The rMB performance is the main thing that has me looking away from rMB. I have a maxed-out 2017 rMB, but it struggles with even 3 Safari tabs open. Opening Preview used to be nearly instant, but takes a few more bounces these days. It also feels like MacOS is getting hungrier and more optimized for the M-series SoCs. I don't need the latest max/ultra chips - I just need it to be fast enough that I don't think about it.
I had the 2017 i7 as well. I jumped to the 13" M1, then the 14" M1 Pro, and have no regrets. Excellent performance and great machine. Far better overall performance in every way.
The 14" is tempting, but seems like a bit overkill in terms of features and price. I don't need fancy dual- or quad-M1 performance. I don't do stuff with prores or anything like that.
For me, having the ports was worth the money. I use SD cards all the time and not having to worry about a dongle is fantastic. I noticed minor performance enhancements over the standard M1, as well. But I agree, a 15" MBA would make sense for many folks.
I don't see the point honestly. It costs a tad more than the new MBA, but is thicker and heavier, and has a slightly worse screen and no magsafe. The only benefit seems to be that it has active cooling.
Really annoying that you need to drop $2500 for the base 16 inch.
Yeah, I'd buy a regular, base-M2 14" if they sold it. The pricing for the 14" and 16" is actually not much higher than for the 13" models when you consider the price of upgrades that are factored in, but I'd mostly be buying for the ports and for the screen real-estate (and the ability to use multiple external monitors). The M1 Pro/Max is a bit overkill for a user like me.
Plenty of sales here for the 14", 10-20%. AU. I got a new 16/1TB for 20% off. Same config air 2 will be $50AUD more.
You're right. I love the 13" MacBook Pro. But the new MacBook Air is the way forward especially now that it has MagSafe. And a larger 15.2" version seems almost a lock for sometime next year.
I really really wish the 15" Air rumor to be true, but we've been hearing some version of it for years and years now. Every time it's "next year" or "soon," but it never comes. I hate the trope of "Apple is a rich company why can't they do X," but clearly it's possible to engineer and release multiple laptop sizes concurrently. Dell does dozen new models every year! Apple hasn't done it because they don't want to. So I am sort of jaded at this point as to that particular rumor. If it does finally happen next year, it will be an unusual turn of events.
The rumor comes from Mark Gurman & backed by Ross Young. Given their accuracy in the past, it feels like a sure thing.
