M1 MBA to M1 14inch MBP

[simidene]

Would like some honest opinions from those who have made the switch? How has the larger screen size worked out? Do you notice any performance boost? What do you like best about the M1 MBP 14inch vs M1 MBA?

 

[kikote]

I did go from an M1 AIR 1GB/1TB SSD to a MBP14 MAX 32GB/1TB SSD.
I use as main monitor an XDR Pro. the monitor did work perfectly with the AIR and does work perfectly with the MBP.

What did I like the best from the AIR - the weight, battery life and the fanless design.
What do I like the best from the MBP: The peformance, the screen, the audio, the camera. It is almost in any category (except weight and battery life) better or even far better than the AIR

Do I notice a performance boost? To be honest, only in the ocassions where I push the computer. The M1 is really powerful an can handle normal workload like a champ. BUT, the M1pro/Max offers much more computing power.The M1 Max is a beast - there is a performance boost while editing video files (4K content from my GoPro on my motorbike) or when coding/compiling.
And if you want to attach more than one monitor natively - you have to upgrade as the M1 AIR only works with one. Or work with thirs party solutions like display link...

I was happy with the M1 MBA, but for me the jump to the M1MBP has been a source of joy

 

[simidene]

I did go from an M1 AIR 1GB/1TB SSD to a MBP14 MAX 32GB/1TB SSD.
I use as main monitor an XDR Pro. the monitor did work perfectly with the AIR and does work perfectly with the MBP.

What did I like the best from the AIR - the weight, battery life and the fanless design.
What do I like the best from the MBP: The peformance, the screen, the audio, the camera. It is almost in any category (except weight and battery life) better or even far better than the AIR

Do I notice a performance boost? To be honest, only in the ocassions where I push the computer. The M1 is really powerful an can handle normal workload like a champ. BUT, the M1pro/Max offers much more computing power.The M1 Max is a beast - there is a performance boost while editing video files (4K content from my GoPro on my motorbike) or when coding/compiling.
And if you want to attach more than one monitor natively - you have to upgrade as the M1 AIR only works with one. Or work with thirs party solutions like display link...

I was happy with the M1 MBA, but for me the jump to the M1MBP has been a source of joy

Thanks for the reply! I am thinking of making the switch, though to the base model 14” M1 MBP pro model? I like the bigger screen. I know that is not that much larger, but from the YouTube videos I have watched, it seems as though there is more edge to edge display with the 14”? its Nice to see they brought the ports back along with the MagSafe charger. Did you notice a big difference in weight?

 

[wgonzvega]

Hi, I had the MBA with 8G and 256SSD and soon I found myself with not that much SSD free space and with memory pressure issues as a result to go with an 8G and 256SSD. Anyway here is what I experienced when I got the M1 MBP 14inch, the largest screen is great, it really is, for performance it depends on your workflow.

If your workflow is mostly single core stuff you will see a better performance but not a $2,000 better. If your apps can get multicores advantage that's where you'll see the power of the new MBP to a greater extent. Not having to deal with external hubs is a plus for me. For battery life I can get easily to the end of a working day (8-10 Hrs) with a 35% battery charge left. Im really happy with the 14MBP.

 

[simidene]

Hi, I had the MBA with 8G and 256SSD and soon I found myself with not that much SSD free space and with memory pressure issues as a result to go with an 8G and 256SSD. Anyway here is what I experienced when I got the M1 MBP 14inch, the largest screen is great, it really is, for performance it depends on your workflow.

If your workflow is mostly single core stuff you will see a better performance but not a $2,000 better. If your apps can get multicores advantage that's where you'll see the power of the new MBP to a greater extent. Not having to deal with external hubs is a plus for me. For battery life I can get easily to the end of a working day (8-10 Hrs) with a 35% battery charge left. Im really happy with the 14MBP.

Thanks for your reply! As I commented above, the screen is not that much larger but is seems as though you get more edge to edge display? As if the border that one sees on the M1 MBA is almost gone on the 14” I don’t do a whole lot of intensive work, but I am amazed of how often I get the dreaded beach ball on the M1 MBA?

 

[wgonzvega]

Thanks for your reply! As I commented above, the screen is not that much larger but is seems as though you get more edge to edge display? As if the border that one sees on the M1 MBA is almost gone on the 14” I don’t do a whole lot of intensive work, but I am amazed of how often I get the dreaded beach ball on the M1 MBA?

Absolutely the screen is just 1inch larger but for me it feels better, much better, maybe is the contrast since I used the Mac from time to time in sunlight from working at home, for the occurrence of the beach ball I have not seen it once on the MBP even with browsers, Xcode, Android Studio, the Microsoft apps, etc. the MBP it behave heavenly.

 

[kikote]

Thanks for the reply! I am thinking of making the switch, though to the base model 14” M1 MBP pro model? I like the bigger screen. I know that is not that much larger, but from the YouTube videos I have watched, it seems as though there is more edge to edge display with the 14”? its Nice to see they brought the ports back along with the MagSafe charger. Did you notice a big difference in weight?

It is a difference in the weight - about 300 gr. You will notice the difference in the weight if you carry the computer for long periods of time.

 

[Rashy]

Still very light for such a powerhorse, also adding the bigger screen, useful ports, badass speakers, etc...

It has exactly the same weight as the rMBP 13" 2013-2015 and I don't remember anyone ever considering that one as too heavy for the go. Even my 15" rMBP with 2.0kg is still acceptable, though not really portable (and compact) anymore. Hence I will probably go for the 14" and simply add an extra monitor with DP for home. However, I wouldn't go for the Max Chip in the 14", unless you really need the additional GPU power or 64GB of RAM. It's not worth the extra price, heat and battery consumption, if you can get the same work done on the Pro, just having to wait a little longer sometimes.

The Air is even lighter, but I regard the difference between 1.3kg and 1.6kg as far less of an issue, as the one between 1.6kg and 2.0/2.1kg.

 

[Internaut]

I bought the 14”; kept the Air. The Air is just nicer to use on the lap (and the battery lasts forever). Yes, since the Air is pristine, I turned down a pretty generous £500 trade in…. On the 14” I’m really liking:

• Spectacular display
• Great audio
• Mic array and camera vastly better for business meetings.

Also appreciating double the memory and SSD compared to the base Air. 8GB in particular was starting to prove limiting for a couple of use cases.

 

[sahni130]

I did the same this year (base model Air to base 14-inch Pro) and agree with the comments above. The display, speakers, ports, and MagSafe are totally amazing to have. The screen was the single biggest selling factor to me- it's so beautiful, bright, and smooth. Plus, it's nice to have double the storage and ram.
The weight struck me initially but I barely notice it now. While the Air did have noticeably better battery life, overall, would make the move to the Pro again, no doubt. It's a fantastic machine.

 

[TheRedOx]

For me the sole reason to upgrade from the M1 MBA to the 14” M1 Pro MBP was the display. It was totally worth it to me - I was never happy with the brightness level on the Air.
What I’ve done since is return the 14” MBP and pick up a 12.9” iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. In a way, I realized I just didn’t need the power of the MBP for what I use the device for - mainly just web browsing and YouTube plus other streaming service media consumption.

 

[simidene]

I did the same this year (base model Air to base 14-inch Pro) and agree with the comments above. The display, speakers, ports, and MagSafe are totally amazing to have. The screen was the single biggest selling factor to me- it's so beautiful, bright, and smooth. Plus, it's nice to have double the storage and ram.
The weight struck me initially but I barely notice it now. While the Air did have noticeably better battery life, overall, would make the move to the Pro again, no doubt. It's a fantastic machine.

Thanks for your reply! If one was to compare the 16gb MBA 8-core m1 with the Base model m1 14” MBP do you think one would see a big performance difference? Would the extra 6 cores in the 14” makes that much of difference in performance? Also, does the throttling that occurs in the MBA m1 due to not having a cooling fan really effect multi core performance and that’s were the MBP shines? Lastly, how much does the size of the SSD play a role in getting things done? It’s always been thought and shown that higher GB ssd’s generally read and write faster? Why is an Ethernet port not a big issue in forums, YouTubers, apple etc? I believe many would save much time with a constant fast connection?

 

[wilberforce]

Thanks for your reply! If one was to compare the 16gb MBA 8-core m1 with the Base model m1 14” MBP do you think one would see a big performance difference? Would the extra 6 cores in the 14” makes that much of difference in performance? Also, does the throttling that occurs in the MBA m1 due to not having a cooling fan really effect multi core performance and that’s were the MBP shines? Lastly, how much does the size of the SSD play a role in getting things done? It’s always been thought and shown that higher GB ssd’s generally read and write faster? Why is an Ethernet port not a big issue in forums, YouTubers, apple etc? I believe many would save much time with a constant fast connection?

Performance difference for doing what?
If/when you are not doing anything CPU/GPU intensive, there will be essentially zero performance difference, which for most people is 99% of the time.
It is for those specific use cases where one is putting maximum demand on the CPU/GPU, even momentarily, that one will see or feel a difference, which depends on individual use cases. Photo/video editing, graphics rendering, etc.
Size (and hence speed) of SSD is a minor factor in overall performance. Getting a bigger SSD is not a cost-effective way to improve performance, if that is the only reason for a bigger SSD.
Connection speed is usually limited by ISP connection (unless you have gigabit service, and even then it is limited by the slowest connection/server in the whole pipeline from end to end)

 

[simidene]

Performance difference for doing what?
If/when you are not doing anything CPU/GPU intensive, there will be essentially zero performance difference, which for most people is 99% of the time.
It is for those specific use cases where one is putting maximum demand on the CPU/GPU, even momentarily, that one will see or feel a difference, which depends on individual use cases. Photo/video editing, graphics rendering, etc.
Size (and hence speed) of SSD is a minor factor in overall performance. Getting a bigger SSD is not a cost-effective way to improve performance, if that is the only reason for a bigger SSD.
Connection speed is usually limited by ISP connection (unless you have gigabit service, and even then it is limited by the slowest connection/server in the whole pipeline from end to end)

Thanks for your reply! I am a graduate student who does high end statistical analysis and I need to do it on my iMac, as the ram is getting maxed out and the MBA m1?

 

[wilberforce]

Thanks for your reply! I am a graduate student who does high end statistical analysis and I need to do it on my iMac, as the ram is getting maxed out and the MBA m1?

OK, sounds like you have CPU (and possibly memory) intensive work.

The M1 has 4 performance CPU cores, the base 14" M1 Pro has 6 performance CPU cores, and the remaining M1 Pro/Max models have 8 performance CPU cores. (The remaining CPU cores are efficiency cores, intended mostly for background or light tasks, to conserve battery). This should guide you how much better each will perform on CPU intensive tasks - assuming your software makes use of all cores (check this in Activity Monitor on your MBA and iMac).
You may benefit from one of the models with 8 performance CPU cores (= 10 total CPU cores).

It sounds like extra GPU cores will be of no benefit to you.

How much of the RAM do you use on your iMac (presumably an Intel model)? This may guide how much RAM for the M1 Pro. The memory usage is a lot more efficient on Apple Silicon, but it cannot perform miracles if there is just far too little RAM.

 

[sahni130]

OP, I have to agree with wilberforce. You’d probably be okay with the base 14 but may benefit from the 10-core chip and possibly more ram.

 

[Malus120]

Would like some honest opinions from those who have made the switch? How has the larger screen size worked out? Do you notice any performance boost? What do you like best about the M1 MBP 14inch vs M1 MBA?

I made the switch at the beginning of November and I love it!
I went from a M1 MBA (7C GPU) (thermal modded for 13" MBP-like performance) with 16GB of Ram to the 14" M1 Max MBP in my signature (32C GPU/32GB RAM).
Despite buying the MBA just one year ago and generally liking it, this is easily one of the best upgrade decision I've ever made.

Here's a quick rundown of what makes it a great upgrade IMHO:

1. Performance: This may seem obvious but the gulf in performance between the two is enormous and noticeable even in simple office/browsing/SNS type usage. Apps that can utilize the extra CPU/GPU cores are where it really shines, but the difference in basic multitasking capability is also extremly apparent. The M1 MBA, while fast, could easily get bogged down (even with 16GB of RAM!) with a lot of tabs open, stuff going on or got forbid multiple monitors which brings us to the next point...

2. (Real) Multi-Monitor Support: The M1 MBA only natively supporting one external monitor sucked. DisplayLink was a godsend in that it allowed you to run two or more external monitors but the performance impact with something interactive on even one monitor was more like a curse. Even running just one external monitor, the MBP performs noticeably better. This is also something to consider if you're trying to decide between M1 Pro (2 external displays supported) vs M1 Max (4 external displays supported,) although the M1 Pro/Max handle DisplayLink with much less of a performance impact.

3. Gorgeous and surprisingly large screen: The 14" MiniLED screen is gorgeous and a surprisingly nice size upgrade compared to the 13" screen in the Air. Having built in/pre-calibrated profiles for things like Photography is also really nice if you do the kind of stuff where color accuracy matters.

4. More Ports: No matter which side of the more TB4/USB4 vs HDMI/SD you stand on, having a dedicated charging port, three TB4/USB4 ports (and if you use it like I do, an HDMI and SD card slot) is a godsend after a year of living with only two ports, one of which had to charge the laptop.

5. The "Little Things": The speakers are great, with richer sound, deeper base and a wider soundstage. Fast charging allows you to go from 0-50 in ~30 minutes which is incredible for topping up (assuming you even need to) mid day. Oh, and the web-cam is greatly improved.

As for the weight, it's honestly not nearly as a big of a difference as I thought it would be. I won't say it's not noticeable because it is, but I wouldn't say it's significant (it does not, for example, feel like a 15"/16" laptop.) For example, if I'm hand carrying the laptop by itself the difference feels marginal, although when placed inside an already filled up backpack it does add a noticeable amount of extra weight.

The only real sacrifice is battery life. For light usage (office/SNS/browsing/Youtube) you can still pretty consistently get 10+ hours as long as you don't max out the screen brightness and ideally remember to put it in low power mode... which is great... until you put it beside the MBA (or god forbid the 13" M1 MBP...) and remember those machines can do 15+. For more demanding usage it's going to vary based on what you're doing. On the one hand your battery will drain faster than a MBA doing the same thing... OTOH you'll probably get the computationally demanding part done faster or get far more done of it with the MBP so how that averages out in real life is going to depend.

Anyway hope that helps. I'm obviously partial to the M1 Max configuration but if you're sure you won't need the extra GPU power, memory bandwidth, or external monitor support (!) in the future the M1 Pro can also be a solid option.
(I would however add that if you don't need everything the MBP offers it may be worth waiting for the M2 MBA refresh.)

 

[sahni130]

I made the switch at the beginning of November and I love it!
I went from a M1 MBA (7C GPU) (thermal modded for 13" MBP-like performance) with 16GB of Ram to the 14" M1 Max MBP in my signature (32C GPU/32GB RAM).
Despite buying the MBA just one year ago and generally liking it, this is easily one of the best upgrade decision I've ever made.

Here's a quick rundown of what makes it a great upgrade IMHO:

1. Performance: This may seem obvious but the gulf in performance between the two is enormous and noticeable even in simple office/browsing/SNS type usage. Apps that can utilize the extra CPU/GPU cores are where it really shines, but the difference in basic multitasking capability is also extremly apparent. The M1 MBA, while fast, could easily get bogged down (even with 16GB of RAM!) with a lot of tabs open, stuff going on or got forbid multiple monitors which brings us to the next point...

2. (Real) Multi-Monitor Support: The M1 MBA only natively supporting one external monitor sucked. DisplayLink was a godsend in that it allowed you to run two or more external monitors but the performance impact with something interactive on even one monitor was more like a curse. Even running just one external monitor, the MBP performs noticeably better. This is also something to consider if you're trying to decide between M1 Pro (2 external displays supported) vs M1 Max (4 external displays supported,) although the M1 Pro/Max handle DisplayLink with much less of a performance impact.

3. Gorgeous and surprisingly large screen: The 14" MiniLED screen is gorgeous and a surprisingly nice size upgrade compared to the 13" screen in the Air. Having built in/pre-calibrated profiles for things like Photography is also really nice if you do the kind of stuff where color accuracy matters.

4. More Ports: No matter which side of the more TB4/USB4 vs HDMI/SD you stand on, having a dedicated charging port, three TB4/USB4 ports (and if you use it like I do, an HDMI and SD card slot) is a godsend after a year of living with only two ports, one of which had to charge the laptop.

5. The "Little Things": The speakers are great, with richer sound, deeper base and a wider soundstage. Fast charging allows you to go from 0-50 in ~30 minutes which is incredible for topping up (assuming you even need to) mid day. Oh, and the web-cam is greatly improved.

As for the weight, it's honestly not nearly as a big of a difference as I thought it would be. I won't say it's not noticeable because it is, but I wouldn't say it's significant (it does not, for example, feel like a 15"/16" laptop.) For example, if I'm hand carrying the laptop by itself the difference feels marginal, although when placed inside an already filled up backpack it does add a noticeable amount of extra weight.

The only real sacrifice is battery life. For light usage (office/SNS/browsing/Youtube) you can still pretty consistently get 10+ hours as long as you don't max out the screen brightness and ideally remember to put it in low power mode... which is great... until you put it beside the MBA (or god forbid the 13" M1 MBP...) and remember those machines can do 15+. For more demanding usage it's going to vary based on what you're doing. On the one hand your battery will drain faster than a MBA doing the same thing... OTOH you'll probably get the computationally demanding part done faster or get far more done of it with the MBP so how that averages out in real life is going to depend.

Anyway hope that helps. I'm obviously partial to the M1 Max configuration but if you're sure you won't need the extra GPU power, memory bandwidth, or external monitor support (!) in the future the M1 Pro can also be a solid option.
(I would however add that if you don't need everything the MBP offers it may be worth waiting for the M2 MBA refresh.)

Very well said ??

 

[Wehrwolf]

Would like some honest opinions from those who have made the switch? How has the larger screen size worked out? Do you notice any performance boost? What do you like best about the M1 MBP 14inch vs M1 MBA?

Went from a base 2020 MBA to a 2021 14" MBP. For what I use the computer for, there's not much difference in speed or performance that I notice other than during some light gaming with World of Warcraft. The biggest difference is in the RAM - I opted for 32GB on the 14" because I kept hitting yellow/red memory pressure on the MBA.

Screen size is similar to the MBA. The 14" fits in cases I already have for the MBA. It is noticeably heavier than the MBA.

Two things I wish would be better are battery life (substantially less compared to the MBA) and the speakers (too bass heavy and muffled/woofy when it comes to anything other than EDM/hiphop, which I don't listen to)

 

[simidene]

OK, sounds like you have CPU (and possibly memory) intensive work.

The M1 has 4 performance CPU cores, the base 14" M1 Pro has 6 performance CPU cores, and the remaining M1 Pro/Max models have 8 performance CPU cores. (The remaining CPU cores are efficiency cores, intended mostly for background or light tasks, to conserve battery). This should guide you how much better each will perform on CPU intensive tasks - assuming your software makes use of all cores (check this in Activity Monitor on your MBA and iMac).
You may benefit from one of the models with 8 performance CPU cores (= 10 total CPU cores).

It sounds like extra GPU cores will be of no benefit to you.

How much of the RAM do you use on your iMac (presumably an Intel model)? This may guide how much RAM for the M1 Pro. The memory usage is a lot more efficient on Apple Silicon, but it cannot perform miracles if there is just far too little RAM.

Sorry for the late reply. i upgraded my iMac 27inch (latest intel) to OWC 32gb (8gbx4). That did the trick for me? Could I go with base 14inch and just upgrade to 32gb or would you recommend 10 core cpu etc ?

 

[Malus120]

Sorry for the late reply. i upgraded my iMac 27inch (latest intel) to OWC 32gb (8gbx4). That did the trick for me? Could I go with base 14inch and just upgrade to 32gb or would you recommend 10 core cpu etc ?

FYI everything in the new MBPs is soldered on as part of the SOC, so you can't upgrade the ram or storage after the fact anymore (to be fair you haven't been able to do that for almost a decade now.)
If you want one you'll unfortunately have to make some hard decisions about what's important to you (and what will be important to you over the life of the machine) at the time of purchase.
That said, Apple does offer 14 day returns so if you're really unsure you can order a config, try it out, return it if it doesn't work for you, rinse repeat.

 

[wilberforce]

Sorry for the late reply. i upgraded my iMac 27inch (latest intel) to OWC 32gb (8gbx4). That did the trick for me? Could I go with base 14inch and just upgrade to 32gb or would you recommend 10 core cpu etc ?

How much memory you have on your iMac is not important, it is how much memory you use while doing your work. You need to check Activity Monitor. If this shows you use all of your 32GB iMac memory while running your statistical analysis (plus other concurrent apps), then 32GB may be a better choice for the MBP. If it shows you it uses well less than 32GB RAM on your iMac, then 16GB on the MBP will likely be fine. You need to make an informed judgment yourself. Memory on the MBP is used more efficiently than on the iMac, so keep that in mind (i.e., you can get away with a bit less on the MBP).

Likewise you can check your CPU usage on your iMac (Activity Monitor > Window > CPU History). If it shows most cores are nearly maxed out for long periods when doing your statistical analysis, then you would benefit from the 10-core CPU on MBP. Or if you have laggy response.

Sorry, I cannot advise you what the best config is for you without any data, without just guessing. But this is the type of data you can get yourself to make an informed choice. Statisticians like data, right?

 

[simidene]

How much memory you have on your iMac is not important, it is how much memory you use while doing your work. You need to check Activity Monitor. If this shows you use all of your 32GB iMac memory while running your statistical analysis (plus other concurrent apps), then 32GB may be a better choice for the MBP. If it shows you it uses well less than 32GB RAM on your iMac, then 16GB on the MBP will likely be fine. You need to make an informed judgment yourself. Memory on the MBP is used more efficiently than on the iMac, so keep that in mind (i.e., you can get away with a bit less on the MBP).

Likewise you can check your CPU usage on your iMac (Activity Monitor > Window > CPU History). If it shows most cores are nearly maxed out for long periods when doing your statistical analysis, then you would benefit from the 10-core CPU on MBP. Or if you have laggy response.

Sorry, I cannot advise you what the best config is for you without any data, without just guessing. But this is the type of data you can get yourself to make an informed choice. Statisticians like data, right?

Sorry, thought you meant total Memory installed. Will do thanks so much!

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Would like some honest opinions from those who have made the switch? How has the larger screen size worked out? Do you notice any performance boost? What do you like best about the M1 MBP 14inch vs M1 MBA?

have you made your decision in the end ?

I made the switch and it's not worth it ,unless you need the extra power and the fans .

might as well go with the 16(which is what I did but I'm now considering going back to MBA m1 lol)