M2 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14” dilemma

[537635]

Probably it's gonna be fine. M1 Air turned out great, although its design (thermal) was from the Intel devices, which require a lot more cooling.

I remember calling Apple support about the failed buterfly keyboard on my Macbook Pro. The guy asked me if I "typed a lot". As if the keyboard simple wasn't meant to be used for typing or something.

It happened before, it might happen again. You are using your laptop for more than email and browsing the internet?!

 

[erasr]

Ok I've only just gone and made the order for a M2, 512, 16gb, silver ;-)

What swung it for me was the weight. I carry my old MBP around so much, even if it is within the same building.

Plus, 0% finance offer on Apple (UK) right now. Finishes on the 11th August. So, £69 a month is what it's cost me.... which quite often I don't notice. Just can't be paying out £1700 right now for a laptop because I'm moving soon.

 

[newton4000]

You are correct in stating that constant heating and cooling of components is not good for them, but I’m not sure why this relates to a laptop that has been designed with this taken in to account.
The components used in these machines have a very high thermal rating as they are used in a stressful environment heat-wise and the design is such that the system will downclock or shutdown to prevent the failure of any components. I’m not sure why you think these components will degrade excessively quickly due to heat stress but this is a fallacy.

Also, Intel MacBooks that have been around for many years prior to Apple Silicon had active cooling yet also got much hotter than the M2 Air. We haven’t seen any catastrophic heat related failures of these systems have we?* That’s because they have been engineered for this to not happen.

Also, also, the internal temperatures of for example the actively -cooled MacBook Pro 14 get just as high as the MacBook Air M2. Modern computers, particularly laptops, generate a lot of heat and thus get hot. And they are designed this way. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here.


*Apart from nVidia notoriously using the wrong solder.

Hmmm...the idea that Air would fail faster because of a fanless design is somewhat interesting on the surface. If only we had any Apple branded tablets or phones that lacked fans to test this hypothesis in the real world...

 

[537635]

Hmmm...the idea that Air would fail faster because of a fanless design is somewhat interesting on the surface. If only we had any Apple branded tablets or phones that lacked fans to test this hypothesis in the real world...

We had durable keyboards for decades. Lenovo laptops have been waterproof and dustproof for years. And still Apple came up with butterfly switch design. With all the testing and everything.


Personally I prefer the fanless design in general but I find it extremely weird that heat is not transmitted to the chassis. I would love a fanless 12'' M2 laptop.

At the end of the day everybody decides for themselves. Pros and cons. And I believe both Air and Pro are great laptops. They do, however, overlap quite substantially and this is also why this is so much debated. If Air was more of an iPad with a keyboard, debate would be (for the most part) pointless. If you don't really need a touchscreen, a laptop with a trackpad and macOS is a superior device.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I'm quite happy with my 14" MacBook Pro besides migraine concerns. If I was to order a MacBook Air the most beneficial buildout would be a 16GB/512GB model, with the 10-core GPU being optional and perhaps unnecessary.

 

[hungryghosty]

I'm quite happy with my 14" MacBook Pro besides migraine concerns. If I was to order a MacBook Air the most beneficial buildout would be a 16GB/512GB model, with the 10-core GPU being optional and perhaps unnecessary.

That's what I ordered. 8-core GPU base model with 16Gb/512Gb. Felt like the most balanced spec to me in terms of price/performance.

 

[MICHAELSD]

That's what I ordered. 8-core GPU base model with 16Gb/512Gb. Felt like the most balanced spec to me in terms of price/performance.

I wasn't as convinced of the RAM upgrade since macOS is efficient and unified memory should go a long way in theory until I noticed my MacBook Pro was using 11GB of RAM with just a few Safari windows open.

Edit: My 8GB/512GB/10-core M2 is preparing to ship, whereas I was about to cancel it and possibly order a CTO. Maybe it'll serve me well to compare it head-to-head to my 14" MacBook Pro.

 

[Psyclism]

So I purchased both a 14" M1 16/512 and a M2 Air 16/1TB Midnight to compare and contrast before finalizing on one. I had the 14" for a full day before I was able to pick up the Air, and I was extremely impressed with the Pro in that time. Screen is fantastic, keyboard is a joy to use, it isn't *that* heavy, but it is thick. Battery life is insane relative to the 16" i9 Pro I've been assigned from work.

Enter the Air. I'd pretty much left it for dead because I didn't want to wait until September for the 8/8/16/512 BTO I'd ordered. On a lark I logged onto the Apple Store and configured a 16/1TB midnight only to see a "pickup today" notification for one of my local stores. BAM! Sucker was in my cart and purchased. The 1TB Air and the $1699 Pro (Best Buy deal) were within a few $$ of each other after buying the Air via Education discount.

So I spent the weekend comparing them side by side. Installed all of my usual software onto both, built a number of React apps in VS Code. Rebuilt my preview catalogs in Lightroom Classic. Watched YouTube, movies, listened to music, blah blah blah. Carried both around in my backpack and in various other carrying apparatus I have laying around. Compared battery life between them doing the same tasks side by side.

Compiling an older version of npm pegged the Air CPU temp to 108 for about .5 seconds, forcing a throttle, and the same task made the Pro fans kick in as well, but otherwise neither have broken a sweat. Battery life is neck-and-neck, and both last seemingly forever. Neither gets hot (or even warm) to the touch on the bottom in typical use -- quite the difference from my work 16" that is *always* warm and could likely fry an egg during long operations.

And while the Pro screen is superb, the Air screen is also fantastic -- yes there are differences that can be seen when looking at them side by side, like the Pro contrast ratio is noticeably better -- but it's a laptop, not a 70" big screen TV. I'm not going to pull up a bag of popcorn and gather the family around a 14" screen for movie night, no matter how awesome the CR is relative to the IPS on the Air. Can I see a difference between 60hz and 120hz? Yes. Do I spend the majority of my day scrolling around at top speed cursing the slight blur I see @ 60Hz? No. And I don't game, so that's a non-issue. Also, I noticed that I was getting eye aches when looking at the Pro screen for any significant duration -- I don't get that with the Air panel. ???

Same for the speakers on the Pro vs Air. Pro speakers are amazing! Air speakers are great! I will likely use neither unless I've forgotten my wireless headphones! And the Pro speakers will just make my wife yell at me to put my headphones on even faster than the Air. So yeah.

So, after much soul searching, I've decided that the Pro is going back and we're keeping the Air. For my use case there's virtually no functional difference between the two, and a bunch of practical reasons to make me lean towards the Air. Yes the screen, speakers, and SD card slot are nice on the Pro. Are any of them worth the weight, bulk, and cost relative to future proofing of the Air with a 1Tb SSD? No. I already have a bevy of dongles to use on the rare occasion when I need to hook up to an HDMI cable or access an SD card, plus the Pro doesn't have a micro-SD card slot, meaning I'll need notoriously finicky, unreliable, and even easier to lose adapter anyway. I haven't used an HDMI port in years (I have a TB3 Dock for my desk use cases), and I despise using more than a single external monitor. Plus the Air fits perfectly into the much loved and beautifully patina'd leather folio I had for my long since departed 13" MBP. And the Air is so damned thin and light, I often find myself thinking I grabbed my 12.9" iPad Pro instead of the Air from our device charger/organizer thingamajig.

Oh, and this new Midnight color is sexy as all hell. It's like gun blued steel. I hate guns, but I love gun blued steel! Fingerprints and all.

 

[1BadManVan]

So I purchased both a 14" M1 16/512 and a M2 Air 16/1TB Midnight to compare and contrast before finalizing on one. I had the 14" for a full day before I was able to pick up the Air, and I was extremely impressed with the Pro in that time. Screen is fantastic, keyboard is a joy to use, it isn't *that* heavy, but it is thick. Battery life is insane relative to the 16" i9 Pro I've been assigned from work.

Enter the Air. I'd pretty much left it for dead because I didn't want to wait until September for the 8/8/16/512 BTO I'd ordered. On a lark I logged onto the Apple Store and configured a 16/1TB midnight only to see a "pickup today" notification for one of my local stores. BAM! Sucker was in my cart and purchased. The 1TB Air and the $1699 Pro (Best Buy deal) were within a few $$ of each other after buying the Air via Education discount.

So I spent the weekend comparing them side by side. Installed all of my usual software onto both, built a number of React apps in VS Code. Rebuilt my preview catalogs in Lightroom Classic. Watched YouTube, movies, listened to music, blah blah blah. Carried both around in my backpack and in various other carrying apparatus I have laying around. Compared battery life between them doing the same tasks side by side.

Compiling an older version of npm pegged the Air CPU temp to 108 for about .5 seconds, forcing a throttle, and the same task made the Pro fans kick in as well, but otherwise neither have broken a sweat. Battery life is neck-and-neck, and both last seemingly forever. Neither gets hot (or even warm) to the touch on the bottom in typical use -- quite the difference from my work 16" that is *always* warm and could likely fry an egg during long operations.

And while the Pro screen is superb, the Air screen is also fantastic -- yes there are differences that can be seen when looking at them side by side, like the Pro contrast ratio is noticeably better -- but it's a laptop, not a 70" big screen TV. I'm not going to pull up a bag of popcorn and gather the family around a 14" screen for movie night, no matter how awesome the CR is relative to the IPS on the Air. Can I see a difference between 60hz and 120hz? Yes. Do I spend the majority of my day scrolling around at top speed cursing the slight blur I see @ 60Hz? No. And I don't game, so that's a non-issue. Also, I noticed that I was getting eye aches when looking at the Pro screen for any significant duration -- I don't get that with the Air panel. ???

Same for the speakers on the Pro vs Air. Pro speakers are amazing! Air speakers are great! I will likely use neither unless I've forgotten my wireless headphones! And the Pro speakers will just make my wife yell at me to put my headphones on even faster than the Air. So yeah.

So, after much soul searching, I've decided that the Pro is going back and we're keeping the Air. For my use case there's virtually no functional difference between the two, and a bunch of practical reasons to make me lean towards the Air. Yes the screen, speakers, and SD card slot are nice on the Pro. Are any of them worth the weight, bulk, and cost relative to future proofing of the Air with a 1Tb SSD? No. I already have a bevy of dongles to use on the rare occasion when I need to hook up to an HDMI cable or access an SD card, plus the Pro doesn't have a micro-SD card slot, meaning I'll need notoriously finicky, unreliable, and even easier to lose adapter anyway. I haven't used an HDMI port in years (I have a TB3 Dock for my desk use cases), and I despise using more than a single external monitor. Plus the Air fits perfectly into the much loved and beautifully patina'd leather folio I had for my long since departed 13" MBP. And the Air is so damned thin and light, I often find myself thinking I grabbed my 12.9" iPad Pro instead of the Air from our device charger/organizer thingamajig.

Oh, and this new Midnight color is sexy as all hell. It's like gun blued steel. I hate guns, but I love gun blued steel! Fingerprints and all.

I don’t have quite the same comparison pending as you but I do have another laptop to put against the m2 air and I feel like I’m in the same boat as you for writing off the air at the start. I’m curious if my feelings will change as well

I have a 16/1tb on order that should be here any day now. While I’ve been waiting for it to ship, I found a really nice lenovo laptop that checks off a lot of boxes. I feel like I’m more excited and leaning towards the lenovo because on paper it offers a lot more and for $400 less.

The air will arrive here first so I will give it a fair shake, I’ve also never owned a Mac so I have no idea what to expect. I’m happy it’s getting here first so I can get used to macOS first

 

[erkanasu]

just purchased my 14" 1tb 16gb, returned the m2 air, and sold the m1 air.

the screen and speakers so such a leap forward in tech, the m2 just feels dated.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

just purchased my 14" 1tb 16gb, returned the m2 air, and sold the m1 air.

the screen and speakers so such a leap forward in tech, the m2 just feels dated.

Enjoy your 14" Pro.

 

[erkanasu]

thanks - now im starting to think I'll sell my 16"... this thing is awesome

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

thanks - now im starting to think I'll sell my 16"... this thing is awesome

Seems like a wise plan. I'm having a hard time envisioning why one would want to have both a 14" and 16" M1 Pro.

 

[Infinitewisdom]

So I purchased both a 14" M1 16/512 and a M2 Air 16/1TB Midnight to compare and contrast before finalizing on one. I had the 14" for a full day before I was able to pick up the Air, and I was extremely impressed with the Pro in that time. Screen is fantastic, keyboard is a joy to use, it isn't *that* heavy, but it is thick. Battery life is insane relative to the 16" i9 Pro I've been assigned from work.

Enter the Air. I'd pretty much left it for dead because I didn't want to wait until September for the 8/8/16/512 BTO I'd ordered. On a lark I logged onto the Apple Store and configured a 16/1TB midnight only to see a "pickup today" notification for one of my local stores. BAM! Sucker was in my cart and purchased. The 1TB Air and the $1699 Pro (Best Buy deal) were within a few $$ of each other after buying the Air via Education discount.

So I spent the weekend comparing them side by side. Installed all of my usual software onto both, built a number of React apps in VS Code. Rebuilt my preview catalogs in Lightroom Classic. Watched YouTube, movies, listened to music, blah blah blah. Carried both around in my backpack and in various other carrying apparatus I have laying around. Compared battery life between them doing the same tasks side by side.

Compiling an older version of npm pegged the Air CPU temp to 108 for about .5 seconds, forcing a throttle, and the same task made the Pro fans kick in as well, but otherwise neither have broken a sweat. Battery life is neck-and-neck, and both last seemingly forever. Neither gets hot (or even warm) to the touch on the bottom in typical use -- quite the difference from my work 16" that is *always* warm and could likely fry an egg during long operations.

And while the Pro screen is superb, the Air screen is also fantastic -- yes there are differences that can be seen when looking at them side by side, like the Pro contrast ratio is noticeably better -- but it's a laptop, not a 70" big screen TV. I'm not going to pull up a bag of popcorn and gather the family around a 14" screen for movie night, no matter how awesome the CR is relative to the IPS on the Air. Can I see a difference between 60hz and 120hz? Yes. Do I spend the majority of my day scrolling around at top speed cursing the slight blur I see @ 60Hz? No. And I don't game, so that's a non-issue. Also, I noticed that I was getting eye aches when looking at the Pro screen for any significant duration -- I don't get that with the Air panel. ???

Same for the speakers on the Pro vs Air. Pro speakers are amazing! Air speakers are great! I will likely use neither unless I've forgotten my wireless headphones! And the Pro speakers will just make my wife yell at me to put my headphones on even faster than the Air. So yeah.

So, after much soul searching, I've decided that the Pro is going back and we're keeping the Air. For my use case there's virtually no functional difference between the two, and a bunch of practical reasons to make me lean towards the Air. Yes the screen, speakers, and SD card slot are nice on the Pro. Are any of them worth the weight, bulk, and cost relative to future proofing of the Air with a 1Tb SSD? No. I already have a bevy of dongles to use on the rare occasion when I need to hook up to an HDMI cable or access an SD card, plus the Pro doesn't have a micro-SD card slot, meaning I'll need notoriously finicky, unreliable, and even easier to lose adapter anyway. I haven't used an HDMI port in years (I have a TB3 Dock for my desk use cases), and I despise using more than a single external monitor. Plus the Air fits perfectly into the much loved and beautifully patina'd leather folio I had for my long since departed 13" MBP. And the Air is so damned thin and light, I often find myself thinking I grabbed my 12.9" iPad Pro instead of the Air from our device charger/organizer thingamajig.

Oh, and this new Midnight color is sexy as all hell. It's like gun blued steel. I hate guns, but I love gun blued steel! Fingerprints and all.

Ah shoot, now you're making me want to trade I my 14" for an M2 MBA. The size/weight is what gets me. I don't really need the bells and whistles on the 14".

 

[erkanasu]

Ah shoot, now you're making me want to trade I my 14" for an M2 MBA. The size/weight is what gets me. I don't really need the bells and whistles on the 14".

the screen sucks on m2 compared to yours... don't fall for it

 

[kp98077]

thanks - now im starting to think I'll sell my 16"... this thing is awesome

For a ?

 

[kp98077]

the screen sucks on m2 compared to yours... don't fall for it

Yea don’t ! It does suck for reading.

 

[hungryghosty]

So, after much soul searching, I've decided that the Pro is going back and we're keeping the Air. For my use case there's virtually no functional difference between the two, and a bunch of practical reasons to make me lean towards the Air.

I suspect that would also be my conclusion after using both for a while which was why I ordered the Air as well.

 

[kp98077]

I suspect that would also be my conclusion after using both for a while which was why I ordered the Air as well.

you used both? didnt see any difference in reading text? maybe I had a bad air? lol it was certainly not nearly as crisp!

 

[Psyclism]

Here's the above text on a 14" pro:

And here's the M2 Air:

Both taken as close to the screen as I could get while still grabbing focus on my iPhone 12

Maybe I'm going blind, but even wearing readers with my nose as close to the screen as I can focus, I see almost zero difference in text shape, smoothness, color or brightness. The Pro has the Tech Preview Safari installed with 120hz browsing enabled BTW. Both screens are set to 50% brightness. The *ONLY* visible difference I can see is with contrast ratio on movies, deeper blacks around the notch, and a little less blur when scrolling rapidly on websites. It most certainly isn't like the difference between 4k and 720p, like everyone is insinuating.

 

[537635]

you used both? didnt see any difference in reading text? maybe I had a bad air? lol it was certainly not nearly as crisp!

I agree. I compared both in store and difference is quite obvious. It's not like 720p vs 4k. More like 4k vs 5k. But it is there. If you don't see it, either your vision isn't what it used to be or you simply do not care about this stuff, which I agree makes Air even more appealing.

 

[hungryghosty]

Speaking of displays on the Air vs Pro one thing I noticed on the Pro was that there was noticeable 'blooming' around white/ light text on a black background. Presumably a side effect of the Mini-LED display. I'd wondered if it might be distracting when reading/coding as I normally use dark mode so white text and black text is my preferred theme?

Haven't used one, other than for 10 minutes in the Apple Store, personally though so can't really comment on whether it would be an issue.

 

[joshwithachance]

I owned the M2 Air for a couple weeks and couldn't justify the $1200. I was debating exchanging it for a 16GB RAM model, but with that bringing the cost up to $1399 and Best Buy running a $1699 sale on the base 14" Pro with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM last weekend it was a no-brainer to return the M2 Air and move forward with the Pro 14" (for me anyway).

 

[lcs101]

I owned the M2 Air for a couple weeks and couldn't justify the $1200. I was debating exchanging it for a 16GB RAM model, but with that bringing the cost up to $1399 and Best Buy running a $1699 sale on the base 14" Pro with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM last weekend it was a no-brainer to return the M2 Air and move forward with the Pro 14" (for me anyway).

I considered the 14" for a bit, but as tax free weekend in my state only covered laptops $1500 and lower, that made for an even bigger gap in price. I couldn't justify the $500+ more for the Pro as compared to the 16/512 Air M2 I ordered (as well as IMO a less portable laptop). It probably would have been different if I regularly watched videos on my laptop (and without headphones).

 

[joshwithachance]

I considered the 14" for a bit, but as tax free weekend in my state only covered laptops $1500 and lower, that made for an even bigger gap in price. I couldn't justify the $500+ more for the Pro as compared to the 16/512 Air M2 I ordered (as well as IMO a less portable laptop). It probably would have been different if I regularly watched videos on my laptop (and without headphones).

Hey, I totally respect that decision! The M2 Air is a STELLAR laptop.