The 15" MacBook Air is close but the 14" is really the sweet spot. If only Apple offered it with the regular M2 (instead of in the 13" MacBook Pro) this would probably be the most popular computer in the world.
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Who is keeping 15" Air?
- Thread starter kp98077
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My history from private and work Macs I used
- had 15" MBPs from 2010, 2013
- a 13" Intel 2019
- a 16" Intel 2020 64GB everything max
- a 14" M1 Pro 32GB
- then again the 13" Intel 2019 for a while
- now 15" M2 24GB 1TB
So I had a fair few to compare. I prefer the 15" M2 but I can see why some would pick the 14/16 Pros. I don't really judge the costs/perf as I don't really care, I can afford whatever I need, i use it soo much everyday, I just need the maximum utility whichever may provide it.
- software engineering dev work (docker, Jetbrains, browser, vscode, terminal)
- I do carry it a lot around on trains too
- I also like to use it in different places on the couch, garden, home office, office, hammock
- when I was still a student without much of a fixed work place, I would pick the 16" as it can serve for a bit of gaming multimedia and so on for which I got now a TV/ipad/PC anyway but the speakers and display at night for movies on the 16" is definitely a lot better. Speakers are still very good for a notebook and much better than any windows notebook I ever had in front of me but not the marvels that the Pro speakers are.
Performance anekdote.
I recently for work had to use a VDI(Virtual desktop environment). Log into Vmware Horizon Client then supposed to use Confluence, VSCode, Visual Studio ... in there. Boy that is like it was 20 years ago. So slow and laggy.
From that just to the Intel Mac was a worlds difference for me working in the VDI was just so horrifically bad that I did not understand how other people can work in such a laggy slow environment, where swichting between apps the way I do it in my normal workflow is just so slow, even scrolling and typing at times that it is just not an option.
Then on the Intel Mac you can at least work well. Then on the M2 you just go from a useable very good experience to amazing.
You only really appreciate how far we have come when you see that next to each other. Like the way I use my notebook just breaks down when things are as slow as on these virtual machines (2 slow server cores + 16GB + suuuper laggy graphics). But on the M2 you can start up a Game on Steam and then swipe out of it into some browser as smooth as butter without any lag whatsoever, something you cannot even do on windows or you unlock the notebook and it instantly ready as if it never slept and was still on.
The difference is quite stark and in all that amzing fluidity of MX Apple devices I actually feel no relevant difference between a 14" M1 Pro and an M2 15". But the 4 year old Intel is a lot slower and boy
- had 15" MBPs from 2010, 2013
- a 13" Intel 2019
- a 16" Intel 2020 64GB everything max
- a 14" M1 Pro 32GB
- then again the 13" Intel 2019 for a while
- now 15" M2 24GB 1TB
So I had a fair few to compare. I prefer the 15" M2 but I can see why some would pick the 14/16 Pros. I don't really judge the costs/perf as I don't really care, I can afford whatever I need, i use it soo much everyday, I just need the maximum utility whichever may provide it.
- screen the 15" has the best screen you can get on notebooks outside of MiniLED and OLED ones. Windows notebooks have better 4k OLED screens but the resolution is all you ever need and MiniLED, OLED only wins in media consumption but in normal SDR content during daylight I would not say it makes any difference at all.
- if you do media work -> MiniLED is better
- if you play games or watch movies at night -> MiniLED is better
- if you need a workhorse for development/studying/office work the 15" still has the same colors and brightness (I do have my wifes 14" M1 Pro right next to mine)
- 120hz vs 60hz I don't really notice at all. Switching from the 13" Intel 2019 (Iris Pro) the 60hz M2 seems to super smooth. Big difference coming from an Intel GPU, but nothing I would miss on the 15". Is it noticeable? Yes very slightly.
- Battery life the 15" wins. 16" has a bigger battery but e.g. the 14" is quite easy to still kill with serious usage and I used the non max versions which have better battery life.
- display an wider memory access SoC seems to increase the low and medium power usage a fair bit
- I got 4-6h on medium/high real development work use on the 14" M1 Pro
- I got 6-8h on the 15"
- given that the M1 Max benches I read are even 25% less than the M1 Pro Entry.
I'd say 15" 100% = 14" Entry 70% = 14" Max 50-55%
- Size of the 15" is perfect it still fits in smaller bags just so where the 16" wouldn't. It is a lot lighter than the 16" and the the thinness is much more pleasent on a lap or table for typing. If I could ask for something I would want the bezel to be thinner (Dell goes way further out) and there to be a very tiny fan inside. It seem thick enough to fit a very thin fan and then you just never have to worry like you might on a hot summerday outside in the sun.
- One limitation is the single external screen, I never plugged in more than one display as I got 34" on moveable arm at home and usually always one big 32 or 34" at work. If you do want or need multiple screens afaik the M2 is limited there, which is dump, along with only having the ports on one side. Also the HDMI is missing which I rarely used because my workplaces were very mac friendly (USB-C everywhere) but HDMI is much easier on conferences and random places you may need it or TVs. I usually have one of those cheap 30 EUR dongles for when I do need it but not often to carry that around with me.
- software engineering dev work (docker, Jetbrains, browser, vscode, terminal)
- I do carry it a lot around on trains too
- I also like to use it in different places on the couch, garden, home office, office, hammock
- when I was still a student without much of a fixed work place, I would pick the 16" as it can serve for a bit of gaming multimedia and so on for which I got now a TV/ipad/PC anyway but the speakers and display at night for movies on the 16" is definitely a lot better. Speakers are still very good for a notebook and much better than any windows notebook I ever had in front of me but not the marvels that the Pro speakers are.
Performance anekdote.
I recently for work had to use a VDI(Virtual desktop environment). Log into Vmware Horizon Client then supposed to use Confluence, VSCode, Visual Studio ... in there. Boy that is like it was 20 years ago. So slow and laggy.
From that just to the Intel Mac was a worlds difference for me working in the VDI was just so horrifically bad that I did not understand how other people can work in such a laggy slow environment, where swichting between apps the way I do it in my normal workflow is just so slow, even scrolling and typing at times that it is just not an option.
Then on the Intel Mac you can at least work well. Then on the M2 you just go from a useable very good experience to amazing.
You only really appreciate how far we have come when you see that next to each other. Like the way I use my notebook just breaks down when things are as slow as on these virtual machines (2 slow server cores + 16GB + suuuper laggy graphics). But on the M2 you can start up a Game on Steam and then swipe out of it into some browser as smooth as butter without any lag whatsoever, something you cannot even do on windows or you unlock the notebook and it instantly ready as if it never slept and was still on.
The difference is quite stark and in all that amzing fluidity of MX Apple devices I actually feel no relevant difference between a 14" M1 Pro and an M2 15". But the 4 year old Intel is a lot slower and boy
I’m starting to think I deserve an award for managing to survive traveling around for years with a 17" G4.
Yeah she was shocked as she was rocking an older 13" air and the battery was going so she went to them and they hooked her up with a new in box 2021 14" Pro. I need to ask her if she has a preference. She keeps going for the 15" air at home but I think that's mainly because she doesn't like to sign into her iCloud and photos library and stuff like that on her work machine.
nice summary! SO seems you like the 15 MBA the best out of all of your choices??
I'm certainly keeping my 8/512 M2 15" Air, the screen size is perfect for my needs and the M2 chip is snappy, so a happy customer. Here it is with my 13" M1 MBP (2020), both are 500 Nits.
Just sent the Midnight 15" MBA 16/512gb back to the Apple store today and picked up the base Silver 14" MBP, the difference was $300 more.
First of all, that Midnight fingerprint magnet was annoying the crap out of me, the Silver looks brilliant on the MBP.
So far I'm loving it, beautiful bright screen, very light weight, esp comparing to the 16" that I have next it to. When I switched from the 14" to 16" MBP or vice versa, I do not notice any change in color with the screens, things do look smaller on the 14" after or before looking at the 16", but you can adjust very quickly to the 14" again.
Very happy with my decision, the 15' MBA is a great machine and still my fav footprint, and I'm sure Apple will eventually fix all the minor issues that this model currently has, keep in mind, this is the very first 15" MBA, theres always going to be problems on 1st year models.
I hope in the future Apple puts a LED display on the 15" MBA, and when they do, "I"LL BE BACK"
First of all, that Midnight fingerprint magnet was annoying the crap out of me, the Silver looks brilliant on the MBP.
So far I'm loving it, beautiful bright screen, very light weight, esp comparing to the 16" that I have next it to. When I switched from the 14" to 16" MBP or vice versa, I do not notice any change in color with the screens, things do look smaller on the 14" after or before looking at the 16", but you can adjust very quickly to the 14" again.
Very happy with my decision, the 15' MBA is a great machine and still my fav footprint, and I'm sure Apple will eventually fix all the minor issues that this model currently has, keep in mind, this is the very first 15" MBA, theres always going to be problems on 1st year models.
I hope in the future Apple puts a LED display on the 15" MBA, and when they do, "I"LL BE BACK"
given you have a 16" yeah 14" is smaller and makes more sense. All great machines, I am not sure if apple has to figure out a lot with the 15 MBA however, it's just a slight scale up of the very successful 13"? But I can tell for sure the text are much more clear and crisp on 14 MBP, good luck with your new baby!
I have had mine for a few weeks. It is an addition to my WHF pc's. It is the only Mac pc I use so keep that in mind as a form of disclosure. I wanted something very portable, but also light and no smaller than 15" so I can WFA (work from anywhere) and not lug my huge 17" laptop
Sold and shipped my 14" M1 Pro away. M2 is actually faster than M1 Pro for some of my tasks.
And my 15" screen is not yellow, nor is it inferior to the 14" M1 Pro screen except for where XDR shows a clear advantage. I went to the store today to purchase some accessories and noticed the on-display 15" model actually has a screen that's worse than my custom ordered 15" (more yellow, less contrast, less saturated) so it seems screen lottery may be a real thing this generation.
And my 15" screen is not yellow, nor is it inferior to the 14" M1 Pro screen except for where XDR shows a clear advantage. I went to the store today to purchase some accessories and noticed the on-display 15" model actually has a screen that's worse than my custom ordered 15" (more yellow, less contrast, less saturated) so it seems screen lottery may be a real thing this generation.
Times change, people are doing less physical work and are getting weaker. Today's 5lbs was yesterday's 8lbs.
By a mile.
I feel no difference in performance. A big difference in actual battery life.
And I did get a 14" M2 Pro for work now which I used for 3 days exclusively and now back at the 15" Air private one. The Air is a lot nicer. It is actually almost the same weight but the Air being bigger and with its form feels lighter. Being soo much thinner it is a lot more ergonomic and sitting here in the dark the screen size difference is quite big. When you open the 15" Air it is just wow. On the other hand with what I do the 120hz or MiniLED makes no noticeable difference. For SDR content, browsing and dev work there is no qualitative difference between the displays except for the size which is a big one.
Before the 15" was an option I would have gone for the 14" but now I would say take the 15" if you want mobility and if you need the MiniLED, Speakers, faster GPU just get the 16" and f' the mobility. IMO these are the only two notebooks worth getting for different reasons. Of course if costs aren't really a main concern, in such a case you can get better hardware if you try to get a windows notebook, which would net you a very decent CUDA enabled powerful notebook with very good screens and there you can choose to go super light like LG Gram (and flimsy) or more XPS, Thinkpad. Windows + WSL2 can work as very good dev machine nowadays too. I switched from Windows to Mac because Linux notebooks used to be horrible but that situation has changed. I am very used to Macs now though and have not financial need to switch and adapt my way of working to a different platform.
Bigger screen with thinner frame is a lot nicer and after those 3 days using the 14" and using the 15" for a week prior I have understated the difference in battery life. 14" on battery is down to 80 or 75 % within one hour with my use. The Air needed 3h for such a battery drop. I would only last half a day (3-4h) of real work on the 14" until the battery got so low it should be charged. The Air will probably get me through the entire workday with 20% battery left. And if you actually shut down docker and save power a bit it lasts really long.
Update: I didn't give the work 14" as much time to set up properly so it might be that when the dust settles they are more equal it battery life. I will watch this over the next weeks. Remarked by CloudsNeverDie and he may be right.
I would recommend the extra memory for dev work. My 24GB are just enough but I would not go lower and I feel if they bring an M3 with 36GB it would not hurt either. For me 16GB would mean a fair amount of swapping. SSDs swap quickly but it will introduce a bit of lag and also cost some batterylife.
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Really great summary. Thank you. Seems the 15in MBA is the way to go for office work and 16in MBP for everything else pro related.
There's really something be said for the ergonomics on the Air. It fits nicely on the lap without falling between the knees and the front edge doesn't push up into the wrists. The thin and large "tray" creates a comfy workspace for your hands to hang out on.
I didn't notice anywhere near such a big difference in battery life between the M2 14" MBP and the M2 15" MBA. I would get about 6 hours on the Pro and 6.5-7 hours on the Air at comparable brightness. The difference you saw might have been due to software installed by your corporation on the Pro, or some errant process running the background consuming energy (this happened to me in the first week so I know from first hand experience - some zombie error handling process from Chrome was consuming two cores constantly until I rebooted.)
^^^^ That is important! ^^^^
^^^^ Yet, more supporting data. ^^^^
Other threads around MR also note the 14's more limited battery life, although it varies by processor.
^^^^ Difference is not as large, but the 15” still has better battery life. ^^^^
good summary, and you dont notice a large difference in screen appearance (clarity or color) for example? I can and thats the only thing that bugs me.. (14 pro being better) IMO, 15 better form factor..
i tried the 15.3" MBAir for a few days but then sent it back and decided i'm happy with my 13.6" MBA.
all specs are identical except for larger screen and 250 grams weight.
i did have a 14" MBPro (M1) there for 6 months but sold it and opted for the M2 Air when it came out - for the weight factor.
base M2 13.6" Air with 16GB memory is the dream machine for my business and personal use.
(i'd rather spend the extra $ on memory than a bigger screen)
all specs are identical except for larger screen and 250 grams weight.
i did have a 14" MBPro (M1) there for 6 months but sold it and opted for the M2 Air when it came out - for the weight factor.
base M2 13.6" Air with 16GB memory is the dream machine for my business and personal use.
(i'd rather spend the extra $ on memory than a bigger screen)
The 13.6" really is an incredible machine yes
- the year I had mine, I was convinced they would have to pry it out my cold, dead hands ... then I got the 15" and went 'hallelujah'. But for a smaller form-factor, and at the reduced price!, hard to recommend any other laptop thanthe 13.6" 🤩
It's incredible going from a 13in to a 15in. Once you get used to that extra screen real estate and move back to the smaller 13in it feels like "how did I get anything done on that small device?!". That's how it felt for me anyways.The 13.6" really is an incredible machine yes
the 13.6" 🤩
so you prefer the 15?The 13.6" really is an incredible machine yes
the 13.6" 🤩