Macbook Air M2 or Macbook Pro M2 14''

[tugrlaydn]

Hello, I'm new to the forum.

I'm currently using the HP Omen 15 and want to buy a business PC. I have two options before me:
1) Macbook Air M2 8 CPU 10 GPU 16GB Ram 512GB SSD
2) Macbook Pro M2 14'' base model

First of all I want it to be portable and the battery to last for a long time. My own computer's charge lasts for about 2 hours. Since my charger is heavy, it makes it immovable. Can you provide information about the estimated battery times?

Since my own computer is a gaming computer, as you can imagine, the fan noise is incredibly disturbing, so I cannot use it in environments such as libraries. Is the M2 Pro's fan noise annoying?

I work as an engineer and researcher. I usually spend my time reading articles and doing research. I'm not a developer, but I also do coding. In addition, I need to turn to machine learning in my work. Matlab may be the program I use most often. Which one will satisfy me more in terms of performance?

On the Internet, I could not choose the computer that exactly suits my needs. That's why I need your help. Thanks.

 

[Silvestru Hosszu]

I have the base 14” M2 Pro and had the M1 MBA.
Battery life is comparable between these 2 maybe the air has a small edge, but both have what is called whole day battery life.
If you are only doing light office stuff you wont see much of a difference performance wise but using heavier stuff the pro will perform better because of more powerful chipset and active cooling. The fan is very quiet not once did bother me.
Weight difference is slight but noticeable, but both machines are feather weight compared to your gaming laptop.

 

[Fishrrman]

MacBook Pro 14".
More ports.

 

[Egk]

Unless you need lots of ports, get the MBA. I work as a developer (iOS) and I would prefer a MBA over MBP , I never use the ports often enough to care, it is plenty enough power.

I bought the 14 M1 Pro for personal use and projects and highly regret not getting the Air M2 instead. My job bought me the M1 16".

 

[raythompsontn]

I don't think your would go wrong with either choice.

I would opt for MBA M2. The lack of extra ports is not an issue on something that is going to be portable most of it's life. Ports become relevant when connecting on a desktop where multiple monitors are going to be connected.

The difference in weight is not much, but is noticeable. For portability weight is going to be a factor over time.

And lastly, there are some nicer colors, in my opinion, with the MBA M2. Silver and Space Grey are boring, very functional, but boring.

 

[tugrlaydn]

Port issue is not a problem for me.

Although not often, I like to watch and listen to something from time to time. It is said that the sound and image quality of MBP is better than MBA.

The price difference between the MBA model I want to buy and the MBP is very small, so I'm not sure if portability can be compromised.

Considering that my own computer weighs about 3 kilograms with its charger, I don't think both MB models will be a problem in terms of weight, as long as the charge is long enough.

In the country I live in, MB are not easily accessible devices in terms of price. For this reason, I am trying to find the most ideal model that can take me about 5 years.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hello, I'm new to the forum.

I'm currently using the HP Omen 15 and want to buy a business PC. I have two options before me:
1) Macbook Air M2 8 CPU 10 GPU 16GB Ram 512GB SSD
2) Macbook Pro M2 14'' base model

Alright, a few things here:

A) Neither the HP Omen 15, nor either of the aforementioned Mac models counts as what anyone in the computer industry would or should refer to as a "Business PC". Those are Dell Latitudes and Precisions, HP ZBooks and EliteBooks, and Lenovo ThinkPads.

B) Do you need extra GPU performance? Does having two extra performance CPU cores make that much of a difference for Matlab? If the answers to either are yes, then the 14-inch base model M2 Pro configuration. Otherwise, the Air will be fine. Do you need a third Thunderbolt port, HDMI, or the SD card slot? If so, then also the base model M2 Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro configuration. Otherwise, the Air will be fine.

First of all I want it to be portable and the battery to last for a long time. My own computer's charge lasts for about 2 hours. Since my charger is heavy, it makes it immovable. Can you provide information about the estimated battery times?

Honestly, there's a ton of this information out there on both Apple's site as well as on Macworld, Mac|Life, all of the other tech review sites as well as several YouTube channels. The 14-inch MacBook Pro gets the worst battery life out of all of the Apple Silicon Mac laptops, with the MacBook Air getting the second worst. Though, we're still talking about 17 and 18 hours of battery life. The 13-inch MacBook Pro gets around 20 while the 16-inch MacBook Pro gets around 22. But that's Apple's ratings. Figure real-world results will be roughly proportionate, but less.

Incidentally, the Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro and any higher-end PC laptop will still get better battery life than 2 hours. Or at least should. Sounds like your current computer's battery is not doing so well.

Since my own computer is a gaming computer, as you can imagine, the fan noise is incredibly disturbing, so I cannot use it in environments such as libraries. Is the M2 Pro's fan noise annoying?

No. Of the Apple Silicon Macs that have a fan, the 14-inch MacBook Pro's fans are going to be the soonest to spring to life under a relative load, but it will still take a considerable load to get them to come to life.

Also, you can totally use a gaming computer in a library. I wouldn't load games on it at full settings in a library. But, having worked at my university library for several years (in a past life), I can attest that this was commonplace and not all that disturbing in real life.

I work as an engineer and researcher. I usually spend my time reading articles and doing research. I'm not a developer, but I also do coding. In addition, I need to turn to machine learning in my work. Matlab may be the program I use most often. Which one will satisfy me more in terms of performance?

Outside of MatLab (and I'm not sure how hard you use it or what its demands on a Mac are), nothing you're doing screams "I need the performance of an M2 Pro". Some coding doesn't sound like heavy development work either. So, a MacBook Air with at least 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD sounds like it will be adequate for your needs.

Reading articles and doing research can be done on a $400 Chromebook, let alone a $250 Chromebook. You do not need a 14-inch MacBook Pro, even the base model, for such tasks.

On the Internet, I could not choose the computer that exactly suits my needs. That's why I need your help. Thanks.

I'm not entirely sure why this is. Apple sells a variety of Mac laptops that suit a very wide range of use cases. Similarly, there are plenty of good Windows PCs out there (albeit amidst a sea of plenty of bad Windows PCs out there). Choice is not something you are lacking and the information as to what's worth getting could not be more accessible in 2023.

 

[satcomer]

The real question are you going to make money go with Pro! If you only plan to use for college the base Pro should be enough, but if you want to only surf at home get the Air! With the RAM next to Arm Mac chip get at least 16 gigs of RAM when getting a Mac today!