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MacBook Air or Pro if difference is only 100 bucks?
- Thread starter Ketsjap
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Would you guys choose a Macbook Pro over an Air if the price difference is only 100 bucks?
Thanks to a special tax-incentive at my employer (complicated, it’s a Belgian thing) I can buy tech with an immense discount. The options I’m looking at are:
Macbook Air M3 13” (base model with the new 16GB ram) for 591€ (about 636 USD)
or
Macbook Pro M4, 14” (base model) for 679€ (about 731 USD)
The difference is only 95 bucks. What would you guys do? Always go for the Pro (better computer but bulkier, heavier) or is the Air a better option?
(and no, I know what you‘re thinking, but I won’t be buying both, that’s not allowed
Yes I would choose the Air. For my uses the Air is the “better computer”
I have a 16-in Pro but am thinking of buying a 15-in Air when it's time to change. There's nothing like screen real estate and 13 inches is a bit small.
I faced this same question. Air or Pro, with the price difference not being important. Even though my work involves computation, I chose the Air because it's such an elegant and beautiful laptop. Maybe I would get addicted to a fancier screen, but the one on the Air seems fine.
i don't understand this sentiment i keep seeing
the 16" pro is hardly heavy
is it that everyone here is american and their health is so poor that carrying 2kg is a struggle?
I don't recall the OP saying what the computer is used for. Anything strenuous, I'd get the Pro. For just "ordinary" computing, the Air. The Pro display is better but not all that much better (without a side by side comparison I wouldn't have been able to tell). Of course there might be use cases where the better Pro display matters.
If there's no user benefit to the Pro, i.e. if the additional computer power, ports, and screen aren't a real user visible improvement in OP's usage, the extra cost for the Pro is just throwing money away.
If there's no user benefit to the Pro, i.e. if the additional computer power, ports, and screen aren't a real user visible improvement in OP's usage, the extra cost for the Pro is just throwing money away.
Don't be silly. It's not a question of "struggle". It's not wanting to carry around extra weight for no benefit. Do you carry around an extra kg of sand in your backpack? I doubt it, although you're free to do so if you like.
Tough choice, but given your stated needs, it seems like the Air fits the bill nicely. This is an emotional choice based on the svelteness of the chassis and how lovely the Air is to use, vs the logical choice of the MBP with its better specifications and technology.
As always with these— it is a personal choice. I would check them both out in the store and decide. You won't go wrong with either.
As always with these— it is a personal choice. I would check them both out in the store and decide. You won't go wrong with either.
the way i see it there is plenty of benefit
especially in this case
it almost always makes sense to get the best computer you can afford, for longevity sake if nothing else
in this case the $100 price difference is so trivial that it would be foolish not to buy the better computer
now if it was the normal retail price difference, than i could see the case for going with the air
but to buy a MUCH MUCH better computer for $100 more?
It’s not much at all - the Air is a little lighter but the Pro isn’t enough to notice really.
I use mine for browsing the web, YouTube videos, paying bills online, typing up pages and numbers documents. I used to play WoW on it but not so much anymore.
It’s better because it’s significantly lighter when you’re putting it on your lap or carrying it around.
If you're a man, I don't see how 300G should make that much of a difference to you. If it does, I guarantee you can shed 300G of weight from your backpack by potentially buying a lighter backpack (look at Samsonite for example), and decluttering the inside. Furthermore, you can get lighter versions of things that your normally carry around, e.g. get a smaller umbrella
Pro is the better deal unless weight is critical above all else you should get the MBP. I love my 14" MBP, and I carry it with me to work and home again every day.
I viewed them both side by side and the Pro screen was a little bit better to my eyes.
If the OP is sensitive to screen brightness or color accuracy then it might matter. I can say that not all will agree that the Pro screen is "much much much" better. I certainly don't agree.
I strongly disagree. "Better" or "best" only have meaning in usage context. If I'm only using the computer for web browsing, email, and a few office apps, the extra capabilities of the Pro are likely to be entirely un-noticeable to me, and spending more is a waste.
Buy the best you can afford, but only up to the point where spending more improves your user experience. Anything more is throwing away money for a bogus and immaterial "benefit".
Having had both - yeah it’s better and it’s not even close.
Better brightness, proper HDR, variable refresh rate that can match content properly. Much better speakers too.
MBP is substantially better in every regard except weight. Speakers, display, ports, etc.Would you guys choose a Macbook Pro over an Air if the price difference is only 100 bucks?
Thanks to a special tax-incentive at my employer (complicated, it’s a Belgian thing
Macbook Air M3 13” (base model with the new 16GB ram) for 591€ (about 636 USD)
or
Macbook Pro M4, 14” (base model) for 679€ (about 731 USD)
The difference is only 95 bucks. What would you guys do? Always go for the Pro (better computer but bulkier, heavier) or is the Air a better option?
(and no, I know what you‘re thinking, but I won’t be buying both, that’s not allowed
It’s not that big of difference. Just for the pro motion and ports alone I would do the MBP 14”. Have had all of them. All great. But the display on the MBP is a game changer.
For my needs an Air would work as well as a Pro, so why not go for the lighter one if I had to carry my computer around all of the time? I'm a sucker for small, compact notebooks though and adored the 12" G4's back in the day. The 14" MacBook Pro I have now is the largest main laptop I've ever owned.
I don't find my 14" excessively heavy either, but I have a friend who returned his 14" M3 MBP because he found it unacceptably heavy having switched from a 13" HP Probook that was almost 1/2 kg (1 lb) lighter. I made fun of him for it, but weight is important to a lot of people.