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Buying advice: MacBook Air or MacBook Pro 14"?

K

kove123

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 30, 2021
4
1
Hi,

I'm trying to understand what to buy. I'm a web designer. This means I do a bit of code, but I don't have anything to compile. Sometimes I mess with a bit of video but nothing massive and mostly use web builders and web apps to do my job. These web builders can became quite heavy if the page is pretty complex, and my 2016 MacBook Pro i5 (8GB, 256GB) can't handle it very well. Also, I use a lot the Google Ads management interface (web app), which page weights 130MB (!), and my MacBook can't handle it well at all.
Ah, I also do photoshop (with decent smoothness) and Inkscape (not with decent smoothness).
Sometimes CleanMyMac tells me I'm out of ram (quite often to be honest).

I really need an upgrade, and I can't decide between basic mb pro 14" (2300€) or MacBook Air with same ssd and ram (512gb, 16gb) at around 1600€.

Any advice?
Thanks a lot.

p.s: there are possibilities that I will do more video editing in the future for social and media marketing, we are talking about 30secs/1min videos
 
kove123 said:
Ah, I also do photoshop (with decent smoothness) and Inkscape (not with decent smoothness).
Click to expand...
You might want to look at Affinity Designer to replace Inkscape. Designer is a much more professional and solid program. I used to try to get Inkscape to work but it was always slow and clunky.
 
thanks both for the suggestions

edit: I use Inkscape basically only or almost only for logos, and it is perfect for that. But, yes, it is REALLY slow. Does Affinity works well as logo design software?
 
Last edited:
kove123 said:
thanks both for the suggestions

edit: I use Inkscape basically only or almost only for logos, and it is perfect for that. But, yes, it is REALLY slow. Does Affinity works well as logo design software?
Click to expand...
Yes, Affinity Designer is a full-on vector design app with some limited image editing features. Affinity also has their Photo program for full image editing and limited vector work. Photo is a PhotoShop competitor and Designer is an Illustrator competitor. Both are non-subscription and relatively low purchase price apps.

affinity.serif.com

Graphic Design & Illustration Software | Affinity Designer

The best app for creatives and other professionals looking to create high-quality designs, concept art, illustrations, mock-ups and more. Get a free trial!
affinity.serif.com affinity.serif.com
affinity.serif.com

Official Affinity Learning Resources | Learn Affinity

Learn everything there is to know about working with Affinity apps with our tutorials, quick start guides, shortcut cheat-sheets, online help and more.
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Affinity | Forum

forum.affinity.serif.com forum.affinity.serif.com
 
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kove123

1) GET RID OF CLEANMYMAC!

that will speed up your MacBook considerably!

2) 2016 MacBook Pro i5 (8GB, 256GB) can't handle it very well.

My 4BG i3 MacBook air from 2010 runs everything you mentioned without any flaws or fan noise.
this is for full web design using Dreamweaver and Photoshop and back in the day, Flash
while listening to music from Foobar, or iTunes and researching the web for data and inages.

hopefully your Macbook pro will run everything smoothly without any mac cleaner
those programs run constantly and slow down the system, an due really do not need these anyway.

I hoped this helped!
 
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Damn, you were right. Now my Mac is faster. Not lightening fast, but faster for sure. I'll wait to see a refurbished 14", or I may even consider keeping this one.
 
Last edited:
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kove123 said:
Damn, you were right. Now my Mac is faster. Not lightening fast, but faster for sure. I'll wait to see a refurbished 14", or I may even consider keeping this one.
Click to expand...
Im happy that worked!
we would always tell those who have any cleaner to remove that first.
macs never needed any 3rd party app to keep MacBooks healthy.
honestly the website should be shut down.
i cringe when macworld promotes those sites, and complaian
but money rules!

enjoy your revitalized MacBook!
 
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kove123 said:
Hi,

I'm trying to understand what to buy. I'm a web designer. This means I do a bit of code, but I don't have anything to compile. Sometimes I mess with a bit of video but nothing massive and mostly use web builders and web apps to do my job. These web builders can became quite heavy if the page is pretty complex, and my 2016 MacBook Pro i5 (8GB, 256GB) can't handle it very well. Also, I use a lot the Google Ads management interface (web app), which page weights 130MB (!), and my MacBook can't handle it well at all.
Ah, I also do photoshop (with decent smoothness) and Inkscape (not with decent smoothness).
Sometimes CleanMyMac tells me I'm out of ram (quite often to be honest).

I really need an upgrade, and I can't decide between basic mb pro 14" (2300€) or MacBook Air with same ssd and ram (512gb, 16gb) at around 1600€.

Any advice?
Thanks a lot.

p.s: there are possibilities that I will do more video editing in the future for social and media marketing, we are talking about 30secs/1min videos
Click to expand...
just get 16g ram. browser these day eat lot of ram
 
kove123 said:
basic mb pro 14" (2300€) or MacBook Air with same ssd and ram (512gb, 16gb) at around 1600€
Click to expand...
Performance-wise both would work just fine for you, even the base M1 is a wonderfully powerful and efficient CPU (with an okay GPU), and your workflow doesn't sound that intensive.

The €700 price difference would fetch you a much nicer display, a little more performance, better webcam, speakers, the notch and other small things, but it's really up to you whether that's worth €700, especially if you, for example, already use an expensive monitor for your design work or if you really need the machine to be portable.
 
MBAir2010 said:
kove123

1) GET RID OF CLEANMYMAC!

that will speed up your MacBook considerably!

2) 2016 MacBook Pro i5 (8GB, 256GB) can't handle it very well.

My 4BG i3 MacBook air from 2010 runs everything you mentioned without any flaws or fan noise.
this is for full web design using Dreamweaver and Photoshop and back in the day, Flash
while listening to music from Foobar, or iTunes and researching the web for data and inages.

hopefully your Macbook pro will run everything smoothly without any mac cleaner
those programs run constantly and slow down the system, an due really do not need these anyway.

I hoped this helped!
Click to expand...
Uh ,what's wrong with clean my Mac? It doesn't even run in background, what's the matter with it ?
 
MBAir2010 said:
"Damn, you were right. Now my Mac is faster"
-original poster after removing that junk
Click to expand...
I've noticed !! What the heck does this mean ?

I'd be pissed having to remove this gorgeous piece of SW but if it is truly worth it then I guess I don't have much choice ...

I mean we're talking about cleanmymacX right ? It allows me to see extensions running at boot ,see files size like in daisy disk, re-index spotlight and a bunch of other stuff

I suppose I'll give it a go but I'm wondering if it does make a difference on recent macs.

I mean if it's like debloating Android phones ,then it won't make a big diff .debloating an old phone makes a difference because the processor and ram are weak .but debloating recent hw doesn't change much as the processor only shares a LITTLE bit of its resources to the said hogger ...
 
So glad that deleting the software helped. If it still works for you, keep it. The longer you can wait the bigger the jump in technology will be.
 
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