MBP is super heavy yet MBA has giant bezels (comparatively) - there is no perfect choice

[Kendo]

Looked at both the MBP and MBA side by side at the Apple Store. The difference in weight is dramatic. The 16" felt like those giant notebooks from the 1990s, just super massive. The 14" wasn't much better when compared to the 13" MBA.

But looking at the MBA, I couldn't believe how big the bezels were. Looking at it side by side with the MBP, the difference was glaring.

It's a shame that with either machine there is a compromise no matter what you buy. Do any Air users have any qualms about the super thick bezels?

 

[HuskyRob]

I wouldn’t say the MBA has super thick bezels at all. Can’t see much difference from the pics and there is a huge difference in thickness between my 2016 MBP and my M2 Air 15”

 

[Jamacfer]

Looked at both the MBP and MBA side by side at the Apple Store. The difference in weight is dramatic. The 16" felt like those giant notebooks from the 1990s, just super massive. The 14" wasn't much better when compared to the 13" MBA.

But looking at the MBA, I couldn't believe how big the bezels were. Looking at it side by side with the MBP, the difference was glaring.

It's a shame that with either machine there is a compromise no matter what you buy. Do any Air users have any qualms about the super thick bezels?

What about the screen quality?

 

[dfj74]

Well the weight difference is indisputable and very noticeable when holding side by side. In real life I'd wager that a 14MBP vs 13/15MBA would be close enough to not feel too different.
The bezels though, I can't see that they're big at all. I certainly wouldn't pay any extra to squeeze out the last couple millimetres!

 

[Saturn007]

13” MBA both feels lighter and is lighter than the other two. Intriguingly, while the 14” MPB and 15” are similar in weight, they different in the hand.

The 14” feels heavier, denser. It has to do with how compact the 14” is relative to the 15”. More weight concentrated when you hold it.

Had a similar blind test the other day. Handed a family member a lighter 2019 13” MBA and a heavier, bigger 2015 13” one. They reported the denser, more compact 2019 felt heavier!

Agree with others that the bezels on the current and even recent crops of laptops are not intrusive or large. That's especially true compared to the old 2012-2017 13” MacBook Airs with their actually quite large bezels. One gets used to them quickly and concentrates on their work or activity, but they are measurably much larger than the current ones!

 

[spyguy10709]

What about the screen quality?

Anecdotally, the most major difference between my Mom's m2 air and my m1 pro 16" is that my screen can get brighter, and in a dark room - the advantages of the Pro's miniLED direct backlighting control over the air's single-zone-dimming become obvious with certain kinds of content.

 

[NewUsername]

Looked at both the MBP and MBA side by side at the Apple Store. The difference in weight is dramatic. The 16" felt like those giant notebooks from the 1990s, just super massive. The 14" wasn't much better when compared to the 13" MBA.

But looking at the MBA, I couldn't believe how big the bezels were. Looking at it side by side with the MBP, the difference was glaring.

It's a shame that with either machine there is a compromise no matter what you buy. Do any Air users have any qualms about the super thick bezels?

You compared with the M2 MacBook Air, not with the M1 Air, right?

 

[kp98077]

The screen quality is absolutely night and day (atleast with the new 14 Pro) - I will take better quality anyidea over a little weight.

 

[spyguy10709]

The screen quality is absolutely night and day (atleast with the new 14 Pro) - I will take better quality anyidea over a little weight.

"night and day" is kind of a stretch. We're still talking about IPS LCDs, compared to an "actual" high end display like an OLED... yeah the differences of color reproduction and black levels of these laptops is marginal at best.

Comparing an intel Macbook (pre-2017) with those non-retina LCDs, compared to the OG retina macbook pros - that was definitely a huge, night and day leap.

These panels are WAY closer than in the old days. I don't do "professional" work in media, but my mom's air was plenty accurate enough to happily edit our holiday photos on this year.

 

[lJoSquaredl]

I really wish they made a slightly thinner MacBook Pro at 15 inches. That's probably my perfect computer, something that is the best of both the Air and the Pro. Just waiting for that model.....anytime now lol

 

[Bel Marduk]

You want the MacBook 12"

Gosh I wish they would release another one!

 

[HuskyRob]

The screen quality is absolutely night and day (atleast with the new 14 Pro) - I will take better quality anyidea over a little weight.

That MBP screen does look amazing.

It was the only reason I was debating returning my MBA 15 in my return window. I have the 8gb/512 and so for £150 more than I paid I could have gone for the MBP base model. In the end decided against it - yes that HDR brightness and blacker blacks would have been lovely for watching HDR content, but then I had to realistically think how often I would watch HDR content on my laptop and day to day use and SDR content there isn't a world of difference (except for the 120hz but that doesn't bother me) The trade off against the larger screen which for my uses is an absolute delight coming from a 13 MBP just didn't stack up. Given that I have seen nothing that the MBA can't do for my uses then it just isn't worth it.

Also I love the MBA form factor so much more. The 15 is an absolute to delight to type on given the thinness and wide body. So keeping my Air. But yes that screen does look nice.

 

[Jamacfer]

That MBP screen does look amazing.

It was the only reason I was debating returning my MBA 15 in my return window. I have the 8gb/512 and so for £150 more than I paid I could have gone for the MBP base model. In the end decided against it - yes that HDR brightness and blacker blacks would have been lovely for watching HDR content, but then I had to realistically think how often I would watch HDR content on my laptop and day to day use and SDR content there isn't a world of difference (except for the 120hz but that doesn't bother me) The trade off against the larger screen which for my uses is an absolute delight coming from a 13 MBP just didn't stack up. Given that I have seen nothing that the MBA can't do for my uses then it just isn't worth it.

Also I love the MBA form factor so much more. The 15 is an absolute to delight to type on given the thinness and wide body. So keeping my Air. But yes that screen does look nice.

I too had the same doubts and eventually came to the same conclusions: based on my needs, I prefer a thinner and lighter laptop over a better but bulkier one. The only difference is that I have decided to wait (I suspect several months) for a 13" Air M3.

 

[kp98077]

That MBP screen does look amazing.

It was the only reason I was debating returning my MBA 15 in my return window. I have the 8gb/512 and so for £150 more than I paid I could have gone for the MBP base model. In the end decided against it - yes that HDR brightness and blacker blacks would have been lovely for watching HDR content, but then I had to realistically think how often I would watch HDR content on my laptop and day to day use and SDR content there isn't a world of difference (except for the 120hz but that doesn't bother me) The trade off against the larger screen which for my uses is an absolute delight coming from a 13 MBP just didn't stack up. Given that I have seen nothing that the MBA can't do for my uses then it just isn't worth it.

Also I love the MBA form factor so much more. The 15 is an absolute to delight to type on given the thinness and wide body. So keeping my Air. But yes that screen does look nice.

yes they are both great! For me though, vision is not great so the Pro serves me better (text are more crisp) and I need the brightness 😀🔅

 

[vanc]

But looking at the MBA, I couldn't believe how big the bezels were. Looking at it side by side with the MBP, the difference was glaring.

MBA 15's bezel is measured at 5mm, while MBP 16 is at 3.5MM. 1.5mm difference doesn't sound huge. But perhaps side by side comparison made it look bigger?

 

[Kendo]

MBA 15's bezel is measured at 5mm, while MBP 16 is at 3.5MM. 1.5mm difference doesn't sound huge. But perhaps side by side comparison made it look bigger?

Not sure where you get those specs from? Look at this pic, the Air bezel is practically double the Pro.

 

[vanc]

For MBP 16, you can find here.

For MBA 15, you can find here.

I own both models (MBP 16 with M1 Pro for work and the MBA 15 for casual use). Out of curiosity, I used a calibre to measure them and confirmed the sizes.

 

[vanc]

Double posted.

 

[mysticmanix]

I received my M3 base 14 inch today that I'm gonna test to see if I like the form factor the next month with their holiday returns. I own an M1 Air and M2 15 inch Air, and also had a 16 inch pro for 6 months before I sold it.

My impressions on the screen are like I felt previously on the 16 inch, is there isn't a huge difference between the LCD and miniLED screens except for refresh rate. Scrolling is noticeably smoother, but as far as the "quality" and clarity of the screen I genuinely can't see a difference except for blackness levels, and that's only consciously if I use something like a dead pixel test. To me, the bezel difference is not even noticeable between the pros and M2 Airs, unless you literally place them side by side. The M1 airs look noticeably thick.

I'm surprised the 14 inch screen doesn't feel as big as I thought it would be, honestly it feels only a tiny bit bigger than the M1 Air, which I guess it is, but in my head I thought it'd feel bigger. The good thing is that it has a close to 3:2 screen. I definitely like the sheer size of the Air 15's screen, it is noticeably bigger and it's also close to exactly 3:2. One thing that video reviewers get wrong is that they compare the 14 inch to the 15 Air because of price closeness, but that's the wrong comparison. Having now owned all four size tiers at some point the 13 Air feels like the 14 Pro, and the 14 doesn't feel anything like the 15 due to sheer screen size. The 15 Air feels like the 16 Pro in terms of screen size that I don't really notice a huge loss, and the only reason I sold it was because the Pro's thickness made the degree to which the keyboard deck sticks out on the 16 just irritate my wrists ergonomically. It's good to remember the actual screen sizes in inches are 13.3 (13.6 for M2 Air) -> 14.2 -> 15.3 -> 16.2

The 14 Pro is literally heavier than the 15 Air, but it also feels even moreso because of its thickness. If I hold them side by side honestly the 14 feels much heavier than the 15 Air even though it's only like 0.1 lbs heavier. The 15 just feels more spread out.

 

[trusso]

It's funny how the same people who claim "you just stop noticing the notch" are probably the same ones who are saying "these millimeter wide bezels are too big!"

I'll take slightly bigger bezels over a notch any day of the week (and yes, twice on Sunday). Anyone who's still harping on bezels on the current MacBook(Pro) lineup needs to admit they still notice the notch all the time.

So, what's it gonna be, notch-lovers?

 

[ArkSingularity]

It's funny how the same people who claim "you just stop noticing the notch" are probably the same ones who are saying "these millimeter wide bezels are too big!"

I'll take slightly bigger bezels over a notch any day of the week (and yes, twice on Sunday). Anyone who's still harping on bezels on the current MacBook(Pro) lineup needs to admit they still notice the notch all the time.

So, what's it gonna be, notch-lovers?

Ehh, I'm gonna be honest. The notch actually does kinda bother me less than large bezels, but I never found the bezels to be that large on the Air when I saw it in store.

Maybe that's just me.

 

[OldCorpse]

Thanks, mysticmanix, that was a super helpful post. I intend to buy the 15" MBA- M2 soon, but was kind of wondering about the base 14" MBP-M3 that just came out, as they're fairly close in price (I want the 16/512 MBA). I suppose I'll take a look at both in the store just to feel it out, though I don't know if I'll get them side by side. Same as the older MBPs, but the point here is the form factor and screen quality, which I assume the old and new MBPs have in common.

So having your lived experience of these as comparison is just what I was looking for. All things considered, I'm sticking to my plan to get the 15" MBA instead of the new MBP, or waiting for the M3 Air.

 

[Buadhai]

I finally made it to an Apple reseller where I live (in Thailand) to compare the 15" Air and the 14" MBP. Given the way I currently use my M1 Air (see photo), the 15" Air just seemed to big. Now, do I really need that M3 MBP?

 

[OldCorpse]

Well, yes it's all individual, depending on how you use your laptop and what for. For a situation like in the photo, I personally use an iPad, but again, everyone has their own habits and requirements.

I used to have a 27" iMac which was a fantastic machine that fit into my workflow very well. Now, the best that Apple can do is 24" or a really expensive Display + Studio setup. So, I looked for a good laptop, and the size of the 15" is much better than 14" or 13" (the 16" MBP is too expensive, overkill in power and not portable), because I like the real estate of the screen. I also can move the thing from room to room and portability of the 15" is good.

To each his/her own, I guess. Now if only I could live with the Midnight color I'd spring for various discounts, but I'm not in a super hurry, so I'll just buy a starlight 16/512 BTO within the next few weeks. YMMV.

 

[OldCorpse]

Just to add color to "my requirements" - most of what I need it for is word processing - advantage larger screen. Next in use frequency, research - which involves a lot of web surfing, many open tabs, side by side pages etc. - advantage larger screen. After that, streaming video content - advantage larger screen. Some light photo/video editing - advantage large screen. That right there is about 95% of what I use a computer for. The remaining 5% are things like some light data crunching etc.

Then there are things which don't need a large screen, but which benefit from extreme portability and ease of handling - things like book/pdf reading, bill pay, email, texting etc. and these are all things which are more conveniently (in my case) done on a completely different device altogether - we're talking iPad and phone.

So for me, a laptop with a large screen that's also very portable (so I can take it into the garden, for example) does pretty much better *because* of the larger screen and for my other electronic needs, I use the iPad and iPhone. In this scenario, I don't see where a 13" or 14" screen is better than a 15".

As can be seen, I don't need a ton of power, so an MBP is overkill. A long battery life is a plus, and the form factor is important - for example since I do a lot of typing, the thicker body of the MBP compared to the MBA is a negative (I wish they went back to the wedge design for the MBA, but I guess that ain't ever happening!) because my wrists are in a more flat position with a thinner body that doesn't cut into my flesh. All in all, a lot speaks for the 15" MBA over the MBP in my particular case (obviously your needs may indicate the opposite!). I could probably do with a stock 8/256 given my needs, but I figure the 16/512 is a little bit of insurance in case future MacOS versions or apps are more demanding.