M1 MBA or keep 16" MBP

[thenumbersrbad]

I have a 16" MBP that I purchased when I was doing a lot of work from home stuff over the last year basically for the screen size. I basically use it for a lot of Numbers and Pages documents, I surf the web, email and sometimes will watch Netflix and videos.

I'm sure I won't miss much computing wise with my workflow switching to an M1 MacBook Air ... and I'm assuming the battery life will be better lol but what might I miss day to day leaving the 16" behind?

I know one thing that will take getting used to on the MBA are the bezels being slightly larger than the 16" (but think I would get used to that)

I'm more or less worried about not waiting to see what new is released int he coming months, which I'm assuming won't be a redesigned MBA

Basically is it crazy to leave the 16" and go for an M1 at this point? Or keep the 16" and use the money elsewhere

 

[joe8232]

I have both for exactly the reasons your say. The M1 is now my go-to laptop and the 16" is essentially a desktop for me. I haven't looked back. For your workflow, I would say go for it.

 

[Biscotti]

Really just depends if you need the screen size. If you have an external monitor, then def go with the MBA. If you think you can get by on the 13" screen, the MBA is awesome.

I have both the MBA and 16" MBP and I basically stopped using the 16". But I also use a 34" 4K monitor. I'm struggling to figure out how to use both. The 16" is mainly a gaming machine, but I've just been using my MBA for work with the monitor and without. Lol I'm really trying to figure out if I should just get a 512/1T SSD MBA, sell the 16" and get a dedicated windows gaming laptop or NUC.

If you don't game on windows, then the MBA is the way to go.

 

[jerryk]

I went from a 16" to an M1 MBA and am very happy. Unless you need the screen space or GPU performance, the M1 Air is a better system. I found the 16" to be heavy, large, and noisy. The M1 is just the opposite.

 

[thexash]

I went from a 16" to an M1 MBA and am very happy. Unless you need the screen space or GPU performance, the M1 Air is a better system. I found the 16" to be heavy, large, and noisy. The M1 is just the opposite.

Same experience for me, but with a M1 MBP.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

@thenumbersrsbad: For your use-case the M1 Macbook Air would be perfectly fine. The Air is so portable, you may find that it outweighs (no anti-pun intended) any reduction in screen size. You may also really appreciate the ability to install many iPad and iPhone apps.

 

[Fuchal]

I sold my 16" for a M1 Air and I don't have any regrets. The performance in anything I used the GPU for (Photos, Pixelmator Pro, GZDoom, Quake, Raze, and a couple other games) is great as well. Not having to hear a rocket launch every time I open Teams is incredible.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Doesn't sound like you need more than 16GB RAM or the better GPU of the 16". What remains is the display size... can you live with 13"? If so, there's no reason not to go for the M1. If you need/want a bigger screen, then wait for the next 16" version. Then again, if you're making a loss you can just as well wait for Apples desktop class processors, with much more power. But again, it doesn't seem like you need it. 🤷‍♂️

 

[danb1979]

I've just got my M1 MBA today and so far I'm very impressed.

Very slick; very fast and runs so smoothly...

And that's dropping down from a 2019 27" iMac!

Yes; it's a massively smaller screen, but it's causing no issues and it's better suited to me as my desktop is narrow, so the 27" iMac was just too big!

 

[richinaus]

Doesn't sound like you need more than 16GB RAM or the better GPU of the 16". What remains is the display size... can you live with 13"? If so, there's no reason not to go for the M1. If you need/want a bigger screen, then wait for the next 16" version. Then again, if you're making a loss you can just as well wait for Apples desktop class processors, with much more power. But again, it doesn't seem like you need it. 🤷‍♂️

Sounds about right.

On reading a lot of posts on MR, I have to wonder how many people bought the wrong computers previously if the M1’s are fine for them, as currently there is no way my 16”MBP can be replaced by a 13” with 16gb ram and no dgpu.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

On reading a lot of posts on MR, I have to wonder how many people bought the wrong computers previously if the M1’s are fine for them, as currently there is no way my 16”MBP can be replaced by a 13” with 16gb ram and no dgpu.

Same feeling here. There are many people in the forum who bought a maxed out MBP16, then switched to a M1 MBA and said it's much better for them. They never needed a maxed out 16" in the first place. The 16" is still the best (Apple) mobile choice for things like running multiple VMs, docker containers, working on mid to large datasets where 16GB is not enough or graphical applications such as 3D simulations and visualization of large datasets (reconstructed point clouds from lidar/radar, etc.) and other demanding use cases of course.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Get rid of it before it loses all its value and the XDR Mini-LED 16” releases.

 

[GuruZac]

I just ordered a base MacBook Air but upped the RAM to 16GB. I initially ordered the new iMac but I’ll still need a portable computer. I would love to have the 16” but as was stated above, it’s larger, heavy, and loud if doing anything that requires power. It sounds like you don’t need the power of the 16” MBP (not like the M1 MBA is lacking performance) so I say go for it. Conversely, unless you just need to get rid of the 16” MBP, I might hold out to see if anything is announced in June in regards to the 14” MBP. But again, you don’t sound like you need Pro performance so go for the Air.

 

[thenumbersrbad]

Thanks everyone makes sense for me to go for the Air, now just need to sell my 16”

also is it crazy to get the 12.9 iPad with the M1 as well as the Air?!

 

[danb1979]

Thanks everyone makes sense for me to go for the Air, now just need to sell my 16”

also is it crazy to get the 12.9 iPad with the M1 as well as the Air?!

Nope... 😉

Exactly what I'm considering when they come out (sell my iPad Air 4 on etc), but may look at the M1 11 Pro too...

Using my iPad as a document reader, side by side with my MBA using Sidecar and its super for that and then great for when I want to read magazines or faff on a few games etc 👌🏼