Is Going 14" MBP M2 Pro > 15" MBA M5 bad idea?

[abiem]

I've been itching to get the 15" Air forever cause of the slimmness + screen size / estate.
Currently have MBP 14" M2 Pro 1TB / 16GB, will I be a dumbass to upgrade (downgrade) to the 15" M5 Air? I just checked and MBA by default does offer a few more pixels of screen estate compared to 14", even though I know the PPI is less.

Thoughts:

1. HDMI is handy...but I already have dongle for that and use it like <once a month. Same with SD Card...I almost never use it
2. Promotion is nice...but I am someone who can game on 30FPS and dont care, and I only game on console
3. Current MBP also only has 87% battery capacity left & somehow only lasts me ~2.5hrs : p
4. I do mostly design work w/Figma, lots of browser tabs, claude. Occasionally video work but just editing, no effects
5. Or maybe I just keep waiting for the next rumored 'redesign' in a year or 2....since really nothing is wrong, more just an itch to ''update' 😆

 

[chrono1081]

No it's not a bad idea. I loved my Air when I had it. If I didn't have to do heavier graphics things (3D animation/texture painting, games and stuff were fine) I'd go right back to the Air because I love its thinness.

 

[abiem]

No it's not a bad idea. I loved my Air when I had it. If I didn't have to do heavier graphics things (3D animation/texture painting, games and stuff were fine) I'd go right back to the Air because I love its thinness.

Did you went to air then back? Or you just know already air wasn’t gonna cut it for what you do

 

[chrono1081]

Did you went to air then back? Or you just know already air wasn’t gonna cut it for what you do

I went to the Air and back. The Air is super powerful but when you do a lot of 3D rendering and high res texture painting it's not the best pick. It's capable of doing those things but it's not going to be super fast at it. That was the only type of work I felt limited in. I could edit 4k video just fine, I could do software dev just fine, I could play games, I could use Logic and Motion just fine. I could do almost all of my 3D work just fine, it just wasn't great for texture painting and rendering.

I ended up getting back out of 3D work so when I get my next machine I'm going back to the Air.

 

[1BadManVan]

Did you went to air then back? Or you just know already air wasn’t gonna cut it for what you do

he said he loved it when he had it

 

[throAU]

Test one in store and see if you can tolerate the screen. If you can, go for it.

M5 rips. For low thread count work it will leave your m2 pro for dead. In ai it will slaughter the m2. Multi core it will probably win too.

I don’t think you’ll feel a performance downgrade at all. Just the screen mostly.

Far more likely you will instantly notice the speed improvement.

My m5 base iPad feels snappier in light workload than my full fat 16/40 cpu/gpu m4 max. Obviously the max is far more capable of heavy workload.

 

[abiem]

Test one in store and see if you can tolerate the screen. If you can, go for it.

M5 rips. For low thread count work it will leave your m2 pro for dead. In ai it will slaughter the m2. Multi core it will probably win too.

I don’t think you’ll feel a performance downgrade at all. Just the screen mostly.

Far more likely you will instantly notice the speed improvement.

My m5 base iPad feels snappier in light workload than my full fat 16/40 cpu/gpu m4 max. Obviously the max is far more capable of heavy workload.

yeah I tried it in store yesterday! I think it looks fine, obviously I can spot the differences side by side, but day to day if I dont compare then I doubt it. 1/2 the times it's hooked to an external anyway.

But ok thank you guys so much I'll think about it! Cause it also means I gotta slap on top another $600~ or so after trade in to get the 1TB MBA! Worst case I stick to the normal M5 MBP, but definitely M5 Pro MBP is overkill for me at this stage.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Is every bit of the Pro overkill for your needs? If you are talking purely CPU, sure.

What about TB ports, battery, screen quality, SSD speed, cooling, looking down your nose at MBA owners and other elements?

 

[BotchQue]

5. Or maybe I just keep waiting for the next rumored 'redesign' in a year or 2....since really nothing is wrong, more just an itch to ''update' 😆

This would be my recc; why fix what ain’t broke?
But, you do you!

 

[abiem]

UPDATE:
So I bought a MBA 15" from apple and used it for a week! Long story short:

1. Yes it felt great, the bigger screen DOES make a difference
2. OMG it's so thin
3. Performance — didn't feel much at all, except 1 video I exported seem to take few min longer (Expected)
4. OMG it's so fxcking thin
5. But it also took up my entire table @ Starbucks, where as the 14" MBP left a bit of room to spare
6. I returned it in the end, none of the purchase justified the extra $600 I'd have to spend
7. Having USB-C ports only on left side is a bitch sometimes
8. but OMG it's so thin
9. And oh also having actually 'bought it' satisfied my itch to update and now I dont feel the itch any more 🤣

 

[lewchenko]

You scratched the itch and managed to find an answer which saved you $600. I'd call that a win.
Probably all comes down to thin vs the better screen on the base MBP.
That 3rd port on the right on MBP is useful too.
Did you already trade the MBP in though ?

 

[abiem]

You scratched the itch and managed to find an answer which saved you $600. I'd call that a win.
Probably all comes down to thin vs the better screen on the base MBP.
That 3rd port on the right on MBP is useful too.
Did you already trade the MBP in though ?

nopeee I kept the MBP until I was sure I'd want the MBA, which I didnt in the end. I wasnt gonna trade it in anyway apple only gave me $795, on FB Market place I got offers for $950

 

[siurpeeman]

this was me a year ago going from 14 m1 pro to 15 m4 macbook air. all the same observations. wound up keeping it though. the bigger screen and thinner body was worth the trade off. I do miss pro motion from time to time

 

[throAU]

Macbook air will be a performance upgrade in some ways but the display is nowhere near as good which may be relevant if you’re working professionally with photos or video.

Otherwise, go for it, m5 is as beast and your m2 pro is not particularly high spec so you’re not giving up so much in terms of memory and cpu/gpu performance if anything.

 

[JulianL]

I've been itching to get the 15" Air forever cause of the slimmness + screen size / estate.
Currently have MBP 14" M2 Pro 1TB / 16GB, will I be a dumbass to upgrade (downgrade) to the 15" M5 Air? I just checked and MBA by default does offer a few more pixels of screen estate compared to 14", even though I know the PPI is less.

Thoughts:

1. HDMI is handy...but I already have dongle for that and use it like <once a month. Same with SD Card...I almost never use it
2. Promotion is nice...but I am someone who can game on 30FPS and dont care, and I only game on console
3. Current MBP also only has 87% battery capacity left & somehow only lasts me ~2.5hrs : p
4. I do mostly design work w/Figma, lots of browser tabs, claude. Occasionally video work but just editing, no effects
5. Or maybe I just keep waiting for the next rumored 'redesign' in a year or 2....since really nothing is wrong, more just an itch to ''update' 😆

I note your update with the returned 15" Air despite the "it's so thin" experience. You have ended up where I think I would have. The critical thing here for me is your point 5 above and your observation that "really nothing is wrong" (with your current M2 Pro 14" MBP).

If you value thinness then judging by the rumours it's at least quite possible that the M6 generation might give you a MBP that is still in your 14" sweet spot in terms of table space with (compared to the M5 MacBook Air) very probably a significantly better screen, speakers, cooling, port selection and probably a crazy amount of performance headroom to keep you going for many years - and on top of all that at least some and maybe all of that thinness experience that so impressed you during your time with the 15" MacBook Air.

The only downside that I see to your situation is that everything about the next generation MBP is rumours and in particular we don't know if it might end up not being a MBP at all but rather something like a MacBook Ultra that sits above the next MBPs at a significant price premium compared to current MBP pricing. If you care whether that comes to pass probably depends on your price sensitivity (disposable income) and that is of course none of anyone else's business but if the possibility of a big price hike doesn't really concern you (and we currently have no idea how big - it might even not be a price hike at all) then for what it's worth I would 100% have taken the decision that you have - stick with a current perfectly capable MBP and wait to see what the rumoured thinner lighter M6 redesign brings (probably next year).

 

[abiem]

Thanks for the responses guys!
A couple factors I think that went into me wanting to get the Air originally was also that:

• With all the rams $ going crazy, might be cheaper to buy now instead of later
• I got a few more freelance projects this year compared to past, so can spend & expense a little more rightfully 🤣

But even then w/the above points I still feel like it just wasn't worth the $600 I have to slap on. If it was only $100-$200 I might have kept it though! But paying $600 on top while having to suffer inferior speaker quality was unacceptable 😆