Advice needed: MBA 24GB vs MBP 16GB for specific use

[awriter]

Hello all!

I plan to replace my 2014 MacBook with a new M2 model. I will be using it for standard-issue stuff (Office for Mac, Safari and other browsers with multiple tabs open, iTunes, etc.) but also sometimes running Windows 11 in a virtual machine under Parallels 18. In the vm, I will be running Dragon Professional 16 dictation software and MS Word. I am a journalist, and basically use the vm to dictate articles while doing everything else on the Mac side.

I also use my MacBooks well beyond the point where they are supported, so I would like to get a 1TB SSD. Given the use of the vm, would I be better served by a MacBook Air with 24GB of RAM or a 14" MacBook Pro with 16GB? With 1TB of storage, the prices are almost exactly the same.

(One more detail: The version of Parallels I use only allows me to give a maximum of 8GB RAM to the vm, but I could upgrade to a version that would allow me to give it more, if necessary.)

 

[kschendel]

Does your existing laptop have 16 GB of memory? if so, and if you're basically OK with performance when the VM is running, I'd probably choose based on the screen. (and you might want to wait a few days to see if a 15" MBA is announced, and what its pricing is.) If your existing laptop has 16 GB and gets choppy or draggy when running the VM, or if you feel that there's a real need to give the VM more memory (as in, poor dictation performance), then I'd lean towards the 24GB MBA.

Does your existing laptop get hot running your usual work? If so, the MBA lacking a fan might be iffy, although you can expect either of the new laptops to run quite a bit cooler than the 2014 laptop.

I don't see that you are doing anything that would benefit significantly from the performance edge of the Pro.

 

[awriter]

Thank you so much for the guidance! This is super helpful.

I do have 16GB, and performance in general has deteriorated over the years, with mild beach-balling even when doing fairly routine stuff *without* the vm running. 😜

And it does occasionally run hot, but not necessarily when the vm is running either; sometimes it happens when I'm simply browsing and using standard apps on the Mac side. Right now, in fact, I've got Mail, iCal, Messages, Contacts, Word, and two Safari tabs open, and it's running warm--but not enough to trigger the fan (yet). And that's without the vm!

Since I plan to devote 8GB or so to the vm when I do use it, perhaps I should just go for the 24GB MBA. I get the educational discount, so it's $180 more than 16GB, which seems worthwhile for the peace of mind, especially since I hope to use this machine for a good long time. 🙂 (And I realized that I was wrong about the equivalent pricing--the 16GB/1TB MBP would actually be more expensive than the 24GB/1TB MBA.)

I will also look out for the 15" MBA!

 

[JamesMay82]

I’ve just got a base spec m1 air with 8 gigs ram and its running outlook, excel, what’s app, safari and photos. It’s runs fine but i do daily get 50 meg ram swaps on it.

Because of that and your higher use than mine I’d be going for 24 gig option, especially while you run them for a long time.

 

[awriter]

Ah, thank you for that! It is so helpful to hear from folks who are using Apple silicon machines and can provide guidance based on experience. I have been struggling to make a decision based on limited information, and you are all giving me some much-needed clarity.

 

[tstafford]

I'd suggest visiting the Apple Store if you can. I own both a M1 MBP and M2 MBA. The screen on the MBP is far superior. I find I enjoy using it quite a bit more unless I am doing something that requires the extra portability and longer battery life.

 

[awriter]

Ha! Funny you should mention that; I was just thinking, "Maybe I should get myself to the Apple Store and compare these in person..."

Which size MBP do you have?

 

[tstafford]

Which size MBP do you have?

14" M1P. It's the best all around laptop I've ever owned. Not knocking the MBA. The MBA is cheaper/lighter but not on the same level as the MBP. Depends on need. There are times the MBA is better for me. But if I could only have one I would take the MBP.

 

[JustAnExpat]

I would say the 14" with 16GB of Ram.

Why?

The Fan. The 14" MacBook Pro has a fan, keeping the processor cool. Running VMs can cause the computer to heat up, and on a MacBook Air, the processor may slow down to prevent overheating. For the MacBook Pro, the fans will turn on instead.

 

[jchap]

In the vm, I will be running Dragon Professional 16 dictation software and MS Word. I am a journalist, and basically use the vm to dictate articles while doing everything else on the Mac side.

Actually, if you are satisfied with the performance of macOS native dictation features, you may be able to forego using Dragon completely (which will be running virtualized under Parallels/Windows). I've found that some Windows apps allow you to pass dictated text to the VM, activated from the standard macOS dictation keyboard shortcut.

Also, as you mentioned, Parallels Desktop does have a cap on the usable RAM unless you opt for a monthly subscription. I did that Pro subscription plan for a while. However, for my uses (running Windows-only translation software), I found that the 8 GB RAM limit was not really a big deal. You could try the Pro plan for a month and see for yourself, but it really didn't show a big performance boost, in my opinion. (I have an M1 MacBook Air with "only" 16 GB of RAM, and it runs Windows 11 ARM under Parallels quite smoothly, while the unit does not seem to heat up appreciably.)

A question: why use Word in the VM, when you can run Word natively in macOS? I guess it has to do with your decision to use Dragon dictation software... but as stated above, you may find that macOS native dictation works fine for your needs with a modern (2023) Mac. It seems a waste to have to maintain or purchase a Windows and Parallels license just for Dragon and MS Word for Windows.

In general, as @kschendel hinted at, the newer Macs (and likely even the new 15-inch MBA that's slated to be announced next week) show a marked difference in terms of performance over older Macs. I would be careful to make sure that the apps you want to run under Parallels/Windows 11 will run under Windows ARM, since that is the version you'll need to download and install for your VM, not the Intel version. Dragon is kind of iffy, so you should do your research on that title before you purchase an Apple silicon Mac, which of course does not support Windows made for Intel chips.

 

[Toutou]

Air with 16 GB RAM would be powerful enough for your usage, so you can just pick the one you like. The MBP has a better screen, better sound, more ports, while the MBA is thinner, lighter, fanless (fan is a moving part, i.e. a point of failure). And obviously you can afford to have more RAM in the Air for the same price, which could be useful six years down the line if you're planning to keep it. Or wait for the 15" Air, that could be nice.

Contrary to popular belief, running a VM is no big deal, we've had hardware virtualization for more than 15 years (which means that all modern CPUs contain quite a lot of circuitry just for that). I have a VM with Linux running right here on my M1 MBA, along with a big powerful IDE, three databases, Safari, Slack and others, and this thing is basically idling at 27 °C (80 °F).

 

[JustAnExpat]

Contrary to popular belief, running a VM is no big deal, we've had hardware virtualization for more than 15 years (which means that all modern CPUs contain quite a lot of circuitry just for that). I have a VM with Linux running right here on my M1 MBA, along with a big powerful IDE, three databases, Safari, Slack and others, and this thing is basically idling at 27 °C (80 °F).

I'm curious, which version of Linux are you running, and what's the virtualization environment? I'm surprised it's not heating up your machine at all, Windows 11 under Parallels and VM Ware does.

 

[Toutou]

which version of Linux are you running, and what's the virtualization environment?

ARM64 version of Fedora with GNOME via UTM (so QEMU), 4 GB RAM assigned to it and 3 CPU cores. Just sitting there, existing, it uses virtually zero resources (aside from RAM), my Mac is 96–97 % idling whether it's running or not.

 

[splitpea]

16 should be more than enough right now. If you intend to still be using the same machine in 7-10 years, though, yes, you’ll probably wish you had the 24.

 

[awriter]

Thanks for all the info and insight, folks! It's much appreciated. I don't imagine I'll want to spend extra on whatever a 15" MBA might cost, but do you think it's worth waiting for WWDC just on the off chance Apple adjusts the pricing of the current MBA line in the wake of any announcements? Otherwise, I'll just pull the trigger now.

 

[splitpea]

How urgently do you need it? What do you have to lose by waiting a couple more business days?

 

[awriter]

No, you're right, I have nothing to lose--and I can certainly restrain myself for a weekend!

 

[awriter]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the recommendation to wait for WWDC! The price drop on the 13" is very nice. You saved me $100!

I've been checking Activity Monitor on my current 2014 MacBook Pro which has 16GB of RAM, and to be honest my memory pressure stays in the green even when running a Windows 10 vm in Parallels while simultaneously doing a bunch of stuff on the Mac side (30 Safari tabs with a video running in one of them, Mail, Messages, Word, etc.).

I'm tempted to save even more money by going for 16GB rather than 24GB on the new MBA, but do you think it would still be prudent to max out the RAM given that I hope to use the machine for many years?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Definitely max out ram if you can afford it.

That said, I have a work 16GB ram M2 Pro MBP 14 and it does everything I need (3 browsers, Teams, many apps) and even runs Parallels (W11) while staying green. So it works.

But if you can afford it always go for more ram.

Like others mentioned - would recommend going Pro just for the screen, CPU cooling, and extra ports.

 

[McScooby]

If you're carting this thing about go with the Air & 24GB, your back will thank you. You lose the additional ports but means you can get the twin USB charger (which is also lighter & not available with the pro) & appreciate the longer battery life. Unless you were fussed about the screen & 120Hz the air's the smarter option, again ymmv.

 

[awriter]

Even though I rarely take it outside the apartment, I'm looking forwards to having a lighter, sleeker machine.

 

[thecautioners]

Everyone else is smarter than I am so my response is less technical. I use a VM for work and I went with the M2 MBA with 24gb. Sometimes I feel like the 24gb is overkill, but I'll check activity monitor and see 17gb used, so I suppose technically I am using that extra ram. I'm the kind of person who wants to get many years out of a computer so I'm glad I went with the extra ram. It did help though that I went through the refurb store, price was a concern. My other option was a 14" mbp with 16gb, I'm glad I went with the MBA.

 

[awriter]

Well, your use-case sounds a lot like mine, so I really appreciate the insight!

I've also been using Whisperboard to transcribe interviews on my iPhone running the smaller language models, and would like to move to MacWhisper using the larger language models on the new M2 laptop; and I just read that will take a lot of RAM, so I think that 24GB will definitely come in handy.

 

[awriter]

A quick update and thank you:

I have been using Dragon 16 on a MacBook Air M2 with 24 GB of RAM (8GB devoted to the Windows 11 virtual machine) for several days now, and this configuration is *smoking.*

Whereas on my old 2014 Intel MacBook Pro I could no longer dictate into Word on the Windows side for more than a few seconds without running into trouble, I can now keep a Windows vm open indefinitely in the background, using Dragon to dictate into Word while keeping Voice Control active on the Mac side. (I personally do not find Voice Control to be good enough to dictate articles for my work as a journalist, but it is great for emails and the like.)

Activity Monitor shows that all of this generates negligible memory pressure and at most moderate CPU usage, even when I am running Safari, Edge, and multiple other apps simultaneously. And the fanless MacBook Air does not heat up at all under this kind of load--whereas my 2014 MacBook Pro used to get hot enough to fry eggs despite having the loudest fan imaginable.

I feel like I have two computers in one. Thanks to everyone for the great advice, and for pushing me to get the 24GB of RAM!

AG

 

[ChrisA]

I'm curious, which version of Linux are you running, and what's the virtualization environment? I'm surprised it's not heating up your machine at all, Windows 11 under Parallels and VM Ware does.

Running strictly a VM is "easy" and does not stress my M2 with 16 GB RAM. But "virtualization" means running an ARM OS on the M2.

Running an Intel OS requires emulation (in addition to virtualization), and this does stress the computer. You need more "compute power" for emulation. More cores is what you want. The answer will be "at least 16 GB, unless you are rrunning something under Windows that needs 16 GB on the Windows side then you want 24 GB installed on your Mac.

In any case, the way to figure out how much RAM is needed is easy. You will be running two OSes at the same time. Figure out how much RAM is needed for each OS and add them together.

QUESTION: Is Dragon dictation so much better than Mac's built-in dictation that it is worth setting up a VM?