MBA minimalism

[Mainsail]

For over three years I have owned a base M2 MBA, and it has been terrific. It still runs smoothly on Tahoe. So, I am starting to think all I really need is an MBA and an iPhone to be productive. I primarily use iWork and occasionally MS Office plus the stock Apple apps ( safari, notes, calendar, mail, messages, photos, preview, etc). Anyway, my iPad rarely gets used except vacation. I canned the Apple Watch and EarPods, and just use a regular watch and earbuds. Nothing to charge but my MBA and iPhone 16+.

The MBA is such a great value at $750 on sale. I am wondering if there are others considering going minimalist with just MBA + iPhone. Let me know what you think, and if you have simplified your tech life, how has it worked?

 

[snakes-]

At the moment i am a minimalist too. iPad's don't fit my workflow. Even no external display since a year. When i rebuild my office maybe i buy one second screen or i go to 15 inch mba, not sure what i do. But mba and iphone is all i need.

 

[1BadManVan]

I do have an iPad Air and a MacBook but my use case for the iPad is more niche than most. I pack my iPad in my lunch bag with me as it slides in and just fits in the front pocket of it. I drive trains for a living and stay at a bunkhouse for 10-24 hours at a time so it's purely used when im at work to watch shows or whatever else. But at home it never leaves the bag, I much prefer the MacBook but I dont feel like carrying another bag with me just to bring it along.

If it wasn't for the type of job I have, I wouldnt have any use for an iPad and would be just fine with only my macbook

 

[BigMcGuire]

For over three years I have owned a base M2 MBA, and it has been terrific. It still runs smoothly on Tahoe. So, I am starting to think all I really need is an MBA and an iPhone to be productive. I primarily use iWork and occasionally MS Office plus the stock Apple apps ( safari, notes, calendar, mail, messages, photos, preview, etc). Anyway, my iPad rarely gets used except vacation. I canned the Apple Watch and EarPods, and just use a regular watch and earbuds. Nothing to charge but my MBA and iPhone 16+.

The MBA is such a great value at $750 on sale. I am wondering if there are others considering going minimalist with just MBA + iPhone. Let me know what you think, and if you have simplified your tech life, how has it worked?

Yep. I have an iPhone Air, I've used iPad Airs, and ... I have a MBA for my work laptop and it is doing just fine running Parallels with massive Visual Studio 2022 Pro (C# applications) and Oracle databases.

If my MBP died today, I'd replace it with a MBA for the mobility alone.

Only thing I think I'd miss are the FPS in some old games I play that the M1 Max still dominates in.

 

[ignatius345]

I think we're at the point where a current MacBook Air can easily suffice for all general computer usage, including running a big external monitor if you need one.

 

[CSAppleFan]

I have an iPhone 17 pro ( mainly for the camera's. I have 3 little kids so the camera is important. I have an M4 MBA; I just do basic web browsing, emails, and light video editing. I have the base iPad 11th gen; mainly use that to help with note taking for work and access to teams. I also like to use that for light gaming and YouTube/netflix. I think I am good until 2028 to update one of the devices....at least that is my goal the will tell if I can hold out

 

[Andy_2341]

I started down this path back in the summer. I used to have two iPhones, one for games and one for actual phone stuff, my AirPods pros, my apple watch series 9, an iPad mini 6, and a Mac mini M4. I went down to just my 15 Pro, an Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods pros, and a MBA M4. I sold the mini 6 and let my brother use the Mac mini generally, since the power difference of not throttling thanks to fans isn't noticeable for my uses. The 15 Pro easily covers the mini for 90% of things I used it for, especially since I don't take digital notes anymore. The MBA allows for as much power as my Mac mini but on the go with a great screen and good keyboard. I'm not as minimalist as you, but I appreciate the convince of the AirPods and the watch as a back up to my phone incase it goes dead. Things are definitely more focused and simple though doing work mostly with the MacBook and only using the iPhone for ultra portable tasks instead of having the distracting iPad. I've toyed with getting an iPad A16 but I really have no use for it.

 

[Macbookey]

Totally relate to OP and others here. I have come down to an M2 Air and iPhone 14 Pro Max for the last few years. AirPods Pro 2 and HomePod 2 are my other  gear. I’m a guitarist of close to 40 years now, so the digitalization of music creation made  and the Mac a defacto choice for me, and the iPod was the gateway drug to it. I came from a 27” 5K iMac to an M2 Air to try the more mobile and minimalist life. I had intended to get a Studio Display for Logic Pro, but 3 years on now, it hasn’t happened. I am more focused on a Laptop. It is something that harkens back to the 90’s when my Mom was a systems administrator, before the term “I.T.” was coined. I had the luxury of using an IBM laptop with Corel’s Wordperfect in the early 90’s for University to write my papers, and working on a smaller footprint just meshed with my brain.

I have gone full circle, and although the 5K was great for Logic, I just adapted. Going forward the iPhone Air, if it survives will be my next iPhone, if not the vanilla 17 or 18, and the next generation of MBP will be my computer of choice from the Air.  Silicon has made this possible, and the Midnight M2 Air has been my favourite Mac of all time. AirPods Pro and HomePod (if  keeps making them) are staples for me. The  Watch and iPad don’t jive with me despite trying them. The only thing I miss is the TV, which I stopped using after my most beloved passed. It was our thing to rent movies on iTunes.

 hardware is so good now, and their custom silicon has made so much possible for less, being minimalist has become easier if it something someone aspires to. I am going to be MacBook only going forward, so the Pro has features that are worth investing in for me, but for now, the Air is a joy.

 

[SuzyM70]

I've downsized to a MacBook Air M3 and iPhone 16 Plus; I find these adequate for my current usage! I did have iPads for a few years since 2012, but gave this up last year as the iPad seemed redundant, and I disliked the gimped choices for the "affordable" non-Pro iPads (I was initially going to buy one of these, but had "analysis paralysis" and ended up not getting any). Only reason to have an iPad now would be for the larger touchscreen size and Apple Pencil.

 

[1rottenapple]

For over three years I have owned a base M2 MBA, and it has been terrific. It still runs smoothly on Tahoe. So, I am starting to think all I really need is an MBA and an iPhone to be productive. I primarily use iWork and occasionally MS Office plus the stock Apple apps ( safari, notes, calendar, mail, messages, photos, preview, etc). Anyway, my iPad rarely gets used except vacation. I canned the Apple Watch and EarPods, and just use a regular watch and earbuds. Nothing to charge but my MBA and iPhone 16+.

The MBA is such a great value at $750 on sale. I am wondering if there are others considering going minimalist with just MBA + iPhone. Let me know what you think, and if you have simplified your tech life, how has it worked?

I have a 256gb, 16ram 15in MacBook from 2021 (I think, bought as a returned item from best buy for under 1100 at the time). I use it for work when I am at home 2x a week, and it's my personal laptop. It's amazing but my workload is just chrome and all my work system is accessed online (Microsoft 360, one drive, excel teams), all on chrome. Even our EHR is through chrome. It's great and i love using my air.

At work, i plug in my windows laptop to the external monitors, the screen sucks, keyboard is mushy, touch bad stinks.

So yes I frankly don't think a pro would be too much for my case. It's like the iPhone pro debate for me. I will never use the pro's features but an air (iPhone air too) will suffice.

I do wish I got a 1tb mea but the storage is so expensive.

 

[1rottenapple]

I am currently iPhone air, 15 MBA air, 6th iPad mini. And 2018 iPad Pro i use exclusively for journaling.

 

[geta]

13” MBA for work and backups, iPad Mini for sofa surfing/reading, and the smallest iPhone available for communication and on the go info is the best combo for me.

 

[whitby]

I think you have the ideal setup and I know quite a few people that have precisely your setup. iPhone + MBA. Ideal, excellent quality and easy to maintain. I am an inveterate technology nerd so would not work for me, but each to his own and I think your set up is perfect.

 

[MBAir2010]

I am a Minimalist as he who passed with the most toys, still passes!
a is need or use few things. to fulfill my mundane life.
(all my possessions can fit an a 12X12X12 container with rooms to spare)
all need is a bow, plate, chopsticks and a wok to cook and survive as well as coffee maker for the morns.

when that computers usage is needed im opposite
since I draw I need that iPad, but the new iOSX is not funs or productive anymore
as the MacBook Air m1 get about 90% of music, file base and storage usage.
while i'm streaming a documentary now on TV while the Mac mini is my MP4/FLAC player.
but I never use that iPhone as that sat in a charger all November.

happily these  things are compact!

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Let me know what you think, and if you have simplified your tech life, how has it worked?

I’ve been using a 2018 15” MBP as my daily up until last week. The battery’s gone (lasts less than an hour or so) but it was still happy to run whatever software I needed. I did spec it with maximum ram when I bought it.

I had been thinking about replacing it but was always in doubt between another MBP, a Mini or an Air. During BF week I found a very good deal on a 15” Air with 1tb and 32gb of ram and went for it.

Set it up as a clean machine and hooked it up to my 2 Studio Displays today. Works like a charm. Best of all, I can extend my desktop to my old laptop. So I have the Air’s built-in monitor, 2 external 27” displays and another 15” display.

Really happy with how that turned out. I know the M5 Air is probably only months away but remember: I got my work done on a 2018 machine.

That M4 is probably waaaaaay too powerful for what I need. 😉

 

[ignatius345]

The one thing I find I end up wanting when working with only a laptop for a long period of time is to improve the ergonomics by elevating the screen to eye level and using an external keyboard and mouse below it on the desk surface. Of course, you can also get the same effect with an external display (or multiple).

 

[chrono1081]

For over three years I have owned a base M2 MBA, and it has been terrific. It still runs smoothly on Tahoe. So, I am starting to think all I really need is an MBA and an iPhone to be productive. I primarily use iWork and occasionally MS Office plus the stock Apple apps ( safari, notes, calendar, mail, messages, photos, preview, etc). Anyway, my iPad rarely gets used except vacation. I canned the Apple Watch and EarPods, and just use a regular watch and earbuds. Nothing to charge but my MBA and iPhone 16+.

The MBA is such a great value at $750 on sale. I am wondering if there are others considering going minimalist with just MBA + iPhone. Let me know what you think, and if you have simplified your tech life, how has it worked?

I personally love a minimalist setup but unfortunately it doesn't go well with what I use a computer for (lots of iOS and game development, 3D modeling and animation, etc).

I did have just an M2 Air for a long time and a 27 inch monitor, it was a fantastic setup and I had a 13 inch iPad I used as a secondary display when traveling (since coding is a bit hard on a 13 inch screen) but when I got back into graphics I needed a beefier graphics chip so I upgraded to a MBP.