Upgrading From 2020 Macbook Pro 13" - Choose 14" M2 or 15" Air M2?

[A1MB1G]

I know there's already been a lot of chatter of people debating whether to go with the Macbook Pro 14" M2 or Macbook Air 15" M2. Bang for your buck, it's clear the 14" Pro offers better value in almost every way but I'm still on the fence. I currently have a 13" Macbook Pro intel based. I trade stocks for a living and connect my laptop to a Studio Display, never have connected it to more than 1 external monitor. Lately, I've been craving a bit more real-estate on my latpop screen but worry that going to the 15" will be too big as there are times I do appreciate a smaller form factor.

The one thing driving me crazy lately about my Macbook Pro is that the fans will run a lot when doing video calls on Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Anyways, I'm about ready for an upgrade and have narrowed it down to a refurbished Macbook Pro 14 M2 or the new Macbook Air 15 M2.
How much more screen real-estate is the 14" over the 13"? By the thinner bezels, it looks like it deceptively provides quite a more more space for contact. Also, my current Macbook weighs 3.0Lbs. I see the 14 Pro weighs 3.5Lbs vs the 15 Air at 3.3Lbs.

Anyways, I would really appreciate feedback/suggestions on this.

 

[neo_cs193p]

There is no perfect laptop. At least not in every condition. If you get the big 15" screen you will love it, but then sometimes you might find the laptop a bit too big for small bags. Or crave the mini led, xdr, pro-motion, the extra ports etc.
If you get the 14" MBP, there is not going to be a wowing difference in screen size compared to your current 13", but you will love the other traits of the display. And then you might find it a bit too small, or the laptop too bulky, or the battery life not exceptional.

So whichever you buy, you have the potential to be both happy and unhappy. It all depends on what you focus on.
It looks like you're in the fortunate position to choose any of the 2, and both are great computers.

So if you want to be happy just pick one and focus on its strengths.
If you want to be unhappy, keep looking back and second-guessing your decision

 

[OrenLindsey]

You should get the 14" Pro. The only problem is one inch less screen. Other than that, you'll like the Pro a lot more. Also, the 14" is a lot more than the 13". Especially if you scale the display.
I personally think the 14" is the perfect tradeoff between size, weight, and still having enough screen space. It's really good.

 

[A1MB1G]

You should get the 14" Pro. The only problem is one inch less screen. Other than that, you'll like the Pro a lot more. Also, the 14" is a lot more than the 13". Especially if you scale the display.
I personally think the 14" is the perfect tradeoff between size, weight, and still having enough screen space. It's really good.

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it. After watching a ton of videos and reading lots of articles, I ended up ordering a refurbished 14" Macbook Pro M2 w/16GB Ram and 512GB storage. It came out cheaper than the equivalent 15" Macbook Air M2 with 16GB/512GB configuration.

Given the value for the money, just didn't feel the extra 1" in display size was sufficient to compensate for all the other benefits that the Pro model brings. Also, from all the pictures I've seen, that extra display size over my current 2020 13" Macbook Pro seems quite significant when you consider the much smaller bezels on the 14" display. Hopefully I made the right call!

 

[OrenLindsey]

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it. After watching a ton of videos and reading lots of articles, I ended up ordering a refurbished 14" Macbook Pro M2 w/16GB Ram and 512GB storage. It came out cheaper than the equivalent 15" Macbook Air M2 with 16GB/512GB configuration.

Given the value for the money, just didn't feel the extra 1" in display size was sufficient to compensate for all the other benefits that the Pro model brings. Also, from all the pictures I've seen, that extra display size over my current 2020 13" Macbook Pro seems quite significant when you consider the much smaller bezels on the 14" display. Hopefully I made the right call!

You will not regret it!
If your eyes allow, try scaling the display. It has a high enough resolution screen and good enough performance that it will be fine, and you'll get a ton of screen space. It makes it seem like you have a 15", or even a 16"

 

[Mac mini power user]

The 14-inch is a good choice. The screen may feel slightly cramped at times, but one or two external displays will fix that. The quality of the display alone makes up for the slight decrease in screen size.

 

[Fishrrman]

MacBook Pro 14" is "the choice to make"...

 

[A1MB1G]

MacBook Pro 14" is "the choice to make"...

I'm just hoping 16GB will be sufficient. I use it mostly for work that I do as a Financial Advisor e.g. lots of PDF work, Stock Terminal App to follow the markets etc. I don't do any photo or video editing so I'm thinking the 16GB will be more than enough for my needs? Got a great deal via the Refurbished Certified through Apple.

 

[OrenLindsey]

I'm just hoping 16GB will be sufficient. I use it mostly for work that I do as a Financial Advisor e.g. lots of PDF work, Stock Terminal App to follow the markets etc. I don't do any photo or video editing so I'm thinking the 16GB will be more than enough for my needs? Got a great deal via the Refurbished Certified through Apple.

16gb will be enough. The only case where you'd need more is a heavy application like coding, editing, and such.

 

[ItzJustKay1]

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it. After watching a ton of videos and reading lots of articles, I ended up ordering a refurbished 14" Macbook Pro M2 w/16GB Ram and 512GB storage. It came out cheaper than the equivalent 15" Macbook Air M2 with 16GB/512GB configuration.

Given the value for the money, just didn't feel the extra 1" in display size was sufficient to compensate for all the other benefits that the Pro model brings. Also, from all the pictures I've seen, that extra display size over my current 2020 13" Macbook Pro seems quite significant when you consider the much smaller bezels on the 14" display. Hopefully I made the right call!

Did you order it from Apple or somewhere else?

 

[ColdCase]

16gb will be enough. The only case where you'd need more is a heavy application like coding, editing, and such.

Another other place where RAM may limit is that open browser tabs/windows can eat up a surprising amount of RAM. Also, when you download files, they are stored in RAM until completely downloaded then saved to the hard drive. So large files, larger than 5GB that gets close to approaching the physical RAM can be a problem in some browsers, Safari maybe 3GB. Current version of safari with Ventura and the MBP will eat RAM, often appearing to be a memory leak.

All limits you can certainly work around if you are one of the few with a wildlife video hobby. I don't recall needing to work around using 32 GB RAM machines.

 

[FlyingTexan]

I just went, literally today, from a 13” 2020m1 to a M1 14” pro. Picked it up for $1801 after tax on Amazon. It is a refurb 16GB/1TB. Bought from Amazon but came as a certified Apple refurb in new condition still wrapped in the box. Never used. Called Apple and they told me its warranty date started in June but I can even get AppleCare on it.

I went with the M1 because for daily driver use there’s no difference between that and the M2. Same screen and better speakers. Honestly my 2020 m1 13pro did everything as quick as I could want. My 5800x3D/rtx4090/64GB desktop want any faster. Worth considering.

 

[Knightimer]

Tex, looks like a good deal on the M1. I'm going to Amazon now and check it out. Thanks!

 

[Knightimer]

Hi Tex, I actually see this for $1,399.00? Is this the same?

 

[FlyingTexan]

Hi Tex, I actually see this for $1,399.00? Is this the same?

I saw that one but pulled the trigger on this one instead. My own real reasoning being I could get it next day, I'm in a hotel and my time for all of this is limited, and it was basically brand new from Apple. Amazon (Renewed Premium). When I called Apple they told me they sent their factory refurbs to this supplier, of the M1, in June. Mine was actually listed as "New" on the receipt and that was good enough to take the jump. Plus I get one year to return so long as I don't muck it up. But to be honest the $1399 is a fantastic deal as well. The one I purchased also qualifies for Apple Care and still has original apple warranty until April 2024. For me it was knowing I had a new machine and piece of mind. You can definitely order the one you linked and check it out then send it back if you don't like it. I don't know if it will qualify for apple care. They list the one of yours as "used" but say they are in excellent condition. Honestly I wouldn't let that deter me. And if you get that one you can basically skip forking out for Applecare because that's $280+299+tax to fix it and you're already at half the price of what you paid. I mostly thought mine was a great deal, a new machine, and a good return policy so should Apple release something new this month that really looks worth it to me then I'll go that route and return this one. Apple quoted my 13" at $630 and I just walked to fedex a few hours ago and dropped it off, fedex scanned the QR code in my email and handled everything. It was a 90 second process.

I travel for a living and have been on the road for a month. Booked the hotels through my chase sapphire cc which gives me 10pts per dollar. I just looked and 186,945pts this month which is a new record. That's about $2800 if I use it to pay the debt on my card lol. So originally I was going to go M2 and just use that up but decided to go this route due to the better speakers. I'm on it now and honestly I can't tell any difference between this, my m1, and my desktop as far as speed goes. I have iStatistica on mine and I only use like 20% lol. But the screen is phenomenal. Just watched the Foundation intro in HDR.

On a side note you'll want to do two things when you get it. 1) Go into settings and adjust the refresh rate of your screen to ProMotion. Mine did not come with that as default. 2) Go to the battery section in settings and click on "Options" at the bottom right and enable HDR when on battery. I kept thinking I wasn't really wowed but then found out being on battery it wouldn't do HDR. Now it's poppin!

2021 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Pro Chip 10-core CPU (14-inch, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Silver (Renewed Premium)

2021 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Pro Chip 10-core CPU (14-inch, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Silver (Renewed Premium)

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