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Maxed MBA M1 or MBP M1?

H

Hellenek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 9, 2007
126
40
Hi, time to upgrade from a 2017 MBP and my options are:

  1. MBA M1, 16gb ram, 2TB ssd ($1,052), OR
  2. MBP, 8gb ram, 512GB ssd ($920).
Both are used and have 97% battery.
I work with the Affinity apps - especially Publisher and Designer. No video editing. Which of these would you recommend? Should I keep looking? I don’t update frequently… Really need help here… thanks.
 
Why are going after m1s? You might be able to get an M2 in the price range refurbed or 3rd party.
 
From the online reviews, M1s seem quite good for the $1,000 mark…
 
Hellenek said:
Hi, time to upgrade from a 2017 MBP and my options are:

  1. MBA M1, 16gb ram, 2TB ssd ($1,052), OR
  2. MBP, 8gb ram, 512GB ssd ($920).
Both are used and have 97% battery.
I work with the Affinity apps - especially Publisher and Designer. No video editing. Which of these would you recommend? Should I keep looking? I don’t update frequently… Really need help here… thanks.
Click to expand...
If those are your two options I’d say the 16gb memory in the air will be useful and give you more headroom for large affinity files etc. You don’t say which MBP - assume 13? In which case the ports, screen quality and other things are essentially the same and I can’t think of a reason to go with the pro.
 
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Plenty of reviews with vids when M1s came out. Almost imperceptible performance differences between them unless you are Steven Spielberg. Almost every review came out with just get the Air.
I'd get the Air - More memory and storage.

Geekbench

MacBook Air M1. CPU Benchmark Scores​

2331
Single-Core Score
8303
Multi-Core Score

Compute Benchmark Scores​

20006
OpenCL GPU Score
31945
Metal GPU Score



Macbook Pro M1. CPU Benchmark Scores​

2331
Single-Core Score
8243
Multi-Core Score

Compute Benchmark Scores​

19960
OpenCL GPU Score
31779
Metal GPU Score
 
A 13'' MacBook Pro M1 with 8 GB RAM vs a 13'' MacBook Air M1 with 16 GB RAM?

This one is a no brainer for me, and I would definitely go with the Air.

Keep in mind you may not need the extra hardware for your use case and you may appreciate the MBP 13'' for the Touch Bar which is a unique gimmick for sure. I know for myself, I'd rather have physical keys so the Touch Bar is just another strike against your option 2. Some people really like the Touch Bar though so it could be a deal maker for you.
 
I've got a refurbished MacBook Air with M1, 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB drive, and 8 core GPU. No problems running Affinity Publisher, Photo, or Designer.

I went with the maximum I could find at the time because I couldn't upgrade the drive or RAM later. Coming from a mid-2012 quad-core i7 MacBook Pro, the M1 is brilliant.

It's not bad with games, either.
 
I would take the extra memory and storage of the Air over the Pro. Hope you are buying from a safe and reputable person.
 
I'd take the Air also. More RAM and storage would likely be more beneficial than the marginal CPU gains in the M2 and the active cooling of the M1 MBP. I have an M1 Air with 16GB of RAM and it's a fantastic little machine.
 
Would you be able to get a base 14" for a similar price point?
If so, take that.
If not, take the Air.
 
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