MacBook Air or PRO?

[Botts85]

Get a laptop with a fan so the heat in the case is removed. The laptop will live a longer life with a fan.

This is purely speculation. My 12" MacBook has lived a REALLY tough life, and it's running perfectly.

Judging longevity based on heat is a massive oversimplification. Ask a PC guy about most Apple products operating temps and fan curves, they'd spit out their coffees and exclaim, "It'll die in a year!" Server hardware doesn't run cool, and that's with fans that equate to mini jet-engines. But that gear runs for years too.

I would consider the laptop with the fan if the one without the fan shows thermal throttling issues. If throttling isn't an issue, I'm taking the fanless version every time.

In fact, the fan in the 13" MBP is the one thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on it, and not the Air right now.

 

[Botts85]

Maybe you can help me. Im using an older mac with 8GB ram. Whenever I play games on Facebook (Mostly bingo blitz) The comp gets super super loud and laggy. Is this an issue with Ram?

Almost certainly not. If you open Activity Monitor, you can look at your CPU usage vs RAM usage. CPU is what drives thermals, so I'd imagine it's pinning a single thread and thus driving the heat up.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Thanks and my first question was about the literal meaning of the bins, yields

So when they produce the chips, they all are designed the same, but the production process is very complicated and technical, and so not all the chips manufactured come out perfect. This is the production yield. Some chips are almost perfect, and only have like 1 faulty GPU core, and so instead of throwing those out, they use it in a less premium model.

Intel is famous for this, and it is pretty much the reason why they have such a huge wide array of processor choices in each category or tier. They basically put all the different levels of production faultiness in different “bins” and sell them at different price levels, name them different, etc.

So Apple isn‘t naming the M1’s with only 7 active GPU cores in them anything different this time around, like they did for the iPad Pro A12X/Z SoC’s, they are just putting them in the entry level MBA only, and thus charging a premium for the chips that have all 8 GPU cores working and active.

 

[Lights87]

I just bought the 13 inch maxed out. Not thrilled about 16 GB of memory, not thrilled about not having a 4 TB or 8 TB option. But this is the entry-level pro, so I get it.

Are you fairly confident that the 16 inch MBP in 2021 will have 64GB ram and 8TB hard drive?

Been waiting for a maxed out MBP and I'll likely need at least 6TB storage and would prefer 64GB ram option

 

[waquzy]

Gone for the 512/16 8core GPU Air. The fanless design sold it for me, I cannot stand fan noise.

View attachment 1658448

How did you manage to get it that cheap? Mine comes in at £1449 with same config as yours...

 

[LiE_]

How did you manage to get it that cheap? Mine comes in at £1449 with same config as yours...

That’s the pre tax amount, it’s £1304 after tax using education discount.

 

[Graham King]

Are you fairly confident that the 16 inch MBP in 2021 will have 64GB ram and 8TB hard drive?

Been waiting for a maxed out MBP and I'll likely need at least 6TB storage and would prefer 64GB ram option

Not at all. But my guess is it’ll have more than 16GB/2TB.

 

[Blair Paulsen]

If you need to watch your budget (based on what we know so far) the M1 Air is a lot of computer for $1,000. Hard to go wrong. If you like to keep a laptop for many years, especially if you use it for entertainment creation/consumption then the M1 MBP makes more sense. I hate fan noise as much as anyone, but the low TDP of the M1 chip should allow the MBP to operate without using the fan in general usage. Moreover, having a fan to keep the thermals under control should improve longevity - not to mention better performance when crunching.

 

[waquzy]

If you need to watch your budget (based on what we know so far) the M1 Air is a lot of computer for $1,000. Hard to go wrong. If you like to keep a laptop for many years, especially if you use it for entertainment creation/consumption then the M1 MBP makes more sense. I hate fan noise as much as anyone, but the low TDP of the M1 chip should allow the MBP to operate without using the fan in general usage. Moreover, having a fan to keep the thermals under control should improve longevity - not to mention better performance when crunching.

The biggest drawback with Air for me is the 400 nits display... not bright enough for me. I'm always running max brightness as it is and 400 nits at peak just ain't enough for me unfortunately. Love the fanless design, I had the 2015 base model MacBook back in the day and that was a nice little machine, too bad it was slow as hell though.

 

[aednichols]

The biggest drawback with Air for me is the 400 nits display... not bright enough for me. I'm always running max brightness as it is and 400 nits at peak just ain't enough for me unfortunately. Love the fanless design, I had the 2015 base model MacBook back in the day and that was a nice little machine, too bad it was slow as hell though.

I will be replacing my 2016 m5 MacBook with the 2020 M1 Air. This is going to be the upgrade of a lifetime.

 

[darcyf]

I have read and appreciated every comment here and yet I'm still no closer to deciding between the air and the pro ?

I do a lot of typing in my job, both have the same keyboard
I have a lot of tabs open in chrome for my job, both have same memory
I use FCPX on occasion for small projects, both have same cpu/gpu

I've never used the Touch Bar but seems most here think it's not great, while a few like it once it's been modded.
I like the idea of never hearing a fan kick in, but also like the idea of having a fan kick in when it's actually needed.

Seems like it comes down to do you hate/love the TB, and/or do you hate/love having a fan.

Work is paying for it so money isn't the issue. I'm just genuinely torn here...

 

[Return Zero]

Apple recently seems to have a strategy of making choices continually harder. ?

I would say, you're either going cheap/short-term or you're going nice/long-term. If you're going cheap, $899 is a decent deal for the basic Air at the edu price. It should get you through school just fine, and keep some extra cash in your pocket. If you're going nice, I'd plunk down that $1379 for the Pro w/ 16GB. The fan shouldn't be annoying or even very audible at all if you're doing basic stuff (my 16-inch Pro's fans are totally inaudible when I'm in class). Several years down the road, the Air will start having to throttle more due to more demanding OS/software, but the Pro will be more able to chug along, albeit perhaps with a little more fan noise and less battery life.

Oh and I personally think the Touch Bar issue is basically a draw... some things I love about it, some I don't. I wouldn't let it affect your decision, despite what others might say.

 

[Return Zero]

I have read and appreciated every comment here and yet I'm still no closer to deciding between the air and the pro ?

I do a lot of typing in my job, both have the same keyboard
I have a lot of tabs open in chrome for my job, both have same memory
I use FCPX on occasion for small projects, both have same cpu/gpu

I've never used the Touch Bar but seems most here think it's not great, while a few like it once it's been modded.
I like the idea of never hearing a fan kick in, but also like the idea of having a fan kick in when it's actually needed.

Seems like it comes down to do you hate/love the TB, and/or do you hate/love having a fan.

Work is paying for it so money isn't the issue. I'm just genuinely torn here...

Go Pro if work is paying! You'll get used to the Touch Bar, and you'll appreciate the extra thermal headroom if you're using stuff like FCP.

 

[acousticbiker]

My 2020 i5/8GB MBA's fans get loud during Zoom calls. If I go with the fanless AS 8GB MBA (presumably throttled), what will I experience? Since there's no fan, will it just slow down and stutter, etc?

 

[Bluepig45]

so questions.

whats the advantage of having a fan in the pro and no fan in the air?

is Touch Bar worth the extra over the air? im still using a 2013 mac that is literally dead

From the hip, and 28 years of data center design and mgmt experience... The fan's benefit is obviously active cooling. Since the current/previous Air would cook your breakfast for you, I suspect challenging the unit will produce the same results without a fan. I bought and returned the 2020 Intel MB Pro 13 with 16Gb and 512Gb. I was so excited, but when it turned out to have 4-5 hours of battery life and kept my hands warm enough to give massages, I took it back after the second charge. When you install Xcode on it, it seems to run even hotter.

I did not have the Touch Bar long enough to form a objective opinion, although I did like the fact that the interaction was customized to the application you're running. Creating a Word doc, you get Word function buttons. Using Final Cut Pro, same thing. Music, yup, everything for controls is now customized to your (Apple) music program. Not sure if the third party apps take advantage of the Touch Bar, but it seems like development suicide to not at least turn the Touch Bar into a standard Function Row of keys if they don't specifically tie to the app.

 

[Bluepig45]

Go Pro if work is paying! You'll get used to the Touch Bar, and you'll appreciate the extra thermal headroom if you're using stuff like FCP.

I'd walk gently using the term "they have the same CPU," they don't. M1 is a chip series ID, and not entirely inclusive. I'd bet the .35 cents in my pocket that the Air has a lower frequency, or it's max speed is artificially speed limited, if not the active cooling on the Pro makes zero sense. The two hundred dollar base difference is not for 100 additional nits and a Touch Bar (those development costs have long since been fully recouped).

By the way, the profit to Apple just went up by a couple hundred dollars. They are no longer paying any royalties to Intel, and since Apple does not develop anything without the project fully funded in advance, the new CPU's are going to come in at least $200 light of the Intel solution. Since they announced the new silicone most in the know have speculated that the costs of new MBP's would drop, but not at Apple. I own Apple stock so I'm happy when they do better in all financial categories. I do hate continuing to pay the stupid Apple tax though.

A word of advice, pay the extra $200 and get the pro, if for no other reason than battery life and the 60 watt charging brick.

 

[Maconplasma]

I have read and appreciated every comment here and yet I'm still no closer to deciding between the air and the pro ?

I do a lot of typing in my job, both have the same keyboard
I have a lot of tabs open in chrome for my job, both have same memory
I use FCPX on occasion for small projects, both have same cpu/gpu

I've never used the Touch Bar but seems most here think it's not great, while a few like it once it's been modded.
I like the idea of never hearing a fan kick in, but also like the idea of having a fan kick in when it's actually needed.

Seems like it comes down to do you hate/love the TB, and/or do you hate/love having a fan.

Work is paying for it so money isn't the issue. I'm just genuinely torn here...

Don't pay any attention to people here who hate the Touch Bar. Apple forums are the absolute worse place to accept criticism at full value. Only accept what they say with a grain of salt. Keep in mind people are highly critical of Apple products despite the fact that no other computer company innovates like Apple or has such an amazing set of products as Apple. If Apple's products and features were such gimmicks and sucked so much then nobody would be here wasting their time trashing them.

Outside of a forum you'll find many more people love the Touch Bar. One more thing to note, had this been Microsoft or Dell that had the Touch Bar instead then MR forum members would praise those two companies. Why? Because they never innovate anything so whatever they do is "perfect" as long as it's competing against Apple. Sounds like MR is an Apple hate site right? Well it kinda is for the many people that come here. Some people just hate Apple for no longer being the "underdog" and it burns them up that Apple's success keeps rising while it's competitors aren't doing jack crap.

That being said I do an extensive amount of video and photo editing for my work and the Touch Bar is simply amazing for these applications. My most used editing pallets are accessed from the Touch Bar freeing up valuable screen real estate. Those that say the Touch Bar offers nothing, what did we have before the Touch Bar? Plain static keys that were barely used for nothing more than volume and brightness. That's why it's stupid when people say the Touch Bar is useless. And don't waste your time installing Better Touch Tool. It's been buggy for me so I removed it. You can customize the Touch Bar a lot in Apple's settings menu.

 

[Bluepig45]

My 2020 i5/8GB MBA's fans get loud during Zoom calls. If I go with the fanless AS 8GB MBA (presumably throttled), what will I experience? Since there's no fan, will it just slow down and stutter, etc?

How do you like your eggs? ? Really HOT or beyond well done?

 

[Bluepig45]

Don't pay any attention to people here who hate the Touch Bar. Apple forums are the absolute worse place to accept criticism at full value. Only accept what they say with a grain of salt. Keep in mind people are highly critical of Apple products despite the fact that no other computer company innovates like Apple or has such an amazing set of products as Apple. If Apple's products and features were such gimmicks and sucked so much then nobody would be here wasting their time trashing them.

Outside of a forum you'll find many more people love the Touch Bar. One more thing to note, had this been Microsoft or Dell that had the Touch Bar instead then MR forum members would praise those two companies. Why? Because they never innovate anything so whatever they do is "perfect" as long as it's competing against Apple. Sounds like MR is an Apple hate site right? Well it kinda is for the many people that come here. Some people just hate Apple for no longer being the "underdog" and it burns them up that Apple's success keeps rising while it's competitors aren't doing jack crap.

That being said I do an extensive amount of video and photo editing for my work and the Touch Bar is simply amazing for these applications. My most used editing pallets are accessed from the Touch Bar freeing up valuable screen real estate. Those that say the Touch Bar offers nothing. What did we have before the Touch Bar? Plain static keys that were barely used for nothing more than volume and brightness. That's why it's stupid when people say the Touch Bar is useless. And don't waste your time installing Better Touch Tool. It's been buggy for me so removed it. You can customize the Touch Bar a lot in Apple's settings menu.

I find the love hate pretty evenly divided, but Apple gives us the option to keep the function keys with the Air. To better define my experience with the love hate, it goes something like this: traditional Windows laptop users want the function keys, and tech forward (no insult intended - but if you live on the bleeding edge, the Touch Bar is a thing) and new(er) users want the Touch Bar.
I'm 60 and was/am excited about the Touch Bar. I bought the updated 2020 MBP with 16Gb and 512Gb, but it ran so hot and only had 5 and then 4 hours on full charges, plus it was a flat iron grill, so it went back. I've got the same M1 Pro config sitting in my Apple bag but am now dancing around next year's prospect of the Mini LED, smaller bezel, and better front facing camera.

 

[vishavg]

Medical Student here:

Just bought the Macbook pro 16/256. I will have to wait and see what the reviews of the MacBook air are like before I decide to cancel my order. Worried about thermals.

 

[Bluepig45]

I'd walk gently using the term "they have the same CPU," they don't. M1 is a chip series ID, and not entirely inclusive. I'd bet the .35 cents in my pocket that the Air has a lower frequency, or it's max speed is artificially speed limited, if not the active cooling on the Pro makes zero sense. The two hundred dollar base difference is not for 100 additional nits and a Touch Bar (those development costs have long since been fully recouped).

By the way, the profit to Apple just went up by a couple hundred dollars. They are no longer paying any royalties to Intel, and since Apple does not develop anything without the project fully funded in advance, the new CPU's are going to come in at least $200 light of the Intel solution. Since they announced the new silicone most in the know have speculated that the costs of new MBP's would drop, but not at Apple. I own Apple stock so I'm happy when they do better in all financial categories. I do hate continuing to pay the stupid Apple tax though.

A word of advice, pay the extra $200 and get the pro, if for no other reason than battery life and the 60 watt charging brick.

Another word of advice, if you can wait, and won't be rendering video, running Xcode, or mixing large audio tracks, wait a month and there will be a fire sale on the same damn systems with the Intel chips released just a couple months ago. I bought the MBP from Bestbuy for $1,499 with 16Gb and 512Gb. It will do more than 90% of the laptop users out there will ever pull from it. My problem was heat from code compiling and video editing. I have no idea why Xcode stresses a systems resources so hard, but in my case it was night a day from just media consumption and creating documents. If Email, Office, Web browsing, Youtube and maybe an occational video are your laptop diet WAIT, I bet the same config will be $1,399 come Black Friday, and Bestbuy always beats their low prices of the year the week after Thanksgiving.

 

[Maconplasma]

I've got the same M1 Pro config sitting in my Apple bag but am now dancing around next year's prospect of the Mini LED, smaller bezel, and better front facing camera.

You'll be dancing around the next model after the rumored "mini LED", and then the next one after that. Get what you need now if it's available. Waiting for confirmed rumors is never a good idea unless the upcoming rumored product is within a couple of weeks.

 

[rafsimons]

Okay! What did you study?
I’m a medical student so mostly writing, YouTubing and googling all of the complicated stuff our teachers made even more complicated ?

Are you Swedish by any chance?

 

[AndrewR23]

Incase 13" Hardshell Case for MacBook Pro - Black

Protect and personalize your MacBook with Incase's lightweight, form-fitting Hardshell Case. Buy now at apple.com.

www.apple.com

Will this case fit the new pros?

 

[its93rc]

I'm doing my Master's and I upgraded solely for the battery-life. I picked the MBP, but the MBA is a great deal. I just like the Touch Bar and thicker design, but if you don't, I'd cop the MBA.