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I’m still rocking my 2013 MBP 15” Retina. Ive always felt that (or 2012) should be up there in the top laptops of all time. I’m always amazed at how well it’s held up and kept up speed wise. I still edit 4K videos (not even using proxies) just fine. Most apps open within a second.

Two mods I made last year:
- SSD from 256GB to 1TB (big speed increase)
- New battery. Still not great, but nice to have

I have one complaint, which comes for all devices eventually, and that’s graphics card support. Photoshop ran very well up until 2020 or 2021, then they dropped support for that card. Still runs but there’s lag in certain operations because it’s falling back to CPU. Capture One is still going strong though! So besides GPU intensive work, coding, email, etc. I don’t have a need to upgrade yet!

Also it’s not a money thing. I make the IT buying decisions at work. Bought several M1 MBA this year already for people to do email on :)
 
I pasted the dimensions of both below from the Apple website. It’s close and probably to the point where most people wouldn’t notice but the M2 still has the advantage. The big difference is processing power. That 2017 MacBook Pro was terrible IMO. It should’ve never had the Pro name. That was when Johnny Ives was pushing thin and light on everything. Dual core processor and Intel iris graphics… It was a great MacBook Air but definitely not a Pro. I’m so glad he’s gone. Perhaps he would’ve been helpful as a design influence but they let him have way too much power to control the production.




2017 MacBook Pro

  • Height: 0.59 inch (1.49 cm)
  • Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
  • Depth: 8.36 inches (21.24 cm)
  • Weight: 3.02 pounds (1.37 kg)3

M2 MacBook Air

  • Height: 0.44 inch (1.13 cm)
  • Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
  • Depth: 8.46 inches (21.5 cm)
  • Weight: 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg
Don’t you think he meant to say 2017 MacBook? Maybe just confused that it’s not a pro???
 
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fishing for attention… the 14 pro is miles ahead. mini led is miles ahead. both laptops are for different markets and if you’re comparing what’s better the pro is in almost every way
Except in anything single core which is what most people use the air for, not heavy multithreaded work loads. Speedometer 2.0 test has the air 150 points higher, geekbench single core higher as well. Sorry to hurt your feelings about that but the air is no slouch, it’s just not a heavy duty sustained machine, which it was never intended to be. But it flys through day to day tasks and faster then the pros
 
the pros are great macs; the air is great for people who don't need the power of the MBPs. there's room for both in the world.
The thing is, while researching a MBP versus MBA decision, I've found that the vast majority of MBP owners who've posted their experiences on sites like this, Reddit and in YouTube comments, don't need the power of a MBP, not even close.

Clearly, the users on tech websites aren't representative of all MBP owners. And it's okay to buy something nicer just because.
 
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Except in anything single core which is what most people use the air for, not heavy multithreaded work loads. Speedometer 2.0 test has the air 150 points higher, geekbench single core higher as well. Sorry to hurt your feelings about that but the air is no slouch, it’s just not a heavy duty sustained machine, which it was never intended to be. But it flys through day to day tasks and faster then the pros
Unless you buy the one with 256GB storage 🤣
 
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There just seems to be this perception that the MBA is for the plebs who only need Ford Focus performance but I need the Ford Mustang performance of a MBP. In reality, the MBA is no slouch and the base model MBP only truly outshines the MBA under sustained, intensive workloads.

Admittedly, Apple didn't help the MBA by pushing its price so close to the heavily-discounted MBP base model at equivalent RAM and SSD.
 
I've had the M2 MBA for a few weeks now. Midnight Blue. 24 GB RAM, 1 TB HD, maxed out essentially. I've owned almost every Apple laptop ever made. I used to run a Website that covered the history of Apple laptops. I also use to buy and sell used Apple laptops, take them apart, mod them, etc.

My favourite Apple laptop of all time was the Wallstreet PowerBook. Now, the MBA M2 has taken the crown. My 14" MBP M1 is collecting dust as I continue to reach for and extensively use the MBA. Here are my reasons as to why the MBA M2 is the best laptop Apple has ever made:

  • Thin and light beyond thin and light: this is effectively the thinnest and lightest laptop Apple has ever made (yes the smaller netbook MBA is an exception). I can't stress enough what this brings to the user experience. It's like an iPad in a way, but a full and powerful laptop. This is one major and significant factor of why the M2 MBA is such a good laptop.
  • It looks really good, especially the midnight blue (subjective I know).
  • The keyboard is very good and isn't compromised over the MBPs.
  • The screen is very good, and this is coming from a user of a 14" MBP with a mini-LED display. I honestly don't notice much difference when I use the M2 MBA over the 14" MBP. They really improved the screen over the M1 MBA.
  • It's very fast. The M2 is really a solid performer and I notice no speed differences between the M2 MBA and the 14" MBP.
  • Best battery life this side of Texas. I'm getting over 10 hours consistently, in low power mode I may even reach 12 hours.
  • It doesn't heat up much, and yet still manages to deliver power.
  • Dead. Silent. Operation. No fans, no moving parts.
Things I don't like: notch (hate it) and the speaker quality isn't great but ok.

Apple has delivered an extremely light and thin and small laptop with little compromise on usability or power. Sing it with me:

I use a dark wallpaper for my 14” MBP and M2 Air and barely notice the notch.
 
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that's a ridiculous idea. apple survived the loss of steve jobs, and it's survived the loss of ive. the company continues to grow, innovate. there's a lot of moving parts (ie talented people) making apple work... and it does (work).
all of his machines heated up and were not great IMO! 🤣
 
all of his machines heated up and were not great IMO! 🤣
that's an incredible overstatement. millions of people thrived on (& enjoyed working on) ive-era macbooks. even my 12" macbook (which got pretty warm sometimes) was still an incredible thing (just for what it was).

macbook designs are somewhat more 'tech-first/aesthetic second' now (not a bad thing). but ive was incredible.
 
I disagree with the OP. The M1 MacBook Pro & Air 13inch are the best laptops that apple ever made because they were the first. Also it was a significant leap in performance and efficiency from what came before them. The M2 is incremental.
 
This is the best Mac I've ever owned. I've previously owned an Early 2011 MBP, a Late 2013 MBP, a 2020 Intel MBP, and M1 MBA. Is this the best MacBook ever? I think the 14/16 MBP are better, but this machine is certainly up there.
 
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As long as apple don’t get out of their way to ban apps that offer fake bezel, M2 MacBook Air is acceptable to use for me. Notch is a design compromise, not the future.

The rest of the machine personally feels ok, not too amazing. And fanless, while good, the m1 MacBook Pro I use now barely spin up the fan so it doesn’t matter.

I can say m2 MacBook Air is a solid machine for many people, especially for those who values portability a bit more.
 
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