I adore my M2 Air. I fully thought I'd return it but it's far more powerful than people realize. For travel I found the Air + 11 inch iPad Pro is perfect. Both together are about the thickness of a MacBook Pro and I have dual screens now.
not the right person/profile for a MacBook.thanks for the insight. if you were a person that needs the portability and is constantly on the move, lighter and smaller makes sense.
Although Im not a laptop user, if it were to purchase a MPB as a primary mac, anything less than 32 GB would kill my workflow. Heck, Id be hesitant with 32 GB -- might not be enough, since I regularly stress the 128 GBs in my 2020 Intel iMac. I know M chips use ram different, both wife and kids have base MBAs and minis, but not a chance with me =)
I skimmed it.Not reading that essay of a post to find out what you figured out to be good for your needs.
Glad you figured out what’s good for you though.
Here's what I use to measure used performance:Don’t know if you already have software to measure the actual used performance of your device to determine whether you require more or less, but I’ve found that very useful particularly as I‘m responsible for nine people’s purchase decisions (personal, not professional) and it tells me RAM load, CPU load, etc. (I use iStat menus but others exist https://mac-optimization.bestreviews.net/best-mac-system-monitoring-apps/ ) [you can figure out most of these things within macOS itself, if you want. I like the convenience of the always-on and visible task bar interface]
Your setup is the one I going to get from tomorrow as I bought a M2 12.9 iPad Pro.Great write up. I own the base model M1 MacBook Air with upgraded RAM to 16GB and it’s just an amazing laptop. It truly feels like something special. To get so much performance and battery life out of something so thin and portable is a real accomplishment by Apple. I likely won’t trade it any time soon. I just have no use case to justify anything more than a MacBook Air. However, I may spring for the Pro models to get the ProMotion display and better speakers, two features I notice that lack in my M1 MBA compared to my M1 12.9 iPad Pro.
ProMotion in the MacBook Pros doesn’t function the same as the iPad Pros?Honestly the idea that you use the iPad more because of ProMotion doesn’t make much sense. If that was really the case then you wouldn’t use your 16” much either because the ProMotion is hampered by a slow screen response time?
I think most people don’t use all the resources in the new MBP even if they think they do except for a small minority of professionals who edit videos or do 3d animations for a living.I skimmed it.
In summary, "good enough" is "great". Hates USB-C charging.
Doesn't use all the bells and whistles (or, rather the resources) that a MBP offers.
14" screen too small on MBP. No fan is great.
No it doesn’t. Depends if we are talking 11” or 12.9”. I will have to check the response time on the iPad but I am pretty sure even the mini led on the 12.9” has a better response time which means text doesn’t tear or blur in motion like it does on the MBP’s.ProMotion in the MacBook Pros doesn’t function the same as the iPad Pros?
Ah, good to know. I have to be honest, during the day I don’t notice the blooming at all on my 12.9 M1 iPad Pro, but in darker rooms or at night, it’s quite noticeable and makes some content almost look blurry at times.No it doesn’t. Depends if we are talking 11” or 12.9”. I will have to check the response time on the iPad but I am pretty sure even the mini led on the 12.9” has a better response time which means text doesn’t tear or blur in motion like it does on the MBP’s.
Also you face is usually closer to the iPad and you scroll with your hand which means that you notice the Pro Motion a lot more than a laptop. Animations are different in iPadOS vs MacOS too. They are very different but if you take an iPad Air next to an iPad Pro the difference between non ProMotion and ProMotion displays are very noticeable.
If you put the 16” and 13.6” screens next to each other you can tell a difference but it is not as apparent and if they are not side by side you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
The contrast ratio and black levels are much more apparent on the mini led displays compared to MBA than Pro Motion.
I also find the color saturation to be stronger on the mini led closer to OLED than regular IPS. The IPS display looks more natural to me but the color just “Pops” on the mini led. The mini led has great color but personally I find the blooming to detract in certain situations. Most people don’t even notice the blooming though unlike the iPP 12.9”.
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2021 Apple 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro with mini LED display shows poor display characteristics including reduced PWM and response times
We tested the PWM and display response times in our 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro with M1 and found that there are some downsides to Apple's transition to mini LED tech this year. The 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro not only shows lower PWM compared to the 2020 model but also has noticeably higher response...www.notebookcheck.net
I also want to point out that I am not saying the MBP mini led screens are bad. They are beautiful. I just wasn’t impressed with the ProMotion. That is all.
Yes exactly! I noticed the blurry effect on my 16” MBP and it really bothered me. I’m nice it even happened on a bright background during the day and it was like looking at the screen through fog.Ah, good to know. I have to be honest, during the day I don’t notice the blooming at all on my 12.9 M1 iPad Pro, but in darker rooms or at night, it’s quite noticeable and makes some content almost look blurry at times.
Yeah, now that Apple has OLED panels that can get super bright (2,000 nits) I wonder if OLED is coming down the pipeline for iPad Pros and MacBook Pros. There's talk of burn in, but that doesn't seem to be a problem on PC laptops and Samsung tablets who've been using OLED panels. I do love the display overall on my iPad Pro, but mini LED feels like a transitional. The blooming, while not significant for most people, is quite noticeable.Yes exactly! I noticed the blurry effect on my 16” MBP and it really bothered me. I’m nice it even happened on a bright background during the day and it was like looking at the screen through fog.
It doesn’t always happen but when it does it’s really distracting and there is nothing you can do about it.
Different aspect ratios and scaling. For many websites, the 12.9" iPad can render pages better than even the 14" MBP.For the one person who uses their 16” even when traveling but feels the MBA M2 screen is too small but uses a 12.9” iPad Pro more because of Promotion I find your statement a bit of a head scratcher? Like if 13.6” is too small then how is 12.9” okay?
I never buy any laptop if I have a choice with less than 16gb ram.@Technerd108,
I enjoyed reading your highly informative OP.
I have a question for you:
Do you think you would feel the same positive way about your Apple Silicon MacBook Air if it only had 8GB of RAM?
Thanks for the tools suggestions — I’ll take a look. Due to the Windows-based tools that I rely on I think GPU performance will likely be the limiting factor for me — hopefully one of the tools you suggested will provide an objective way to assess what I can expect from the AppleSilicon ecosystem for my business use case.Don’t know if you already have software to measure the actual used performance of your device to determine whether you require more or less, but I’ve found that very useful particularly as I‘m responsible for nine people’s purchase decisions (personal, not professional) and it tells me RAM load, CPU load, etc. (I use iStat menus but others exist https://mac-optimization.bestreviews.net/best-mac-system-monitoring-apps/ ) [you can figure out most of these things within macOS itself, if you want. I like the convenience of the always-on and visible task bar interface]
Thanks to it, I knew the M1 Mac mini I had did not have enough RAM, the CPU was generally powerful enough but the GPU was not. My M1Max MBPro has never ”swapped” and the GPU has not hit anywhere near 100%. Since Apple Silicon has relatively linear scaling between same gen processors (at least for the first gen) you can calculate your minimum requirements based on your present use case and processor.
I also enjoy multitasking, but in my case I just bought a MacBook Air and also bought a separate iPad Air and use sidecar. It’s cheaper to buy both of these than a 16”pro. Now I travel with just the iPad or just the Air depending on my needs, and just as easily carry both if I really need to.And that's the crux. I have a 16" MBP, but I don't need the power. I like the screen real estate. When you put two windows side-by-side on the smaller Macs, you often get the 'mobile' version of a website. Very annoying.
my exact combo!I adore my M2 Air. I fully thought I'd return it but it's far more powerful than people realize. For travel I found the Air + 11 inch iPad Pro is perfect. Both together are about the thickness of a MacBook Pro and I have dual screens now.
Quick read: M2MBA is lighter and good enough