M2 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14” dilemma

[Student of Life]

Wow that’s a good deal did that just come out ?

Yes I think the deal started today. For 1800 it’s very hard not to pick the 14 MacBook Pro over the New air with the same 16/512 specs

All depends on what you value. I prioritize portability over power that I can't possibly utilize, and I'd save at least $200 (likely $300 with the education discount, as my wife is a teacher) by buying the M2 Air 8-core 16/256.

In terms of weight, the 14" Pro is basically midway between the M2 Air and my mid-2009 13" MBP, which is a tank. It's also a half-pound heavier than my work (Windows) laptop. Lighter is not always better, of course - I never considered the 12" Macbook as there were too many compromises with it - but for me, the M2 MBA is the perfect blend of portability and power.

No question that the 14" Pro is a superior machine, but that doesn't make it the better choice for everyone, or even for most people.

Im curious why you would get an Air with 16GB instead of the base model if power is not that important. I guess it depend on how long you plan on keeping it.

All depends on what you value. I prioritize portability over power that I can't possibly utilize, and I'd save at least $200 (likely $300 with the education discount, as my wife is a teacher) by buying the M2 Air 8-core 16/256.

In terms of weight, the 14" Pro is basically midway between the M2 Air and my mid-2009 13" MBP, which is a tank. It's also a half-pound heavier than my work (Windows) laptop. Lighter is not always better, of course - I never considered the 12" Macbook as there were too many compromises with it - but for me, the M2 MBA is the perfect blend of portability and power.

No question that the 14" Pro is a superior machine, but that doesn't make it the better choice for everyone, or even for most people.

Im just curious as to why you would go with the 16/256 model vs the base model if power is not that important. Save yourself another 200 and go with the base model.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

Yes I think the deal started today. For 1800 it’s very hard not to pick the 14 MacBook Pro over the New air with the same 16/512 specs


Im curious why you would get an Air with 16GB instead of the base model if power is not that important. I guess it depend on how long you plan on keeping it.


Im just curious as to why you would go with the 16/256 model vs the base model if power is not that important. Save yourself another 200 and go with the base model.

I can envision situations where I want the additional RAM for brief periods, and I tend to keep computers for a long time, so would rather have a little extra insurance built in.

 

[alok87]

its stupid not to get 16GB on an Air...used 8/256 M1 Air's are selling on eBay for $600-$700 all day but you will never find an M1 Air sell for under a grand on eBay...8 gigs of ram will kill your resale value in a few years while 16gb will retain much more market value...I use my Air casually.. YouTube, WhatsApp, internet, facebook, excel and I even use up 10-13 gigs of ram

 

[Kdvl7]

The MacBook Pro 14" has many advantages above the MacBook Air M2: ProMotion, a larger display, a more powerful chip, 16GB Memory, a complete connectivity and better speakers; all this while being just a little bit more expensive. Think that the MacBook Pro will definitely last longer than the MacBook Air thanks to its more powerful characteristics.

Even considering that you don't need the firepower of the MacBook Pro, you should go for it.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I couldn’t care less about the extra power of the M1 Pro. The $200 to get the pro is worth it to me for the bigger screen, the better screen, the better speakers, the additional ports, and the active cooling. The better chip is a free bonus.

They’re both extremely portable as someone coming from a 10 year old brick of a MBP.

 

[neo_cs193p]

The 14" MBP is a great computer, maybe the best laptop ever made, along with the 16". But all the talk at this point is not having held or even seen the new MBA live. For people who say they don't really need the extra power of the Pro, I would not underestimate the wow factor of thin & light. The brain may calculate that 3.5lbs - 2.7lbs is not such a big weight difference, and midnight is a fingerprint magnet anyway, and moreover if you spec up the Air you get very close to the Pro, which has the big advantage of being stock option to often get big discounts, and, and... But I'm patiently waiting to see how opinions might flip in a month's time. The brain may still say Pro, but the heart may say Air. And not without good reason.
In my experience, the mind and the heart need to come together and help me buy the computer that both fits my needs AND I feel I would be happiest using.

 

[kp98077]

Yes I’ve enjoyed airs in the past but this hype seems to come around every single time as if the aide will be better than the pro. Of course it wine be better! Close maybe. But I’ll never forget how cruddy the resale value of my air was compared to my pro!

 

[alok87]

Remember apple and their pricing ladders… apple does alot of research to drive sales of their more expensive items… if someone walks into a bar and sees a $1 cheap beer… $3 craft beer… $5 16oz craft beer.. and $7 16oz premium craft beer… customer will find the $1 as being cheap and therefore of poor value… their mind will gravitate towards the $3-$5 options but when they see the extra value moving up $2 to the $5 value.. customer perceives that as having the greatest value… all this MacBook Air M2 did was trigger me to go out and drop money on a $2000 computer I really don’t need because I was eying the M2 Air has the mid tier item but when equipped with ram/storage.. the value I get from the 14 inch pro with dual 4K monitors, mini led, speakers, bigger trackpad, etc. makes it being perceived psychologically as a value item to me when it’s really not… Apple knows what they are doing with the $600 M1 IPAD and $1200 M1 Air… they know we want 128gb in the IPAD and we want 16/512 in the M2 Air.. and when we price it out.. the light bulb clicks that the $800 IPAD Pro is only $50 more or the now $1800-$2000 MacBook Pro has so much more value for a few hundred dollars more.. this is how you become a 2 billion dollar company.. you employ the worlds best psychologists that conduct countless focus groups/research to drive us to spend the most money… I went in with a $1000 computer budget to buy an Air and walked out $2000+ tax 14 inch Pro

 

[alok87]

The MacBook Pro 14" has many advantages above the MacBook Air M2: ProMotion, a larger display, a more powerful chip, 16GB Memory, a complete connectivity and better speakers; all this while being just a little bit more expensive. Think that the MacBook Pro will definitely last longer than the MacBook Air thanks to its more powerful characteristics.

Even considering that you don't need the firepower of the MacBook Pro, you should go for it.

Imagine how much money Apple would lose on MacBook Pro/IPAD Pro sales if they made 16/512 the base for $1300-$1400 for the M2 Air or if the IPAD Air had 128GB of storage for $650

 

[sdedalus1]

Remember apple and their pricing ladders… apple does alot of research to drive sales of their more expensive items… if someone walks into a bar and sees a $1 cheap beer… $3 craft beer… $5 16oz craft beer.. and $7 16oz premium craft beer… customer will find the $1 as being cheap and therefore of poor value… their mind will gravitate towards the $3-$5 options but when they see the extra value moving up $2 to the $5 value.. customer perceives that as having the greatest value… all this MacBook Air M2 did was trigger me to go out and drop money on a $2000 computer I really don’t need because I was eying the M2 Air has the mid tier item but when equipped with ram/storage.. the value I get from the 14 inch pro with dual 4K monitors, mini led, speakers, bigger trackpad, etc. makes it being perceived psychologically as a value item to me when it’s really not… Apple knows what they are doing with the $600 M1 IPAD and $1200 M1 Air… they know we want 128gb in the IPAD and we want 16/512 in the M2 Air.. and when we price it out.. the light bulb clicks that the $800 IPAD Pro is only $50 more or the now $1800-$2000 MacBook Pro has so much more value for a few hundred dollars more.. this is how you become a 2 billion dollar company.. you employ the worlds best psychologists that conduct countless focus groups/research to drive us to spend the most money… I went in with a $1000 computer budget to buy an Air and walked out $2000+ tax 14 inch Pro

True, and this explains why they have gimped the 13" MBP by keeping the user-design abomination that is the touch bar. They could have swapped it out for function keys like they did with the M1 MBA and it could have sat nicely between the MBA and $2k 14" MBP. But instead they want to push people to the high end rather than provide decent usability at the $1500 price point.

 

[planteater]

The M2 MBA is 0.44" thick and the M1 Pro 14" is 0.66" thick. The difference is just 0.22", which is not enough for you to feel it.

That said, the M1 Pro Mac is heavier and has a marginally larger footprint. Reading what you describe, go with the M1 Pro.

FYI. The 14” is 0.61” thick. The 16” is 0.66”.

Also, I’d think the difference between 0.44 and 0.61 would be very noticeable both by feel and sight.

 

[planteater]

This is Apple’s tried and true strategy of getting those that need just a bit more than the base spec to suddenly find themselves looking at the $2k pro machine going “ya know, when it’s 5% off, it’s basically a no-brainer to go with the pro”.

Not really.

What they are doing is filling in spaces within the product line, providing an option to satisfy all. Choice.

 

[azentropy]

Apple missed the mark for me by not having going to 16/512 as the step up stock configuration. By making 16GB BTO only it puts it too close to the base 14” Pro in terms of price since those stock configs go on sale frequently (Amazon and BB have it today for $1799 And Costco has had it several times for the same). For “only” $100-$200 more the 14” Pro has many more advantages I prefer over the MBA. But that sweet spot size of the MBA is still tempting. I got around 70 days left (Costco 90 day return policy) to see if I change me mind though.

 

[alok87]

Apple missed the mark for me by not having going to 16/512 as the step up stock configuration. By making 16GB BTO only it puts it too close to the base 14” Pro in terms of price since those stock configs go on sale frequently (Amazon and BB have it today for $1799 And Costco has had it several times for the same). For “only” $100-$200 more the 14” Pro has many more advantages I prefer over the MBA. But that sweet spot size of the MBA is still tempting. I got around 70 days left (Costco 90 day return policy) to see if I change me mind though.

this was intentional to drive up sales of the 14 inch base model at $1800...Apple knows the IPAD Air/M2 MacBook Air are very desirable products in their respective product lines...they deceptively look like the best dollar/value in apple's current eco system...so apple is using that perception to intentionally under spec them to the point they are barely usable....most users in 2022 want 128GB in their tablets/phones and 16GB/512GB in their cpu configs...that is the sweet spot for consumer driven desirability that wants to hold on to their device longer than 3-4 years...

Apple knows this and is trying to intentionally under spec their Air line so when you do config it to a 2022 baseline of 128GB tablet storage and 16GB/512GB computer specs...you arrive just at $50 short of an IPAD Pro and $200 short of a real MacBook Pro...if they give us what we want in the M2 MacBook Air at 16GB/512GB at even $1500..the sales of the 14 inch MacBook Pro would be destroyed...same story with the IPAD Air..notice how Apple removed the option to have 128GB of storage?

Apple knows what we want and either we pay close to Pro prices for it or we just move up their pricing ladder to Pro devices

the guys getting buy on a $600 64GB M1 IPAD Air or a $1200 8/256 M2 Air will be trading their devices for AirPods in 3-4 years while smart consumers have the option to run their devices another 4 years or trade up to newer replacements at half the price...

we buy Apple products because their build quality is unmatched, they are highly desired in the consumer market, a status symbol of wealth, and high value retention if speced properly...I decided on a space grey 14 inch Pro 16/256 as my desktop and a space grey 16/1TB MacBook Air M1 8 CPU/8GPU as my portable... down the road these two items will have the highest value retention so I have flexibility if I ever want something newer and better... $1200 is what I paid for my Open Box M1 Air and $1500 is what I paid for my open box 14inch MacBook Pro M1...$2700 spent total....this color/spec combination gives me the highest value retention and best of class in power/portability combination...so I am happy....4 years from now...if I net $1500 on eBay.... my cost of ownership is $25 a month for accessing apple's ecosystem...less than carrier monthly payments on a new iPhone Pro Max...and to me that's worth having two of the best devices on the market for my workflow/leisure/travel

 

[alok87]

I know I could just dock my maxed out M1 Air instead of keeping my 14 inch MacBook Pro stationary...but I just don't have the heart to part with either device as I love them so much...I love the audio quality, teams video calls, throwing in sd cards without a dongle, playing Fortnite at max settings, watching videos on the 14inch pro...especially since its docked with a Magic Mouse and DELL U2718Q Display...no money needs to be spent on dongles/speakers...but the MacBook Air M1 is such a beautiful device..I smile every time I open the lid just because its so beautiful and I have tons of movies/music on its 1 TB SSD since I mostly use it as my secondary media consumption/travel device... is it excessive to have two M1 laptops? one desktop docked setup/one light travel portable with excellent battery life and speed

 

[jav6454]

FYI. The 14” is 0.61” thick. The 16” is 0.66”.

Also, I’d think the difference between 0.44 and 0.61 would be very noticeable both by feel and sight.

You are talking about less than a 1/4 inch. Are you sure you'll notice it?

 

[planteater]

You are talking about less than a 1/4 inch. Are you sure you'll notice it?

Me, heck yeah. I’ve always had this ability to determine angles and dimensions fairly precisely by eye. Not really a marketable ability but can make money in a bar with it. Show me two objects of the same color, but one is 2 or 3 mm larger and I’ll point out the smaller one and take your money.

But besides that odd ability, I’d say most people easily detect the difference in size in the thickness of the two.

 

[Dealmans]

this was intentional to drive up sales of the 14 inch base model at $1800...Apple knows the IPAD Air/M2 MacBook Air are very desirable products in their respective product lines...they deceptively look like the best dollar/value in apple's current eco system...so apple is using that perception to intentionally under spec them to the point they are barely usable....most users in 2022 want 128GB in their tablets/phones and 16GB/512GB in their cpu configs...that is the sweet spot for consumer driven desirability that wants to hold on to their device longer than 3-4 years...

Apple knows this and is trying to intentionally under spec their Air line so when you do config it to a 2022 baseline of 128GB tablet storage and 16GB/512GB computer specs...you arrive just at $50 short of an IPAD Pro and $200 short of a real MacBook Pro...if they give us what we want in the M2 MacBook Air at 16GB/512GB at even $1500..the sales of the 14 inch MacBook Pro would be destroyed...same story with the IPAD Air..notice how Apple removed the option to have 128GB of storage?

Apple knows what we want and either we pay close to Pro prices for it or we just move up their pricing ladder to Pro devices

the guys getting buy on a $600 64GB M1 IPAD Air or a $1200 8/256 M2 Air will be trading their devices for AirPods in 3-4 years while smart consumers have the option to run their devices another 4 years or trade up to newer replacements at half the price...

we buy Apple products because their build quality is unmatched, they are highly desired in the consumer market, a status symbol of wealth, and high value retention if speced properly...I decided on a space grey 14 inch Pro 16/256 as my desktop and a space grey 16/1TB MacBook Air M1 8 CPU/8GPU as my portable... down the road these two items will have the highest value retention so I have flexibility if I ever want something newer and better... $1200 is what I paid for my Open Box M1 Air and $1500 is what I paid for my open box 14inch MacBook Pro M1...$2700 spent total....this color/spec combination gives me the highest value retention and best of class in power/portability combination...so I am happy....4 years from now...if I net $1500 on eBay.... my cost of ownership is $25 a month for accessing apple's ecosystem...less than carrier monthly payments on a new iPhone Pro Max...and to me that's worth having two of the best devices on the market for my workflow/leisure/travel

Except there is no 14” 16/256 🤣

 

[alok87]

Except there is no 14” 16/256 🤣

Typo from writing too fast

 

[mnsportsgeek]

this was intentional to drive up sales of the 14 inch base model at $1800...Apple knows the IPAD Air/M2 MacBook Air are very desirable products in their respective product lines...they deceptively look like the best dollar/value in apple's current eco system...so apple is using that perception to intentionally under spec them to the point they are barely usable....most users in 2022 want 128GB in their tablets/phones and 16GB/512GB in their cpu configs...that is the sweet spot for consumer driven desirability that wants to hold on to their device longer than 3-4 years...

Apple knows this and is trying to intentionally under spec their Air line so when you do config it to a 2022 baseline of 128GB tablet storage and 16GB/512GB computer specs...you arrive just at $50 short of an IPAD Pro and $200 short of a real MacBook Pro...if they give us what we want in the M2 MacBook Air at 16GB/512GB at even $1500..the sales of the 14 inch MacBook Pro would be destroyed...same story with the IPAD Air..notice how Apple removed the option to have 128GB of storage?

Apple knows what we want and either we pay close to Pro prices for it or we just move up their pricing ladder to Pro devices

the guys getting buy on a $600 64GB M1 IPAD Air or a $1200 8/256 M2 Air will be trading their devices for AirPods in 3-4 years while smart consumers have the option to run their devices another 4 years or trade up to newer replacements at half the price...

we buy Apple products because their build quality is unmatched, they are highly desired in the consumer market, a status symbol of wealth, and high value retention if speced properly...I decided on a space grey 14 inch Pro 16/256 as my desktop and a space grey 16/1TB MacBook Air M1 8 CPU/8GPU as my portable... down the road these two items will have the highest value retention so I have flexibility if I ever want something newer and better... $1200 is what I paid for my Open Box M1 Air and $1500 is what I paid for my open box 14inch MacBook Pro M1...$2700 spent total....this color/spec combination gives me the highest value retention and best of class in power/portability combination...so I am happy....4 years from now...if I net $1500 on eBay.... my cost of ownership is $25 a month for accessing apple's ecosystem...less than carrier monthly payments on a new iPhone Pro Max...and to me that's worth having two of the best devices on the market for my workflow/leisure/travel

I don’t think Apple ever has any intention of selling a 14” MBP at $1800. I don’t think they make pricing decisions based on future sale prices at their 3rd party retailers. It’s not like they priced the AirPods Max at $550 to allow for retailers to put it on sale for $450.

 

[DHagan4755]

What’s your evidence of that

There's no evidence. It's just as likely we'll see M2 Pro & M2 Max MacBook Pro updates in October.

 

[the future]

I think the value proposition for both machines is about the same and they are both awesome laptops. I have the 14“ MBP but if I was in the market today the decision would be very hard indeed. Love the screen and the ports on the MBP, love the weight and battery life specs on the MBA. To put a positive spin on it, making the decision hard also means you really can‘t go wrong with either.

 

[Texas26257]

I would but the 14 is the 200 off best buy os doing but im not in a postion to do so till Tuesday and sell is over. How often do we run into this sale.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

will have to wait for M2 MBa reviews but i feel the mbp14 will be much worse in terms of battery

 

[DHagan4755]

I think the value proposition for both machines is about the same and they are both awesome laptops. I have the 14“ MBP but if I was in the market today the decision would be very hard indeed. Love the screen and the ports on the MBP, love the weight and battery life specs on the MBA. To put a positive spin on it, making the decision hard also means you really can‘t go wrong with either.

The value prop is a good point. Now that the M2 MacBook Air has entered the scene it's really thrown some for a loop. So what do you, dear readers, value more?

• A larger display with mini LED and ProMotion, better overall performance, better speakers, an additional Thunderbolt 4 port, HDMI out, and an SD card reader?

—OR—​

• A thinner, lighter more portable notebook with good overall performance, good speakers, better battery life, more finish options, and is less expensive?

What are you going to be doing with it? Do you need all of what the 14" MacBook Pro offers?

With its combination of features, design, & price, the MacBook Air is going to be a more accessible, more popular computer. You have to ask yourself if you're leaning 14" MacBook Pro, are all of these extra features necessary for what you'll be using it for? If not, save some cash & get the Air.