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This is what I am thinking. For quite a bit more money yes you do get the m2 pro chip, probably the same SSD speed, better screen, more ports and active cooling.

Does this add up to 33% more value? Not so sure!
even i'll admit the xdr display, better sound, better cpu and gpu are not worth 500 euro more, however if you are in the us, the price difference is only 50 bucks.
 
The reason I got the M2 MBA and subsequently, the 15" MBA over the MBP, is because I don't need all the extra ports. I don't care about watching movies on a laptop because I have an 85" 4K tv for that purpose. I am not an audiophile and don't have a need to have MBP type speakers in my laptop, as I have the 2nd Gen HomePods to give me better sound when needed.

While it is true I could have spent close to the same money and gotten the MBP, it wouldn't have been a good personal value for me, as I wouldn't have used most of the highlighted features and that would have been wasted money.
you don't have to be a audiophile or screen snob to enjoy these features, these two features impact everyday usage not just when you need to blast music or watch a HDR movie.
 
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Try it out versus your 64GB system(just make sure both run the same OS version) and decide from there how bad the base version is. You can always return it after the test.
i actually did test it out vs a colleague of mine who got the new 15 inch, speed wise there is no difference, the apple silicon is so snappy you would need another 5 years in software development before noticing any kind of slow down. what appears the most obvious to me was the screen quality, not surprised that typical traditional backlit lcd panels used on the mba looks washed out compare to the miniled lid 14inch.
 
you don't have to be a audiophile or screen snob to enjoy these features, these two features impact everyday usage not just when you need to blast music or watch a HDR movie.
That is true. For me, I don't see paying a lot more for accessories I would have no need for. My last Air was fully specced and I paid $2600 for it. To many MBP here, that makes no sense when I could have had the MBP. I was willing to make the trade-off and I did it again. If Apple ever offers the MBP without all the ports in the same type style as the Air, I would get the MBP.
 
That is true. For me, I don't see paying a lot more for accessories I would have no need for. My last Air was fully specced and I paid $2600 for it. To many MBP here, that makes no sense when I could have had the MBP. I was willing to make the trade-off and I did it again. If Apple ever offers the MBP without all the ports in the same type style as the Air, I would get the MBP.
for me the sd slot is a plus, i didn't buy my 14inch because i need all these ports, mainly cause i needed the ram.

your buying decision is definitely unique, i would definitely prioritize otherwise.
 
At work we just received two new MBA 15". Honestly, they look nice. However, we tested it with a dock, and two monitors, and nope, doesn't work.

So, for me, the MBP is the winner for me, because of dual monitors...
My company replaced our old two monitor setups with a 34” widescreen that is much nicer and works well as a single cable display/charge solution for Macs and PCs.
 
even i'll admit the xdr display, better sound, better cpu and gpu are not worth 500 euro more, however if you are in the us, the price difference is only 50 bucks.
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Just to make sure, we are comparing apples to apples - these are the configs I am talking about. These configs are only $50 apart in the US?
 
View attachment 2226886View attachment 2226888

Just to make sure, we are comparing apples to apples - these are the configs I am talking about. These configs are only £/$50 apart in the US?
yes, macbook pro m2 14inch 512gb 16gb can be had from costco, walmart, b&h for 1750 usd. while the same config is 1700 for a mba 15inch.

edit: oops, didn't know you were comparing to the 13inch mba, the cheapest i can find for the 13 is 1500 on amazon. so 250 bucks difference, with only 250 bucks difference, thats the gray area and only you can decide if its worth it.
 
yes, macbook pro m2 14inch 512gb 16gb can be had from costco, walmart, b&h for 1750 usd. while the same config is 1700 for a mba 15inch.

edit: oops, didn't know you were comparing to the 13inch mba, the cheapest i can find for the 13 is 1500 on amazon. so 250 bucks difference, with only 250 bucks difference, thats the gray area and only you can decide if its worth it.
Very interesting. In the UK, we struggle to get BTO options in anywhere but the Apple UK store. I'm sure there are discounts to be had elsewhere on the 14" pro. Costco is currently:
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and Amazon:
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In the UK, the 13" Air is pretty good value.
 
My company replaced our old two monitor setups with a 34” widescreen that is much nicer and works well as a single cable display/charge solution for Macs and PCs.
Interesting. Are you now using just using the 34" or the 34" and the MacBook screen, too?
 
I ordered a 16TB/1TB Silver 15" MBA, which is supposed to arrive by Tuesday. I previously had the same configuration on the 13". I have the Space Grey 15" in this configuration so I've been using it for a few weeks, but since ordered the Silver option to return the Space Grey once I have the Silver one setup. However, after reading all the posts, I'm wondering if I should get a MBP instead or beef up the RAM. I'm just a general user but all these posts have me second guessing myself.
 
Do you think that Apple specifically doesn't offer dual monitor access on the MBA, to convince consumers to purchase the MBP?

its a pcie/memory buffer limitation.

It's absolutely a hardware limitation, but one that Apple has engineered in by-design. Partly that will be cost control to keep the MBA price down, partly it will be what @circatee suggests to up-sell some people.

IMO it all makes sense. The MBA is the laptop you buy when you want a very good laptop. It's the default choice as it does so many things brilliantly.
But, the moment you say 'ah, but it doesn't have / do...' or 'yeah, but I need / want the better...' you're into MBP territory.

The majority of MBA buyers won't regularly want to connect multiple displays. They also won't truly take advantage of the better screen, or additional ports, or other MBP-specific advantages. The MBA has taken the place of the old plastic model MacBook's, which were the default non-Windows choice for many people and satisfy most peoples needs without spec'ing up too much.
There is absolutely an audience who want those the MBP improvements in the body of an MBA, I'm one of them*, but I don't need them, it's just a preference.
Once you get to a need, or you have a buyer who is willing to spend more money on their own preferences, Apple want you to step-up into the MBP models.

(*Give me a 13" M2 MBA with the ProRes screen, slightly higher resolution, and Centre Stage on the camera please. Take my money!)
 
Interesting. Are you now using just using the 34" or the 34" and the MacBook screen, too?
I use both. The MBP screen for email/calendar/slack and the 34” for documents/browsers/etc.

Same arrangement at home though I only have a 27” screen there. 😞😁
 
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I ordered a 16TB/1TB Silver 15" MBA, which is supposed to arrive by Tuesday. I previously had the same configuration on the 13". I have the Space Grey 15" in this configuration so I've been using it for a few weeks, but since ordered the Silver option to return the Space Grey once I have the Silver one setup. However, after reading all the posts, I'm wondering if I should get a MBP instead or beef up the RAM. I'm just a general user but all these posts have me second guessing myself.

Watch this and you'll see that even upgrading RAM might be overkill for casual use:


For casual use, I think it comes down to basically... whether you want a machine that runs cool and silent, or if you prefer one that will allow you to game and has the best possible screen a MacBook has right now. Even intensive workloads that people think they need the Pro for actually may not benefit that much, if at all, from a Pro.
 
The air is lighter and less expensive.
Completely agree with your assessment.

However... it sure is much harder to misspell words when you can't find any pencil in a pinch.
(not trying to make a case either way, just pointing out a potential logical fallacy in your comparison - please forgive my boldness)
 
you don't have to be a audiophile or screen snob to enjoy these features, these two features impact everyday usage not just when you need to blast music or watch a HDR movie.

Their point is that they don't care about screen quality or sound quality that much and I suppose value a small light laptop over those features. Is that hard to understand? Everyone is different, no?
 
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Just got MBA15 in addition to M1 MBP16. The size and weight advantage to MBA15 can't be understated. To me it's the absolute perfect travel laptop that Apple finally gave us after all these years. I wouldn't want to take MBP16 out of house anymore.
I am on the fence, I honestly don't want to travel with my MBP16, I prefer to keep it home as my primary desktop -clamshell. I do travel a lot and feel that the mba would be ideal to have for travel. However when I am not traveling i can see that i would have two laptops at home.. do you see yourself regretting on having two/
 
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