Macbook Air M2 16GB or base model MBP 14?

[darngooddesign]

M1 MBP arrived today. Love it. Weight wise it’s fine, however I’ll only be moving it around the house anyway. Only ever owned silver macs, so went Space grey this time round. I probably would have been fine with the MBA M2 screen, but this screen looks amazing. Need to test out some HDR content though.

Really pleased with my choice. Setting this up from new rather than use Time Machine backup, so that will take a bit of time. Besides as my Macbook 12 was having wifi connectivity issues my last complete backup was from a few months back. Anyway feels good to start afresh with my first Apple Silicon machine.

Only problem is that I’m now thinking of upgrading to a 4K external monitor

FYI

Displaperture gives you rounded corners on the bottom

Top-Notch lets you black out the menubar to hide the notch if you want; I do it with almost white wallpapers, but other wise don't bother.

Lunar or Vivid let you access the 1000nit brightness if you think the screen is too dim for your room.

If you have a lot of menubar apps/icons, bartender lets you hide some and organize them

 

[Pug72]

@Chic0 just about finished setting mine up from new today also, albeit matching the look and order of dock & menu bar from my iMac.

The screen is sooo good, demo'd a couple of HDR films then some HDR vids on YouTube. So glad I went for the MBP now.

 

[izzy0242mr]

I’m in the market to replace my Macbook 12” 2017 That is on it’s last legs. My workflow is word, excel, music collection management, about 15 browser tabs and the occasional movie watching and youtube streaming.

I have a Macbook Air M2 16gb on order, however I have the opportunity of purchasing a brand new MBP 14 base model for the same price through a family member.

My laptop is usually used at home either connected to monitor or on my lap depending which room I’m in. My 2017 MacBook gets really hot nowadays, so thinking long term wise the MBP will run a lot cooler anyway due to internal cooling. Obviously this will be slightly heavier than M2 Air mind.

With my workflow I realise the MBP is probably overkill lol, but anyone reckon this is still the sensible choice?

You don't need the MBP now, but I am betting that if you plan to keep the computer for another 7+ years, the MBP will age better in terms of speed and reliability.

The extra ports, nicer screen, and better speakers sealed the deal for me. I've enjoyed being able to (a) not carry around lots of dongles and (b) be able to have 3 USB C devices plugged in *and* an external monitor (via HDMI) *and* be charging my laptop all at the same time. Not possible on the Air without dongles.

The Air is a little bit more portable, but honestly you're talking about barely a pound of difference. Battery is gonna be better on the Air by a few hours.

 

[JamesGoodman]

I’m in the market to replace my Macbook 12” 2017 That is on it’s last legs. My workflow is word, excel, music collection management, about 15 browser tabs and the occasional movie watching and youtube streaming.

I have a Macbook Air M2 16gb on order, however I have the opportunity of purchasing a brand new MBP 14 base model for the same price through a family member.

My laptop is usually used at home either connected to monitor or on my lap depending which room I’m in. My 2017 MacBook gets really hot nowadays, so thinking long term wise the MBP will run a lot cooler anyway due to internal cooling. Obviously this will be slightly heavier than M2 Air mind.

With my workflow I realise the MBP is probably overkill lol, but anyone reckon this is still the sensible choice?

This to me is an easy one. I have a 14MBP and love everything about it but the weight. I am old and carry it a ton, around NYC, to and from another city by mass transit for work. My MBA M2 is on the way. I'll probably leave this one (my MBP) in the office for days when I have other work to do on my commute. If you only use the computer in the house, there is absolutely no reason not to get the MBP. Larger screen, better screen, better speakers, more ports . . . . . . . I simply need the 3/4s of a pound back, and none of the sacrifices will be big sacrifices for me, I am a writer and teacher, not a power user.

 

[Chic0]

FYI

Displaperture gives you rounded corners on the bottom

Top-Notch lets you black out the menubar to hide the notch if you want; I do it with almost white wallpapers, but other wise don't bother.

Lunar or Vivid let you access the 1000nit brightness if you think the screen is too dim for your room.

If you have a lot of menubar apps/icons, bartender lets you hide some and organize them

Cheers. Will check those out later. From the little use I had earlier I barely noticed the notch. Might be due to the dark wallpaper and menu bars that were showing at the time, but it still wouldn’t both me regardless.

I did buy and install AlDente Pro though. Would love to keep this for more than 6yrs+ if possible, so hoping it helps keep the battery in good health for longer