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M2 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14” dilemma
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This is because it is entirely subjective. Go play with both. Evaluate based on YOUR needs; there are clear pros and cons to both. Just be aware that both are lighter than most competing machines and once you start bumping up the spec on an air you end up close to a Pro in price and are giving up an extra type C port, support for more external displays, better screen, better speakers, faster CPU, faster GPU, better mic., active cooling and an SD slot.
Those things may or may not matter to you, but if you consider them nice to have, be sure to seriously consider your options. Especially if you are doing BTO or higher end M2 air spec.
Both are great machines and which one is best for you is personal choice/use case dependent. Just make sure to properly evaluate both so you don't end up regretting your purchase. The weight difference really isn't much and as a laptop user since the 90s, having used various 12-15" machines, the 14 *for me* is the best balance of power vs. portability I've used so far.
But again. Test them yourself!
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Well, you will have to find the answer yourself. Only you know what you want and need..
Not everyone needs all these extras, and if you do, from the begging the MBA is not for you.
As for the price difference, base 14” with 32GB and 1TB cost 400€ more compared to MBA with 10c GPU, 24GB and 1TB, or 520€ with 8c GPU, and if you take 16GB version, it still 170€ more (or 290€ with 8c GPU)…
This is seriously complicating matters! I have an M2 8/8/16/1tb + fast charger on order which with educational discount came in at just under $1700. I have $100 worth of BestBuy points so I may end up paying less for the MBP. The only things now holding me back from ordering the MBP are storage and portability. The instant gratification factor of the MBP is sucking me in also.
I guess I need to wait for the M2 to get here, buy the MBP and do a week's worth of comparison...
Of you can, buy, try it out, if M2 arrives while you're within return period, compare and choose 👍🏻
Remember that you get a $150 gift card from Apple as part of the education discount right now. Assuming you can make use of it (mine will just cover my Apple One subscription for several months), that makes the effective cost of your configuration $1,529. (I bought the same exact build - wife is a teacher - at that price and am very happy with it.)
Noted also - I'm sure I can find a use for it!
I am leaning towards the MBA at this point. With the BTO 1tb I feel like I'm giving myself some luxury headroom I've not enjoyed previously. I'm totally in the MBA demographic with only light photoshop duties that ever tax my usage. Otherwise it's couch/bed surfing - usually with AirPods Pro in the lugholes.
That mirrors my own usage pretty well. So far, I am finding that both its form factor and capabilities are fitting my needs admirably.
I'm very glad I went with 1TB of storage on the Air rather than a base 14" Pro with 512GB. For redundancy purposes, I prefer to keep full size copies of my photos and music on the computer itself, and my libraries alone would take a pretty good big chunk of 512GB. When I eventually set up an account for my wife (she's happy with her iPad as her main device, but will eventually need to use the Mac, I'm sure), that'll eat up quite a bit more, as her photos library is, ironically, much larger than mine. (I take more photos, but she takes 10x more iPad screenshots than I do photos and screenshots combined. Why we can't set a lower default resolution for screenshots is beyond me, but I guess that's a question for another day.)
I got the 14" MBP. It's definitely a lot heavier than the M1 or M2 Air, and I really feel the weight when I lug it around at airports, etc. That being said, it can support two monitors so it doubles as my desktop at home where I have two a dual monitor setup. Note the Air (both M1 and M2) only support one monitor. I was an early customer of the Mac Studio (M1 Max) but I found the noise very irritating and quickly returned it (another huge thread out there about this), so the 14" MBP for me fills that gap nicely. Trade offs.
Hey I just posted right after you and I just noticed we both have wine based usernames here haha.
Ha, I was just about to say the same thing. I could do with some Gewurtz myself right now, given the heat we're having in Atlanta. I haven't been drinking much CdP lately as a result... Fall can't come soon enough!
I made the right decision with the 14" MacBook Pro, with one exception: the display's PWM flickering is causing me a minimal degree of eye strain, headaches, and migraines compared to an OLED iPhone.
I have an upgraded 512GB Midnight MacBook Air on order, albeit with 8GB of RAM. Interestingly, my MacBook Pro is currently utilizing 11.83GB of memory with a YouTube video open in the background and the only third-party app being Slack. I'm slightly concerned about the RAM, even with unified memory, but at some point it's not as worth configuring add-ons IMHO and instead buying a different computer like the 14" MacBook Pro.
I have an upgraded 512GB Midnight MacBook Air on order, albeit with 8GB of RAM. Interestingly, my MacBook Pro is currently utilizing 11.83GB of memory with a YouTube video open in the background and the only third-party app being Slack. I'm slightly concerned about the RAM, even with unified memory, but at some point it's not as worth configuring add-ons IMHO and instead buying a different computer like the 14" MacBook Pro.
Impressions?
The Pro does have a better display, speakers, and overall performance in a compact package.
I really like the air its a great laptop but the spec I ordered the price was so close to the 14 pro so I decided to order the pro and try side by side and for me personally the 14 pro screen ,speakers are so much better than the air.
regarding weight I can use the pro on the couch with ease just like the air, I don't travel often if at all now with the MacBook so isn't a issue for me. and if I did travel a lot the 14 pro weight would be fine.
battery the air has slight edge but not as big as I thought it would be. also doesn't take long to charge the pro bk up.
performance is far more than I need, the air would have been more than enough but personally for me the screen and speakers alone are worth the extra cost
fortunately I don't get any eye strain with the display's PWM flickering etc
1. Great we have choices. The 14" definitely has some advantages. Personally, I can appreciate the slightly larger screen of the 14 but really don't see ProMotion or when I do it makes no diff to my experience. I expect some of us are ProMotion blind.
2. I have both to compare. And also the 16". Don't judge. There is no doubt the keyboard on the M2 Air is superior. Bouncier and more pleasant. I expect this may be generational and we will see this keyboard on the M2 pros when they come out. But it's not a small difference and for me at least causes fewer errors. I've also noted this better keyboard on other M2 Airs I've tested.
2. I have both to compare. And also the 16". Don't judge. There is no doubt the keyboard on the M2 Air is superior. Bouncier and more pleasant. I expect this may be generational and we will see this keyboard on the M2 pros when they come out. But it's not a small difference and for me at least causes fewer errors. I've also noted this better keyboard on other M2 Airs I've tested.
Keyboard on the M2 Air is definitely better. It feels and sounds better.
cool, what are your shipping estimates? is there a way to make app,e send them both at the same time? it would suck if one came next week and the other in like 3 weeks, then you wouldnt be able to side by side compare!
got the air from apple online when pre orders went live but the 14 pro was from amazon, 14 pro spec 16gb 1TB is £2400 on apple , on amazon it was £2100 with next day delivery
the Air spec 10c 16gb 1TB came to £1950
also apple extended the remorse period from 15days to 30days upon request
Another thing to keep in mind is the battery life. Not sure this has been talked about. In my real life work - 16" pro is about 12-14 hours, and 14" is 7-8. The M2 Air is very similar to the 16" for me at about 12-14. Of course different usage pattern may change this, and my tests are not staged Youtube ones - but maybe for that reason more realistic. I've had all machines for a while now, especially the 2 pros, so have a good real world sense of real usage battery life.
You can of course just charge the 14" in between and 7-8 is not THAT bad, but disappointing for me. And it would need a larger charger and/or external battery than the M2 Air to travel with.
If you don't like heat on your groin - the 16" is the coolest by far [and has a truly gorgeous screen! Can't compare]. The M2 Air is almost as cool to the touch. The 14" is the hottest and for me a bit bothersome. Again - this could vary with the work you do. I imagine if I pushed the M2 it would get the hottest as it has no fan - but if you are not doing video editing then it stays very cool. I don't game or edit videos/audio so I don't know. Simultaneously, I will typically have 2 browsers open [Safari, Brave and maybe Firefox] with about 10-20 tabs open in each, Mail, Drafts, Omnifocus, Music, Overcast, Alfred, Keyboard Maestro, Textexpander, Zoom, Messages, Fantastical, Craft, maybe a few other programs open at once with brightness at about 60% indoors.
Not trying to convince anyone of one model or the other - they are all great - but maybe my experience is useful for someone who can only afford one.
A guy I know has both. He says the Air is silent all of the time (obviously) but even in MS Teams. Whereas the Pro’s fans kick in.
That’s it for me. That’s the dealbreaker. If the Air flies through Teams without fans, that’s all I want. The fans on the Pro are ridiculous on Teams.
That’s it for me. That’s the dealbreaker. If the Air flies through Teams without fans, that’s all I want. The fans on the Pro are ridiculous on Teams.
Not in my experience. MS Teams has never stressed either the 14" or the 16" enough to start up the fans. And of course no fans on the M2 Air. And I haven't even tried the new Apple Silicon optimized version.
The perfect MacBook Air in terms of performance and value is probably a CTO with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of flash memory.
Not sure that I want to get rid of my 14” MacBook Pro, but 14 days isn’t enough time to decide if the tension headaches are significant enough to become a dealbreaker.
Not sure that I want to get rid of my 14” MacBook Pro, but 14 days isn’t enough time to decide if the tension headaches are significant enough to become a dealbreaker.