M2 or M1 Pro?

[LinkRS]

Really, nobody can answer this question yet. On paper, the multicore performance is 18% better than M1 (not M1 Pro), and the GPU performance is "up to" 35% faster than M1 (again not M1 Pro), and it has double the memory bandwidth of the M1 (but still less than the M1 Pro). Plus, the M2 has improved media encoders, so it is possible if you make heavy use of those, the M2 could be faster. Do keep in mind that Apple indirectly still positions the M1 Pro, Max, and Ultra as more powerful than the M2. Personally, I think that M2 is a terrible name as, it is causing confusion like this. Intellectually you would think M2 > M1, so therefore "better." This is mostly true, but with the exception of single core performance, the M1 is not anywhere near as powerful as the M1 Pro, let alone the Max or Ultra. Apple has shot themselves in the proverbial foot.

The best thing (for consumer sanity) is to just sell models of Mac based on performance, ergo Air < Pro < Studio < Pro, so that the consumer just buys whatever level they need, and not have to worry about M1 vs M2 vs Pro, etc...

Just my $0.05 (inflation at work LOL).

Rich S.

 

[calstanford]

I don't get the logic at all. If performance benchmarks matter to you why think about the Air at all???
You either need the performance or you don't.

 

[Carlson-online]

The 14 pro is a much better prospect.

- The m1 pro is a faster chip hands down. A "poor" comparison, but would you take say a 12th gen i3 over a 11th gen i7 ? one thinks not...
- 120Hz screen (enough on it's own !)
- higher DPI screen
- 3 thunderbolt usb ports (including one on the right hand side, which for tidy freaks comes in handy ! )
- dedicated hmdi port (i've used it more than i expected)
- decicated SD card slot

 

[Basic75]

The m1 pro is a faster chip hands down.

Not in lightly or single threaded CPU-bound tasks.

 

[Santabean2000]

I’ve spec’ed an M2 MacBook Air as follows…
- 8c CPU/10c GPU
- 24GB RAM
- 512GB SSD

And this comes to £1949, which is £50 more than the base model MacBook Pro 14”. Is the 14” likely to perform significantly better? I value portability, so if performance is close I’d prefer the Air. I also will not be using multiple monitors so the ports won’t be an issue.

Any thoughts? Anything I should consider?

Thank you!

The MBA only makes sense if you value slim/weight or blue over anything else. The moment you start to spec it out, hands down you're better off going with the MBP.