Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Pro M1 vs MacBook Air M1 Best buy???

trinehb

trinehb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 4, 2021
8
3
Hi
I want to buy the new MacBook Pro M1 or the MacBook Air M1
I know I want 512 GB SSD
I can buy the MacBook Pro M1 512 GB for the same price as the MacBook Air 512 GB
But the Air has 16GB of RAM and the Pro 8 GB of RAM

What will be the best buy?

Performance etc.?

Any thought?
 
I would evaluate the differences between the MBP and the MBA and use those to decide if the MBP would be better. Not sure if the 512GB MBA has the 7 GPU cores as the entry level MBA does. I have read that the MBA maintains better performance on longer running tasks (i.e. better thermals). Of course there's the 8GB advantage this MBA has over the MBP which is, IMO, a sizeable difference compared to the advantages the MBP has over the MBA.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
Hello y'all,

I'm looking to trade in my 2018 15inch MacBook Pro 16gb for either the M1 MacBook Air w/16gb ram and 256gb memory or M1 MacBook Pro base...Which would y'all prefer? My main uses is web surfing, Youtube, some Excel/Word....Nothing else really. Im huge for battery life...But Looks like I can get about $990 for my trade in via Apple website and im sorta stuck if I should go PRO or slightly enhanced air w/ the 16GB....

Also, anyone have any suggestion best place to sell a MacBook besides trading it in? Ive had no luck on Facebook marketplace as everyone seems to scam...2018 MacBook Pro 15inch 256GB priced at $1,200, so I feel like its a fair deal.
 
Significant1 said:
There is no right answer. Personally I would choose 16GB Air, and have, but you might feel the extra advantages the pro has suit you better.
Click to expand...
But is the Pro better if I gerne 16 gb RAM? Excepti from the light in the screen 400 vs 500 nits
 
m1mavrerick said:
I would evaluate the differences between the MBP and the MBA and use those to decide if the MBP would be better. Not sure if the 512GB MBA has the 7 GPU cores as the entry level MBA does. I have read that the MBA maintains better performance on longer running tasks (i.e. better thermals). Of course there's the 8GB advantage this MBA has over the MBP which is, IMO, a sizeable difference compared to the advantages the MBP has over the MBA.
Click to expand...
The Air 512 GB has a 8 CPU and 8 GPU core. The same as Pro. But Air 16 RAM vs 8 RAM. Will I notise the difference ?
 
Personally, I also would take the 16 GB and the Air.

With constant high CPU/GPU load, the Air will throttle sometime. The question here is if you do regularly things that stress CPU/GPU for a long time, i.e. video/graphics stuff.

There are lots of threads around here, discussing Air vs. Pro in great detail.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
trinehb said:
But is the Pro better if I gerne 16 gb RAM? Excepti from the light in the screen 400 vs 500 nits
Click to expand...
Define "better" - Folks can't easily say which option is more suited to your needs/usage without any clue as to what those are.

The only thing you've mentioned about your needs is the SSD capacity.
 
The 16GB version is the better choice for long term. We have both. The MacBook Pro sound is subtly better and I personally like the Touch Bar, but your mileage may differ. Battery life is so good that the difference is inconsequential.
But the 16GB memory will make a difference for some apps now and certainly for the long haul.
My MacBook Pro fans have never come on in heavy compilations or games.
 
trinehb said:
But is the Pro better if I gerne 16 gb RAM? Excepti from the light in the screen 400 vs 500 nits
Click to expand...
It has bit bigger batteri, a bit better microphone, a bit better speakers, touchbar and a bigger power-adapter in the box.

For me the missing fan in air is an advantage. I love the complete silence and in daily use there is no speed difference and what it have seen of difference in longer tasks is minor. I have Bought thermal-pads, so I could make contact to buttom-plate. But it really feels unnessary.

I am tempted by the touch-bar, never tried it, but people have mixed feelings about it and rumors says it will be gone with next Macbook Pro revision.

The power adapter you can buy separately and take advantage of. I did. I had planned to to have two power adapters anyway, but it also turned out, that the usb-hub I bought required more than the 30W from the included power adapter to enable powerthrough (charge through the hub).

I would like the brighter screen, but only because I know there is a difference and I then tried to sit in the sun. I am sure the hardware is the same and it is just limited by Apple. If you are not sitting in direct sun with sunglasses, the screen is plenty bright and I am not sure if 500nits is even bright enough in the sun with sunglasses.

Speakers and microphone are plenty fine for me. Hardly ever use them anyway.

All in all, the price was the same and the fan really really cannot be heard, I would likely choose Pro. But none of the extras is important enough for me, to pay the difference. Also I am comming from an 11" Air, which has been solid and I like the wedge-shape.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
Significant1 said:
For me the missing fan in air is an advantage. I love the complete silence and in daily use there is no speed difference and what it have seen of difference in longer tasks is minor.
Click to expand...
FWIW, in the five months I've had my M1 MBP I've heard its fan once.

It was early on and I was trying to push the system. I recreated Lightroom previews for ~4000 images from 16MP RAW files. Fan was audible but low volume, nothing obtrusive, lasted a couple of minute towards the end of the batch job.

Otherwise in my normal daily stuff the MBP remains cool and silent.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
If you routinely do tasks that take longer than 8-10 mins (compiling large codebases, crunching large data sets, rendering large video files), then the MBP will do those tasks longer due to the MBA throttling to keep the temps down. If you routinely work outdoors or in bright lighting, then the extra nits of brightness might make a difference. If you use the internal mic a lot, that might sway you as well.

If none of those apply, then the Air is a bit lighter, less expensive, and some prefer the wedge design for typing. Also, if you really want gold, the Air is it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
Air's are generally the better value of the pair, easily. However, the Pro has things you may decide you ultimately need:
  • Fan for longer, more intense loads
  • Slightly brighter screen for outdoor use
  • Better sound and (I assume) a better microphone array.
Beyond that, there's little between them. If I was making the decision now? I'd probably go Pro/16/512. Not so much I'd want to sell the Air and start agin though*.

* That could change - two bonuses from beloved employer in the last six months, plus better pros are coming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
robco74 said:
If you routinely do tasks that take longer than 8-10 mins (compiling large codebases, crunching large data sets, rendering large video files), then the MBP will do those tasks longer due to the MBA throttling to keep the temps down.
Click to expand...
It is not night and day difference. Saw youtube video where compiling webkit took ~21min for MBP and ~25min for MBA. That was a second time, so the machines was preheated. If modded the difference would be even smaller.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
shockedimpy said:
Hello y'all,

I'm looking to trade in my 2018 15inch MacBook Pro 16gb for either the M1 MacBook Air w/16gb ram and 256gb memory or M1 MacBook Pro base...Which would y'all prefer? My main uses is web surfing, Youtube, some Excel/Word....Nothing else really. Im huge for battery life...But Looks like I can get about $990 for my trade in via Apple website and im sorta stuck if I should go PRO or slightly enhanced air w/ the 16GB....

Also, anyone have any suggestion best place to sell a MacBook besides trading it in? Ive had no luck on Facebook marketplace as everyone seems to scam...2018 MacBook Pro 15inch 256GB priced at $1,200, so I feel like its a fair deal.
Click to expand...
The Air will be fine for your usage.
 
Significant1 said:
It is not night and day difference. Saw youtube video where compiling webkit took ~21min for MBP and ~25min for MBA. That was a second time, so the machines was preheated. If modded the difference would be even smaller.
Click to expand...
It's a small difference for sure, but if you do it often, it adds up over time. I would advise against modding the MBA.

Personally, I prefer a larger display, so I'm holding off on making the switch. But if Apple made a 15" Air, I'd be interested.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trinehb
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back