I'm having a really tough time deciding between these two. I know, the M2 runs hotter. I know, the 13" MBP uses an old design. I know, the performance improvement over the M1 isn't very dramatic. The thing is, I don't really care about the chip. As long as it's Apple Silicon it'll be more than enough for me. Hell, I can get by fine on a Core 2 Duo. I only really care about the battery life and display. My brain has poor executive function (ADHD + Autism + OCD, it's really fun) and it impacts me in a way that makes making decisions and weighing the importance of things very difficult for me, and that's why I need your help picking between these two (maybe three).
I had thought the MBP 14" had great (not much worse than M1 or M2) battery life when doing normal tasks, like browsing the web in Safari or listening to music or chatting on Discord. I knew it wouldn't be as good as the MBP 13", but I figured it'd still be pretty close, like 15 hours or something. I thought wrong. Tom's Guide got 14:08, and I've seen anecdotal evidence that it can get as little as 10 hours in normal productivity use. 14:08 would be fine, but 10 hours just isn't enough for what I'm looking for. It's still a lot, and significantly better than my current early-2008 15" MacBook Pro (roughly 3:45 to 4:30 on OS X Mavericks these days, depending on browser and workload), but I want something that I don't even have to charge every day. I've got 2 power outlets in my bedroom and they're all used by important stuff already so I've got to unplug stuff to charge. The MBP 13" got 16:30 according to The Verge, and that was in a test that actually mimics my use pretty well, except for the few intensive Pro apps she used. The MBA M2 got 14 hours according to Tom's Guide, which is also good enough for me.
I initially wanted something with MagSafe 3, which is where the Air M2 and the MBP 14" came into play, but then I thought about it: if I get a laptop that I have to charge every-other-day or less, will I really be charging it often enough for MagSafe to really matter? Especially if I charge it at night, because then I won't have to worry about tripping on the cord or using one of my USB-C ports for charging.
The display on the other hand is a big difference, but I don't know how much of a difference it actually will be for me. I want a nice display, but I don't want a bright display. I normally keep my early-2008 15" MBP at half brightness. Max brightness is 300 nits, so I'm assuming half brightness is around 150 nits. I get bad headaches at higher brightness levels, especially at night. All of this means I'd keep the MBP 14" at a low brightness level and wouldn't see the benefits of the 1,000 nits sustained brightness or the 1,600 nits peak brightness. ProMotion sounds cool, but when I used a 14" MBP for a few minutes at the Apple Store last Friday it really didn't seem that noticeable. Scrolling in Safari and other places was just as smooth as normal, and the cursor didn't seem super smooth either. It's always looked super dramatic in YouTube videos, but I'm watching those videos on a 60hz display so how can I even be sure? The high resolution, the thinner bezels, the incredible contrast ratio, and the amazing colors looked great at the store and they'll definitely be a big upgrade over my current MBP (which was the first MBP with an LED backlit display!). But the MBP 13" also has a high resolution, and it also has a better contrast ratio than my current MBP, and it also has better colors than my current MBP. Ironically, the bezels are thicker on the 13" MBP than they are on my 14 year old MBP, which uses the same design as a 19 year old PowerBook. Ouch. The MBA M2 display has all that the MBP 13" has, plus thinner bezels and a notch. I like the notch, mainly due to the way it behaves with the menu bar in fullscreen.
Price is a factor too. I'd be using the Education Store (technically not a college student since I'm 16, but it won't be too long until then and I'll definitely use whatever I buy in college) to save some money. All of the models I'm considering are base models in a 16GB/512GB config. The MBA M1 comes in at $1,259, which I'll be able to afford by August 18. The MBA M2 comes in at $1,479, which I'll be able to afford by September 1. The MBP 13" is $100 more and I'll also be able to afford it by September 1. The MBP 14" would cost me $1,849, which I can get by September 15. My early-2008 15" MBP (plus a rose gold 2016 12" MacBook that's arriving today) will be able to last me through the rest of the year, so the date I can get things by isn't that important.
So, which one should I get? As mentioned earlier, I have a really tough time making decisions and weighing the importance of things due to executive dysfunction. I'd really appreciate some feedback and help deciding. Thanks!
I had thought the MBP 14" had great (not much worse than M1 or M2) battery life when doing normal tasks, like browsing the web in Safari or listening to music or chatting on Discord. I knew it wouldn't be as good as the MBP 13", but I figured it'd still be pretty close, like 15 hours or something. I thought wrong. Tom's Guide got 14:08, and I've seen anecdotal evidence that it can get as little as 10 hours in normal productivity use. 14:08 would be fine, but 10 hours just isn't enough for what I'm looking for. It's still a lot, and significantly better than my current early-2008 15" MacBook Pro (roughly 3:45 to 4:30 on OS X Mavericks these days, depending on browser and workload), but I want something that I don't even have to charge every day. I've got 2 power outlets in my bedroom and they're all used by important stuff already so I've got to unplug stuff to charge. The MBP 13" got 16:30 according to The Verge, and that was in a test that actually mimics my use pretty well, except for the few intensive Pro apps she used. The MBA M2 got 14 hours according to Tom's Guide, which is also good enough for me.
I initially wanted something with MagSafe 3, which is where the Air M2 and the MBP 14" came into play, but then I thought about it: if I get a laptop that I have to charge every-other-day or less, will I really be charging it often enough for MagSafe to really matter? Especially if I charge it at night, because then I won't have to worry about tripping on the cord or using one of my USB-C ports for charging.
The display on the other hand is a big difference, but I don't know how much of a difference it actually will be for me. I want a nice display, but I don't want a bright display. I normally keep my early-2008 15" MBP at half brightness. Max brightness is 300 nits, so I'm assuming half brightness is around 150 nits. I get bad headaches at higher brightness levels, especially at night. All of this means I'd keep the MBP 14" at a low brightness level and wouldn't see the benefits of the 1,000 nits sustained brightness or the 1,600 nits peak brightness. ProMotion sounds cool, but when I used a 14" MBP for a few minutes at the Apple Store last Friday it really didn't seem that noticeable. Scrolling in Safari and other places was just as smooth as normal, and the cursor didn't seem super smooth either. It's always looked super dramatic in YouTube videos, but I'm watching those videos on a 60hz display so how can I even be sure? The high resolution, the thinner bezels, the incredible contrast ratio, and the amazing colors looked great at the store and they'll definitely be a big upgrade over my current MBP (which was the first MBP with an LED backlit display!). But the MBP 13" also has a high resolution, and it also has a better contrast ratio than my current MBP, and it also has better colors than my current MBP. Ironically, the bezels are thicker on the 13" MBP than they are on my 14 year old MBP, which uses the same design as a 19 year old PowerBook. Ouch. The MBA M2 display has all that the MBP 13" has, plus thinner bezels and a notch. I like the notch, mainly due to the way it behaves with the menu bar in fullscreen.
Price is a factor too. I'd be using the Education Store (technically not a college student since I'm 16, but it won't be too long until then and I'll definitely use whatever I buy in college) to save some money. All of the models I'm considering are base models in a 16GB/512GB config. The MBA M1 comes in at $1,259, which I'll be able to afford by August 18. The MBA M2 comes in at $1,479, which I'll be able to afford by September 1. The MBP 13" is $100 more and I'll also be able to afford it by September 1. The MBP 14" would cost me $1,849, which I can get by September 15. My early-2008 15" MBP (plus a rose gold 2016 12" MacBook that's arriving today) will be able to last me through the rest of the year, so the date I can get things by isn't that important.
So, which one should I get? As mentioned earlier, I have a really tough time making decisions and weighing the importance of things due to executive dysfunction. I'd really appreciate some feedback and help deciding. Thanks!
