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Practical Reasons to Pick the M1 based 2-port 13" MacBook Pro over the M1 based MacBook Air
- Thread starter Yebubbleman
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The 2016 Escape (2-port) variant of the 13" MacBook Pro WAS the successor to the 2015/17 Air. Literally, it's Apple's Skylake redesign of the Air with a retina display and two ports. Far more in common with the 2011-17 Airs than the garbage they had from 2018 through the M1 announcement, which was based on the 12" Retina MacBook garbage more than anything else.
I'm assuming BTT = BetterTouchTool? I need to check this out.
Maybe. It's a WAY smaller cost difference between a 7-GPU-Core Air and an 8-GPU-Core Air than it is between an 8-GPU-Core Air and an M1 2-port 13" Pro.
Seconding this question. Especially given that's the whole point of this thread.
This will be my main/only computer (i will use an old Air from 2015 as a Vmware Fusion machine to run Linux/Windows). The main advantages on the Pro over the Air that moved me over:
1. Better battery life, albeit small difference
2. Brighter screen, small difference I know
3. In some cases better peformance due to having a fan.
size and weight difference is minimal, better battery life, brighter screen, touchbar (used to hate it but now its great when customized with better touch tool), fan never really spins up unless im gaming, isnt loud. Maintains higher frame rates during my whole gaming session compared to the air. I sold a 2020 air and now use a m1 pro.
Well, it has a fan, so it’ll be a bit better for sustained workloads. It has the TouchBar, depending on your view, that may be an advantage.
Personally, there was no choice for me, I despise the TouchBar with a burning passion. I only kept my maxed out, stupidly expensive MacBook Pro 15” for less than 6 months because of it, and I’ve never replaced it. Until now, with the Air. Well, I say now, I’ve still got 24 looooong days to wait
Personally, there was no choice for me, I despise the TouchBar with a burning passion. I only kept my maxed out, stupidly expensive MacBook Pro 15” for less than 6 months because of it, and I’ve never replaced it. Until now, with the Air. Well, I say now, I’ve still got 24 looooong days to wait
I don't think that the approximately £200/250 price difference was warranted. I'll put that toward 20% of a new machine. I always buy the lowest spec and usually an outgoing machine as they represent excellent value-for-money but in this case, I wanted to jump aboard the M1 train from the first night possible as my sole laptop (early-2013 rMBP failed the month before.)
I used to despise the touchbar..when I was looking for a replacement for a dying 2017 macbook pro (non touchbar) I bought a 2020 pro but returned it in favor of the air because I couldnt stand the touchbar. I decided to try the pro m1 this time after reading about better touch tool. I actually like having the touchbar now..fully customized with everything I want to see. Global gestures control volume, brightness, and kb backlight (one, two and three finger swipes anywhere on the touchbar). When using certain apps I can have it default to the app specific touchbar layout/function. Its quicker and easier than the dedicated keys ive been using for many years.Well, it has a fan, so it’ll be a bit better for sustained workloads. It has the TouchBar, depending on your view, that may be an advantage.
Personally, there was no choice for me, I despise the TouchBar with a burning passion. I only kept my maxed out, stupidly expensive MacBook Pro 15” for less than 6 months because of it, and I’ve never replaced it. Until now, with the Air. Well, I say now, I’ve still got 24 looooong days to wait
It is the Air. Always has been the Air.
Remember that there was a time-gap when they stopped updating the Air because they had the nTB MacBook Pro which is the predecessor of this 2-port MBP. And it was ultimately not a successful computer because it was just too weak for a Pro machine and too expensive as a laptop for the majority of Air users, who also value battery life.
When the new MBPs come in 2021, it will be the same story. This will end up being too weak for people looking at performance, and too expensive compared to the Air which has exactly the same chip.
People who insists on having a fan for sustained workloads will be looking at next year MBPs for performance, while people who buy the Air right now will be delighted precisely because it does not have a fan.
With the Air you know what you are buying, while the current M1 MBP will be a tweener especially considering that it won’t be getting the updated design. It will end up being the almost-pro for a 30% price increase.
Remember that there was a time-gap when they stopped updating the Air because they had the nTB MacBook Pro which is the predecessor of this 2-port MBP. And it was ultimately not a successful computer because it was just too weak for a Pro machine and too expensive as a laptop for the majority of Air users, who also value battery life.
When the new MBPs come in 2021, it will be the same story. This will end up being too weak for people looking at performance, and too expensive compared to the Air which has exactly the same chip.
People who insists on having a fan for sustained workloads will be looking at next year MBPs for performance, while people who buy the Air right now will be delighted precisely because it does not have a fan.
With the Air you know what you are buying, while the current M1 MBP will be a tweener especially considering that it won’t be getting the updated design. It will end up being the almost-pro for a 30% price increase.
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It will “throttle“ and take a 10-15% hit. But this M1 is so fast it won’t be noticeable.
I stand corrected. There was a time between 2015 and 2018 when they did not update the Air.
I bought the Air after having every 15” Touch Bar pro and the 16” last year. And I don’t miss the Touch Bar. I never really liked it, and had it set as static buttons with a haptic app for feel anyway. The lack of fan in the Air means nothing- the performance is crazy in this thing. Really a lot like an iPad Pro.
I certainly won’t deny that the TouchBar has its uses, and it can definitely be flexible when it comes to customisation.
What it can’t do unfortunately, is let me press a button when I’m typing, without having to look at the keyboard and hunt out what I want. That’s why I like good old-fashioned function keys. I can hit the one I want, every time, in the blink of an eye, without having to take my eyes off the screen.
As I use the media keys (among others) constantly throughout the day, it’s a complete pain in the butt having to use the TouchBar. I dread the day when Apple stops offering a proper keyboard.
Annoyingly, there’s absolutely no reason, beyond being total gits, that they couldn’t include both.
Yeah better touch tool. I tried it out using xcode's built in on screen touch bar. It's actually awesome once you take the time to customize and actually found myself using the touchbar as a utility one the actual desktop. There are presets that you can download as well. Apple should honestly showcase the utility since it brings so much.
The 8/8 gpu option on the Air with 16gb vs the m1 pro 16gb is a decent difference in cost for sure. The "pro" model is a great device for someone who does some workflows at sustained rates, but their work doesn't depend on needing a powerhouse all the time. Those individuals should really wait. The air is great but tests do show that any sustained stresses will cause throttling that becomes noticeable over time. 8/8 16gb on the pro just seems to make more sense if you're getting that combo for video rendering, 3D modeling, and high levels of multitasking. It comes down to if you feel spending a bit extra is worth the benefits.
I can also see them keeping the Air body style longer than a possible update to the lineup. Both are great, though yeah the reason why it's difficult is because they are very similar
I switched from a MacBook Air 2020 i5 model to a MacBook Pro M1. I could have stayed within the Air line, but I really enjoy the Pro. I'm part of the 1% of people who actually like the Touch Bar. It looks cool, and is a breath of fresh air.
Also, I can imagine the fan on the Pro will eventually be useful. At the moment it hasn't been used for all I can see lol.
Also, I can imagine the fan on the Pro will eventually be useful. At the moment it hasn't been used for all I can see lol.
I might be in the minority but i've been playing WoW quite a bit on the M1 powered MBP13 and the game kicks the fan on in a low speed mode (you can't hear it) and yet the laptop still warms up quite a bit overall, as in the palm rests get kind of warm.. I actually use a fan control app (TG Pro) to manually set the rpm to 4000 and it cools the entire machine down quite a bit so that's much more comfortable to use and the fan is actually very very quiet still at 4000 rpms. I'd imagine the MBA without a fan just heatsoaks to the point of being not so comfortable to use while gaming..
I'm torn between the Macbook Air 256/7core GPU with 16 GB RAM and the Macbook Pro base model with just 8 GB RAM. I'm watching Youtube reviews and reading tests and one day I tend to the first, the next day to the other.
I'm a teacher so the air is all I need for work but I also like to play a game from time to time, just indie games, but I think it will be a permant workload so the pro would fit better. I just don't know... I don't want to spend more then 1300 €.
I'm a teacher so the air is all I need for work but I also like to play a game from time to time, just indie games, but I think it will be a permant workload so the pro would fit better. I just don't know... I don't want to spend more then 1300 €.
Or maybe it heatsoaks to a point that's still comfortable and stays that way?
Unless you've tried it, I'm not sure one can assume just what level of thermal dissipation Apple's engineers set the MBA up as for sustained load such a WOW.
Please remember to distinguish warm from hot. My MacBook Air 2020 used to reach 95 degrees Celsius playing slay the spire, a simple card game lol. That's hot.
Your palm rest getting warm, isn't hot. It's just perfectly normal. Windows laptops get warm to.
Your palm rest getting warm, isn't hot. It's just perfectly normal. Windows laptops get warm to.
I totally agree to your first statement. It was clearly a mistake from Apple. They were trying to let the Air die and replace it with the 13 Pro nTB. For portability they had the Macbook Retina. Both machines were way more expensive for the performance they delivered in the past - might also be driven by Intel not delivering the CPUs they needed.
Its was general the time when Apple was driven by the Lady from Burrbery - Angela Ahrendts - and she tried to make Apple to a fashion luxury company (see the totally wrong first approach with the apple watch).
Now I guess Apple will fix that and next year they will finally correct that error. They will kill the entry 13 Macbook Pro with a new 14 Macbook Pro (no 2 different model in one line any more) with more "pro" difference to the Air.
Macbook Air 13 M1 - Entry (old design)
Macbook Pro 14 M1X /M2 (new design)
Macbook Pro 16 M1X /M2 (new design)
And then they will update the Air maybe to the old approach
To finally have it like with the iPad/iPhone:
Macbook Air 12
Macbook Air 14
Macbook Pro 14
Macbook Pro 16
This is my take... I went with the M1 Pro, but still in love with the new Air and still fighting to not send the Pro back and order the Air as I anyway want to upgrade next year to the 14" Macbook Pro.
For a CPU designed to run at (and not exceed) 100C, I'm not sure I'd say 95C constitutes "hot"?
As few of us here tend to touch the CPU, IMHO its temperature is irrelevant for so long as the system isn't defective and allowing the CPU to exceed its design temperature.
What does matter, as you touch on, is the surface temperature of the case. My early-2020 MBA never reached an uncomfortable temperature whether on my lap or on my desk.
Precisely, touching the upper part of the Air (above the keyboard near the screen) was my go to: and it would be extremely hot. Not healthy hot I would say. And I was always careful. Bare in mind I would turn the fans to 5000 rotations with Macs Fan Control and I would still be 95 degrees. If I didn't do it it would reach 100 degrees in less that 5 minutes playing slay the spire.
Think the highest I ever measured (IR non-contact thermometer) on mine was ~116-117F after recreating a couple thousand 1:1 RAW image previews in Lightroom. Bottom case maybe hit 90F or so, palm rests around 80F. I posted temps a couple times here on MR, either in the Air forum or here if anyone cares to dig up the details.
My M1 MBP seems to remain cooler to the touch even if the Intel MBA was never uncomfortable. That said, doing a full backup right now with it sitting vertical on a bookarc stand in clamshell mode I'm reading 101.5F bottom case, 94F lid, no audible fan. Not bad - my 2018MBP15 would be a bunch warmer and making noise.
The Intel 2 port MBP was an adequately cooled Air, for all intents and purposes. Now with the M1 it is a usable pro machine. It still will be, even once the M1X leaves it in the dust. 7500 cinebench is desktop performance.
As for why I bought a 2 port Intel MBP; I needed a stable computer to do work, and didn't want an Intel Air that throttled itself into a lag machine with some multitasking.