Macbook Air 2020 vs Macbook Pro 2019 (If Both Similar Price)

[Billiejoe87]

Hey,

I recently bought a new 2020 Macbook Air i5, 512GB SSD with 8GB of ram which I think is great.

My work place gets good apple discounts however and I realised with my discounts I can buy a 2019 Macbook Pro i5, 512GB SSD and 8GB of ram for only $170 AUD more ($110 USD) using my work discount.

With the prices being so similar, is it worth going the Macbook Pro? I am still in the return period for the Macbook Air, but virtually the only thing I hate about the Macbook Pro is the keyboard. I don't know however, if it's bad enough to negate the other benefits like the better thermal behaviour, faster processor and better screen.

Any thoughts?

 

[GaelenSky]

What would you be using the computer for?

 

[Billiejoe87]

Mainly web browsing, watching videos, emails and some light gaming (Mainly apple arcade games).

 

[GaelenSky]

I notice now that you also never specified what size of screen the Pro had, is it 13", 15" or 16"? From what you've said you will be using it for, the Air is by far qualified for your requirements. The integrated graphics will handle Arcade easily, and the i5 is good enough for pulling weight (while also not being in excess of the Air's thermal capacity, it's the best deal).

At the price point you quoted, I don't suspect the MacBook Pro you could get for the extra $170 is anything larger than the 13", at which point i'd just keep what you've got.

 

[Billiejoe87]

I notice now that you also never specified what size of screen the Pro had, is it 13", 15" or 16"? From what you've said you will be using it for, the Air is by far qualified for your requirements. The integrated graphics will handle Arcade easily, and the i5 is good enough for pulling weight (while also not being in excess of the Air's thermal capacity, it's the best deal).

At the price point you quoted, I don't suspect the MacBook Pro you could get for the extra $170 is anything larger than the 13", at which point i'd just keep what you've got.

Thanks for your reply. The Macbook Pro is the 13 inch 1.4GHZ i5 with 2 thunderbolt ports. I just wondered if there was a special reason it normally costs a full $650 AUD more than the Macbook Air. All I can gather is that the Macbook Pro is very overpriced for what it is, and that Apple are charging a premium for an overall useless touchbar.

 

[GaelenSky]

Thanks for your reply. The Macbook Pro is the 13 inch 1.4GHZ i5 with 2 thunderbolt ports. I just wondered if there was a special reason it normally costs a full $650 AUD more than the Macbook Air. All I can gather is that the Macbook Pro is very overpriced for what it is, and that Apple are charging a premium for an overall useless touchbar.

Not entirely, there’s more than just Apple tax at play here as well.

The Air is a passively cooled machine which receives major thermal throttling to stop the CPU from overheating. This isn’t so much of an issue in the uses you have for the computer, but then if you want to do any sort of creative work whether it be motion picture, photography with mutiple layers and filters, sound engineering etc. the Pro can do this far more efficiently.

This is without going into any detail about the extensive options the Pro has over the Air as well.

 

[NewUsername]

Thanks for your reply. The Macbook Pro is the 13 inch 1.4GHZ i5 with 2 thunderbolt ports. I just wondered if there was a special reason it normally costs a full $650 AUD more than the Macbook Air. All I can gather is that the Macbook Pro is very overpriced for what it is, and that Apple are charging a premium for an overall useless touchbar.

The MacBook Pro was a lot better than the MacBook Air before the new MBA arrived in March. However, at this moment, the MacBook Air is a much better deal for almost everyone. But we can expect a new 13"/14" MacBook Pro relatively soon, without a butterfly keyboard, with 256GB standard, et cetera… But at this stage, for your use, a MacBook Air is probably the better choice.