I wanted the Air to save money and didn’t think not having a fan would matter what I use it for, but considering they have the same footprint plus I’m trading in my 16in which is just too big, I splurge a little and got the Pro 16/512gb. Should be good with it for several years.
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MacBook Air or PRO?
- Thread starter Sara Karlsson
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Same. I think the 16/512GB should last us 5 years at least. I mean if it lasts as long as my 2014, I'm good.
Active cooling removes heat faster than passive cooling, so the air will likely max out (throttle) at a lower power consumption than the actively cooled system.
I expect the consumption difference is not 2:1 but instead is merely that the Pro can need more than 30W and thus gets the next higher power adapter.
The M1 in Air according to Apple has a 15W TDP, in the Pro the M1 will probably be somewhere between 15W (the model it replaces) and 28W (the higher end Intel model).
The Mac Book 16 and the Air are completely different machines aimed at different users. Not sure why you would be choosing between them.
The Air will run much cooler and will have a TDP of only 10W instead of the 45W the 16" has. You will only have 4 high speed cores instead of 6 or 8 and you will have less RAM available which may or may not matter.
I always liked the Pro because the Air had two many compromises but honestly the Air seems like the one to get of I were in the market today.
If you thought the 2020 Air “overheats” - which it doesn’t for the simple reason that the CPU won’t let itself get too hot (*) - then you best stay away from the fan-less M1 Air.
Also don’t get hung up on the “Pro” name. We’re talking marketing terms here. It’s silly to think of one as for “professionals” and the other for everyone else. The simple fact is this - if your needs involve continuous CPU loading you need to step up to the MBP model aimed for that usage - even if it’s something like watching software-decoded videos. If your usage is brief bursts of CPU then an Air may likely be fine.
(*) some people impose their own ideas of what temperatures are appropriate for Intel CPUs rather than going by what the manufacturer (Intel) says.
FWIW my 2020 Intel Air remains cool and quiet in normal usage, only spinning the fan audibly or warming the case slightly when I’m converting dozens of RAW images.
Guessing they meant a 13” MBP with 16GB ram and 256GB storage not the 16” MBP
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I am curious to know the reason why: Why will the Pro be faster? Is the only reason it will be faster because of the fan? Or is there an additional reason or reasons?
So I think this falls down to heat management. The Macbook Air will reach a temperature that will start to affect performance. The Pro has the fan so it will be able to manage that heat a lot better and keep performance up. I recently watched a video review of the 2020 Macbook Air and when watching a Youtube video the CPU reaches crazy temperature almost instantly!
The 2020 Intel Air is indeed notable for its dismal cooling.
However I think the right frame of reference for the M1 Air would be the iPad Pro. It runs fine without a fan.
Nice ~ this is definitely an exciting time for the Mac. You may want to keep your Air 11 as a backup or for specific use like word processing, etc.
Speaking of the Air 11 — I was thinking they could have brought this size back and just released the Air today in two sizes.
Good point. The iPad in general is just simply reliable with less problems overall. I would imagine the new Macs will hit that same level of experience, eventually.
Same machine, same feeling. But my date is 24th-27th for the custom order.
If it makes you feel better theirs is going to be 24-27th as well. None of the BTO options were showing delivery anything sooner than that the moment the store opened. I know, I checked. Change the RAM to 16GB and the date gets pushed back two weeks regardless of model. Pretty sad that 16GB was locked to a BTO sku. Most likely means 3rd party retailers like Best Buy will only sell 8GB models.
I have always had a “Pro” machine - started with a PowerBook G4, then MacBook Pro: Aluminium, Unibody, and Retina. Currently rocking the 2016 13”.
As the years have gone on, my demand and workload has become less and less. No more movie making, video editing, photography, no uni work etc
The most I do these days is writing, browsing, and since lockdown a lot of TV shows - streaming.
And using Handbrake to convert hundreds of the physical media to digital.
I love the idea of a new mac
Based on my needs it screams Air - unless handbrake is intensive and then maybe sticking with a Pro would be best?
As the years have gone on, my demand and workload has become less and less. No more movie making, video editing, photography, no uni work etc
The most I do these days is writing, browsing, and since lockdown a lot of TV shows - streaming.
And using Handbrake to convert hundreds of the physical media to digital.
I love the idea of a new mac
Based on my needs it screams Air - unless handbrake is intensive and then maybe sticking with a Pro would be best?
The animation of its components showed the fan at 35:22.
Attachments
I‘acutaly Right now in this Situation.
I Chose the Air becaus I don‘t That the fans it worth 400 extra bugs.
But I’m not sure about the ram.
Apple promises that the sad is twice as fast. So make the move to the ssd in cases of memory shortages that much of an issue?
What are your thinking?
I Chose the Air becaus I don‘t That the fans it worth 400 extra bugs.
But I’m not sure about the ram.
Apple promises that the sad is twice as fast. So make the move to the ssd in cases of memory shortages that much of an issue?
What are your thinking?
Lol I love how everyone mentions a different price difference, shouldn't we like compare the models with the most similar specs so we can know for sure how much apple is charging for those extra 100 nits and that fan? A macbook air with 16 gb of ram and 500 gb SSD costs 1587 eur and macbook pro 13" with the same specs costs 1860 eur, a 273 eur difference, at least in Germany.
Just the one fan though, unlike the higher end (Intel) 13 inch models. Interested to see what happens to the higher end models in 2021 with M1X etc. and whether they need 2x fans.