MacBook Air 2022 vs MacBook Pro 13' 2022

[solaris8x86]

I read the spec of those 2 new Mac laptops announced today. But I couldn't find out what is the different in technical spec on CPU, RAM and Storage. And MacBook Air 2022 is just thinner. They are just equipped with M2 running the same speed. So what is the point of the new MacBook Pro '13 M2?????

 

[jav6454]

The MBP has a fan and can sustain performance. The MBA is passively cooled (no fan) and has been shown to throttle after a few minutes of moderate to heavy loads.

The MBA is more of a ultraportable with a strong backbone vs the MBP is intended for those workloads.

 

[jamesschmidtke]

Yeah what they said. ^ pricing is almost neck and neck. I love lightness so I’ll prob give the mba a spin, but is it stupid to max the spec is the question for me

 

[Bobby Smallwood]

If you need to ask you probably should go for the MBA

 

[solaris8x86]

If you need to ask you probably should go for the MBA

So in terms of the processing performance. Both are the same?

 

[ipsedixit]

The MacBook Air 2022 has a bigger display than the Pro and a sharper webcam in a slimmer and lighter design. And you can get it for $100 less than the MacBook Pro 2022.

Unless you need the 10 core GPU performance of the Pro, the MacBook Air 2022 is a no-brainer.

 

[NewUsername]

I read the spec of those 2 new Mac laptops announced today. But I couldn't find out what is the different in technical spec on CPU, RAM and Storage. And MacBook Air 2022 is just thinner. They are just equipped with M2 running the same speed. So what is the point of the new MacBook Pro '13 M2?????

In 95% of the cases, the M2 MacBook Air is the better choice.

One exception might be if you always use your laptop in clamshell mode. In that case, the advantages of the MacBook Air won’t mean much to you, but the MacBook Pro has a fan so it can sustain heavy workloads for a longer time. In that case, the only downside of the MacBook Pro is that it’s thicker and a bit heavier.

But I agree with you that this 13" MacBook Pro seems to be made for an oddly specific audience. For an average user, I wouldn’t advice it over the MacBook Air, because without MagSafe you miss a USB-C port, and the Touch Bar is really annoying. It isn’t a bad computer though by any means.

 

[lamerica80]

In 95% of the cases, the M2 MacBook Air is the better choice.

One exception might be if you always use your laptop in clamshell mode. In that case, the advantages of the MacBook Air won’t mean much to you, but the MacBook Pro has a fan so it can sustain heavy workloads for a longer time. In that case, the only downside of the MacBook Pro is that it’s thicker and a bit heavier.

But I agree with you that this 13" MacBook Pro seems to be made for an oddly specific audience. For an average user, I wouldn’t advice it over the MacBook Air, because without MagSafe you miss a USB-C port, and the Touch Bar is really annoying. It isn’t a bad computer though by any means.

Hmmm I am planning to use my MBA in clamshell mode (connected to my 4K-montitor) all the time for work. I do this now with my 2016 MPB TB and it sometimes struggles to run the screen smoothly, not to mention the fact it cant play 4K video, not even youtube 4K.

I'm a translator/copywriter so I do very light computer work though. Should I be concerned? To me the MBA seems like the perfect upgrade that I have been waiting for.

 

[ascender]

There's also more ports on the MBP meaning you can drive multiple monitor and its actively cooled.

I've had a 'mare. Just ignore that first bit!

 

[TSE]

My favorite thing about my M1 MacBook Air is that there is no fan noise. I work as a UX Designer all day everyday and it never slows down.

The M2 MacBook Air might be a different story, though. It's the same process node size so efficiency actually isn't improved dramatically, but they did add two more GPU cores and increase the clock speeds in a smaller package. Unless they did something else to improve the engineering on the heat sink, there's a chance it throttles a little more than previous Airs. That's all educated speculation, though.

 

[smbu2000]

There's also more ports on the MBP meaning you can drive multiple monitor and its actively cooled.

The 13” MBP has the same amount of ports as the MBA. 2 x TB/USB4 ports (and a headphone jack). The 13” MBP is basically the exact same body as the 2020 M1 version just with the M2 chip instead.

 

[ascender]

The 13” MBP has the same amount of ports as the MBA. 2 x TB/USB4 ports (and a headphone jack). The 13” MBP is basically the exact same body as the 2020 M1 version just with the M2 chip instead.

Apologies, I hadn't read the thread title correctly!

 

[NewUsername]

Hmmm I am planning to use my MBA in clamshell mode (connected to my 4K-montitor) all the time for work. I do this now with my 2016 MPB TB and it sometimes struggles to run the screen smoothly, not to mention the fact it cant play 4K video, not even youtube 4K.

I'm a translator/copywriter so I do very light computer work though. Should I be concerned? To me the MBA seems like the perfect upgrade that I have been waiting for.

In that case I would go for the 8-core GPU model of the MacBook Air. While the MacBook Pro might have a slight advantage in some respects, it’s not worth the $100 extra. If you want to spend extra money, more RAM or storage for the MacBook Air makes more sense.

 

[arcite]

13'MBP differences;
- 10-core GPU (vs. 8 on base model Air)
- 2 hours extra battery life
- internal fan to boost performance
- touchbar
- old 720p video camera
- no notch in the screen

 

[cknlol]

The battery life improvements have yet to be seen in real life scenarios. So far the MBP 13 seems to be a somewhat uninspiring product in the lineup. I don't see a real usecase tbh.

 

[Velin]

MBA M2 all the way.

 

[solaris8x86]

13'MBP differences;
- 10-core GPU (vs. 8 on base model Air)
- 2 hours extra battery life
- internal fan to boost performance
- touchbar
- old 720p video camera
- no notch in the screen

Wong. The new models 2022 M2 of both are 8 cores only. They are not different in processor, RAM...etc. except LCD and battery.

That's why asking.

 

[Bobby Smallwood]

Wong. The new models 2022 M2 of both are 8 cores only. They are not different in processor, RAM...etc. except LCD and battery.

That's why asking.

Wow, just wow

 

[Bobby Smallwood]

So in terms of the processing performance. Both are the same?

No, the M2 MBP will have better performance especially compared to the base M2 MBA which has 2 less GPU cores. Even if you upgrade to the 10 core GPU on the MBA you will see more performance on the MBP because of thermal throttling.

 

[jav6454]

So in terms of the processing performance. Both are the same?

No. The MBA will throttle quickly due to its passive cooling and performance will be impacted. The MBP will sustain loads and provide better performance in that sense.

That plus the fact that the M2 is a hotter chip means MBAs are not meant for continuous heavy workloads.

 

[cknlol]

"Quickly".

Like the benchmark tests in 2020 have proven to find almost zero difference in M1 Air vs. M1 MBP13 performance and throttling?

 

[jdb8167]

"Quickly".

Like the benchmark tests in 2020 have proven to find almost zero difference in M1 Air vs. M1 MBP13 performance and throttling?

The M1 MacBook Air starts to throttle after about a minute of heavy load. Over the next few minutes you see performance reduced by 15%-20%.

 

[Bobby Smallwood]

"Quickly".

Like the benchmark tests in 2020 have proven to find almost zero difference in M1 Air vs. M1 MBP13 performance and throttling?

Nope, the M1 MBA throttles after prolonged use, this has been shown in many benchmarks. This is well documented, for short bursts of power there is no difference but once it the MBA heats up, there can be a 15-20% hit

 

[ascender]

The M1 MacBook Air starts to throttle after about a minute of heavy load. Over the next few minutes you see performance reduced by 15%-20%.

But the Air has always been aimed at users for whom that's not a part of their daily workflow. Its for users who may occasionally do that sort of work, so a slightly slower performance on that sort of thing really doesn't matter.

If you're doing that work every day, that's when you are going to want to buy the more powerful machines because seconds and minutes saved per job all adds up.

 

[jdb8167]

But the Air has always been aimed at users for whom that's not a part of their daily workflow. Its for users who may occasionally do that sort of work, so a slightly slower performance on that sort of thing really doesn't matter.

If you're doing that work every day, that's when you are going to want to buy the more powerful machines because seconds and minutes saved per job all adds up.

This is true. But an M1 throttled is still pretty fast. I use my M1 MacBook Air to develop React web apps which uses NodeJS and a transpiler called Babel to create the application. It is nearly instantaneous and it doesn’t throttle. There are many tasks that need bursts of power that never get near to throttling. It depends on what you need.