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Macbook Air M4 vs Macbook Pro M1
- Thread starter sweet160
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Depends on the computing activities. Browsing the web, email, creating documents, etc... basic use... nope. What computing activities will be performed?
the M1 macbook pro has been selling for less than 1400 so its a real consideration .The M4s are great but so pricy for what i would use it for which is surfing ,video and music.I wonder how the M1 speakers compare to newer macbook pros and the M4 macbook air.
I moved from a M1 MBP to a new 15” MBA and have zero regrets! I do a good bit of photo editing and some CAD and the MBA works great.
You didn't mention the M1 MBP screen size -- you looking at a 14" or a 16"?
In general, this is a feature decision, not a computing decision. Both will be "close enough" in performance,
with the edge to the M4 due to newer architecture, faster neural processing power, and single core performance. There are some video codecs that the newer M series handle better also, plus faster wifi.
The screen size difference between an 14" and 15" is quite substantial. The 16" is in another league, though.
Do you want 120HZ refresh rate? Better screen resolution? Better speakers? Not mind heavier weight? If so, go Pro. I have an M1 Pro 16" that is still going strong.
However, I wouldn't drop a lot of money on one now, TBH--maybe only a smokin' deal for an M1 Max. Personally, if spending over $1K -- I want the latest chip or minimum M3 series. I just think there's too much advancement with Apple silicon and that we are at the precipice of the M1-series losing its edge--not that it won't be supported, but the neural processing power of the M1 series is a weak link that is going to show up more and more.
In general, this is a feature decision, not a computing decision. Both will be "close enough" in performance,
with the edge to the M4 due to newer architecture, faster neural processing power, and single core performance. There are some video codecs that the newer M series handle better also, plus faster wifi.
The screen size difference between an 14" and 15" is quite substantial. The 16" is in another league, though.
Do you want 120HZ refresh rate? Better screen resolution? Better speakers? Not mind heavier weight? If so, go Pro. I have an M1 Pro 16" that is still going strong.
However, I wouldn't drop a lot of money on one now, TBH--maybe only a smokin' deal for an M1 Max. Personally, if spending over $1K -- I want the latest chip or minimum M3 series. I just think there's too much advancement with Apple silicon and that we are at the precipice of the M1-series losing its edge--not that it won't be supported, but the neural processing power of the M1 series is a weak link that is going to show up more and more.
I just moved from M3 Macbook Pro 14 inch to 15 inch M4 Air (Apple Store-in trade-in)
Reasons:
1. all my screens including large Dell are 60 hz and I don't game on Macs. I use only SDR content and in anyway, content looks great on M4 with RGB profile - I did not notice any difference with Macbook Pro screen
2. 8GB RAM seems limited so I moved to 16GB of RAM. It is a bit more future proof, though I have to say that 8GB on Macbook Pro never bothered me in any way.
3. SSD is 512GB. This was necessity since MBP also had 512GB.
4. I chose MIdnight as it is closest to black in Macbook Airs.
5. CPU and GPU are leading in its class, so I am happy with that.
The main advantage that it is slightly lighter as I carry it all the time. Also while on mobile, 15 inch is more useful than 14 inch and I have to use bigger text *eyesight aging.
Conclusion: m4 is a modern chip and architecture. Actually, M1 is still very good today as well but I just wanted mignight Air
Reasons:
1. all my screens including large Dell are 60 hz and I don't game on Macs. I use only SDR content and in anyway, content looks great on M4 with RGB profile - I did not notice any difference with Macbook Pro screen
2. 8GB RAM seems limited so I moved to 16GB of RAM. It is a bit more future proof, though I have to say that 8GB on Macbook Pro never bothered me in any way.
3. SSD is 512GB. This was necessity since MBP also had 512GB.
4. I chose MIdnight as it is closest to black in Macbook Airs.
5. CPU and GPU are leading in its class, so I am happy with that.
The main advantage that it is slightly lighter as I carry it all the time. Also while on mobile, 15 inch is more useful than 14 inch and I have to use bigger text *eyesight aging.
Conclusion: m4 is a modern chip and architecture. Actually, M1 is still very good today as well but I just wanted mignight Air
Define ‘much.’ My M4 MBA is definitely ’snappier’ than my M1 ultra on just day to day things. The interface is noticeably faster for example. But when I benchmark cpu intensive tasks the M1 ultra usually wins out. But yes you will notice a speed increase for most things. But ‘much?’
I just moved from M3 Macbook Pro 14 inch to 15 inch M4 Air (Apple Store-in trade-in)
Reasons:
1. all my screens including large Dell are 60 hz and I don't game on Macs. I use only SDR content and in anyway, content looks great on M4 with RGB profile - I did not notice any difference with Macbook Pro screen
2. 8GB RAM seems limited so I moved to 16GB of RAM. It is a bit more future proof, though I have to say that 8GB on Macbook Pro never bothered me in any way.
3. SSD is 512GB. This was necessity since MBP also had 512GB.
4. I chose MIdnight as it is closest to black in Macbook Airs.
5. CPU and GPU are leading in its class, so I am happy with that.
The main advantage that it is slightly lighter as I carry it all the time. Also while on mobile, 15 inch is more useful than 14 inch and I have to use bigger text *eyesight aging.
Conclusion: m4 is a modern chip and architecture. Actually, M1 is still very good today as well but I just wanted mignight Air
I’m just about to do this due use needing a new machine in the family. Are you still happy with your choice? I’m worried I’ll miss the screen and speakers on the m3 pro.
Indeed I am very happy
I don't miss weight of MPB and enjoying much larger screen. It is also as bright as MBP so nothing lost here. Speakers are also good - I don't miss MBP speakers but I mostly use Airpods pro 2 for sound. Right now I am typing this sitting in a restaurant with 15 inch screen Indeed I am very happy
Cool I’ve just ordered mine now! Now the wait 😁
Hello!
I have done that route myself, so I can give my opinion. From a 16" M1 Pro 16/1T to a 15" M4 32/1T.
Use case: mail, browsing, Xcode (C++), unity (light), VSC (Jupyter, HTML/CSS/JS). No video or photo editing.
The M4 is faster without a doubt. Very noticeable in Safari page rendering but also having multiple tabs open. The 32GB surely help here, but it is mostly the single core performance. The efficient cores of M4 are almost on par with M1 performance ones. Surprisingly the M4 does not run hotter on the Air, but the weight and footprint diference to the 16 is very noticeable, while the screen real estate difference is minimal.
I never took full advantage of the 16, be it screen wise (no HDR content), sound wise (always phones) and thermal headroom wise (never heard the fans on, no gaming or video/image processing). So for me it was a good move, less weight, less size, less energy (this one runs on 4w typically, while the M1 would draw 8-10).
This was a move I wanted to do, but the M3 does not support two external displays with the internal, so I waited for this to be solved. The M4 also has 10 GPU cores and 10 CPU (4P+6E) cores that beat M3. If I wanted to go again for the 16" with M4 Pro, the 48/1T and nano screen would settle me 50% more than I payed for this one and I still get the 16" brick.
However, since in 2026 it is expected a Pro refresh, I will reevaluate my options. But that is still, at best, 16 months away, meanwhile I will be taking advance of my lighter, smaller and equally competent Air.
Let us now your comments.
I have both and my usage is more or less basic (10+ chrome tabs, light steam gaming).
Spec-wise, I would miss the miniLED screen and audio, if I were't using it in dock mode 99% of the time.
So I don't see the need to "upgrade" but I just really like the lightweight & fanless design.
It does feel snappier on my 240hz external monitor, which M1 pro somehow only allows 120hz.
Also bumped up to 24GB RAM and "Swap Used: 0 bytes" is satisfying (not that it matters).
Spec-wise, I would miss the miniLED screen and audio, if I were't using it in dock mode 99% of the time.
So I don't see the need to "upgrade" but I just really like the lightweight & fanless design.
It does feel snappier on my 240hz external monitor, which M1 pro somehow only allows 120hz.
Also bumped up to 24GB RAM and "Swap Used: 0 bytes" is satisfying (not that it matters).
Having used (and still own) M1, M1 Pro and M4 Max.... plus most of the A series parts in between...
Basic use, the M4 will feel much snappier because the single core performance is a BIG step.
Not that M1 is bad, but the newer cores in A18 and M4 generation are very, very snappy and single thread light workload is really immediately noticeable.
This 100% matches my experience. People think its only going to be different when really pushing the machine but that's simply not true.
I think it is only partially true. I mean, true regarding the M4 chip but not necessarily the 32GB RAM. I will wager that Safari will load webpages as fast even with 16GB RAM.
Yeah the CPU is what i was referring to. It is instantly noticeable skipping ahead 3 generations, in terms of responsiveness.
Yes. I have an M1 MacBook Pro for work and my M2 Air felt faster. The M4 should definitely feel faster.
Just moved from the 13" M1 MacBook Pro to a 15" M4 MacBook Air. The difference in speed for daily tasks in immediately perceivable. Huge bump up in speeds, even in applications like Lightroom that I presumed the GPUs from the MacBook Pro would kick in more. (also I did go with th 24gb ram as against the 16gb on the pro so that could have made a difference as well)
Loving the screen estate and the distribution of weight. Even though technically the two laptops are extremely similar in weight, the air feels easier to move around inspite of its size.
Loving the screen estate and the distribution of weight. Even though technically the two laptops are extremely similar in weight, the air feels easier to move around inspite of its size.
If you load them both up, the M1 Pro will be faster in some stuff, but in day to day interactive "normal" use, M4 every single time; its far more responsive to interactive use. And that's what 90% of people do, 90% of the time.
When it needs to do a bulk render or whatever (extended multicore workload) it will still be close given the 3 generation jump.
That's very interesting, that the 15 inch air, which is 3.4 lbs I think, feels easier to move around than the 13 inch MBP which I think was 3.1 lbs. Makes me feel better about my decision of getting a 15 inch air! Tells you that it's really well designed.
I have a 16" MBP M1. Would like an Air but not sure I could live with a smaller screen.
Would be much more tempted if they released a 16" Air.
Would be much more tempted if they released a 16" Air.
To give some further justification for M4 over M1 Pro today...
- M4 non-pro is similar performance in multicore CPU to M3 Pro (never mind M1 Pro). In single core (i.e., UI snappiness!) its like 50% faster than M1 generation.
- M4 GPU has a newer feature set and may be faster in some things than M1 Pro but the M1 Pro does have 2x as many cores. expect between 10% slower than M1 Pro and significantly faster depending on the software. M1 has no RT support, m4 does.
- Neural engine is 3x faster than m1 generation
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