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M2 MacBook Air vs M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14”


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The new M2 Air is going to be a killer device. But the 14” MacBook Pro is killer too. When the new MacBook Pros debuted last fall, a couple Apple execs interviewed were smitten with the new 14”. Don’t think you can do wrong with either. It’s just a matter of what you’re aiming to do with them.
Exactly, horses for courses! I’m getting one for work and will be doing nothing more intensive than large spreadsheets, lots of zoom/teams conference calls and multi-tasking between a lot of apps. The Air M2 is my choice. Just need to decide between 8 and 16gb of RAM and 256 or 512 SSD.
 
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We’re talking about really minor differences in portability. Yes, you can tell the difference side by side. But in daily practical use, it’ll be a non issue.

I loved my MBA, got a 14” earlier this year and have never looked back. Beautiful screen, amazingly fast, never heard the fans even once. Perfect machine.
 
We’re talking about really minor differences in portability. Yes, you can tell the difference side by side. But in daily practical use, it’ll be a non issue.

I loved my MBA, got a 14” earlier this year and have never looked back. Beautiful screen, amazingly fast, never heard the fans even once. Perfect machine.
To each his or her own. I, for one, would notice the weight difference. Case in point:

The other night, I packed up my gym
bag and took it downstairs in preparation for going to the gym. As I got downstairs, it occurred to me that something didn't feel right - the bag felt much lighter than it should - and sure enough, I had forgotten to pack the plastic flip-flops I wear in the locker room. Out of curiosity, I weighed them, and they came in right around a pound, so not much more than the difference between the M2 Air and the 14" Pro. This was in a bag with gym clothes, running shoes, socks, weighing 5 lbs or so, yet the 1 lb differential was immediately noticeable.

Since I quickly noticed the difference in the gym bag's weight while descending just one flight of
stairs, I think the difference in computer weight would be quite noticeable to me as well.
 
Same dilemma here. Decided I'm going to wait for the new 3nm M3 or M3 Pro for the MBP 14". Hopefully the improved efficiency means a thinner laptop.
 
To each his or her own. I, for one, would notice the weight difference. Case in point:

The other night, I packed up my gym
bag and took it downstairs in preparation for going to the gym. As I got downstairs, it occurred to me that something didn't feel right - the bag felt much lighter than it should - and sure enough, I had forgotten to pack the plastic flip-flops I wear in the locker room. Out of curiosity, I weighed them, and they came in right around a pound, so not much more than the difference between the M2 Air and the 14" Pro. This was in a bag with gym clothes, running shoes, socks, weighing 5 lbs or so, yet the 1 lb differential was immediately noticeable.

Since I quickly noticed the difference in the gym bag's weight while descending just one flight of
stairs, I think the difference in computer weight would be quite noticeable to me as well.
Sounds like you need to lift heavier weights at the gym 🙃😆

I'm a petite female (and also a gym goer) and travel everyday with the MBP 14" in my bag with no issue 😊 coming from a M1 MBA - the weight difference is negligible
 
Just got MBP 14 10cpu 16gpu 16ram 1tb at $2992 aud. Original price is around $3700 i believe. I really wanted air for its portability but couldnt pass up on a good deal.
I just went through exactly same thing! Found literally 1 in Officeworks, their only 1 in all AU but they couldn’t ship to Brisbane. Called Jb hifi (who had a couple AU wide, and they price matched (against that 1 Officeworks stock) and they posted to me. Such a huge saving!
(now the Officeworks stock is back to 0, you have to be quick!)
 
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We’re talking about really minor differences in portability. Yes, you can tell the difference side by side. But in daily practical use, it’ll be a non issue.

I loved my MBA, got a 14” earlier this year and have never looked back. Beautiful screen, amazingly fast, never heard the fans even once. Perfect machine.
I totally agree - I'm just as smitten with my 14" MBP 🤩 EVEN WITH the release of the new M2 Air (no FOMO here!! 😁)
 
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I totally loved having the thinnest lightest Mac and have held onto my fully upspecced 11” MBA from 2015 because until M1 believe it or not, it was still benching better than the retina MBA’s (retina needed more power so apple had to choose underpowered CPU’s)

That said, with rumours swirling now of a 12” model in coming years, now that my mac is 7years old, I’ve decided to go for 14” mbp as a performance work machine and I’ll probably end up grabbing the thinnest and lightest again for home/travel use, when that 12” actually comes out.
So passing on new m2 air now.
 
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Sounds like you need to lift heavier weights at the gym 🙃😆

I'm a petite female (and also a gym goer) and travel everyday with the MBP 14" in my bag with no issue 😊 coming from a M1 MBA - the weight difference is negligible
I can, and do, lift plenty of weight, thanks. But I don't carry around a computer for exercise. I carry it around the world on airplanes, and up, down and around my four-story house, often with the lid open and something else in my other hand. In those situations, I have no desire to carry extra weight, particularly if the only upside is power and performance that I do not need, at additional cost, to boot.
 
I really want to get the M2 MacBook Air for portability and convenience, but now the M1 Pro MacBook Pro 14” seems like a better option when matching the RAM and storage to the MBA.

There is still a big difference in price, but ProMotion and HDR are big features for me and worth the additional expense. But thinness and portability is also another huge deal for me. Now I am stuck with this dilemma.

I’ve felt and held the new MBP, it looks amazing and new, but it’s so heavy and chunky. The new MBA should be slightly lighter and thinner than my M1 MBA. But when I consider the big expense I’m already making, I just wanna get the MBP. I can max out the configs of the new MBA and still be under the price of the highest prefigured MBPs sold in Apple Store.

The computer is supposed to be my travel computer and school computer. Maybe even replacing my iPad at home.

Has anybody went ahead and just got the 14” MacBook Pro? Anyone in the same boat as me? Tell me I’m wrong.
I’ll turn this scenario around - I 💯 wanted the 14” MBP - researched and lusted after it (for the bigger screen, promotion, additional ports, MagSafe charging and the quick charge as well as power and performance) and couldn’t bring myself to spend the money so try to curb my want, I ended up buying a used base M1 MBA on EBay for a stellar deal (from a reputable seller, it only had 8 charge cycles and I was able to put applecare on it)

Awesome laptop - but I ended up buying the base 14” MBP in the end (on sale) and am absolutely smitten with it 🤩

I got used to the weight quite quickly (although it never bothered me, it was just “there” (kind of like going from a 13 pro to pro max iPhone) and carry it back and forth daily with no issue

In the end, figure out what is the most important to you - if it’s thin-ness and lightness go for the Air, if it’s performance go for the pro. From what you’re describing - I’d spec up the M2 MBA to suit your needs

I haven’t sold that M1 MBA yet btw - so in the end it’s cost me more 😂
 
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Why? I also have a M1 MBA - and given that I own, have travelled with, and have used both devices - I’d imagine my opinion is quite relevant on this thread 😉
Fair enough. From your prior post, it sounded like you'd moved on from the M1A. My apologies. That said, my preference for lower weight over unnecessary (for me) performance stands. :)
 
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I just went through exactly same thing! Found literally 1 in Officeworks, their only 1 in all AU but they couldn’t ship to Brisbane. Called Jb hifi (who had a couple AU wide, and they price matched (against that 1 Officeworks stock) and they posted to me. Such a huge saving!
(now the Officeworks stock is back to 0, you have to be quick!)
You guys can thank me I posted that deal on OB lol
 
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