M2 MacBook Air may actually be the BEST value for air users, and people who want the latest chip in a cheaper package

[m1maverick]

I actually said at the beginning of the thread I never liked the design of the old Intel/M1 air. One of the reasons I never considered it as a viable option. In fact I never liked the wedge shape on any of the older Macs and am so happy that has changed.

I said "MBA advocates". I did not say "Technerd108".

I am not a MBA advocate either. I like what fits my use case and am not tied to a particular device and never have been.

Just like people who suggest an 14" MBP may be a better fit than an MBA are not MBA haters.

 

[jdb8167]

Just like people who suggest an 14" MBP may be a better fit than an MBA are not MBA haters.

And yet it is pretty obvious that some are…

 

[m1maverick]

And yet it is pretty obvious that some are…

How is it "pretty obvious"?

 

[oneMadRssn]

Well I understand where you are coming from but this is no vacuum. It is more like an echo chamber where people whose entire identity is tied to having the best “specs”.

Dude you're just salty the echo chamber isn't echoing your opinion. As an fellow M2 MBA owner, I say that you should just stop trying to convince everyone else of your viewpoint.

 

[resolutiontime]

MBA M1 or MBP 14" BEST VALUE

 

[Technerd108]

Dude you're just salty the echo chamber isn't echoing your opinion. As an fellow M2 MBA owner, I say that you should just stop trying to convince everyone else of your viewpoint.

Arguing with people who say the same thing over and over is not trying to convince everyone of my viewpoint. If you read my posts then you would see I clearly understand people all have subjective opinions. I think you may have it backwards? Anyway if you think I am salty then I guess I am salty although I prefer spicy. Lol

 

[ilikewhey]

First off you spent $4300 on a M1 14" MBP? So you didn't buy the base model? I am saying that the base Model of the M2 Air is not where the real value is. In fact,I would go so far to say that a base model on any laptop Mac or not is generally a bad idea.

Also I am curious why you got a 14" and not a 16" since the 16" clearly has better screen, speakers, a better charger and has high performance mode you can't get in the 14"? I mean the specs are better so isn't it a better choice? Or did something else factor into your decision? Like maybe size and weight? There would be no other reason other than size and weight based on your line of thinking where better specs equal better machine. Also talking of thermal throttling the M1 Max on the 14" has thermal throttling?

i work from home and travel to office twice a week, at home its in clamshell mode with my 32inch and my 27inch monitor, so no need for 16inch, 14 is also compact enough for travel where 16 is not. there is zero thermal throttle so i'm not losing out on any performance, and even if it did, it wasn't much, the sustain performance would only dip ever so slightly you can check it up as rounding error.

Well since you don't actually own an M2 MBA I am not going to take your word on the speakers being crap. I have owned a 14" MBP with M1 Pro, a 16" MBP with M1 and lastly a 16" MBP with M1 Max as well as the M2 MBA so everything I speak of comes from personal experience using the machines for a long period of time. I do not know where you are getting your information on the M2 MBA since you don't own one. As I said before the 14" simply doesn't get loud enough and I have struggled to hear content while my M2 MBA I have never had that problem so no matter how good something sounds if it doesn't have adequate volume the sound quality is a mute point.

i don't have to own it to know whats up with it, i sit next to one twice a week and used it numerous times when airdrop refuse to cooperate. i call complete BS on your claim that somehow the mba's sound is louder than the 14inch 😂

either you got so twisted up in your own narrative that you manage to skew your own findings, or you literally making stuffs up to push your narrative. my company have a open layout office and not once did the m2 mba have a louder sound than my mbp. there are also literally tons of reviews on this exact comparison everywhere, youtube, reddit, etc.

Being a year old in tech is very relevant. If it wasn't relevant then Apple would not release new machines and the new machines would not add new features but that is not the case. Tech moves fast and a year is a long time.

not when the architecture remains pretty much the same, m2 is same finfet as m1, abeit higher clocked, you should know this since you are familiar with intel, tech has slowed down recently so a year off isn't a big deal, look at apple watch s7 vs s8, same chip, look at iphone 13 pro and iphone 14 pro, literally marginal improvements. in fact the a15 is still so relevant that apple is throwing it in their base 14 models.

Who in their right mind is looking at a screen at 1000 nits?? Like what possible value would that add besides draining the battery in 5 minutes? Honestly your comparisons are laughable. If the M1 MBP 14/16 could go maybe 600-800 nits without having to tweak anything I guess when you are in the blazing sun that would be useful but 500 nits is plenty bright and I like bright screens.

my comparison is on point, you trying to discredit is laughable. there are plenty of occasions where we are shooting b roll footage outside and the above 500 nit is a lifesaver.

Since you don't own and have never owned a M2 MacBook Air your opinion on throttling is useless. It doesn't throttle in use case of air users and doesn't even throttle under medium heavy loads for a short duration which it was not designed for. You can also as I said ameliorate throttling were it to occur using a ice pack and towel or laptop cooler. Most people will not be using this machine in a way where they would need those things but those who do at least have options.

thats fine, most people probably don't, but thats not the argument here, the argument is what does the mba have that mbp don't, burst single core performance, anything else the mbp has it firmly in the bag.

The M1 MBA air is an ancient design with clunky bezels and I have never liked it. That is my opinion. Obviously there are many who do. To each their own. I can tell you the M2 doesn't dig into wrists.

it does, you probably so used to it that you don't realize it, but coming from a m1 mba, the dig is certainly there.

The 14" doesn't have amazing battery life when compared to the M2 MBP 13" or M2 MBA 13". If you put the M1 MBP 14" under load it drains the battery very fast. The M1 Max 14" also thermal throttles under heavy sustained load. Also you complain about the M2 thermal throttling but you have an M1 air which everyone knows has throttling issues so I guess you are just assuming?

battery lasts fine, i can easily get 10 hours under heavy load at work, ofcourse i'm not pushing encoding for 10 hours straight, but for my workflow its fine, again, i never deny that the mba has a better battery life than the mbp, so not sure what you trying to prove here.

as for thermal throttling, you even said yourself that it doesn't.
"

I highly doubt it. I got rid of my 14" for a 16" but while I had it there was nothing I could do that would even get the fans going let alone throttle and that was using a stress test multiple times.

Apple has done a pretty good job with the thermals. Dual fans and I believe dual heat pipe cooling system, more room and decent vents combined with M1 is a game changer. Most of us are used to Intel and it is hard to believe so much power can fit into a small device and not throttle. Just a processor that doesn't throttle without water coolers is so different. All Intel processors throttle and mobile processors are the worst. Rarely does the cpu sustain high frequencies stated by manufacturer but the M1 is very different in this regard.

I understand your concern. The 16" model does have better thermals but the 14" is no joke and can handle just as well as the 16" in most cases. If performance is really important to you then I would get the 16" but if the 14" size is perfect for you and you want the extra performance then you won't be disappointed. Basically you can't go wrong with any of these devices it really comes down to personal preference.
And finally the base model 14" MBP is a great deal but it is a base model machine and I wouldn't recommend it. I would tell people to get the 10 core cpu model 16 core GPU and 16gb ram. That is a much better value for a Pro user. The only base model I would actually recommend is the 16" as it is pretty much perfect. A lot of people would want 1 tb storage upgrade on either one but on the 16" that is all you would need to do. The 14" MBP base makes too many compromises and if you are saying it is more than enough for an air type user that may be true but they will never use or need those Pro features and would probably value battery life and size and weight more.

~ this is your comment from another thread from jan. do you disagree with yourself?

Yes I am very glad that you are happy with your 14" MBP that is way over base. Personally if I was a Professional I would get the 16" if I am going to spend that much money and have an air for travel but that is me....

I am sure you will have zero regrets when the new M2 MBP 14/16 comes out by the way you constantly try to trash anyone who doesn't think like you or have what you have.

yep, zero regrets, i didn't buy the m1 max for the performance, i bought it cause i needed 64gb of ram. i'm perfectly fine with just a m1 to be honest.

The reason I started this thread as I said before was because, now please pay attention here, that people who were sort of in the middle-not a pro user but not really an air user were sort of forced to upgrade to a more expensive machine that they didn't need or use half of the capabilities but would pay more because the alternative was too slow and made too many compromises. I know the $1599 M1 base model MBP seems better because it costs the same as the M2 air with similar specs but just because an older Pro machine with "better" specs costs the same still doesn't make it better for people who use air laptops which was the target of this thread. This is a MBA sub forum by the way and not a MBP sub forum just in case you are lost. Now the new M2 MBA still has compromises but offers so much more power in a FANLESS thin and light design which has a great 500 nits screen, great speakers for the size of the device, great battery life that we now don't feel that our only choice for decent laptop is only a Pro model. It offers us in the middle a much better choice and value than ever before because now we can have a machine that we utilize fully and don't waste out money on things we don't use or need. This is a point, the value of owning a MBA vs a Pro when you don't need a Pro but want performance that has gotten lost and only the Mantra MBP 14' $1599 is such a deal is heard. When the new M2 MBP 14/16" come out we can argue value comparing apples to apples. As I said before just because something has better "specs" doesn't make it better. Specs bro specs....BUT all so many people on these forums do is SCREAM what a POS M2 MBA is compared to the 14" MBP and I got a little tired of hearing the same tired tropes over and over again. I tried to explain what value actually means and like a horse with blinders got a lot of the same responses from people who don't own a M2 MBA but have an M1 machine and just have some sort of thing to prove. Really odd behavior.

this is indeed a mba sub but you are comparing it to the mbp, so by that alone you crossed whatever jurisdiction you think you have. we heard your argument, and it wasn't convincing, hence why people are flocking here to disagree with you. better specs is facts, but yet you keep throwing subjective opinion and thinking its objective facts. and how is it more expensive when they are priced the same? thats literally one of the main premises for this debate. you are literally arguing in circles at this point, you are going soo out of your way to dignify your m2 purchase, now thats really odd behavior.

 

[ilikewhey]

And yet it is pretty obvious that some are…

yeah, try look in the mirror, you claim i'm anti air so does that make you anti mbp? double standard much?

 

[Technerd108]

i work from home and travel to office twice a week, at home its in clamshell mode with my 32inch and my 27inch monitor, so no need for 16inch, 14 is also compact enough for travel where 16 is not. there is zero thermal throttle so i'm not losing out on any performance, and even if it did, it wasn't much, the sustain performance would only dip ever so slightly you can check it up as rounding error.

i don't have to own it to know whats up with it, i sit next to one twice a week and used it numerous times when airdrop refuse to cooperate. i call complete BS on your claim that somehow the mba's sound is louder than the 14inch 😂

either you got so twisted up in your own narrative that you manage to skew your own findings, or you literally making stuffs up to push your narrative. my company have a open layout office and not once did the m2 mba have a louder sound than my mbp. there are also literally tons of reviews on this exact comparison everywhere, youtube, reddit, etc.

not when the architecture remains pretty much the same, m2 is same finfet as m1, abeit higher clocked, you should know this since you are familiar with intel, tech has slowed down recently so a year off isn't a big deal, look at apple watch s7 vs s8, same chip, look at iphone 13 pro and iphone 14 pro, literally marginal improvements. in fact the a15 is still so relevant that apple is throwing it in their base 14 models.

my comparison is on point, you trying to discredit is laughable. there are plenty of occasions where we are shooting b roll footage outside and the above 500 nit is a lifesaver.

thats fine, most people probably don't, but thats not the argument here, the argument is what does the mba have that mbp don't, burst single core performance, anything else the mbp has it firmly in the bag.

it does, you probably so used to it that you don't realize it, but coming from a m1 mba, the dig is certainly there.

battery lasts fine, i can easily get 10 hours under heavy load at work, ofcourse i'm not pushing encoding for 10 hours straight, but for my workflow its fine, again, i never deny that the mba has a better battery life than the mbp, so not sure what you trying to prove here.

as for thermal throttling, you even said yourself that it doesn't.
"

~ this is your comment from another thread from jan. do you disagree with yourself?

yep, zero regrets, i didn't buy the m1 max for the performance, i bought it cause i needed 64gb of ram. i'm perfectly fine with just a m1 to be honest.

this is indeed a mba sub but you are comparing it to the mbp, so by that alone you crossed whatever jurisdiction you think you have. we heard your argument, and it wasn't convincing, hence why people are flocking here to disagree with you. better specs is facts, but yet you keep throwing subjective opinion and thinking its objective facts. and how is it more expensive when they are priced the same? thats literally one of the main premises for this debate. you are literally arguing in circles at this point, you are going soo out of your way to dignify your m2 purchase, now thats really odd behavior.

I am glad you are fine with what you have.

I disagree with so many of your points but it really doesn’t matter because I could say the sky is blue and you will say the sky is pink and continue to argue points that aren’t relevant to air users…….

I have never owned an air before the M2?

My points are consistent across threads. I am not trying to make people who own a M1 MBP feel bad because it is a great computer for a PRO!

Anyway enjoy your 14” MBP M1.

 

[0906742]

Better display.

Only if you run it at 100% brightness. As long as you are below 400 nits, difference is practically nothing between the two.

Full size function keys.

Not sure that is relevant to many. I even have desktop Logitech Craft keyboard that cost like 200 euros and it does not have full sized function keys, I actually had to recheck mine (I’ve had it for couple of years already) when I learned new MBA and MBP was mentioned to have such. So this was not something I even ever paid attention to before.

Better webcam.

Yeah, but honestly difference between Macbook 720 vs 1080 camera in real life is not that big.

I'm probably forgetting something...

Flimsy chassis vs solid chassis.

 

[arcite]

The differences between the Air and Pro are quite stark. I fail to see the controversy here. As ever with Apple, it comes down to your budget and your needs.

---

That also doesn't change the fact the 14 Pro are going for killer prices in North America; you'd be an idiot not to buy one at that price (if you can afford it).

 

[ilikewhey]

I am glad you are fine with what you have.

I disagree with so many of your points but it really doesn’t matter because I could say the sky is blue and you will say the sky is pink and continue to argue points that aren’t relevant to air users…….

I have never owned an air before the M2?

My points are consistent across threads. I am not trying to make people who own a M1 MBP feel bad because it is a great computer for a PRO!

Anyway enjoy your 14” MBP M1.

thank you and i will.

i disagree with so many of your points as well, but at the end of the day if you find the benefit of having a lighter mba that much more worth it then thats all it matters.

your point has been subjectively consistent, believe me nothing you have said so far made much sense to me so there is nothing to feel bad about.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

Most people are not students, so most people cannot buy it. Everybody can go to BestBuy and buy 14" MBP for $1599.

What's next? You are going to use senior discounts or something to get even lower prices, while most people are not super old people and thus cannot make use of it?

That's just silly using a discount only a very small group of people qualify for and you know it.

If you want to play this game, I am sure that employees of BestBuy can buy the 14" MBP with special employee discount for much lower than $1599 too. However I am not even going there, because we cannot make use of those discounts.

"A very small group of people?" I would say a majority of people are either students, have students living in their home or are working in education. All of those people qualify for the edu discount.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

thats not correct, retail price is what brick and mortar stores like bestbuy or amazon have at the moment, msrp price is what you're talking bout.

you can downplay it all you want. but 120hz pro motion mini led alone is worth 250 bucks difference, nevermind the speakers and 2 external monitors and all the rest of them.

edit, i'm not sure why you even made this thread consider its basically the same debate you been throwing at in the mba vs mbp thread, the bottom line from that thread is that mba is a good value, but when you start BTO the mbp base is a better value, are you doing all this to justify your purchase?

ProMotion isn't worth 50 cents to me.

 

[ilikewhey]

ProMotion isn't worth 50 cents to me.

less than a pound in weight saving isn't worth a whole list of reason why mbp is better to me.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

less than a pound in weight saving isn't worth a whole list of reason why mbp is better to me.

And for me, the savings of nearly a pound and ~$360 (I need and therefore bought the 1 TB configuration) eclispes any benefit the 14" MBP has over the M2 Air.

 

[ilikewhey]

And for me, the savings of nearly a pound and ~$360 (I need and therefore bought the 1 TB configuration) eclispes any benefit the 14" MBP has over the M2 Air.

fantastic for you, like i been saying in this thread, there will always be folks who will prioritize the small weight saving and 1 or 2 hour longer battery over a laundry list of why the pro is a better value for the money for same spec mba, you and the OP who is desperately defending his purchase clearly falls in that category 😂

 

[Technerd108]

ProMotion isn't worth 50 cents to me.

Well it might be of the Mini Led screen had a better response time. It is so bad that you still see text blur like a 60hz screen over 20ms. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a 120hz refresh rate. It is one of the things besides blooming that bothered me with the MBP 14/16” screens. Hopefully on the next iteration they will get a better response time and you would actually be able to tell a significant difference between 60hz and 120hz on the MacBook screens. As it is now it is only a difference in certain applications and not day to day use.

 

[Technerd108]

fantastic for you, like i been saying in this thread, there will always be folks who will prioritize the small weight saving and 1 or 2 hour longer battery over a laundry list of why the pro is a better value for the money for same spec mba, you and the OP who is desperately defending his purchase clearly falls in that category 😂

I have not for one second “desperately defended” my purchase. That is your opinion but you clearly don’t understand why I posted even though I said it many times.

Get what you want no problem.

I got what I wanted and don’t feel any need whatsoever to justify it.

What bothers me for the billionth time is all of the ridiculous comparisons with two completely different devices for completely different use cases with people who only focus on specs rather than user experience and say over and over that one thing is a better value because it costs the same (on sale) when you BTO an “air” to match the base model of a Pro.

The air will never match the Pro in terms of performance because it was not built or designed to do so but as I have said a billion times it doesn’t make it a bad value even when compared to the Pro for the same price.

The reason it is still a solid value is because of a complete redesign like the Pro had a year ago, a newer and better chipset, and all of the things that make air an excellent choice for most people.

The reason I posted as well is that I have been tired of hearing the same tired and untrue things that people who don’t like the air for whatever reasons complain about it.

Why would I need to justify my opinions or purchases to anyone on a forum who I don’t even know? I am not looking for anyone’s approval. If I was, I would repeat the same things that a lot of people on this forum auto repeat over and over again.

Instead I have been personally attacked by some and indirectly so by others just because of my opinion. Seems counterintuitive to justify my purchase.

 

[ilikewhey]

I have not for one second “desperately defended” my purchase. That is your opinion but you clearly don’t understand why I posted even though I said it many times.

Get what you want no problem.

I got what I wanted and don’t feel any need whatsoever to justify it.

What bothers me for the billionth time is all of the ridiculous comparisons with two completely different devices for completely different use cases with people who only focus on specs rather than user experience and say over and over that one thing is a better value because it costs the same (on sale) when you BTO an “air” to match the base model of a Pro.

The air will never match the Pro in terms of performance because it was not built or designed to do so but as I have said a billion times it doesn’t make it a bad value even when compared to the Pro for the same price.

The reason it is still a solid value is because of a complete redesign like the Pro had a year ago, a newer and better chipset, and all of the things that make air an excellent choice for most people.

The reason I posted as well is that I have been tired of hearing the same tired and untrue things that people who don’t like the air for whatever reasons complain about it.

Why would I need to justify my opinions or purchases to anyone on a forum who I don’t even know? I am not looking for anyone’s approval. If I was, I would repeat the same things that a lot of people on this forum auto repeat over and over again.

Instead I have been personally attacked by some and indirectly so by others just because of my opinion. Seems counterintuitive to justify my purchase.

lol saids the guy who made an entire new thread and go on a 5 page back and forth justifying every subjective opinion to why the m2 air makes more sense.

 

[Technerd108]

lol saids the guy who made an entire new thread and go on a 5 page back and forth justifying every subjective opinion to why the m2 air makes more sense.

You keep proving my points.

It is all subjective opinion my friend and your opinion is no better than mine. It is amazing how you keep putting words in my mouth and impute your take on my reasoning.

I never said the air "makes more sense"? For who? I think the point that was falling on deaf ears was that the air makes sense for some people no matter the specs and the Pro makes sense for some people no matter the size and weight.

Different folks different strokes. Instead a lot of conflation by some about why everyone should fit into their box and accept their take on things why one thing is a better value.

 

[ilikewhey]

You keep proving my points.

It is all subjective opinion my friend and your opinion is no better than mine. It is amazing how you keep putting words in my mouth and impute your take on my reasoning.

I never said the air "makes more sense"? For who? I think the point that was falling on deaf ears was that the air makes sense for some people no matter the specs and the Pro makes sense for some people no matter the size and weight.

Different folks different strokes. Instead a lot of conflation by some about why everyone should fit into their box and accept their take on things why one thing is a better value.

mate i'm not giving opinions, i'm stating facts, facts about the screen being better, facts about the speaker being better, facts about more ports, better performance, the 14inch at 1599 is a much better value than same spec m2 mba. that is a fact.

your point has fallen on deaf ears on literally everyone who responded cause they are not convincing, again, i have made exceptions to these facts, like i said prior, if you value that .4kg in weight saving an an extra hour of battery that much, congrats! the mba with 512gb and 16gb of ram is for you!

 

[Technerd108]

mate i'm not giving opinions, i'm stating facts, facts about the screen being better, facts about the speaker being better, facts about more ports, better performance, the 14inch at 1599 is a much better value than same spec m2 mba. that is a fact.

your point has fallen on deaf ears on literally everyone who responded cause they are not convincing, again, i have made exceptions to these facts, like i said prior, if you value that .4kg in weight saving an an extra hour of battery that much, congrats! the mba with 512gb and 16gb of ram is for you!

They are not facts. Better is your opinion. A fact is there is a difference in the specs. What is better is based on use case. My point has not fallen on deaf ears. Again that is your opinion yet I don't say the same about you? It is like somehow your opinion is entitled to rise above everything else as objective fact when it is an opinion.

What do you mean by better performance? The base model pro has an 8 core M1 Pro. Geekbench scores show the M2 has better single core score and is very close in multi core and that is with a finless design. When the M2 Pro comes out it will most certainly best the M1 Pro in both of those metrics but it is impressive a regular M2 is so close to a Pro. So what is better in performance depends on use case. For "Pro" users multi core is probably more important so the M1 Pro has an edge but for regular users a single core score is more important so the M2 has an edge. See how your idea of better is an opinion and subjective????

More ports is better a fact?? If you want a thicker and heavier device I guess more ports is better but what can't I do with thunderbolt ports that you can do with the ports on the Pro??? Nothing. It just means I will have to use an adapter which I am fine with because I have a thiner and lighter device and I rarely would use those ports anyway. Again your better is subjective based on use case.

Screen is again a personal preference as are the speakers. The screen on the MBP has flickering and PWM and blooming with a poor response time of 20ms or more which blurs text in motion sort of negating that great 120hz. A lot of people have eye strain on the Mini Led screen. Does it look better? Well that is an opinion not a fact no matter the specs.

Speakers sure if more bass and less volume are your only factor then I guess the MBP is better but the experience of what sounds better is again a preference that is subjective and not a fact.

You haven't made exceptions for me. Oh I am so lucky you conceded a point or two when you completely miss over and over again that your opinion is not fact.

So go ahead and spout off a billion more specs, cough I mean facts and tell me why the MBP 14" base model is a better value when it doesn't fit my use case and the use case of many people while the M2 MBA does and it does it very well.

My entire argument and the reason I brought up the 14" in the beginning was not to have a war on which is better or to even compare them BUT TO TELL people like you I have heard it all already about your arguments so you don't need to convince me that I am wrong or that you are right. This thread was intended to show the value of the air from a different perspective than the one broadcast a billion times. I understand your argument and I don't agree and will never agree and that doesn't make you right or me wrong. Whether you want to spout facts or not it doesn't matter because we are talking value and as I have said before value is not simply based on specs it is based on use and cost. They are connected and you can't separate them out and only argue one as being superior while forgetting the other.

The only reason I have posted so much back and forth is because of people who don't seem to understand what this thread is all about and simply want to argue their point and I am not going to just let people say something without a response. I have gotten really tired of responding to the same thing over and over again but I don't see the point in just letting people who have some type of grudge just say whatever they want without a response. I don't appreciate the personal digs when I have refrained from doing so to others. But I don't have any control over what other people say and do. I only can respond and call out what I see.

 

[Air_M1]

The image quality on M1 Pro 14" is excellent.

 

[Technerd108]

The image quality on M1 Pro 14" is excellent.
View attachment 2062286View attachment 2062287

I agree. Who said it wasn't? So is the air??