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M3 pro 14 inch Mac Pro vs m3 MacBook Air- 13 inch, 512 gb 16gb ram?

M

Milly342

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Original poster
May 27, 2024
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Hi guys, I’m going into college this semester as a business major and I’m wondering what the ideal laptop would be? I’m not a super heavy user with my Mac; I know that the pro has extra ports and external displays but I wouldn’t not use any of those features. The air would cost around $1400 and the m3 pro would be around $1700 and the main difference would be the display quality differences because this may also be used as my primary tv and Ik the display is better but idk how better in real world scenarios. And also is the weight and thickness difference a defining factor in making it less portable? Coming from a 2020 i3 MacBook Air
 
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Milly342 said:
And also is the weight and thickness difference a defining factor in making it less portable?
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A resounding yes. If you value light weight and mobility, the MBA M2 or M3 13" is an excellent choice. W/out more information regarding what specific applications you'll be running, the 8GB base model might suffice. I will recommend the MBA M2 512GB storage 8GB memory (16GB if you can afford it).
 
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Bigwaff said:
A resounding yes. If you value light weight and mobility, the MBA M2 or M3 13" is an excellent choice. W/out more information regarding what specific applications you'll be running, the 8GB base model might suffice. I will recommend the MBA M2 512GB storage 8GB memory (16GB if you can afford it).
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Sorry for not clarifying- it’s gonna be used for YouTube, google docs, Microsoft word, programs and simple web searching I have 8gb now a I’m constantly using almost 8
 
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Milly342 said:
I have 8gb now a I’m constantly using almost 8
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What model and year Mac do you have now? macOS will try use all available memory. Just because your Mac is using most of the memory doesn't necessarily mean you need more memory capacity. Unused memory is wasted memory. Are you experiencing issues using all those applications with your current Mac?
 
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Bigwaff said:
What model and year Mac do you have now? macOS will try use all available memory. Just because your Mac is using most of the memory doesn't necessarily mean you need more memory capacity. Unused memory is wasted memory. Are you experiencing issues using all those applications with your current Mac?
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I don’t know if the comment posted but it’s a 2020 i3 Mac air
 
From what you've said, I think the M3 MacBook Air would be your best bet. It will handle all of your tasks with ease. There are some rumors that some of the AI features that will be coming later this year may only be available on the M3 and higher, so it would be more future proof for you. The portability would be better as well.

I'd definitely go with the 16 GB RAM model.
 
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mikethebigo said:
From what you've said, I think the M3 MacBook Air would be your best bet. It will handle all of your tasks with ease. There are some rumors that some of the AI features that will be coming later this year may only be available on the M3 and higher, so it would be more future proof for you. The portability would be better as well.

I'd definitely go with the 16 GB RAM model.
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what do you mean future proof?
 
mikethebigo said:
Future proof means that it will stay fast for a longer period of time, and will be more likely to get new software features when they are released in the future, which older machines may not get.
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its between the m3 air or the higher end m3 pro Macbook pro, would they have the same same updates since their the same generation so no futer proofing?
 
If you're coming from an Intel i3 MBA that's still good enough, that M2 MBA is going to floor you. The screen isn't going to make much of a difference doing things like watching streaming video. You're choosing between a really really good screen and a better one. The colors will be a little bit better and scrolling smoother on the MBP, but it's not like you'll be aware that anything is lacking once you start using it.

The base model will be fine for you. Even if you use up all the memory, the M-series will still perform amazing. I swapped my 32GB i7 for an 8GB M1 for a couple of weeks and I didn't have to compromise on anything. It just worked.
 
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smirking said:
If you're coming from an Intel i3 MBA that's still good enough, that M2 MBA is going to floor you. The screen isn't going to make much of a difference doing things like watching streaming video. You're choosing between a really really good screen and a better one. The colors will be a little bit better and scrolling smoother on the MBP, but it's not like you'll be aware that anything is lacking once you start using it.

The base model will be fine for you. Even if you use up all the memory, the M-series will still perform amazing. I swapped in an 8GB M1 for a 32GB i7 for a couple of weeks and I didn't have to compromise on anything. It just worked.
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i was just looking for the m3 at least bc of the new features and this thing is gonna be heavily used for the next 4 years and I wanna get a new system for future proofing it
 
Milly342 said:
i was just looking for the m3 at least bc of the new features and this thing is gonna be heavily used for the next 4 years and I wanna get a new system for future proofing it
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Define heavily used. With what you've specified so far, you could triple the intensity of your usage and an M2 or M3 would still would make quick work of it.
 
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Milly342 said:
Wait

their getting Ai?
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There is a big Apple event in 1 week where they are going to reveal all the software updates coming this fall for the Mac, iPhone, etc. The rumors are that there will be a large number of new AI features coming in the fall. It is also rumored that some of the new features will only run on chips released in the past year.
 
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smirking said:
Define heavily used. With what you've specified so far, you could triple the intensity of your usage and an M2 or M3 would still would make quick work of it.
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No like not the applications being heavily used I don’t use much in that sense, buts it’s going to be used heavily throughout my 4 years of college like it may be a primary television for me in my dorm I also use GeForce now if that has anything sense to this
 
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mikethebigo said:
There is a big Apple event in 1 week where they are going to reveal all the software updates coming this fall for the Mac, iPhone, etc. The rumors are that there will be a large number of new AI features coming in the fall. It is also rumored that some of the new features will only run on chips released in the past year.
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That’s actually cool tbh, this Ai thing is getting really good
 
mikethebigo said:
There is a big Apple event in 1 week where they are going to reveal all the software updates coming this fall for the Mac, iPhone, etc. The rumors are that there will be a large number of new AI features coming in the fall. It is also rumored that some of the new features will only run on chips released in the past year.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the new machines are going to cost more though and there won't be MBA's getting that chip until next year.
 
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