MacBook Air or PRO?

[katmeef]

I am using a fanless MacBook 2015 and this machine abruptly shuts down if I am doing anything which is processor intensive. Maybe having a fan isn't all that bad after all.

I have the 2016 fanless retina MacBook and mine has never done that in the 4 years I've owned it. The butterfly keyboard has failed umpteen times in that time though just had the keyboard replaced again under the quality program before the 4 years passed from purchase.

 

[Andropov]

I am using a fanless MacBook 2015 and this machine abruptly shuts down if I am doing anything which is processor intensive. Maybe having a fan isn't all that bad after all.

That really shouldn't happen. A really strong underclocking-undervolting is enforced long before the CPU shuts down for reaching the max junction temperature.

 

[djlythium]

IMO, the M1 Air seems so future-proof, it could easily last 4-5 years of undergrad, THEN be passed on to a sibling for their college term.

 

[macnmac]

i see it as apple paying me not to have a tb, ill take it apple, well done...

 

[katmeef]

IMO, the M1 Air seems so future-proof, it could easily last 4-5 years of undergrad, THEN be passed on to a sibling for their college term.

Agree, that's why I got one with 16 GB of RAM. Macs get passed around my family forever, just sold off my 2008 MacBook Pro through Facebook marketplace last weekend (for $320!!) to put towards my new air.

 

[xNerdHerdx]

Agree, that's why I got one with 16 GB of RAM. Macs get passed around my family forever, just sold off my 2008 MacBook Pro through Facebook marketplace last weekend (for $320!!) to put towards my new air.

What were the specs on that? That’s a pretty insane price!

 

[Sukach]

Air w/ 8/8 16GB/512GB for $1449
Pro w/ 8/8 16GB/512GB for $1699

Think the Air will be what I end up getting. Upgrading from an early '15 MBP.

 

[Norre8]

Air w/ 8/8 16GB/512GB for $1449
Pro w/ 8/8 16GB/512GB for $1699

Think the Air will be what I end up getting. Upgrading from an early '15 MBP.

I went with Pro, but same spec. Plan to keep for at least 5 years

 

[katmeef]

What were the specs on that? That’s a pretty insane price!

It was the core 2 duo 13" MacBook Pro with 8gb of ram and a 750 gb HDD. It's in Canadian dollars though, so not as good as it might sound.

 

[unchecked]

IMO the Macbook Air makes more sense between the two as a two-port machine. And it also doesn't have the TouchBar.

Anyone looking at the Pro should wait for the four-port option and see if there's any dedicated GPU and significant performance boost over the Air.

 

[Bluepig45]

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.

I've followed Apple since it's inception, and as soon as they went dark with tech releases and the leaks followed I've kept my ears to the rumor mill. The other person I trust to the letter is Ming-Chi Kuo, and he is seldom incorrect in his forecasts, I believe because he has more than one insider giving him the info.
I dumped my cart today for three reasons; 1) they have the same massive bezels I said I'd not buy it if they came with them again. 2) The front facing camera is still a 720 p and the chip can't help the native optics except with software tricks. 3) The inability to distinguish between the Air and the Pro beyond battery, one more GPU and the Touch Bar.
In no way am I saying either the late 3rd quarter or this newest M1 version are bad, but outside of the All-in-one CPU solution they are still way behind HP, Dell and Lenovo in tech forward solutions. Almost zero bezels, way higher pixel density, lower power consumption (at least than the 3Q 2020 upgrade), way more ports, A FREAKING TOUCH SCREEN, 2 in One designs, 4k OLED displays, and now that Tiger Lake is starting to hit the market equally good battery life.

I'll be waiting, but not for long as the soon to be released HP Spectre X360 Tiger Lake, or the already released Dell Inspiron with the 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPU. Nope, I don't unify my platform and that's frustrating, and no I can't Xcode on the go, but I'm not letting perfect get ahead of great, and I can Xcode at home on my 2018 Mac mini. But for $1350 at Bestbuy right now I get Tiger Lake with the Xe graphics, a much better screen, 1Tb of SSD storage and 32Gb of Optane, the most modern i7 chip, a 68 mA hour battery, a 90 watt charger, a FREAKING TOUCH SCREEN, and back lighted keyboard with intensity adjustment. I'll wait until next year, sell this or next weeks new one, that assumes Apple actually starts a new innovation with the next MacBook Pro.

FYI, I can learn to tango if that's what gets me the best solution for my tech challenges. The Apple fanboys who can't see beyond their monthly Apple Card debt will continue to drive my stock prices up, so I'm good.

 

[Andropov]

2) The front facing camera is still a 720 p and the chip can't help the native optics except with software tricks.

You may want to take a seat waiting for that one to change.

 

[Norre8]

I've followed Apple since it's inception, and as soon as they went dark with tech releases and the leaks followed I've kept my ears to the rumor mill. The other person I trust to the letter is Ming-Chi Kuo, and he is seldom incorrect in his forecasts, I believe because he has more than one insider giving him the info.
I dumped my cart today for three reasons; 1) they have the same massive bezels I said I'd not buy it if they came with them again. 2) The front facing camera is still a 720 p and the chip can't help the native optics except with software tricks. 3) The inability to distinguish between the Air and the Pro beyond battery, one more GPU and the Touch Bar.
In no way am I saying either the late 3rd quarter or this newest M1 version are bad, but outside of the All-in-one CPU solution they are still way behind HP, Dell and Lenovo in tech forward solutions. Almost zero bezels, way higher pixel density, lower power consumption (at least than the 3Q 2020 upgrade), way more ports, A FREAKING TOUCH SCREEN, 2 in One designs, 4k OLED displays, and now that Tiger Lake is starting to hit the market equally good battery life.

I'll be waiting, but not for long as the soon to be released HP Spectre X360 Tiger Lake, or the already released Dell Inspiron with the 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPU. Nope, I don't unify my platform and that's frustrating, and no I can't Xcode on the go, but I'm not letting perfect get ahead of great, and I can Xcode at home on my 2018 Mac mini. But for $1350 at Bestbuy right now I get Tiger Lake with the Xe graphics, a much better screen, 1Tb of SSD storage and 32Gb of Optane, the most modern i7 chip, a 68 mA hour battery, a 90 watt charger, a FREAKING TOUCH SCREEN, and back lighted keyboard with intensity adjustment. I'll wait until next year, sell this or next weeks new one, that assumes Apple actually starts a new innovation with the next MacBook Pro.

FYI, I can learn to tango if that's what gets me the best solution for my tech challenges. The Apple fanboys who can't see beyond their monthly Apple Card debt will continue to drive my stock prices up, so I'm good

Way too much effort in writing that post.

 

[Maconplasma]

I've followed Apple since it's inception, and as soon as they went dark with tech releases and the leaks followed I've kept my ears to the rumor mill. The other person I trust to the letter is Ming-Chi Kuo, and he is seldom incorrect in his forecasts, I believe because he has more than one insider giving him the info.
I dumped my cart today for three reasons; 1) they have the same massive bezels I said I'd not buy it if they came with them again. 2) The front facing camera is still a 720 p and the chip can't help the native optics except with software tricks. 3) The inability to distinguish between the Air and the Pro beyond battery, one more GPU and the Touch Bar.
In no way am I saying either the late 3rd quarter or this newest M1 version are bad, but outside of the All-in-one CPU solution they are still way behind HP, Dell and Lenovo in tech forward solutions. Almost zero bezels, way higher pixel density, lower power consumption (at least than the 3Q 2020 upgrade), way more ports, A FREAKING TOUCH SCREEN, 2 in One designs, 4k OLED displays, and now that Tiger Lake is starting to hit the market equally good battery life.

I'll be waiting, but not for long as the soon to be released HP Spectre X360 Tiger Lake, or the already released Dell Inspiron with the 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPU. Nope, I don't unify my platform and that's frustrating, and no I can't Xcode on the go, but I'm not letting perfect get ahead of great, and I can Xcode at home on my 2018 Mac mini. But for $1350 at Bestbuy right now I get Tiger Lake with the Xe graphics, a much better screen, 1Tb of SSD storage and 32Gb of Optane, the most modern i7 chip, a 68 mA hour battery, a 90 watt charger, a FREAKING TOUCH SCREEN, and back lighted keyboard with intensity adjustment. I'll wait until next year, sell this or next weeks new one, that assumes Apple actually starts a new innovation with the next MacBook Pro.

FYI, I can learn to tango if that's what gets me the best solution for my tech challenges. The Apple fanboys who can't see beyond their monthly Apple Card debt will continue to drive my stock prices up, so I'm good.

The part I highlighted was really unnecessary and furthermore borderline trolling. I've been a Mac user exclusively since MacOS 8 so I'm not new to Apple. The large bezel argument is silly beyond means. Doesn't seem to bother the Thinkpad crowd. Thinkpad bezels are stupidly large and they also hold on to low-grade cameras. Still the price of a Thinkpad is right up there with Apple but Thinkpad fanboys are perfectly fine with the non-innovations.


I think you should just jump ship now. You've got a chip on your shoulder about Apple, especially with those large caps you used. Frankly I have no idea why you're here. I have no idea why you even considered putting one of today's new Macs in your cart with the chip you have on your shoulder. Move on man. It's just a computer. Your reply towards me seems hostile and trolling.

 

[Maconplasma]

Way too much effort in writing that post.

I know right?? I posted a simple one-liner to him and I got back a hostile response that also appeared as trolling.

 

[KPOM]

again the pro should be boought buy those whos work is about loading time...the macbook air will burst and lower the clock speed while the pro will sustain
So if your work is hard loading for minutes or hours take the pro

Air w/ 8/8 16GB/512GB for $1449
Pro w/ 8/8 16GB/512GB for $1699

Think the Air will be what I end up getting. Upgrading from an early '15 MBP.

What’s interesting is that the Ice Lake MacBook Air did have a fan (albeit no heat pipe), while the M1 MacBook Air does not. When the Ice Lake Air came out figured the much-criticized fan was designed with the M1 in mind, but apparently it was not.

 

[KPOM]

Apple has already stated that Windows is not supported because there will be no more Bootcamp or Windows VM.

Parallels has said they are working on a version of Parallels Desktop to run Linux VMs and are “thrilled” about Microsoft’s announcement about adding x64 support to Windows on ARM. Right now Microsoft does not sell Windows on ARM retail, but if Mac continue to sell well, perhaps they’ll be tempted once VMs are ready.

 

[raftman]

Just bought a Pro 16gb Ram, 256 GB SSD.

The Pro = Most efficient CPU ever with a heat pipe on it. Shut up and take my money!

If you try to play games on the Air it will thermal throttle for sure, just like the iPad does.

 

[SFjohn]

Does anyone know if we'll be in the holiday return period?

(is that based upon order date or delivery date?)

Yes if you are in the USA. Depends on delivery date, varies around the world.

 

[KPOM]

Just bought a Pro 16gb Ram, 256 GB SSD.

The Pro = Most efficient CPU ever with a heat pipe on it. Shut up and take my money!

If you try to play games on the Air it will thermal throttle for sure, just like the iPad does.

I’m guessing the Pro also has faster NAND. Since I don’t game, I went with the Air. I’m trying to decide if 8GB is sufficient so I ordered both (the 8GB arrives next week, the 16GB the following week). If the 8GB is sufficient for my I may just keep that and return the 16GB unopened/cancel the order.

I expect we will get more radical redesigns of the Air and Pro in 2021 or 2022. Maybe the much-expected 14” Pro and a revival of the 12” MacBook.

 

[s66]

Well I haven’t had the Touch Bar before , I’ve heard it’s kind of a hate or love thing - would you say it’s something worth paying extra for?

Touch bar: I'd pay to have it removed.

 

[s66]

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 ?

text editing, and consuming content on youtube/google etc. is "peanuts" for all of these machines. Any will do.
Make sure you have enough internal storage as that's more likely to cause you issues than anything else.

 

[rschech13]

I'm not a student, but my usage is very casual; mostly just used for media consumption and web surfing. For that reason I went with the Air, which should hopefully still be a nice improvement over my early 2015 Pro. I really couldn't justify the extra money for basically the addition of the touch bar and a couple extra hours of battery life.

 

[RotaryP7]

I went with 16GB/512 MBP. I needed to upgrade my 2014 MBP. I usually don't do this. I always wait but I took a chance. I also wanted a fan, just because so I didn't go with the Air.

 

[Brammy]

I feel that the new Air is the successor the one-port MacBook, now with two ports and a decent processor.

I also think the small 12" MacBook is what may become a 2:1-style device.