Is there any reason to go for an M1 Pro than an M1 Air in my case?

[MacAttackKev]

Unfortunately, my 2013 air's SSD finally gave out before the supposed new 14in Macs, I have ordered the parts to hopefully fix it, but on the off chance that there is a more serious issue, I'm also looking to finally upgrade.

I bought the M1 Pro base model from apple as a temporary laptop (will return when the parts come in), and really have enjoyed the compact form factor, but I'm not a huge fan of the touch bar (not really sure how to effectively use it, and accidentally pressing has been a nuisance) and I hate the dongle life. I usually use headphones/earphones so I haven't really appreciated the speakers either.

I'm leaning towards going for an M1 air and upping the ram to 16 GB. I would prefer to go for a 512 GB SSD, but I'm a bit tight on money right now and I feel like the ram would be more worthwhile than storage. For the most part, I don't do anything that requires too much power (College student that writes essays, web surfing, makes Anki flashcards, etc.)

But I have gotten into video editing on iMovie (which on my 8GB air was really sluggish), So I was wondering if I would see a drastic performance boost on a pro vs an air for video editing (nothing too crazy some vlogs/travel videos)? Otherwise, I'm not sure if the Pro would be worth it for me?

I was also planning to splurge on final cut pro when I upgraded, but I'm not too sure.

I'm actually also contemplating going for an older 2015 MBP just to keep the legacy ports and save some money, but then again I'm also worried that I'd face the same issue with my air since they are on the older side and I wouldn't have any added insurance if anything goes wrong in a couple of months. (But if I do go this route, does anyone have any good buying sites?)

 

[Resist]

Maybe not much a performance boost with the M1 MacBook Pro, but it does have an internal fan which makes a difference in keeping it cooler than the M1 Air.

 

[antwormcity]

Get a refurbished Macbook Pro M1 with 16GB RAM, I heard my M1 run fan at max once when I transcoded a video, Air would have throttled like craxy. You'll never look back once you get a Pro. M1X/M2 will be more expensive if you are on a budget. Friends and family discount can get an additional 15% off refurb.

 

[Significant1]

Maybe not much a performance boost with the M1 MacBook Pro, but it does have an internal fan which makes a difference in keeping it cooler than the M1 Air.

I doesn't run cooler if the fan doesn't run, before it is needed (unless you force it to with a macs fan control or similar). Difference is, when pro starts its fan, air will slow down the processor a bit instead to control the temperatur. But max temperatur should be the same.

Get a refurbished Macbook Pro M1 with 16GB RAM, I heard my M1 run fan at max once when I transcoded a video, Air would have throttled like craxy. You'll never look back once you get a Pro. M1X/M2 will be more expensive if you are on a budget. Friends and family discount can get an additional 15% off refurb.

It doesn't throttle like crazy. Longer compute intensive tasks where throttling occour may take 20-25% longer, but that is tasks that is already so long, you don't sit and watch it finish, but start doing something else, so 20% longer doesn't matter that much. The stay responsive and doesn't go into slow motion, so you will hardly notice when it throttle.

There are other reasons to go with pro. Like screen and touchbar (if you like it). Battery and speakers are plenty good on air. Don't know af Microphone, I haven't used it.

 

[jdb8167]

I heard my M1 run fan at max once when I transcoded a video, Air would have throttled like craxy.

Not really. I see a 15-20% slowdown after many minutes of heavy load. The M1 Air goes from crazy fast to just fast. And if you use the hardware video compression you won’t even get any throttling.

 

[MacAttackKev]

Get a refurbished Macbook Pro M1 with 16GB RAM, I heard my M1 run fan at max once when I transcoded a video, Air would have throttled like craxy. You'll never look back once you get a Pro. M1X/M2 will be more expensive if you are on a budget. Friends and family discount can get an additional 15% off refurb.

I'm not exactly sure how to get the friends and family discount haha.
But I figured since I'm a student I'm already getting a decent deal, plus the free AirPods (which I'll probably resell to get some money back).

I've been saving up for the M1x/M2 and if it comes out later I should hopefully have saved up a little more for it (just not right now)

 

[MacAttackKev]

Not really. I see a 15-20% slowdown after many minutes of heavy load. The M1 Air goes from crazy fast to just fast. And if you use the hardware video compression you won’t even get any throttling.

I make a mix of long and short-form content, so it's good to know I won't see a huge decrease in speed during editing. I'm still new to editing, what video compression tool do you use?

 

[jdb8167]

I make a mix of long and short-form content, so it's good to know I won't see a huge decrease in speed during editing. I'm still new to editing, what video compression tool do you use?

Depends on what I’m doing but either ffmpeg or Handbrake. They both let you choose between software or hardware compression. Hardware compression is either noisier or larger (take your pick) than software compression but it also runs orders of magnitude faster.

 

[Resist]

I doesn't run cooler if the fan doesn't run, before it is needed (unless you force it to with a macs fan control or similar). Difference is, when pro starts its fan, air will slow down the processor a bit instead to control the temperatur. But max temperatur should be the same.

Actually, the fan is always running. Just because you don't hear, doesn't mean it isn't moving air.

 

[teohyc]

Unfortunately, my 2013 air's SSD finally gave out before the supposed new 14in Macs, I have ordered the parts to hopefully fix it, but on the off chance that there is a more serious issue, I'm also looking to finally upgrade.

I bought the M1 Pro base model from apple as a temporary laptop (will return when the parts come in), and really have enjoyed the compact form factor, but I'm not a huge fan of the touch bar (not really sure how to effectively use it, and accidentally pressing has been a nuisance) and I hate the dongle life. I usually use headphones/earphones so I haven't really appreciated the speakers either.

I'm leaning towards going for an M1 air and upping the ram to 16 GB. I would prefer to go for a 512 GB SSD, but I'm a bit tight on money right now and I feel like the ram would be more worthwhile than storage. For the most part, I don't do anything that requires too much power (College student that writes essays, web surfing, makes Anki flashcards, etc.)

But I have gotten into video editing on iMovie (which on my 8GB air was really sluggish), So I was wondering if I would see a drastic performance boost on a pro vs an air for video editing (nothing too crazy some vlogs/travel videos)? Otherwise, I'm not sure if the Pro would be worth it for me?

I was also planning to splurge on final cut pro when I upgraded, but I'm not too sure.

I'm actually also contemplating going for an older 2015 MBP just to keep the legacy ports and save some money, but then again I'm also worried that I'd face the same issue with my air since they are on the older side and I wouldn't have any added insurance if anything goes wrong in a couple of months. (But if I do go this route, does anyone have any good buying sites?)

Just go with the MBA.

I have M1 MBA and M1 Mac Mini. Maybe you can save 1 min off exporting a 10 minute 4K video project, or 6 minutes off an hour long project. It's not significant savings in terms of time or huge boost in productivity. Save the money.

 

[JPack]

I'm not exactly sure how to get the friends and family discount haha.
But I figured since I'm a student I'm already getting a decent deal, plus the free AirPods (which I'll probably resell to get some money back).

I've been saving up for the M1x/M2 and if it comes out later I should hopefully have saved up a little more for it (just not right now)

You can get the full $159+tax back from Apple for the AirPods. When you order your MacBook Air, set it so the notebook gets shipped to you. Choose pick up for the AirPods. If you don't pick up the AirPods within 15 days, Apple will cancel the order and refund you the $159+tax.

 

[Tozovac]

You can get the full $159+tax back from Apple for the AirPods. When you order your MacBook Air, set it so the notebook gets shipped to you. Choose pick up for the AirPods. If you don't pick up the AirPods within 15 days, Apple will cancel the order and refund you the $159+tax.

Wow! Has anyone ever tried this with success?

 

[MacAttackKev]

You can get the full $159+tax back from Apple for the AirPods. When you order your MacBook Air, set it so the notebook gets shipped to you. Choose pick up for the AirPods. If you don't pick up the AirPods within 15 days, Apple will cancel the order and refund you the $159+tax.

Holy Crap I didn't know you could do that!
I'll definitely keep that in mind!

 

[excelsior.ink]

The MacBook Pro also has a better display (500 nits vs 400 nits) and better sound in addition to the fan. I also happen to love the TouchBar and according to the rumours this might be the last model with a TouchBar. I hope not, cause the TouchBar is one of the most underrated and misused features.
Also if you search ifixit for disassembled pictures you'll see the motherboard on the Pro is a bit beefier, it just looks more durable to me as it has more room to dissipate the heat not only for the CPU but other components.

 

[Resist]

The M1 MacBook Pro was on sale through today for $1,099.99 (with free shipping if ordered online), making it an better choice over the M1 MacBook Air.

 

[JPack]

Wow! Has anyone ever tried this with success?

Just did this a couple weeks ago. 16/256 Air for $929. Not sure how long the loophole will last.