My reason to goto the pro is for the extra port selection. I use SD cards regularly and having a HDMI port for when we are travelling to plug into TVs in hotel rooms, AirBnBs, etc is a great feature to have without any extra gear to take.

I wish computer manufacturers would do this. Bring ports back to devices.
 
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I just did a comparison somewhat like this, but with the 15" MBA vs the 14" Pro

When getting RAM & SSD close, it's a closer comparison than I was imagining and something odd tipped me over the line.

The retina scaling factor and what actual size on screen that translates to if one wants perfect 2x.

The 15" is, obviously, larger screened, and also has things actually appear on screen larger when using perfect 2x. The combo makes it far more comfortable on my eyes when using it in laptop mode.

I did a lot of back and forth on this in the Apple Stores the other night. The other thing about the Airs, of all sizes, vs the Pros is just what a smaller power footprint they require. It's really nice to be able to charge them from truly tiny little bricks and adapters and just a bit more easily. That's not a huge thing, but still nice.

Don't get me wrong, the Pros are phenomenal!
One can't really go wrong here either way.

But -- with the base Pros having basically the same chip/cpu/gpu cores, the comparison can be a bit closer than one might expect at first glance.
 
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chefwong said:
I have both on my desk right now....the loaded MBA and a MBP 15Pro.....
I was wrong. Initially felt the Air 13 and Pro 14 were comparable in overall size and weight. They are in width....but the Air is noticeable more compact for travel.

Just need to see how how it will get when connected to a external display now.
Click to expand...
The 13" Air is the perfect travel machine. I have a specced out M2 and it's fantastic. I carry a 16" MPB for work and keep another for personal use. When it came to work travel I didn't want to haul two massive aluminum bricks around, so I got the Air, and couldn't be happier.
 
Tdude96 said:
The 13" Air is the perfect travel machine. I have a specced out M2 and it's fantastic. I carry a 16" MPB for work and keep another for personal use. When it came to work travel I didn't want to haul two massive aluminum bricks around, so I got the Air, and couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...

There is a user / use case out there for a 17" Air honestly.

I know, it sounds crazy perhaps, but these modern ASi chips have way more than enough power for most all users and sometimes folks just want a big easy to read screen attached to it "Air level" power.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
The other thing about the Airs, of all sizes, vs the Pros is just what a smaller power footprint they require. It's really nice to be able to charge them from truly tiny little bricks and adapters and just a bit more easily. That's not a huge thing, but still nice.

Don't get me wrong, the Pros are phenomenal!
One can't really go wrong here either way.

But -- with the base Pros having basically the same chip/cpu/gpu cores, the comparison can be a bit closer than one might expect at first glance.
Click to expand...
i have a 16“ pro and charge it most of the times with a tiny 40W Anker charger. For normal office productivity or streaming thats more than enough
 
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maflynn said:
Personally I think the Pro has more thermal and computing headroom over the Air. Buy once, cry once.
Click to expand...

As he stated above, the 13 is proving to be noticeably better for him on form factor for travel.
This post isn't really about computing headroom, but more so compatibility with desires for compactness/weight, etc.

14" is a bit of a chonk ... 16 is an aircraft carrier (as OP knows, of course, already).

This topic reminds me a bit of the iPhone Air actually.
For some users that extra little bit of lightness and thinness is worth the other tradeoffs.
 
turbineseaplane said:
This post isn't really about computing headroom, but more so compatibility with desires for compactness/weight, etc.
Click to expand...
The op is looking to buy a fully loaded Air or choose a Pro model. I think mentioning the increased performance, and cooling should be part of that discussion. The OP can take that for what its' worth

Also I don't think the 14" is chonky, the size delta between the Air and Pro is less then centimeter and only 310 grams heavier.
DimensionMacBook Air 13" (M5)MacBook Pro 14" (M5)Difference (Pro − Air)
Thickness (cm)1.131.55+0.42 cm
Width (cm)30.4131.26+0.85 cm
Depth (cm)21.5022.12+0.62 cm
Weight (kg)1.241.55+0.31 kg
 
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maflynn said:
The op is looking to buy a fully loaded Air or choose a Pro model. I think mentioning the increased performance, and cooling should be part of that discussion. The OP can take that for what its' worth

Also I don't think the 14" is chonky, the size delta between the Air and Pro is less then centimeter and only 310 grams heavier.
DimensionMacBook Air 13" (M5)MacBook Pro 14" (M5)Difference (Pro − Air)
Thickness (cm)1.131.55+0.42 cm
Width (cm)30.4131.26+0.85 cm
Depth (cm)21.5022.12+0.62 cm
Weight (kg)1.241.55+0.31 kg
Click to expand...

The Pro may not be chunky but it is still 37% thicker & 25% heavier than the MBA which will be quite noticeable when comparing the two.
 
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chefwong said:
I hemmed at hawed at this. Not even sure if this was the correct choice as if I'm holding the Air and Stack a 14 Pro ontop, they both feel fairly similar in -heft- although I know the air is going to be lighter.

I'll find out how how it behaves on a dock, connected to a single display. I ordered a fully maxed out Air 13 , max ram, etc.
I wanted a lightweight laptop. I have hated my 16 since I got it. I came from a MBP 14, figured I wanted larger display, hated it, downgrading back in size.
Click to expand...
An important point is that you should spec how much RAM at what memory bandwidth. "Max RAM" means little to most folks who do not know the realities.
• MBA: base M5 chip only, maximum 32 GB RAM at 153 GB/s memory bandwidth.
• MBP: base, Pro or Max M5 chip, maximum 128 GB RAM at 460 GB/s memory bandwidth.

Note that memory bandwidth is of huge importance in terms of overall computing competence of any computer.

MBA has lesser display, lesser speakers, less ports, less i/o bandwidth, etc. than MBPs. But MBA can be configured as quite competent for most needs. Good value, recommended over the MBN.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
I just did a comparison somewhat like this, but with the 15" MBA vs the 14" Pro

When getting RAM & SSD close, it's a closer comparison than I was imagining and something odd tipped me over the line.

The retina scaling factor and what actual size on screen that translates to if one wants perfect 2x.

The 15" is, obviously, larger screened, and also has things actually appear on screen larger when using perfect 2x. The combo makes it far more comfortable on my eyes when using it in laptop mode.

I did a lot of back and forth on this in the Apple Stores the other night. The other thing about the Airs, of all sizes, vs the Pros is just what a smaller power footprint they require. It's really nice to be able to charge them from truly tiny little bricks and adapters and just a bit more easily. That's not a huge thing, but still nice.

Don't get me wrong, the Pros are phenomenal!
One can't really go wrong here either way.

But -- with the base Pros having basically the same chip/cpu/gpu cores, the comparison can be a bit closer than one might expect at first glance.
Click to expand...
Yes if one only compares against the absolute lowest end of MBPs performance is similar to a maximum MBA. But even the low end MBPs have better brighter displays, better speakers, more ports, more i/o bandwidth and will drive multiple external displays.
 
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Allen_Wentz said:
Yes if one only compares against the absolute lowest end of MBPs performance is similar to a maximum MBA. But even the low end MBPs have better brighter displays, better speakers, more ports, more i/o bandwidth and will drive multiple external displays.
Click to expand...

Not debating any of that .. just pointing out that "spec hunting" to that degree isn't always the answer to the best fit for many of us.

I simply don't enjoy the Mini-LED screens on the Pros. I'm not sure why, but even with "only 60hz" (which I don't love), I find the MBA screens easier and more relaxing to look at, and for me the specific 2x scaling factor + larger 15" MBA screen is massive winning combination here.

(that specific combo that was best for me, isn't applicable to this OP however)

I always encourage folks to go spend time with the machines at the stores, as just going off specs can lead one astray.

I recently did this, with intentions of buying a 14" MBP and I left the store delighted I hadn't just done that online.
 
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Steve Adams said:
My reason to goto the pro is for the extra port selection. I use SD cards regularly and having a HDMI port for when we are travelling to plug into TVs in hotel rooms, AirBnBs, etc is a great feature to have without any extra gear to take.

I wish computer manufacturers would do this. Bring ports back to devices.
Click to expand...
One of the few legitimate use cases.

Airs were always crippled in input department back in the day when m1-3 couldn’t drive 2 screens.

Right now air can drive 2 externals but then you lose all your ports (luckily still can charge it). But need dongles and swapping usb ports to connect sd cards, wired mouse and etc.

All of that can be solved with thunderbolt hub. Which costs exactly the difference between air and pro.
 
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