Apple called the MacBook Air the world’s best selling laptop. I suspect that the primary differentiation between the MBA and the 13” Pro is performance. The MBA has all the quality of life features and is the mainstream release, while the MBP sacrifices some of those for additional processor oomph (thanks to having a cooling system). Instead of having price as the differentiation measure, it’s performance vs consumer facing features.
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M2 Macbook AIR and PRO the same price?
- Thread starter NJRonbo
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Reports on the prior M1 MBA talk about throttling happening after about 30 minutes of constant heavy use, so it really depends on your workload and what you use the machine for. You might never hit the threshold thus the performance being indistinguishable between the MBA & the MBP…
Disagree. I’ll save $400 on a 13” air over a 14” pro with 16gb/1tb. No need to waste money on power I’ll never use.
Ordered a refurbished M1 MBA for $849 (for my son).
IMO best bang for the buck option at the moment:
IMO best bang for the buck option at the moment:
- M2 MBA was 43% more expensive
- Speed differences are not noticeable for the most uses
- M2 form factor, camera, speakers and the display are a bit nicer, but not enough to justify the cost difference
- M1 MBA was available immediately
I agree. While the M2 and redesign upgrades are great, they are really more like a nice to have. It's not the end of the world going with the M1, and the chip itself is still pretty overkill for what most people do.
Oh yeah, it’s there for people who need it (or who want the newest or the most future-proof), but, unless you need the M2 or one of the new hardware features in the new MBA, why not go with the base model M1? (Especially since you can get them refurbished from Apple for a nice discount.)
$400 more.
Base (min CPU/GPU) M2 Air is $400 less than base (min CPU/GPU) 14" M1 MBP, assuming equal RAM and storage. E.g., with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, M2 Air is $1599, 14" M1 Pro MBP is $1999.
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No it shouldn't. The 13" MBP has a reason to exist. Just because your usage doesn't match that specific model doesn't mean in terms of other people it won't.
For instance, for me, I'd rather have the 13" than the MBA. Furthermore, the fan helps sustained performance when I have demanded it.
Anyhow, I believe the Air was hit by inflation and shortages which is why we see it entering the MBP territory.
Let me rephrase a little, I reread my comment and I think I didn’t make my point clear enough
MBA: the mainstream release, the one you get if you just want a new MacBook or if you like the quality of life features. If you want a MacBook, this is the obvious go-to choice (unless you already know you need sustained performance or maybe the larger screen size of an up-range MacBook Pro)
MBP: performance uber alles (at that screen size, that is), the Mac to get if you need a small laptop but already know throttling will be an issue for you. If you need a bigger laptop or even more performance, you can choose something up-range
SO both are at the same price, is just that MBA has the binned gpu M2 that comes at $100 less
The usage diff is that you know you will use that gpu for sustain longer period of times and that active fan comes to help compared to the MBA since even Apple showed us that the gpu will draw 15W instead of 12W from the m1
The usage diff is that you know you will use that gpu for sustain longer period of times and that active fan comes to help compared to the MBA since even Apple showed us that the gpu will draw 15W instead of 12W from the m1
Slight differences in resolution (and Pro Motion) aside, what's expected to be the difference in display quality between the True Tone Retina display on the M2 MBP, the Liquid Retina display on the M2 Air, and the XDR Liquid Retina displays on the 14"/16" M1 Pro/Max MBPs? I saw the latter, and they do look extremely good. Not sure how those on the M2 Air and M2 MBP would compare.
I do know that the displays on the 14"/16" MBP's aren't 10-bit panels, so those on the M2's probably aren't as well. The only true 10-bit panel in Apple's lineup is on the Pro Display XDR.
I do know that the displays on the 14"/16" MBP's aren't 10-bit panels, so those on the M2's probably aren't as well. The only true 10-bit panel in Apple's lineup is on the Pro Display XDR.
mini-Led on the pro, higher brightness it is a better display, not that this MBA will have mediocre display
The 14” base model often goes on sale for $1749-1799 while BTO models rarely goes on sale from third party vendors so difference would be less. Got my brand new 14” for $1749
and the air is more compact and lighter and better battery...different people, different needs
m2 Mba display is good enough now
the M2 Mba will also go on sale....its about the starting price here
I think what @doboy meant was that, in the specific case where 512 GB/16 GB would meet your needs, you could get the base 14" MBP and take advantage of the base-model discounts; while to get that config with the M2 MBA you'd need to do a BTO.
A pity they didn't offer a webcam free version. The M1 Air's webcam is far too poor to use in a professional setting anyway, so they might as well have just done away with it and dodged the notch. The option should at least exist, especially is the 1080p webcam remains junk.
just the SoC. This is just for those who take the gpu of the M2 to the limits for longer periods
Absolutely LOVE the fast charging feature on my MBP 14”
All the molds and toolings and supply chain were already established. All those initial production costs got amortized. Now they can make incremental production, with only the change being the chip, so they can have a healthy margin even if the retail price is lower.