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I don’t know which Macbook M1 to get

J

jrmmdy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2019
12
3
Hi,

I want to purchase one of the new M1 Macbooks. I’m in France and all of those are mainly out of stock.

My usage would be : - Browsing/Word/Netflix - Using Adobe Suite (not for heavy works but light edition/creation with PS/Illustrator/Indesign) - Light gaming with games like Crusader Kings 3, Hades, Rocket League

I hesitate between :
- MBA 8 GB RAM/512 GB SSD with 8 cores for the GPU, in stock immediately here
- MBA 16 GB RAM/256 GB SSD wit 7 cores for the GPU, out of stock, delivered by end of January/early February according to Apple (I find it a little bit long to wait..)
- MBP 8/256, available immediately

All of those are the same budget for me, what would you recommend ?

Thanks !
 
jrmmdy said:
Hi,

I want to purchase one of the new M1 Macbooks. I’m in France and all of those are mainly out of stock.

My usage would be : - Browsing/Word/Netflix - Using Adobe Suite (not for heavy works but light edition/creation with PS/Illustrator/Indesign) - Light gaming with games like Crusader Kings 3, Hades, Rocket League

I hesitate between :
- MBA 8 GB RAM/512 GB SSD with 8 cores for the GPU, in stock immediately here
- MBA 16 GB RAM/256 GB SSD wit 7 cores for the GPU, out of stock, delivered by end of January/early February according to Apple (I find it a little bit long to wait..)
- MBP 8/256, available immediately

All of those are the same budget for me, what would you recommend ?

Thanks !
Click to expand...
Get the 8/256.

I'm a much heavier user than you and 8/256 is more than adequate.
 
jrmmdy said:
Hi,

I want to purchase one of the new M1 Macbooks. I’m in France and all of those are mainly out of stock.

My usage would be : - Browsing/Word/Netflix - Using Adobe Suite (not for heavy works but light edition/creation with PS/Illustrator/Indesign) - Light gaming with games like Crusader Kings 3, Hades, Rocket League

I hesitate between :
- MBA 8 GB RAM/512 GB SSD with 8 cores for the GPU, in stock immediately here
- MBA 16 GB RAM/256 GB SSD wit 7 cores for the GPU, out of stock, delivered by end of January/early February according to Apple (I find it a little bit long to wait..)
- MBP 8/256, available immediately

All of those are the same budget for me, what would you recommend ?

Thanks !
Click to expand...
- MBP 8/256, available immediately is my recommendation. Only because you mentioned games. I've seen videos that showed the active cooling of the Pro helped maintain higher framerates in some games
 
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I would get whichever 8 GB you can find and have in your hands the quickest. It will be fine for you work load.
 
Never mind said:
You do know that there are many, many videos on both of those models that you can look at and they can give you some idea for your needs which one to purchase. Here are just a few

Click to expand...
Thanks ! Unfortunately I find the videos often compare light usage (Web browsing, Docs editing) and heavy usage but not some usage between both.. that’s why I have difficulties to decide :)

For the other answer, I have too this impression that my usage could fit with the 8Gb RAM but I prefer to be sure before buying haha. Concerning the MBP I know that the active cooling system would be more convenient for gaming but in this budget I could afford only the 256 Go SSD and since games are heavier now..
 
jrmmdy said:
Thanks ! Unfortunately I find the videos often compare light usage (Web browsing, Docs editing) and heavy usage but not some usage between both.. that’s why I have difficulties to decide :)

For the other answer, I have too this impression that my usage could fit with the 8Gb RAM but I prefer to be sure before buying haha. Concerning the MBP I know that the active cooling system would be more convenient for gaming but in this budget I could afford only the 256 Go SSD and since games are heavier now..
Click to expand...
The 256 GB SSD will hurt you in games if you want to have multiple games saved. I don't know if you can run them off an external TB SSD and that might be expensive too. I really love Macs but I find them hard to recommend for gaming especially with your tight budget. Maybe use whatever Mac you have now for general stuff and get a gaming PC or buy the MBA and save up for a basic gaming PC. I think you're going to buy something that you might not be happy with 😕
 
I would do either a base MBA + a gaming computer or the MBP (or the Mac Mini should it work for you). If you don't upgrade the hard drive size now, you will likely be tethered to externals in the future between games and images, both of which occupy a lot of space and are not going to work the best with optimized storage solutions that offload some files to a cloud, such as what iCloud Drive and OneDrive can do. If that is a big issue for you, I would get at least 512.
 
Unless you are playing really graphically intensive games where you require the fastest frame-rates, or you need the longest battery life, the 7 Core Air 8/512 is for you.
 
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I just went for a base 512gb air and upgrade the ram took 3 weeks to arrive, will I notice any difference who knows. I always used about 16-18 gb on my 16" regularly. So I went with the max I could.
 
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ght56 said:
I would do either a base MBA + a gaming computer or the MBP (or the Mac Mini should it work for you). If you don't upgrade the hard drive size now, you will likely be tethered to externals in the future between games and images, both of which occupy a lot of space and are not going to work the best with optimized storage solutions that offload some files to a cloud, such as what iCloud Drive and OneDrive can do. If that is a big issue for you, I would get at least 512.
Click to expand...
So you would recommend either the base MBP or the 512 MBA ?
 
Hi ! To give you some news, the MacBook Air M1 256GB SSD/ 16GB RAM with 7 core is available immediately at one of our French retailers.

do you think it’s a good pick ? The lack of 1 core for GPU is ok for average gaming and editing/creation for short videos and images ?

thanks
 
jrmmdy said:
Hi ! To give you some news, the MacBook Air M1 256GB SSD/ 16GB RAM with 7 core is available immediately at one of our French retailers.

do you think it’s a good pick ? The lack of 1 core for GPU is ok for average gaming and editing/creation for short videos and images ?

thanks
Click to expand...
You won't see a noticeable difference in performance.
 
For the difference in price, I'd go Pro. More sustained performance with active cooling, touch bar (nice addition IMO), and better display. For me 512 GB SSD and 16 GB is indisputable.
 
jrmmdy said:
So now the choice’s between Air 7/8/256 and 8/16/512 haha.. I don’t know what to do, Im just sure I give up with the MacBook Pro
Click to expand...
Get the 512GB SSD model and be done with it. You will have a little extra storage for more pictures or games without having to worry. No need to keep running yourself mentally ragged over a computer purchase.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Get the 512GB SSD model and be done with it. You will have a little extra storage for more pictures or games without having to worry. No need to keep running yourself mentally ragged over a computer purchase.
Click to expand...
I finally chose to order the 512 Gb with 16 GB RAM version, can’t wait to get my delivery !

thanks everyone for your help !
 
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