16GB Air VS 14" M1 Base Pro

[AlexanderUK]

As the new models have appeared I figured I'd throw out the question that comes up regularly (and is one I'm considering).

When the M1 Air's came out I decided to wait for reviews before buying partly due to this being a whole new beast, and partly due to awaiting compatibility with certain stuff I regularly use. I'm a web and app developer so I'll be running VSCode, using homebrew (and other terminal tools like npm), doing a fair bit of graphic work (Affinity), and both audio and video editing (I do courses) which means hitting the GPU for rendering hours of recorded stuff. I also do cross-platform apps which need compiling so that'll take a CPU hit too. Plus I use it for personal use so watching movies and listening to music.

Currently I use a 2011 Mid Air. It's barely holding itself together but somehow still functions, so I'm definitely in the market for an upgrade - but as noted previously I wanted to let the dust settle on the M1's before diving into the next generation.

So... Do I go with an M1 Air (maybe wait for the 2022 refresh) which has the advantage of being £400 less (in the UK), weighs less, and has a better battery life.
Or should I go for the base 14" M1 Pro which has the advantages of a better processor, display, speakers and ports.

 

[jterp7]

id do base 14" if you can stretch it, screen and processor difference will be massive. Granted in the US thats $1849 with edu.

For comparison for new the M1 air has been as low as $750 and its plenty for casual tasks but just from a quick look at your compiling/rendering/code/graphics you could use the power.

 

[steve217]

@jterp7 makes a good case for the 14" Pro, but if you're using a mid-2011 Air now for those tasks you mentioned, even upgrading to a 2020 MBA, 8 or 16gb, will feel like you've died and gone to heaven.

 

[UBS28]

If you are a web and app developer, the M1 Air would be sufficient most likely.

 

[darngooddesign]

I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find used M1 Airs for 2/3 retail.

 

[Woodcrest64]

If you're doing video/graphic work quite regularly I'd opt for the 14" MacBook Pro. I do graphic and video editing with my M1 MacBook Air and its awesome but I'm not doing it everyday where every minute counts. I never thought I'd own an MacBook Air with 8 cores out performing intel based iMacs and 16" MacBooks Pros. Crazy times. LOL!