Processing Power on 15" Mac Book Air

[loll]

I currently have a 15" 2016 Mac Book Pro, 16GB ram 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

I am trying to get some sort of reference between it and the new 15" Mac Book Air.

Given how old my current laptop is, is the new Mac book air going to have more processing power than what I currently have? (assuming I upgrade it to the same 16BG Ram)

What would be the down side to using a MacBook Air vs a MacBook Pro?

I dont use the peripherals much, occasionally connect something via USB but dont keep them attached for long, usually its just a time machine backup disk or a camera. So the main concern for me is making sure I dont end up with a slower experience when I have multiple applications open.

 

[Falhófnir]

It's got the same M2 chip as the 13" which released last year and has been widely benchmarked and reviewed, so you can check out those for details, but in a nutshell it's going to be much more powerful than any Intel macBook. Even the 16" from 2019 with the 8 core i9 chip, believe it or not!

 

[Eric8199]

Yes, the 15" Air will run circles around your 15" Pro for almost any task.

I have a 2017 15" MBP and I bought an M1 Air before the M2s came out to use as a secondary, more portable machine, and since I bought that Air, I only get the 15" out of the drawer for nostalgia. lol. I currently want to purchase a 14" Pro, but can't come up with anything it will do better than my M1 Air to justify the purchase.

Unless you're editing 8K video, hundreds of thousands of RAW files, huge photoshop projects or doing massive coding projects, the 15" Air will be more than enough for you for a long time.

 

[arggg14]

Ugh I just bought a 16" MBP 16/1TB four days ago. My use case is just heavy browsing, some Photoshop and Final Cut, text editing, and emails but would like to future-proof as I keep my laptops for around 7 years. The 15" MBA could probably do all of that, but I'm a sucker for the high res screen and speakers. Are both of those significantly worse on the MBA?

 

[Chancha]

Ugh I just bought a 16" MBP 16/1TB four days ago. My use case is just heavy browsing, some Photoshop and Final Cut, text editing, and emails but would like to future-proof as I keep my laptops for around 7 years. The 15" MBA could probably do all of that, but I'm a sucker for the high res screen and speakers. Are both of those significantly worse on the MBA?

On the 13" it is. Even disregarding HDR and 120Hz, the 13" real estate is just too small. But that part is of course different on 15".

Then the speakers on the 13" is indeed pretty standard, nothing to brag about. While you know how good your 16" sounds, it's like the best sounding laptop speakers in history. We have to wait for real world test to confirm where 15" speakers sit, it is probably somewhere in the middle.

Between 16" and 15" the major difference is bulk, the weight difference is significant. Otherwise all the hardware features on the 16" are bonuses that most normal users can live without, until you don't... lol.

 

[IJBrekke]

Ugh I just bought a 16" MBP 16/1TB four days ago. My use case is just heavy browsing, some Photoshop and Final Cut, text editing, and emails but would like to future-proof as I keep my laptops for around 7 years. The 15" MBA could probably do all of that, but I'm a sucker for the high res screen and speakers. Are both of those significantly worse on the MBA?

For your use cases, I would consider a test drive of the MBA next week while still in your return window. Yes, worse screen and speakers, no doubt. But almost a pound and a half lighter may be worth it to you depending on your priorities.