If you are a photographer go with the base 14” MBPro. 16 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB SSD for the SD slot and better screen. If not, then an Air with the same configuration. Neo (I have a 512GB Neo, 14” M4 MBPro with 24 GB and 1 TB SSD and 16” MBPro with 64 GB and 4 TB SSD) I would only buy if you were a light user or, like me, want/need a machine that is around the house and can grab instead of an iPad for emails, browsing, quick doc edits etc. In summary: if you are a moderate general purpose user and have only one computer in the house, and are not a photographer, the Air seems like the best all rounder.
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Mac book pro or air or neo?
- Thread starter africano
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I did....my macbook is old, it's the one that came out that had alike a screen defect, the cable to the screen cracked and when it happened I took it to the apple store and they informed me they would fix for free. A year or so later it happened again. It has like a rectangle on the side of the screen all messed up pixels. When I asked about fixing it they said not again and quoted me a high price. So don't think it's an option as would need to spend a lot to fix.
chrono1081
macrumors G3
The Air will be plenty. Air's are significantly more powerful than people realize. The apps I used to run just fine on my M2 Air are:
-Houdini
-Blender
-Substance Suite
-Final Cut (4k video is what I would edit)
-Logic
-Unity
-Godot
-Xcode
-Affinity Suite
And many many more. Those are just the heavy hitters (especially Houdini). I adored the Air especially for travel. The only reason I have a pro instead of an Air now was due to needing a beefier graphics card for some work I was doing. Now that I don't do that type of work anymore an Air will likely be my next purchase.
ayephoner
macrumors 6502a
I still don't know how old "old" might mean. If I were you, I'd give replacing that screen cable a try. You probably have to remove 50 screws, but there are youtube videos showing you exactly what to do. The cables are cheap. They charge you a lot because they can. It's not inherently an expensive job.
throAU
macrumors G4
How much are you willing to spend per year on a machine?
Average that out over 3-5 years and that's your budget.
Most people are fine with the Air, and the M series ones are great.
Unless you know you need more RAM in which case Pro - a major use for this is LLMs, but the smaller models are getting better at a very quick rate.
Given your 3d printing (which implies 3d modelling), a Neo may be a little tight but would probably do it.
Flip side: if you're not sure, taking a punt on a neo is not expensive and you'll get most of your money back if you sell it, or all of it back if you return in the 14 day window.
Average that out over 3-5 years and that's your budget.
Most people are fine with the Air, and the M series ones are great.
Unless you know you need more RAM in which case Pro - a major use for this is LLMs, but the smaller models are getting better at a very quick rate.
Given your 3d printing (which implies 3d modelling), a Neo may be a little tight but would probably do it.
Flip side: if you're not sure, taking a punt on a neo is not expensive and you'll get most of your money back if you sell it, or all of it back if you return in the 14 day window.
edubfromktown
macrumors 65816
I own a 14" Pro M3 MBP and use an M3 Air as my primary computer for work. Don't notice much difference in terms of performance with much of what they are doing on a daily basis.
I do like the larger and higher quality display on the Pro (especially when I'm using it all day long), fans (that do not come on very often) and three ports compared to two on the Air.
I do like the larger and higher quality display on the Pro (especially when I'm using it all day long), fans (that do not come on very often) and three ports compared to two on the Air.