Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacBook Air or PRO?
- Thread starter Sara Karlsson
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I almost always have some video or twitch im watching whilst im using the my laptop ("working')... other than that its just web browsing and numbers documents or notes etc.. nothing intensive.
I currently have a MBP 2018 (!!) with a faulty keyboard and 830 battery cycles. So I have to get a new battery soon for £200 and I dont want to deal with bad keyboard design anymore. Once I get it fixed im going to sell it.
But my MBP is often around 56 degrees and up to 70 degrees .... the fans dont come on except the odd occasion when I add some other task. But it does run hot to touch.
Nobody knows with the new chips, but based on my usage would the MacBook Air run hot too much with my usage? I think sooo..
Ive ordered the MBP but if I can save a few hundred quid id get the MBA --- but I dont want the temp high all the time.
Im considering ordering the MBA as well to have a true comparison.
Any opinions?
I currently have a MBP 2018 (!!) with a faulty keyboard and 830 battery cycles. So I have to get a new battery soon for £200 and I dont want to deal with bad keyboard design anymore. Once I get it fixed im going to sell it.
But my MBP is often around 56 degrees and up to 70 degrees .... the fans dont come on except the odd occasion when I add some other task. But it does run hot to touch.
Nobody knows with the new chips, but based on my usage would the MacBook Air run hot too much with my usage? I think sooo..
Ive ordered the MBP but if I can save a few hundred quid id get the MBA --- but I dont want the temp high all the time.
Im considering ordering the MBA as well to have a true comparison.
Any opinions?
Tough to say on the video - if it's in a format that's hardware decoded, should be no issue; if your browser and video source choice forces software decoding, then you'll use a bunch of CPU.
When you're measuring temperature are you measuring the parts you touch or the parts deep inside?
With my 2020 i5 Air, I can putter on Safari, email, facebook, a bit of Lightroom photo stuff all evening and it never feels warm in my lap or under my palms, never hear the fan even if it runs. Pushing it with something like building 1800 raw image previews will get the fan spinning and warm things a bit but never to the point of being hot.
I anticipate similar with the M1 Air - they'll keep the heat generated to a level that it can dissipate. Tradeoff will be that the sustained amount of "work" will be less in the Air than in the MBP which would be able to dissipate more heat per unit time -- and thus might actually end up feeling hotter as can happen with the Intel units -- my 2018 MBP15 gets a bunch hotter in my lap than my i5 Air.
Proof will be in the pudding though and you may want to consider trying out the Air first to see if it meets your needs.
(Edit - I never look at CPU temps - they're irrelevant IMHO. The chips won't get hotter than the engineers designed them to, and I'm not skilled enough to second guess those engineers. I only care about the parts of the system that impact my experience - such as the external case temps. After about 15 minutes now of rebuilding previews in Lightroom with my i5 MBA sitting on my desk (fan going) I'm measuring a bottom case temp of 96F, top case temp 105 above the F6 key, 89F at the H key, 80F at the palm rests. Room temp 72F. )
Last edited:
Over the weekend UPS was saying I'd have my MBA by Monday. Now it is Tuesday. I think Tuesday should hold as it has cleared customs and it is very close to my city. Likely by morning, it will be at the local UPS and on a vehicle for delivery.
I got the iPhone 12 Pro Max and they barely made it. It came at almost 9pm. Typically if it goes beyond that they just skip it and tell you they will try again the next day. Hopefully, it's not a repeat of that. I would rather get in the daytime.
Anyway, hoping to get the Air tomorrow 11/17.
I’m debating the same thing. I need an updated computer for teaching distance learning to my 2nd graders. I need to be able to have multiple apps open and running. Zoom, safari,chrome. I’m leaning towards the new 13” pro. I wanted the 16 for a bigger screen but they didn’t update the 16” yet. I currently have a 12” 2016 MacBook
Wait a couple more days. The reviews will likely be out which benchmarks in tow.
Or, if you can, put in two orders now and cancel one in three or four days after seeing more results. That’ll shorten the timeline to receiving the one you choose to get
Alternately, if you really want 16 inch, consider looking for a used one from a known retailer like Macofalltrades or an apple refurb
I don't know about Zoom, but Chrome is not supported with the new ARM Macs, not even with Rosetta 2. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
That would be a bit of a letdown. Chrome is pretty well supported on iOS, isn't it?
Good to know. Chrome just works a little better with our school platform but I’m sure safari would be fine also.
Where you getting this info? A quick search shows no articles or even forum threads about this. I see no reason it wouldn't run in Rosetta 2.
Besides, I'd be very very surprised if Google hasn't been preparing an Apple Silicon version of Chrome. I'd guess most Mac users probably have Chrome installed.
I'm more curious about when Chromium based browsers like Brave will have M1 compatible versions. But I have no reason to believe they won't run through Rosetta 2 in the meantime either.
I just watched a guy in Singapore post a livestream on YouTube and running chrome on an M1 MBA. You can hear him talk about it at about minute 10. MacBook Air M1 live randomness on YouTube
I saw a post somewhere that Electron is not working with Rosetta 2 and neither did Chrome. I couldn't get a confirmation. However, as user japasneezemonk links, it works! Good news I was wrong!
Thanks for the link!
Thanks for the confirmation. Interesting that the user agent shows up as an Intel Mac on both Safari and Chrome.
I didn't. I had it on my 2014 MBP but it has lasted me until now. I believe we have 60 days. Still deciding.
MBP and MBA virtually indistinguishable in performance on these benchmarks for burts, but after 30 minutes the MBP has a score 44% higher than the MBA.
Nice find.
That speaks pretty highly for the MBA's passive cooling system. Suggests a lowering of the bar at which one might find a MBP better suited to their workload.
That said - we're also looking at what will likely be the lower-tier MBPs. I'd anticipate the four-port models, when they transition, to show a higher sustained load capacity than the two-port models due to greater heat dissipation capacity.
You actually now have a year - Apple made that change back in August as I recall. I would do a quick support chat to verify though.