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13" M1 Air vs Pro

M

MBPUser21

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 5, 2021
20
6
I’m currently deciding between the M1 Air and 13” Pro, both at 16GB/512GB, the price difference is £235.

Unfortunately I had to return the 14” as I found out I’m sensitive to PWM at that level, so only have the option of these two. My current laptop is a mid-2014 MBP which I’ve had since release, so am hopefully planning on keeping a new one as long as possible (7yrs+). I do prefer the design of the pro but am not sure on the Touch Bar. Apparently the screen is slightly brighter as well, I use my laptop to watch tv so would like a decent screen. I’m also going to be using it with an external monitor a lot.

I’m fairly new to programming but would love to make a career out of it & spend all day on my laptop atm so need something that will hold up. It would be great to know if anyone has either of these and your experience with it, especially using Xcode. Am just wondering whether the price difference is worth it considering the performance is pretty similar.
 
MBPUser21 said:
I’m currently deciding between the M1 Air and 13” Pro, both at 16GB/512GB, the price difference is £235.

Unfortunately I had to return the 14” as I found out I’m sensitive to PWM at that level, so only have the option of these two. My current laptop is a mid-2014 MBP which I’ve had since release, so am hopefully planning on keeping a new one as long as possible (7yrs+). I do prefer the design of the pro but am not sure on the Touch Bar. Apparently the screen is slightly brighter as well, I use my laptop to watch tv so would like a decent screen. I’m also going to be using it with an external monitor a lot.

I’m fairly new to programming but would love to make a career out of it & spend all day on my laptop atm so need something that will hold up. It would be great to know if anyone has either of these and your experience with it, especially using Xcode. Am just wondering whether the price difference is worth it considering the performance is pretty similar.
Click to expand...
The M1 MacBook Air and Pro are basically the same. Same CPU, same GPU (provided you do not get the lower-end MacBook Air). The MacBook Pro may be marginally faster because of thermals, but I suppose you will not notice any real-world difference.

The MacBook Pro has a brighter display (500 nits) than the Air (400 nits). I can notice the difference when they are side by side. The MacBook Pro also has a better sound system.

And there are the obvious differences, of course. The MacBook Pro has the TouchBar, which is no big deal at all. Plus, it is heavier and is expected to have better battery life.

Considering the price difference, I would take the Air. I suppose that, with a £235 price difference, you could get 1 TB storage on the Air, which would make it more worth it, in my opinion, than the Pro with 512 GB.
 
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I started out with both. I had a really hard time deciding. As the other poster said, the screen is noticeably better on the Pro, but it’s not massively better. The speakers are also much better. That’s not to say the Air has bad speakers. The Pro speakers just have a richer sound and better bass. Battery life is also a good bit better on the Pro. You should easily get through the day though with either one.

My decision was to get a higher end Air with 16GB and 512GB SSD. I just felt like the value was better.
 
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I was also tossed between the Air and Pro....I opted for the MBP 13 16GB/ 1TB and very happy with my decision. I always buy Apple refurbs sot the difference between the two was about $200. I'm a fan of the Touch Bar and opted for the little better screen, battery life and speakers. Plus I like the form factor of the MBP vs. the Air. Both are about the same size and weight, which I love and the battery life on the M1 MBP 13 is Insane! ....best laptop computer I've ever owned. It was worth the $200 difference for me.
 
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262Runnr said:
I was also tossed between the Air and Pro....I opted for the MBP 13 16GB/ 1TB and very happy with my decision. I always buy Apple refurbs sot the difference between the two was about $200. I'm a fan of the Touch Bar and opted for the little better screen, battery life and speakers. Plus I like the form factor of the MBP vs. the Air. Both are about the same size and weight, which I love and the battery life on the M1 MBP 13 is Insane! ....best laptop computer I've ever owned. It was worth the $200 difference for me.
Click to expand...

Apple refurbs are usually a great buy. I got my MBA refurbished through Apple, as well.
 
I moved from 8/256 MBP 2019 13 inch to 16/512 m1 MBA for roughly same original price. I sold MPB for about 750 dollars so I saved quite a lot for MBA purchase.

Budget and weight savings were important for me.

I never used touchbar, and I have headphones to listen to music on computer, so built in speakers are not that important. I use notebooks on 40-50% brightness so max brightness was also not interesting for me. YMMV so make your choice. I'd spend the 225 pounds on good accessories such as external drive or a good USB-C hub.
I am very happy with MBA M1 as it is a progress for me on all counts.
 
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