If you're on the fence: Here's why I chose the 14" M1 Pro MBP over the M2 MBA

[James Godfrey]

The MBP 14 vs MBA M2 debate will only be a thing for another few months, due to the fact the MBP 14 came along before the major price of inflation came into full force.

Once the M2 iterations of the MBP’s come along I can guarantee most will recommend the M2 Air for most users as it is almost guaranteed the MBP 14 base price is going to increase by about £100-£200 when the M2 Pro/Max series of chips are launched, on top of that there won’t be as many sales going on within retailers.

Don’t get me wrong at the moment generally the MBP 14 is a better buy over the M2 Air (depending on the prices you can get them for), however, looking specifically at specs and disregarding the price the M2 Air is perfect for about 95% of users.

 

[1BadManVan]

The MBP 14 vs MBA M2 debate will only be a thing for another few months, due to the fact the MBP 14 came along before the major price of inflation came into full force.

Once the M2 iterations of the MBP’s come along I can guarantee most will recommend the M2 Air for most users as it is almost guaranteed the MBP 14 base price is going to increase by about £100-£200 when the M2 Pro/Max series of chips are launched, on top of that there won’t be as many sales going on within retailers.

Don’t get me wrong at the moment generally the MBP 14 is a better buy over the M2 Air (depending on the prices you can get them for), however, looking specifically at specs and disregarding the price the M2 Air is perfect for about 95% of users.

Yup, the pro crowd is in for a big shock I think. As you said, the air is a fantastic device for the majority of users. it has more than enough power for almost everyone, plus you get the much thinner and lighter design with better battery life. So if the performance for the daily average user is already more than enough, why not take advantage of the other pluses the air has to offer?

People get way too caught up in the spec game when these laptops are already more powerful than most laptops out there today. The pro certainly has its niche audience and great that it works for them, but man people get way too carried away pushing people away from the air.

 

[VaruLV]

Yup, the pro crowd is in for a big shock I think. As you said, the air is a fantastic device for the majority of users. it has more than enough power for almost everyone, plus you get the much thinner and lighter design with better battery life. So if the performance for the daily average user is already more than enough, why not take advantage of the other pluses the air has to offer?

People get way too caught up in the spec game when these laptops are already more powerful than most laptops out there today. The pro certainly has its niche audience and great that it works for them, but man people get way too carried away pushing people away from the air.

Aside from ports and display quality there is another, rather important thing, at least for me - build quality.
I don't know what some folks here smokin, but M2 Air build quality as far as its base durability is concerned, is far worse than that of 14" MBP and considerably less durable than even M1 Air's.
I can easily twist and bend base of M2 Air, unlike the other two. All specimens that I've played with are like that.
So, if the price is 100-300$ less than base MBP 14, I would take this into consideration as well.

 

[nobackup]

Just some thoughts on my experience of owning both a 14" MacBook Pro 8/14 core, 16/512 (which I decided to keep) and the new M2 MacBook Air (8/8, 16/512).

Little things...
- MagSafe on the MBP is more secure than on the MBA. This is because the connector on the MBA doesn't sit flush with the enclosure since it is so thin, meaning that it actually disconnects a lot easier (though the opposite argument is that this is benefit).
- Perhaps subjective, but I prefer the key action of the MBP. The key travel is slightly longer and they bottom-out a little more softly.
- The trackpad is noticeably quieter on the MBP. The MBA's is louder and has a hollowness about it.

Display
Blooming isn't a big issue on the MBP provided you keep the screen brightness at a sensible setting, relative to the environment. But the quality... It's simply outstanding and perfectly suited for photography (one of my hustles) and video work. Those without a keen eye for colours and contrast may not notice or appreciate/require the difference, so for everything else I don't believe an owner would make use of it.

The same goes for ProMotion - this is not so much a quality of life improvement as it is a feature for video work. The adaptive refresh works really well and provides a true feel for the content's actual frame rate. Outside of creative work the UI is clearly smoother in motion, but I wouldn't consider this a 'need' over the MBA.

The increase is display size and resolution is noticeable on the MBP. It just allows you eek out more of your content, which I believe for a device of this size is important in getting as much screen estate as possible. The bezels on the MBP are also slightly slimmer.

None of this is to say that the MBA scree is a lesser component in anyway. In fact, it's actually a significant improvement over the previous generation with more colours, better contrast and higher maximum brightness.

Speakers and microphone
I find this to be an interesting area today given how our listening habits have changed. There are users who no doubt won't care what the quality of the speakers are provided they do the bare minimum for productivity; some will need high quality audio as a backup for creative content; others may use them a lot for listening to music.

One thing that is certain however; how difficult it is to put into words just how much better the MBP speakers are than than the MBA.

They sound big, full and wide, with excellent clarity and yet bass that shouldn't be so solid on a device this thin. If you're wanting to enjoy music in a small room then there's honestly no need to use a Bluetooth speaker (within a sensible distance), and the quality is good enough that I would feel confident doing some basic initial mastering for production.

Dolby Atmos is mesmerising. Combined with the XDR display, watching compatible movies is just fantastic. I have some HDR + DA movies that I've purchased and it literally does bring new life to them - specifically older titles that I have had good remasters (Top Gun, Total Recall for example)

FaceTime camera
Very good on both devices, relative to the sensor size. Performance appears very similar on both, with the MBA edging out just slightly with more natural colours and slightly better low light performance. I'm guessing this has something to do with the M2 chip. Not a deal-breaker by any means - they're both perfectly serviceable. And keep in mind that once you view the video on a larger display, for instance an iMac - the stream is almost potato quality anyway and comparable to the Studio Display.

Performance
Outside of video editing - which is not my domain, but I have played around with it - speed is virtually identical for both devices during everyday productivity (Office, iWork, Safari, email, and many apps in between). Little to no lag or waiting for anything to happen. OS updates were quicker on the MBP which is to be expected, but I honestly can't recommend M2 chip highly enough for most users.

Where the MBP was quicker in creative content (Lightroom, Photoshop, Logic Pro), it was only marginally. If you're thinking of holding out for the M2 Pro/Max I seriously wouldn't bother.

The fans on the MBP have only ever come once, during its first OS update. Other than this is has remained cool to the touch. The MBA also remains cool to the touch and again has only ever heated up during the initial setup and OS update process. As far as I'm concerned the debacle over this device 'overheating' (Thanks Max Tech! /S ) is unfounded.

Enclosure
Both devices feel as though they have thinner enclosures than the previous generations, not necessarily a bad thing but just something to keep in mind. The MBA is so thin that the back plate and keyboard plate can actually flex with enough force.

Both are absolutely beautiful both aesthetically and in engineering terms. I couldn't stop holding and looking at them, just appreciating their beauty. The MBP in particular has a slightly retro feel to it that I'm fond of.

The weight is substantially different. The MBP weighs just a touch more than the outgoing 13" model, but not to the point where it would discourage you from travelling with it. For the specs it's still an impressively compact and light device. The MBA on the other hand is so thin and light that it's an absolute joy to carry around. It's almost like an iPad! In fact it's so light it can wobble around a bit when you're typing on your lap.

Though the MBP keyboard is (in my opinion) nicer, typing does need a little settling in period because the enclosure is raised off the surface more than the MBA. If you're used to this from previous MBPs then it's a non-issue.

So, why did I choose the MBP?
I use a Mac for a number of things, including my main job (working with clients for coaching, delivering presentations) and side hustles (photography, product design). The two features that sold the MBP for me were the screen and the speakers. These are the most impressive that I've ever come across on a portable computer and they significantly gave me a leg-up when it came to editing photos, sharing video with clients and simply enjoying my music collection.

The addition of HDMI is convenient for plugging into projectors and TV whenever I travel anywhere, and means I can forget about bringing adapters. And the SD card slot makes my camera workflow a lot quicker, as well as being able to take project files from my 3D printer and audio from my audio recorder!

I will miss just how 'airy' the MBA was, though equally I'm now more aware of how overblown the concept of weight is. For its class, there really is nothing that you can compare the 14" MBP to in the Windows world when you combine the performance with the thickness and weight. It's a beautiful product and easily the best Mac notebook I think Apple has ever made. The Pro chip at 8/14 cores has completely exceeded my expectations.

Finally, the difference in pricing between the models was £180. For that additional cost I felt the additional screen improvements, speaker quality and keyboard was worth it.

Hope this was useful!

good overview

 

[jdb8167]

Aside from ports and display quality there is another, rather important thing, at least for me - build quality.
I don't know what some folks here smokin, but M2 Air build quality as far as its base durability is concerned, is far worse than that of 14" MBP and considerably less durable than even M1 Air's.
I can easily twist and bend base of M2 Air, unlike the other two. All specimens that I've played with are like that.
So, if the price is 100-300$ less than base MBP 14, I would take this into consideration as well.

Nonsense. The M2 MacBook Air build quality is as good as anything Apple makes. If you were right there would be many reports here about issues.

 

[kyriostrife]

When you can get an m2 air 16/256 new for $600 less than the 14 mbp (16/512), at that point is it worth it if the most taxing thing it’ll go through is light photo and video editing (rarely)?

 

[James Godfrey]

Yup, the pro crowd is in for a big shock I think. As you said, the air is a fantastic device for the majority of users. it has more than enough power for almost everyone, plus you get the much thinner and lighter design with better battery life. So if the performance for the daily average user is already more than enough, why not take advantage of the other pluses the air has to offer?

People get way too caught up in the spec game when these laptops are already more powerful than most laptops out there today. The pro certainly has its niche audience and great that it works for them, but man people get way too carried away pushing people away from the air.

Yeah 100%, don’t get me wrong with the sales going on at the moment the 14” MBP is an absolute steal with some retailers and it seems a no brainer to go for it, but I have noticed retailers are heavily discounting the M2 MBA already, I have seen the M2 MBA base model as low as £920 already here in the UK brand new which is also an absolute steal.

Most of the advice given these days is dated intel logic, I often hear reviewers advising to upgrade the RAM if your doing any sort of video editing or get the 14” MBP etc… but this is quite misleading and a huge waste of money for the vast majority as these new machines are far better performance wise than the old intel machines.

Don’t get me wrong, the upgraded RAM or even going for the Pro over the Air is going to give performance gains, of course it is, but for the general home user who doesn’t mind waiting 5 minutes for a video to export vs 2 minutes, or doesn’t mind an app loading up 1 or seconds slower etc… they’re only likely to benefit from the performance gains for less than 5% of their usage of the device and for the extra bulk or cost i don’t think it’s really worth it.

I dread to think how many users of the 14” MBP right now are walking round with an unnecessarily heavy/bulky laptop using it primarily for surfing the web, checking email and word processing, whilst at the same time justifying the purchase as it has better performance, a better display, better speakers, not realising that their not utilising the performance whatsoever, not seeing the full benefit of the display as they aren’t watching much if any HDR content on it or doing very little if any advanced photo editing, and they generally have their AirPods in while listening to any sort of media on the device…

As I said earlier though come early 2023 when the entry 14” MBP will be priced at $2199 or quite possibly more I think the general advice will change drastically.

 

[maka344]

Yeah 100%, don’t get me wrong with the sales going on at the moment the 14” MBP is an absolute steal with some retailers and it seems a no brainer to go for it, but I have noticed retailers are heavily discounting the M2 MBA already, I have seen the M2 MBA base model as low as £920 already here in the UK brand new which is also an absolute steal.

Most of the advice given these days is dated intel logic, I often hear reviewers advising to upgrade the RAM if your doing any sort of video editing or get the 14” MBP etc… but this is quite misleading and a huge waste of money for the vast majority as these new machines are far better performance wise than the old intel machines.

Don’t get me wrong, the upgraded RAM or even going for the Pro over the Air is going to give performance gains, of course it is, but for the general home user who doesn’t mind waiting 5 minutes for a video to export vs 2 minutes, or doesn’t mind an app loading up 1 or seconds slower etc… they’re only likely to benefit from the performance gains for less than 5% of their usage of the device and for the extra bulk or cost i don’t think it’s really worth it.

I dread to think how many users of the 14” MBP right now are walking round with an unnecessarily heavy/bulky laptop using it primarily for surfing the web, checking email and word processing, whilst at the same time justifying the purchase as it has better performance, a better display, better speakers, not realising that their not utilising the performance whatsoever, not seeing the full benefit of the display as they aren’t watching much if any HDR content on it or doing very little if any advanced photo editing, and they generally have their AirPods in while listening to any sort of media on the device…

As I said earlier though come early 2023 when the entry 14” MBP will be priced at $2199 or quite possibly more I think the general advice will change drastically.

May I ask where you’ve seen the MBA M2 base at those prices in the UK? Thanks.

 

[russell_314]

Aside from ports and display quality there is another, rather important thing, at least for me - build quality.
I don't know what some folks here smokin, but M2 Air build quality as far as its base durability is concerned, is far worse than that of 14" MBP and considerably less durable than even M1 Air's.
I can easily twist and bend base of M2 Air, unlike the other two. All specimens that I've played with are like that.
So, if the price is 100-300$ less than base MBP 14, I would take this into consideration as well.

What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with the build quality of the MacBook Air. You can easily twist and bend?... Umm why in the world would you be attempting to twist or bend a laptop??? I've put light pressure to feel the build quality but I'm not going to forcibly twist or bend any laptop. I've never felt it bend or flex at all. My guess would be the MacBook Pro would withstand more bending force before snapping just due to it's thicker and heavier construction but in any real situation nothing close to that amount of force should ever be applied. If for some reason you need a rugged laptop for military or government use then go for a Panasonic Toughbook.

 

[ilikewhey]

The MBP 14 vs MBA M2 debate will only be a thing for another few months, due to the fact the MBP 14 came along before the major price of inflation came into full force.

Once the M2 iterations of the MBP’s come along I can guarantee most will recommend the M2 Air for most users as it is almost guaranteed the MBP 14 base price is going to increase by about £100-£200 when the M2 Pro/Max series of chips are launched, on top of that there won’t be as many sales going on within retailers.

Don’t get me wrong at the moment generally the MBP 14 is a better buy over the M2 Air (depending on the prices you can get them for), however, looking specifically at specs and disregarding the price the M2 Air is perfect for about 95% of users.

doubt it, the mbp 14 vs mba m2 debate will go on as long as the mbp14 is priced competitively to the m2 mba. even when the m2 pro iterations comes out, which will be also be based on 5nm architecture, the mbp 14 m1 pro/max will still be considered a bargain by most if the current discounts on them stays the same.

by your argument, if disregarding price and specifically looking at specs, the m1 mba is even a better buy and is perfect for about 95% of the users, so why waste money on the m2 mba then lol.

 

[ilikewhey]

Yup, the pro crowd is in for a big shock I think. As you said, the air is a fantastic device for the majority of users. it has more than enough power for almost everyone, plus you get the much thinner and lighter design with better battery life. So if the performance for the daily average user is already more than enough, why not take advantage of the other pluses the air has to offer?

People get way too caught up in the spec game when these laptops are already more powerful than most laptops out there today. The pro certainly has its niche audience and great that it works for them, but man people get way too carried away pushing people away from the air.

lol i strongly disagree, what is there to be shocked? the m2 pro/max being a incremental improvement over the m1 pro/max? given its most likely being on the same die as the m1, most folks will probably flock to the heavily discounted m1 14inch when the m2 mbp 14 gets released.

with the m2 mba, you are sacrificing screen and sound quality for a tad lighter and a bit more battery than the mbp 14, thats a pretty bad trade off unless you absolutely have to prioritize battery life above all else. and its not like the mbp 14 is a slouch when comes to battery, i have the m1 max and i got a solid 9 hour use with heavy encoding/transcoding last night, a base 14inch with m1 pro can probably squeeze out alot more.

the difference between the air and the pro is alot more than what the niche audience is looking for, almost everyone will enjoy the better screen, better sound, more ports, and heavy discounts incentives offered by big retails.

 

[ilikewhey]

Yeah 100%, don’t get me wrong with the sales going on at the moment the 14” MBP is an absolute steal with some retailers and it seems a no brainer to go for it, but I have noticed retailers are heavily discounting the M2 MBA already, I have seen the M2 MBA base model as low as £920 already here in the UK brand new which is also an absolute steal.

for that you get a 2x slower ssd with 8gb of ram, you will absolutely notice a performance hit when it starts mem swapping.

Most of the advice given these days is dated intel logic, I often hear reviewers advising to upgrade the RAM if your doing any sort of video editing or get the 14” MBP etc… but this is quite misleading and a huge waste of money for the vast majority as these new machines are far better performance wise than the old intel machines.

cause video editing takes up alot of ram, even with 64gb ram the small 6gb project i did last night swap 8-9gb to the ssd, nowadays almost everyone is working with huge amount of megapixels due to the advancements in mobile cameras. and this trend will continue to get worse as companys looking to shove more and more pixels into the their phones.

Don’t get me wrong, the upgraded RAM or even going for the Pro over the Air is going to give performance gains, of course it is, but for the general home user who doesn’t mind waiting 5 minutes for a video to export vs 2 minutes, or doesn’t mind an app loading up 1 or seconds slower etc… they’re only likely to benefit from the performance gains for less than 5% of their usage of the device and for the extra bulk or cost i don’t think it’s really worth it.

that i agree with, but if the cost is relatively the same for same spec, I.E 512gb 16gb ram on the m2 mba vs base mbp 14, why not get the 14?

I dread to think how many users of the 14” MBP right now are walking round with an unnecessarily heavy/bulky laptop using it primarily for surfing the web, checking email and word processing, whilst at the same time justifying the purchase as it has better performance, a better display, better speakers, not realising that their not utilising the performance whatsoever, not seeing the full benefit of the display as they aren’t watching much if any HDR content on it or doing very little if any advanced photo editing, and they generally have their AirPods in while listening to any sort of media on the device…

i walk around office carrying my mbp 14 into different meetings all week long, before that i carried a m1 mba, the weight/bulk has been heavily exaggerated if not down right lies, the weight difference is less than 1lb, for that you get a bigger screen and nicer keyboards. if anything the extra girth on the 14 gives me a better grip.

as for not utilizing the display, you don't need HDR to enjoy the full benefit of the deep black offered by the mini led, the m2 mba uses traditional ips, meaning there will always be uniformity issues as plagued by all traditional ips out there. don't get me wrong, the ips panels sampled by apple for macs are pretty great, but its a very old traditional way of backlighting that has flaws going back 10 years.

as for not utlizing the better speakers? lol you have to generalize pretty broadly to think we all use airpods, i often use my mbp 14 as a boombox in the morning when i'm in a pinch, on top of that. my boss even thinks i'm talking to someone in person when i'm on a zoom conference. the sound quality is really that good.

As I said earlier though come early 2023 when the entry 14” MBP will be priced at $2199 or quite possibly more I think the general advice will change drastically.

come early 2023 when the entry m2 pro 14 be priced at 2199 or quite possibly more, i think more folks will flock to the discounted m1 14 or 16 inch if they haven't run out of inventory by then. i been bargain hunting apple products for at least a decade now, and getting a m1 max 64gb 1tb ssd 14inch(retail 3600) for 2499 new is the absolute best deal on a mac anywhere.

 

[James Godfrey]

May I ask where you’ve seen the MBA M2 base at those prices in the UK? Thanks.

Yes, very, M2 MBP on offer reduced from £1249 to £1149 but they also had a 20% back if ordered on 12 month BNPL taking the price down to £919.20… cracking deal IMO… it was on this offer about 3 weeks ago… you have to keep your eye on it, the best offers they do on the mac line up are usually a discount, plus money back as above…

 

[maka344]

Yes, very, M2 MBP on offer reduced from £1249 to £1149 but they also had a 20% back if ordered on 12 month BNPL taking the price down to £919.20… cracking deal IMO… it was on this offer about 3 weeks ago… you have to keep your eye on it, the best offers they do on the mac line up are usually a discount, plus money back as above…

Thank you. You cab also add cash back of around 3-4% from one of the cash back sites.

 

[James Godfrey]

doubt it, the mbp 14 vs mba m2 debate will go on as long as the mbp14 is priced competitively to the m2 mba. even when the m2 pro iterations comes out, which will be also be based on 5nm architecture, the mbp 14 m1 pro/max will still be considered a bargain by most if the current discounts on them stays the same.

by your argument, if disregarding price and specifically looking at specs, the m1 mba is even a better buy and is perfect for about 95% of the users, so why waste money on the m2 mba then lol.

The M2 line of the MBP’s will likely get quite a steep hike come early 2023 maybe not so much in the US but within Europe and the U.K. it most definitely will, I estimate they will be priced starting £2349 or possibly even more depending on how bad inflation gets. Whereas the M2 MBA will still be priced at around £1249 when that time comes…

I 100% agree the M1 MBA is also a fantastic buy at the moment, but this post is specifically about the 14 MBP vs M2 Air, so that’s the primary reason I haven’t included the M1 Air in my post.

 

[James Godfrey]

Thank you. You cab also add cash back of around 3-4% from one of the cash back sites.

If you’re in the market be very careful with very, as they will do a discount and 10% back ending on a certain date, then when that date comes round they increase the cash back to 20%, so if your looking for a Mac on there never take less than a discount plus 20% back and you will be rest assured you got the best price they do on them.

 

[James Godfrey]

for that you get a 2x slower ssd with 8gb of ram, you will absolutely notice a performance hit when it starts mem swapping.

Which the target market for the MBA won’t notice 95% of the time.

cause video editing takes up alot of ram, even with 64gb ram the small 6gb project i did last night swap 8-9gb to the ssd, nowadays almost everyone is working with huge amount of megapixels due to the advancements in mobile cameras. and this trend will continue to get worse as companys looking to shove more and more pixels into the their phones.

Again, the target user isn’t going to do loads of video editing work they may edit 1 or 2 videos per year.

that i agree with, but if the cost is relatively the same for same spec, I.E 512gb 16gb ram on the m2 mba vs base mbp 14, why not get the 14?

I agree if your going to upgrade the RAM and memory on a M2 MBA, the better option is the 14” MBP unless portability is a major factor in your purchasing decision.

i walk around office carrying my mbp 14 into different meetings all week long, before that i carried a m1 mba, the weight/bulk has been heavily exaggerated if not down right lies, the weight difference is less than 1lb, for that you get a bigger screen and nicer keyboards. if anything the extra girth on the 14 gives me a better grip.

as for not utilizing the display, you don't need HDR to enjoy the full benefit of the deep black offered by the mini led, the m2 mba uses traditional ips, meaning there will always be uniformity issues as plagued by all traditional ips out there. don't get me wrong, the ips panels sampled by apple for macs are pretty great, but its a very old traditional way of backlighting that has flaws going back 10 years.

as for not utlizing the better speakers? lol you have to generalize pretty broadly to think we all use airpods, i often use my mbp 14 as a boombox in the morning when i'm in a pinch, on top of that. my boss even thinks i'm talking to someone in person when i'm on a zoom conference. the sound quality is really that good.

Around the office, yes a MBP is great, for the general student who are carrying it daily from their home to university, you suddenly realise the weight difference.

Every display tech has its downfalls, IPS can have uniformity issues but one things for sure they last an absolute age, OLED gets burn in and isn’t very bright, miniLED is fantastic but suffers blooming and the response time on the MBP’s display is quite bad by industry standard.

As for the speakers the general consumer and most users won’t likely rely much on the inbuilt speakers of a laptop for amazing sound, many students basically have headphones implanted in their ears these days and rarely use their devices without them, no specifically AirPods though.

come early 2023 when the entry m2 pro 14 be priced at 2199 or quite possibly more, i think more folks will flock to the discounted m1 14 or 16 inch if they haven't run out of inventory by then. i been bargain hunting apple products for at least a decade now, and getting a m1 max 64gb 1tb ssd 14inch(retail 3600) for 2499 new is the absolute best deal on a mac anywhere.

Yeah many will, but I doubt inventory will last very long with the current shortages and supply chain issues, I know many of the big retailers here in the UK pretty much stop selling the old model a week or so after the new one is launched, and usually they don’t sell for that much less generally.

 

[geta]

lol i strongly disagree, what is there to be shocked? the m2 pro/max being a incremental improvement over the m1 pro/max? given its most likely being on the same die as the m1, most folks will probably flock to the heavily discounted m1 14inch when the m2 mbp 14 gets released.

with the m2 mba, you are sacrificing screen and sound quality for a tad lighter and a bit more battery than the mbp 14, thats a pretty bad trade off unless you absolutely have to prioritize battery life above all else. and its not like the mbp 14 is a slouch when comes to battery, i have the m1 max and i got a solid 9 hour use with heavy encoding/transcoding last night, a base 14inch with m1 pro can probably squeeze out alot more.

the difference between the air and the pro is alot more than what the niche audience is looking for, almost everyone will enjoy the better screen, better sound, more ports, and heavy discounts incentives offered by big retails.

Sure the base MBP 14” is a good deal for what you getting, even in Europe. The extra power and bigger screen is nice to have, and if you need the extra connections and dual external monitors, its the obvious choice, but most of the ppl dont need this, and prefer lighter machine with extra battery life, while the MBA will have more the enough power for their needs (as for the speakers, non of them are good…) .

Most of the ppl will run out storage space and memory (swap is not solution, its just for emergency) before they’ll need stronger CPU/GPU… and once you start upgrading, the MBA getting cheeper (at least in Europe). MBA with 8c GPU, 24GB and 1TB cost €500 less compared to base MBP 14” with 32GB and 1TB, thats a big difference.

 

[ilikewhey]

The M2 line of the MBP’s will likely get quite a steep hike come early 2023 maybe not so much in the US but within Europe and the U.K. it most definitely will, I estimate they will be priced starting £2349 or possibly even more depending on how bad inflation gets. Whereas the M2 MBA will still be priced at around £1249 when that time comes…

I 100% agree the M1 MBA is also a fantastic buy at the moment, but this post is specifically about the 14 MBP vs M2 Air, so that’s the primary reason I haven’t included the M1 Air in my post.

yep, due to weaken euro and pounds, some adjusted hike will be in place. probably the same price bump if not more when the m2 mba came out.

 

[ilikewhey]

Which the target market for the MBA won’t notice 95% of the time.

if you are super casual and does not exceed 8gb sure, but its a very easy threshold to cross, my wife is considered a homemaker for now and even she managed to cross it, and once you cross it, the slower ssd on the mba will be noticeable, is it as noticeable as mem swapping to a spinning disk? definitely not, but it will feel like you are using a iphone 6 in 2022 when the system start swapping, i experienced this first hand on the m1 mba that i previously used when the system start swapping past 8gb.

Again, the target user isn’t going to do loads of video editing work they may edit 1 or 2 videos per year.

right, which is why i'm confused why you mention about video editing in general, comparing to the old intel machines, one of the big con i see with apple silicon is unified memory where both cpu and gpu shares the same memory pool. whilst the old intel gpu had its own dedicated memory. depending on how you look at it, that also means you can have a maximum gpu memory of 64gb ram. but on the flip side, it also means if you have the 8gb base, any tasks that is normally cached onto the gpu memory is now being handled by the unified memory, taking up space from the cpu side.

I agree if your going to upgrade the RAM and memory on a M2 MBA, the better option is the 14” MBP unless portability is a major factor in your purchasing decision.

exactly, which is what some users on here have reportedly done, once you start BTO the m2 mba, from a price point of view it makes more sense to get the base mbp 14. unless you absolutely have to prioritize battery and have the lightest unit possible.

Around the office, yes a MBP is great, for the general student who are carrying it daily from their home to university, you suddenly realise the weight difference.

Every display tech has its downfalls, IPS can have uniformity issues but one things for sure they last an absolute age, OLED gets burn in and isn’t very bright, miniLED is fantastic but suffers blooming and the response time on the MBP’s display is quite bad by industry standard.

As for the speakers the general consumer and most users won’t likely rely much on the inbuilt speakers of a laptop for amazing sound, many students basically have headphones implanted in their ears these days and rarely use their devices without them, no specifically AirPods though.

the blooming has been hugely exaggerated for click baits and biased opinions, of course i can replicate the blooming but it can only be achieved under extreme circumstances. meanwhile the uniformity issue suffered on the mba can be noticeable under normal scenario, aka everytime a black screen comes on.

as for daily commute and general student lifestyle, yes obviously there is a weight difference, but it has been so overly exaggerated and overly blown from mba die hards that it needs to be called out for. i used to daily a m1 mba to work, sometime i drive, most often i take public trans, not once have i gone "gosh, i feel like this laptop is too heavy" 😂

its a physically bigger laptop, for less than a pound of weight difference, i would gladly take a bigger screen with an actual 2x retina.

as for speakers, do you have an actual number to back up that claim? i'm mostly certain the speakers are being used way more than what you stated. i used to be a grad student until recently, the amount of time i only used headphones was in lecture halls and library. often times me and my then roommates used our laptops like boombox.

Yeah many will, but I doubt inventory will last very long with the current shortages and supply chain issues, I know many of the big retailers here in the UK pretty much stop selling the old model a week or so after the new one is launched, and usually they don’t sell for that much less generally.

yeah thats why i said if inventories allow it. i'm not familiar with how retails discount on discontinued items across the pond, but here stateside the discounts are pretty steep, often pushing 40-50% and occasionally over. heck even now microcenters are throwing huge 1000-1500 usd off on maxed out mbps.

 

[ilikewhey]

Sure the base MBP 14” is a good deal for what you getting, even in Europe. The extra power and bigger screen is nice to have, and if you need the extra connections and dual external monitors, its the obvious choice, but most of the ppl dont need this, and prefer lighter machine with extra battery life, while the MBA will have more the enough power for their needs (as for the speakers, non of them are good…) .

Most of the ppl will run out storage space and memory (swap is not solution, its just for emergency) before they’ll need stronger CPU/GPU… and once you start upgrading, the MBA getting cheeper (at least in Europe). MBA with 8c GPU, 24GB and 1TB cost €500 less compared to base MBP 14” with 32GB and 1TB, thats a big difference.

i disagree, i think the speakers on the mbp 14 and 16 are some of the best laptop audio on the market, is it good as my DAC setup? hell no, but its very good at light audio and conference calls. again, i'm not comparing a base mba, my entire discussion is based on a BTO m2 mba with same spec as a base mbp 14 where the price is roughly the same. but if you wanna do 24gb vs 32gb comparison, the cheapest i found is 2100 from MC https://www.microcenter.com/product...x7-(late-2021)-142-laptop-computer-space-gray