Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Advice: Best small intel MacBook Pro/Air?

A

albanoguarralavate

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2022
6
0
I used to have an M1 Air and Pro but sold them. They are fantastic, but they have one crucial downside for me: Dragon Professional (by nuance) does not run. Of course, I am aware that Dragon for Mac has been discontinued, but I still have a usable version that simply fails to work under Rosetta. Windows ARM under parallels works kind of, and even Dragon can be installed...but..recently I got an excellent deal for a MBP 16 i9 32 GB - and Dragon under Parallels works much better than on the M1 machines (I used it on an M1Max too - still the 2019 model was superior - all benchmarks notwithstanding, I am aware of pertinent YouTube-Videos).

Since I am very satisfied with the MBP 2019 16, I would like a smaller model for travels. The MBP 13 M1 was great for traveling bc of its fantastic battery life but still has the same problem regarding Parallels.

I also have a Macbook 12 2017 i7 16GB, but here, Parallels performs poorly, the device does not even run Dragon for Mac properly (everything under Monterey 12.4 btw) and it has serious cooling issues. It is a pity bc of its weight/size but it is no longer practical.

So I was looking at the last MBP/MBA from 2020 or maybe 2019, and would like to know: which is best suited for my needs (battery, performance)? I have a decent offer for a MBA i7 but am afraid it will have terrible battery life bc of potential heating issues.

I am aware of Bootcamp too but would rather stick to Parallels, so please provide advice on that basis if you have any and would like to share it.
Thank you!
 
P

pdx2pwm

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2022
1
0
Hello! I'm a longtime Bootcamp user. In fact, the main computers I have used since 2014 are Macs running Bootcamp (formerly a MacBook Air, now two MacBook Pros). One of my Macs is the 2019 MBP 16 with an i9 chip; the other is the 2020 MBP 13 with an i7 chip.

Both laptops have relatively poor battery life when running Windows 10. My 2019 MBP 16 lasts only 2 hours when on battery (and the battery is nearly brand new). The 2020 MBP 13 seems a bit better, maybe 3 hours total when on battery. I'm typing on the MBP 13 right now; the bottom of the laptop is quite hot, not hot enough to burn my skin, but still very warm.

I don't know how it would perform with Parallels as I run Bootcamp. My guess is that battery life might be better; it certainly lasts longer when the macOS operating system is running (between 50% and 150% longer). The performance of the MBP i7 is pretty good so far; I haven't seen major differences in performance vs. the MBP 16 (the MBP 13 has 32 GB of RAM, the latter has 64 GB of RAM).

Having said that, if you are worried about battery life, your concerns are well founded, as even the macOS side of the machine seems to only get between 4 and 6 hours, if that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom