Why I've Chosen the M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro vs the MacBook Air M2

[booksbooks]

Just got a M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro. 24 cores on the GPU, 10 cores for the CPU, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB. Multi-core Geekbench of 12513 (vs. MacBook Air M2 at ~9000) and OpenCL (Compute) of 51,341.

Deciding factors of the 14" MBP M1 Max over the M2 Air:

• Slightly larger screen, very similar physical size.
• Better screen.
• Supports multiple monitors, the Air only supports 1.
• Expectation of noticeably better sustained CPU performance since it has the thermal envelope (fans) to support it.
• Expectation of better sounding speakers.
• Expectation of much better GPU performance since it has 24 cores vs. 10 in the Air.

I do have an Air on order so I'm still open to it as a possibility but I sold my M1 MacBook Air base model because my usage was just way too much for it. I blew through the 8 GB RAM and it was constantly using wired memory from the HD which also pretty much ran out. The computer was freezing up and slow and just could not keep up with me at all. I know the M2 Air is going to be a better performer, but the problem as always is sustained performance since it has a paltry thermal envelope so it must have to throttle the CPU and GPU accordingly. Even with that, not sure a downgrade in screen and lack of multi-monitor support, etc. is something I can give up.

I'm approaching this as a guy who was around for the very first MacBook Air release and got bit like many others over the CPU throttling and overheating. I also have a 16" MacBook Pro M1 Pro. This and the 14" do heat up a bit underneath, but not near as bad as the Intel MacBook Pros. Even though we are many years past the original MacBook Air, we are still using the same technology and it's subject to needing to be cooled. So without a robust thermal envelope, I believe that the M2 Air, while it will likely perform well, it will still struggle with sustained performance unlike the Pros.

 

[applesith]

I wonder how you managed to work off the base M1 Air considering how much of a jump you wanted to make from that to a $3K+ Max machine. I think it's always good to have more than enough performance available to keep your experience positive and free of bottlenecks wherever possible.

I ordered a new M2 Air with 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD to make sure I do not run into my current bottlenecks from my M1 MBP with 8GB RAM. I may have gotten by on 16GB RAM but did not want to chance it.

Depending on what you are using the machine for, the Pros will of course sustain better performance given their better chips and cooling alone. I never would expect the M2 Air to be on the same level.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Enjoy your new MBP, @booksbooks.

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

Sounds like you might as well go ahead & cancel that Air preorder. Between the anecdotes & preconceived notion about the cooling, your decision seems clear cut. Enjoy your new Max.

 

[booksbooks]

I wonder how you managed to work off the base M1 Air considering how much of a jump you wanted to make from that to a $3K+ Max machine. I think it's always good to have more than enough performance available to keep your experience positive and free of bottlenecks wherever possible.

I ordered a new M2 Air with 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD to make sure I do not run into my current bottlenecks from my M1 MBP with 8GB RAM. I may have gotten by on 16GB RAM but did not want to chance it.

Depending on what you are using the machine for, the Pros will of course sustain better performance given their better chips and cooling alone. I never would expect the M2 Air to be on the same level.

I've had a 16" M1 MBP for over 6 months. Got the M1 Air as a second machine for travel, etc. Big mistake, my fault. Nowhere near enough computer for me.

 

[booksbooks]

Pretty much what I thought. For many with basic to moderate computing needs, the Air will be great. Otherwise, it throttles down noticeably against any kind of sustained throughput.

 

[calstanford]

Air is not a spec machine. If you need high performance why buy the lowest spec computer Apple sells?

Air is for people who aren't running after benchmarks and continuous 3D rendering and video encoding.

You can't convince me Safari, Mail, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Zoom, Slack, etc runs better on a 'Pro'.

 

[booksbooks]

Air is not a spec machine. If you need high performance why buy the lowest spec computer Apple sells?

Air is for people who aren't running after benchmarks and continuous 3D rendering and video encoding.

You can't convince me Safari, Mail, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Zoom, Slack, etc runs better on a 'Pro'.

If you run out of resources these will run better. The problem I had on the Air M1 was I ran out of RAM and HD space. I now have 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB HD in the Pro. But I tend to agree with you that the Air should be running these applications similar to the Pro all things being equal. The only question becomes about throttling... if the Air heats up it will start to progressively throttle and therefore slowdown.

 

[booksbooks]

Throttling test.

 

[FattKingHugeman]

you are clearly a Macbook Pro user.
The M2 Macbook Air will not be suitable for you if you are already blowing up the M1 MBA.

 

[Isamilis]

Just got a M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro. 24 cores on the GPU, 10 cores for the CPU, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB. Multi-core Geekbench of 12513 (vs. MacBook Air M2 at ~9000) and OpenCL (Compute) of 51,341.

Deciding factors of the 14" MBP M1 Max over the M2 Air:

• Slightly larger screen, very similar physical size.
• Better screen.
• Supports multiple monitors, the Air only supports 1.
• Expectation of noticeably better sustained CPU performance since it has the thermal envelope (fans) to support it.
• Expectation of better sounding speakers.
• Expectation of much better GPU performance since it has 24 cores vs. 10 in the Air.

I do have an Air on order so I'm still open to it as a possibility but I sold my M1 MacBook Air base model because my usage was just way too much for it. I blew through the 8 GB RAM and it was constantly using wired memory from the HD which also pretty much ran out. The computer was freezing up and slow and just could not keep up with me at all. I know the M2 Air is going to be a better performer, but the problem as always is sustained performance since it has a paltry thermal envelope so it must have to throttle the CPU and GPU accordingly. Even with that, not sure a downgrade in screen and lack of multi-monitor support, etc. is something I can give up.

I'm approaching this as a guy who was around for the very first MacBook Air release and got bit like many others over the CPU throttling and overheating. I also have a 16" MacBook Pro M1 Pro. This and the 14" do heat up a bit underneath, but not near as bad as the Intel MacBook Pros. Even though we are many years past the original MacBook Air, we are still using the same technology and it's subject to needing to be cooled. So without a robust thermal envelope, I believe that the M2 Air, while it will likely perform well, it will still struggle with sustained performance unlike the Pros.

I am doubt, Air vs Pro comparison is fair comparison.

 

[DHagan4755]

Many years ago I was having pizza at this restaurant nearby. This lady shows up on her motorcycle. Little did I realize when she arrived that she was getting takeout. A few minutes later, she's got a bag of chicken wings & 2 large pizzas. Watching her trying to coordinate that on her motorcycle to leave was amusing to watch.

This is the scenario I'm envisioning when people bitch that the MacBook Air M2 throttles doing heavy work like exporting a complex Final Cut project.

The lady eventually got situated & drove off with her takeout so it was doable but it would have been way easier had she taken a car or truck to pickup the food. Maybe the bike was the only mode of transportation she had. Similarly, the MacBook Air M2 will get the job done, albeit slower because of throttling; I don't know if the lady made it home with her pizzas intact.

 

[CalMin]

M1 to M2 isn’t an intended upgrade path. If you were killing the M1, then you won’t do much better with an M2. It’s an incremental change and not a game changer over the M1.

The M1 Max is quite a leap, but may the M1 Pro will be enough? The M1 Pro is a big jump over M1 and while the M1 Max is more powerful still, you only benefit from very specific tasks. For general computing the M1 Pro and Max aren’t appreciably different except the Max runs warmer and has slightly less battery life.

Either way you have made the right choice to go M1 Max/Pro. You would not be satisfied with M2 Air.

 

[bbfc]

There is a significant difference between the M2 Air and the M1 Max MBP. Defo sounds like you're a Pro user, so I don't understand why you'd go for the M1 Air in the first place, and also why you even considered the M2 Air.

 

[ADGrant]

Just got a M1 Max 14" MacBook Pro. 24 cores on the GPU, 10 cores for the CPU, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB. Multi-core Geekbench of 12513 (vs. MacBook Air M2 at ~9000) and OpenCL (Compute) of 51,341.

Deciding factors of the 14" MBP M1 Max over the M2 Air:

• Slightly larger screen, very similar physical size.
• Better screen.
• Supports multiple monitors, the Air only supports 1.
• Expectation of noticeably better sustained CPU performance since it has the thermal envelope (fans) to support it.
• Expectation of better sounding speakers.
• Expectation of much better GPU performance since it has 24 cores vs. 10 in the Air.

Comparing the M2 MBA to the a 14" MBP with the M1 Max is an odd comparison. OTOH The M2 MBA should certainly be compared to the base 14" MBP. By the time you have upgraded you MBA to 16gb of RAM and a 512gb SSD you are looking at a price of $1700 which is only $300 less than the MBP. However the MBP is often available from other retailers for about $1800 and because it is not a special order item, it is normally available immediately.

 

[ADGrant]

I am doubt, Air vs Pro comparison is fair comparison.

The base 14" MBP or the 13" MBP is definitely a fair comparison.

 

[tim1000]

The base 14" MBP or the 13" MBP is definitely a fair comparison.

lets see a comparison.

 

[ADGrant]

lets see a comparison.

• Slightly larger screen, very similar physical size.
• Much better screen.
• Supports multiple monitors, the Air only supports 1.
• Expectation of noticeably better sustained CPU performance since it has the thermal envelope (fans) to support it.
• Expectation of better sounding speakers.
• Slightly worse single core performance but much better multicore performance and sustained single core
• Better GPU performance
• Better SSD performance
• Base spec is 16gb/512GB so no need to BTO. Can buy at a discount for about $100 more than a BTO MBA with 16gb/512GB.

In summary a much better machine at a small increased cost and some additional bulk and weight.

 

[FattKingHugeman]

I have both with me right now. MBA M2 16gb/512gb and MBP 14 based spec 16gb/512gb. Feel free to ask me.

Noticeable difference right away: The screen of MBP 14 is much better with better contrast and inky black and that Pro Motion makes its seems smoother. The Speakers of the MPB 14 sounds roughly as good as the Homepod Mini. It's really awesome. Not like the M2 MBA is bad, in fact it is good too but there is just no comparison to the MBP 14. The weight of the MBA M2 feels alot lighter than the MBP 14, i can hardly feel it in my backpack, it is very important if you will be carrying alot of stuffs and communting often.

The day to day task such as web surfing and video watching, some office work, they perform about the same in terms of speed. No clear winner.

For regular use, either will be very fine but the MBP is really the premium upgrade feel in terms of media experience. I can't get over how good the speakers sound, it's very full sounding and quite immersive for a laptop, reminds me of my MBP 15 inch from 2017. For the MBA M2 its just very easy to pick up and use and its looks even better than the MBP 14, in terms of form factor i think it wins.

I haven't got to push the devices in stressing and audio/video editing stuffs. But i could already imagine most people be very happy with the M2 MBA and in fact the M1 MBA still got it too. The M2 MBA is just like a nicely improved M1 MBA, if you are happy with the M1 MBA, you won't be disappointed with the M2 MBA.

 

[Imory]

I have both with me right now. MBA M2 16gb/512gb and MBP 14 based spec 16gb/512gb. Feel free to ask me.

Noticeable difference right away: The screen of MBP 14 is much better with better contrast and inky black and that Pro Motion makes its seems smoother. The Speakers of the MPB 14 sounds roughly as good as the Homepod Mini. It's really awesome. Not like the M2 MBA is bad, in fact it is good too but there is just no comparison to the MBP 14. The weight of the MBA M2 feels alot lighter than the MBP 14, i can hardly feel it in my backpack, it is very important if you will be carrying alot of stuffs and communting often.

The day to day task such as web surfing and video watching, some office work, they perform about the same in terms of speed. No clear winner.

For regular use, either will be very fine but the MBP is really the premium upgrade feel in terms of media experience. I can't get over how good the speakers sound, it's very full sounding and quite immersive for a laptop, reminds me of my MBP 15 inch from 2017. For the MBA M2 its just very easy to pick up and use and its looks even better than the MBP 14, in terms of form factor i think it wins.

I haven't got to push the devices in stressing and audio/video editing stuffs. But i could already imagine most people be very happy with the M2 MBA and in fact the M1 MBA still got it too. The M2 MBA is just like a nicely improved M1 MBA, if you are happy with the M1 MBA, you won't be disappointed with the M2 MBA.

How do both devices handle multiple tabs on Firefox & Safari? How do they handle 4K 60 FPS Youtube videos? I imagine both have decoders/media engines which handle it fine, but I haven't tried it myself. I'm curious what the average temp is for the Air if you have a few tabs and let it run a 10 min 4K HDR 60 fps video.

 

[ADGrant]

I haven't got to push the devices in stressing and audio/video editing stuffs. But i could already imagine most people be very happy with the M2 MBA and in fact the M1 MBA still got it too. The M2 MBA is just like a nicely improved M1 MBA, if you are happy with the M1 MBA, you won't be disappointed with the M2 MBA.

If you already have an M1 MBA and are happy with it, why would you upgrade?

 

[geta]

@FattKingHugeman, Can you make Speedtest for the SSD’s, curious whats the difference will be?

 

[inglishmayjur]

I wonder how you managed to work off the base M1 Air considering how much of a jump you wanted to make from that to a $3K+ Max machine. I think it's always good to have more than enough performance available to keep your experience positive and free of bottlenecks wherever possible.

I ordered a new M2 Air with 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD to make sure I do not run into my current bottlenecks from my M1 MBP with 8GB RAM. I may have gotten by on 16GB RAM but did not want to chance it.

Depending on what you are using the machine for, the Pros will of course sustain better performance given their better chips and cooling alone. I never would expect the M2 Air to be on the same level.

I made this exact order -- I think we made the right decision!

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Many years ago I was having pizza at this restaurant nearby. This lady shows up on her motorcycle. Little did I realize when she arrived that she was getting takeout. A few minutes later, she's got a bag of chicken wings & 2 large pizzas. Watching her trying to coordinate that on her motorcycle to leave was amusing to watch.

This is the scenario I'm envisioning when people bitch that the MacBook Air M2 throttles doing heavy work like exporting a complex Final Cut project.

The lady eventually got situated & drove off with her takeout so it was doable but it would have been way easier had she taken a car or truck to pickup the food. Maybe the bike was the only mode of transportation she had. Similarly, the MacBook Air M2 will get the job done, albeit slower because of throttling; I don't know if the lady made it home with her pizzas intact.

I love your analogy. With my 2009 MBP it's a bicycle, the wings in bags one side of the handle bars, pizza other side and trying not to hit them with my knees. It's a slow trip home and the softdrink I used to like, I had to leave behind at the restaurant. Oh..the tyres are flat but at least the bell works.

 

[DHagan4755]

I love your analogy. With my 2009 MBP it's a bicycle, the wings in bags one side of the handle bars, pizza other side and trying not to hit them with my knees. It's a slow trip home and the softdrink I used to like, I had to leave behind at the restaurant. Oh..the tyres are flat but at least the bell works.

Hahaha. We were eating outside & of course I had to get a photo. This was in 2013 so I took this with my iPhone 5 from where we were sitting (no 2x or 3x telephoto back then) 😆