Moving on from disappointing 2020 or intel MBA

[novakjos]

Hello,

So I am usually the person that a lot of my friends come to when they need help picking a Mac and I consider myself pretty adept at being able to recommend the right amount (no more, no less) of what people need. I'm writing because I really don't know what to do for myself.

I was using a 2015 rMBP and last year picked up a 2020 i5, 16GB RAM, MBA. Simply put, I have never been more disappointed with a machine. I had never even considered an MBA previously but all the reviews I saw made this thing seem like a tank. It's not. At all. The fans go non-stop, the performance is laggy. Turbo boost switcher app cripples the performance and now I just let the fans run like jet engines b/c I need the performance.

Even though I will only get around half of what I paid, I am ready to free myself of this disappointment of a computer.

Here is my traditional use - active video conferencing for large parts of the day (Zoom, Google Meet, Blackboard), video recording for webinars, google docs/sheets for large documents. Occasional video editing. Occasional photo editing. Frequent web browsing, YouTube, Netflix.

Recommendations? From what I've read, 16GB on the M1s is more than enough but I do think that future proofing is helpful. So really, it's MBA vs MBP M1 - I know there is a difference in cooling. So my question is, for anyone who does all-day video calling, would the MBA really be sufficient? I don't want to be bitten twice by this product line...

TIA!

- Joe

 

[Apple_Robert]

Given your usage, I would get the M1 MBA/16/512.

 

[novakjos]

Given your usage, I would get the M1/16/512.

MBA or MBP?

 

[chrfr]

So my question is, for anyone who does all-day video calling, would the MBA really be sufficient? I don't want to be bitten twice by this product line...

TIA!

- Joe

The M1 air will be more than adequate to do video conferencing. You have no need to buy a Pro for it, and the best part is that you're guaranteed to never hear fans if you get the Air.

 

[thadoggfather]

MBA or MBP?

I'll chime in

I think you'll be really happy with either

Do you want touchbar and a fan for real intense workloads ? and a bit better battery?

In general, I think the fan-less M1 Air will wow you, especially if you prefer function keys and some cost saving

cool to the touch, even during macOS updates. would be a toaster with my 2020 i5

 

[Apple_Robert]

MBA or MBP?

If you have a need for sustained heavy video loads (editing etc.) or other intensive app work, go with the MBP. Otherwise, the MBA will be able to handle the load.

 

[Sheppard]

Hey! I’ve got quite similar usage and previously had 2012 rmbp and doomed 2017, both 15’s. I’ve gone for 16/8/512 MBA for myself; which I should hopefully get in the next week or so.
I’ve had an iPad Pro 12.9 for a couple of years too and love the silent power this thing has. Honestly, it comes down to whether the extra brightness, active cooling and Touch Bar are worth it for an MBP over MBA.

 

[Argon_]

Recommendations? From what I've read, 16GB on the M1s is more than enough but I do think that future proofing is helpful. So really, it's MBA vs MBP M1 - I know there is a difference in cooling. So my question is, for anyone who does all-day video calling, would the MBA really be sufficient? I don't want to be bitten twice by this product line...

TIA!

- Joe

I'd go with an M1 Air, 16GB. I don't know your storage requirements.

When I needed a computer last year I ended up buying a 2 port MBP, i5, 16/256, for the very reasons you mentioned. It was a long deliberation, but ultimately MaxTech's review steered me clear of the Air. Obviously, the ASi Air doesn't share its predecessor's miserable thermals.

 

[alien3dx]

Hello,

So I am usually the person that a lot of my friends come to when they need help picking a Mac and I consider myself pretty adept at being able to recommend the right amount (no more, no less) of what people need. I'm writing because I really don't know what to do for myself.

I was using a 2015 rMBP and last year picked up a 2020 i5, 16GB RAM, MBA. Simply put, I have never been more disappointed with a machine. I had never even considered an MBA previously but all the reviews I saw made this thing seem like a tank. It's not. At all. The fans go non-stop, the performance is laggy. Turbo boost switcher app cripples the performance and now I just let the fans run like jet engines b/c I need the performance.

Even though I will only get around half of what I paid, I am ready to free myself of this disappointment of a computer.

Here is my traditional use - active video conferencing for large parts of the day (Zoom, Google Meet, Blackboard), video recording for webinars, google docs/sheets for large documents. Occasional video editing. Occasional photo editing. Frequent web browsing, YouTube, Netflix.

Recommendations? From what I've read, 16GB on the M1s is more than enough but I do think that future proofing is helpful. So really, it's MBA vs MBP M1 - I know there is a difference in cooling. So my question is, for anyone who does all-day video calling, would the MBA really be sufficient? I don't want to be bitten twice by this product line...

TIA!

- Joe

the base clock of your intel macbook is low . Even in amd should at least get 1.8ghz and above and the most reason fan will run like amuck. Macbook m1 for my usage pretty good which i do run it till it complain

8gb is enough for me like my usage in 16 gb imac 2017 but if facebook nothing enough( that thing eat memory a lot)

 

[Johnny907]

So that 2020 MBA was trash, but it didn't have to be. The choices Apple made with the cooling setup left a lot of users and engineers scratching their heads. There are several youtube videos showing how easy it would have been to design a proper heat pipe and fan setup, and the significant improvement to performance those changes yielded.

That said I went from the 2016 non-TB MBP (which I loved despite the less than stellar keyboard) to the early 2020 MBP with 10th Gen Intel and after a week I was missing the heck out of my 2016. Speed wasn't an issue but the thing just felt so chunky compared to my 2016, the Touch bar was gimmicky and distracting and the thing roasted my lap if I so much as opened more than three tabs in chrome at once. I picked up the M1 MBA 16GB/1TB last week and so far the speed is comparable to the 2020 MBP but it feels more like my 2016 with a better keyboard.

I actually wanted the 16/512, but I didn't care to wait a month(!) for the thing to be delivered so I went with a 16/1 because my local Apple Store had several in store with same day delivery for 9 bucks. Unless you really need to crunch intensive batch conversions of multiple audio tracks or 4k video I think you will be more than happy with the MBA. If you plan on keeping it more than a few years I would go with the 16GB upgrade. It's probably because I grew up using BASIC, but I've never been a fan of swap files, certainly not in lieu of more RAM.

 

[novakjos]

Given your usage, I would get the M1/16/51

So that 2020 MBA was trash, but it didn't have to be. The choices Apple made with the cooling setup left a lot of users and engineers scratching their heads. There are several youtube videos showing how easy it would have been to design a proper heat pipe and fan setup, and the significant improvement to performance those changes yielded.

That said I went from the 2016 non-TB MBP (which I loved despite the less than stellar keyboard) to the early 2020 MBP with 10th Gen Intel and after a week I was missing the heck out of my 2016. Speed wasn't an issue but the thing just felt so chunky compared to my 2016, the Touch bar was gimmicky and distracting and the thing roasted my lap if I so much as opened more than three tabs in chrome at once. I picked up the M1 MBA 16GB/1TB last week and so far the speed is comparable to the 2020 MBP but it feels more like my 2016 with a better keyboard.

I actually wanted the 16/512, but I didn't care to wait a month(!) for the thing to be delivered so I went with a 16/1 because my local Apple Store had several in store with same day delivery for 9 bucks. Unless you really need to crunch intensive batch conversions of multiple audio tracks or 4k video I think you will be more than happy with the MBA. If you plan on keeping it more than a few years I would go with the 16GB upgrade. It's probably because I grew up using BASIC, but I've never been a fan of swap files, certainly not in lieu of more RAM.

This is particularly helpful. Thank you

 

[forzagaribaldi]

My usage is similar to yours. I went from an early-2015 MBP to a MBA/16/512 (with 8GPU cores) and would recommend. There will obviously be more powerful machines out in the near-ish future but this MBA really runs well and the size of it is great. Only downside I’ve found is the lack of dual external display support, and I’ve also got issues with an external display when using my thunderbolt dock but my wife has stolen that desk anyway since we’re both at home so I tend to just work on the built-in display).