Really? The $2500 16ram/1ssd MBP is cheaper than the $1800 16ram/1ssd in your country? That's a big discount.
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M2 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14” dilemma
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MBA doesn't have an SD slot (I haven't had issues with mine, but I don't use it a heap to be honest). I have not experienced the speaker popping.
Even if you need to plug in an external reader, you've still got more spare ports than the MBA doing the same task.
Everyone says, "ME DESERVE," but not very many say "ME REQUIRE?"
But I'm not going to fault anyone if they got the budget to make the upgrade pick as it were.
sound like someone bought MBA and wish they bought MBP ?
A trip to the Apple Store cleared this up quicker than expected for me.
I was initially greeted by a silver MacBook Air, which reminded me quite a bit of the new MacBook Pro’s design language. The display was vibrant with solid contrast and it was obvious that it’s an extremely well-made computer that feels light and portable. However, for better or worse it didn’t feel like a significant upgrade over my 2012 Retina MacBook Pro.
I saw a Midnight MacBook Air off to the side, and found its bluish matte black aesthetic to look appealing from a distance. Once I had my hands on it the color didn’t seem as important, and it was perhaps understandably showing quite a bit of wear and tear for five days of usage.
There was a silver 16” MacBook Pro next to it that I was slightly reluctant to use since I wanted to directly compare the Air to the 14” Pro.
Yet, I found myself smiling the second I was in front of the 16” MacBook Pro. The display looks fantastic and the Mini LED backlighting makes for a very noticeable and immediate improvement. Pulling up a minute of HDR Apple TV+ content on both devices sealed the deal.
I want a display that can wow me every time I use my Mac, and this is it.
In fact, it’s making me consider stepping up to the 16” MacBook Pro when my mind was set on the 14”.
There was a Space Grey 14” MacBook Pro in another part of the store, and the displays were quite similar besides size. This should be a given, but I noted that Notebookcheck gave the 14” display a sizable edge over the 16”.
The 16” silver MacBook Pro appeared to be newer, and the display seemed cleaner and brighter.
Speaking of, I’m glad I picked up Apple’s polishing cloth.
Build quality overall is phenomenal on the latest MacBook Pro’s, and I don’t feel like it’s missing much in portability.
I had envisioned using a Midnight MacBook Air at a coffee shop and on a bench outside of a university library. But lifestyle isn’t enough to persuade me over the more capable MacBook Pro. I do think I could develop a fondness if I spent more time testing an Air, but the Pro has too many advantages.
Price-wise I’d be inclined to step up to the $1,499 Air, so the gap between them begins to close once we factor in upgraded features and resale value.
The new MacBook Air is going to be a fantastic laptop for a lot of people. Those that will stare at a Mini LED display with glee every time they open the laptop and like having the potential of future-proof performance should look at the MacBook Pro, which is similar in portability—but better overall.
I was initially greeted by a silver MacBook Air, which reminded me quite a bit of the new MacBook Pro’s design language. The display was vibrant with solid contrast and it was obvious that it’s an extremely well-made computer that feels light and portable. However, for better or worse it didn’t feel like a significant upgrade over my 2012 Retina MacBook Pro.
I saw a Midnight MacBook Air off to the side, and found its bluish matte black aesthetic to look appealing from a distance. Once I had my hands on it the color didn’t seem as important, and it was perhaps understandably showing quite a bit of wear and tear for five days of usage.
There was a silver 16” MacBook Pro next to it that I was slightly reluctant to use since I wanted to directly compare the Air to the 14” Pro.
Yet, I found myself smiling the second I was in front of the 16” MacBook Pro. The display looks fantastic and the Mini LED backlighting makes for a very noticeable and immediate improvement. Pulling up a minute of HDR Apple TV+ content on both devices sealed the deal.
I want a display that can wow me every time I use my Mac, and this is it.
In fact, it’s making me consider stepping up to the 16” MacBook Pro when my mind was set on the 14”.
There was a Space Grey 14” MacBook Pro in another part of the store, and the displays were quite similar besides size. This should be a given, but I noted that Notebookcheck gave the 14” display a sizable edge over the 16”.
The 16” silver MacBook Pro appeared to be newer, and the display seemed cleaner and brighter.
Speaking of, I’m glad I picked up Apple’s polishing cloth.
Build quality overall is phenomenal on the latest MacBook Pro’s, and I don’t feel like it’s missing much in portability.
I had envisioned using a Midnight MacBook Air at a coffee shop and on a bench outside of a university library. But lifestyle isn’t enough to persuade me over the more capable MacBook Pro. I do think I could develop a fondness if I spent more time testing an Air, but the Pro has too many advantages.
Price-wise I’d be inclined to step up to the $1,499 Air, so the gap between them begins to close once we factor in upgraded features and resale value.
The new MacBook Air is going to be a fantastic laptop for a lot of people. Those that will stare at a Mini LED display with glee every time they open the laptop and like having the potential of future-proof performance should look at the MacBook Pro, which is similar in portability—but better overall.
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Agreed 100%.
I'm not a professional video editor or anything, but i am a tech geek and the 14" display on the macbook pro is the best display i have ever used on any device.
It has ruined me for non-HDR displays. It has ruined me for purchasing any relatively cheap 4k HDR TV to upgrade my home theatre with.
You really need to run some HDR content on it to "get it". But holy crap...
For $200 above an M2 air which is what some people are seeing equivalent spec is going for, sign me up every single time. The 14" is still super portable but those speakers and that display... i'd be willing to carry an extra kilo or two for that. And its nowhere near that much extra weight.
Sold my 14" yesterday as I was able to find a local M2 for a relatively good deal.
Got to compare the two for a few hours before I had to box up the 14" to send it out.
Impressions:
-Weight difference isn't as big as I thought. I assumed the Air would be considerably lighter but it's really not
-Slimness is the biggest noticable factor between the two
-Speakers on the Air while not bad at all, def. don't hold a candle to the 14". 14" just sounds fuller, boomier, and overall very very good
-Air having slightly thicker bezels isn't really noticable
-Screen, even side by side, isn't SUPER noticable to me. Pulled up a 4K video, paused on a black screen, and even side by side, unless you specifically hunt for it, on full brightness, the difference b/w the backlit LCD and Mini-led isn't heaven and hell. It's just slight, at least to me
-Same thing about the pro-motion, maybe I don't hyperscroll enough but I couldn't really tell a difference between the two. I think it's probably because the 14"s panel has pretty bad response times but leads to smearing which also kinda defeats the purpose of high refresh rate. I hear the 16" panel is even worse, which is a bummer.
Ultimately I have no issues with my MBA decision. It might be the honeymoon phase but while I miss some aspects of the 14", it ultimately was only used for youtube for me. Having a HDMI port to me was unnecessary and made the laptop pretty thick (which was kind of a breaking point for me).
Got to compare the two for a few hours before I had to box up the 14" to send it out.
Impressions:
-Weight difference isn't as big as I thought. I assumed the Air would be considerably lighter but it's really not
-Slimness is the biggest noticable factor between the two
-Speakers on the Air while not bad at all, def. don't hold a candle to the 14". 14" just sounds fuller, boomier, and overall very very good
-Air having slightly thicker bezels isn't really noticable
-Screen, even side by side, isn't SUPER noticable to me. Pulled up a 4K video, paused on a black screen, and even side by side, unless you specifically hunt for it, on full brightness, the difference b/w the backlit LCD and Mini-led isn't heaven and hell. It's just slight, at least to me
-Same thing about the pro-motion, maybe I don't hyperscroll enough but I couldn't really tell a difference between the two. I think it's probably because the 14"s panel has pretty bad response times but leads to smearing which also kinda defeats the purpose of high refresh rate. I hear the 16" panel is even worse, which is a bummer.
Ultimately I have no issues with my MBA decision. It might be the honeymoon phase but while I miss some aspects of the 14", it ultimately was only used for youtube for me. Having a HDMI port to me was unnecessary and made the laptop pretty thick (which was kind of a breaking point for me).
Agreed, but you need to compare with actual HDR content. If its "4k" but not "4k HDR" there won't be much difference, as the brightness and contrast advantage on the pro only applies to HDR encoded content. If you're not viewing HDR the difference is minimal. Both are rated for 500 nits brightness for SDR content (i.e., shouldn't be any real difference there!). But with HDR content, the Pros can do 1600 nits peak, 1000 sustained. Which is massively different.
If you ARE viewing HDR... bright things like explosions on screen are bright enough make you squint. whilst still having decent blacks in the rest of the picture. It just POPs much harder for lack of a better term. Again though, this only applies to content encoded as HDR. Which right now isn't everything, but more is coming.
The non-hdr displays simply can't do that.
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No wonder the regular brightness seemed so similar.
The 14" features might just not be for me. I watched some Apple TV stuff (Severance and See) but I was never truly blown away from HDR content. I think it might be because I primarily watch stuff late at night and keep the brightness down.
The 14" had all the specs I loved on paper but in practice, I just really never used any of it.
Except the speakers, those speakers were BOMB.
Yeah some stuff doesn't really benefit from HDR. Consider yourself lucky! I've been ruined for non-HDR after seeing some content that heavily leverages it
:-\Makes my future TV purchasing decisions so much more expensive :-\
IMO the size difference, it's basically the 14" Pro without the display, isn't as noticeable as the almost one pound weight savings. And if you chose the 14" Pro because the 16" pro was too heavy, you don't really get to judge people who want the Air instead of the 14" Pro.
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Try the same by turning off the lights in the room, better black level only shows when it is dim or dark environment and the difference in those situations is night and day. Especially if you try a movie that has 2.35:1 aspect ratio with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. In edgelit IPS panel they appear dark blue.
14 vs. 16 is more of a question of physical size.
13-14" machines fit in small bags.
16" machines do not.
13-14" machines work (just) on aircraft tray tables in economy.
16" machines do not.
The weight is part of it, but the actual physical size of the 16" is often a pain in the butt if you travel with it, no matter how much it weighs. It's simply not usable in a bunch of situations where 12-14 inch machines work.
If you haven't flown with one much you may not realise this (i've flown with both, and this is why i do not buy 15-16" machines any more). A short flight for me is 4-6 hours. International i'm looking at 11 plus. Having a laptop i can use onboard is nice.
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I'm having second thoughts after already deciding to get MBA M2. I thought this again last night and I think I will prefer MBP 14" base model after all. My biggest gripe with MBP 14" was that it is already one year old model and gets replaced probably sooner than later but still it would be more than powerful for my needs and like even it gets update it will be only CPU, otherwise the system likely stays the same, so nothing big in the end. Also I would have needed to get MBA M2 with 16/512 so the price difference in only about 300, but thinking about resale value I have a hunch Base MBP 14" will be much better than MBA with upgrades. Already when I was selling my MBA M1 it seemed that markets are flooded with used MBA's peoples are willing to give a way cheap (I got lucky with mine having a decent deal for it in the end).
Also since I'm going to use mine as desktop replacement, I think active cooling will pay off at some point. Weight does not really matter and it is not really much in reality.
Also since I'm going to use mine as desktop replacement, I think active cooling will pay off at some point. Weight does not really matter and it is not really much in reality.
You'll notice that my comment was directed at the people who got the 14 because they thought the 16 was too heavy, not people who got the 14 for size constraints. I remember al the weight complaints when the two were released. People who knew they wanted the 14 due to airline trays didn't really weigh in on the discussion, but everyone who though the 16 was a heavy boat anchor did.
That’s pretty much where I am after 5 or 6 days with the M2 Air.
What’s weird is adjusting to having lighter laptop on my knees when working on the sofa. That’s where I kind of miss the added weight to the base of the Pro. I think its because this reminds me of the 12.9” w/Magic Keyboard and I’m worried it will tip over just like the iPad if I don’t have the keyboard at the right angle - but obviously there’s no chance of that happening.
I’m stopping looking for fingerprints/smudges, as that way, madness lies…
If you don’t need/want those features that the Pro gives you, the Air is a very capable laptop.
If it's for yt why then not iPad .. lol MBP14 is better laptop then air period.
MBA M1 base model will be added to fries in wataburgers by the end of 2023.
The Pro is a better laptop at a location.
The Air is a better laptop if you travel to that location and/or are away from a power source for longer periods of time.
100% agree .. MBA only makes lot of sense if u travel A LOT .. even for holiday/occasional flights I prefer MBP 14.
In planes, gates, train I tend to use my iPad mini anyway, cause even MBA is too "inconvenient" to pull out.