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Well spec'd M2 MBA or Low/Mid M1 MBP 14

S

shorn

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 29, 2010
206
16
Wondering if anyone can help settle an inner debate I'm having.

Currently running a 2014 iMac 16Gb, 1TB SSD. Been waiting on a new machine and now is the time. Working from home but occasionally away and don't want to run two machines, so will be going for a laptop+screen solution.

Really liked the look of the M2 MBA air pulled the trigger on a 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 24GB, 1TB M2 in Midnight.

Was happy and I'm still waiting for it (Due first week of August), but now I'm debating if I should go for the 14" Pro.

The MBA was £2049.

I can get the M1 14 Pro, 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU, 16GB, 1TB SSD for £2099.

In the air, I like the colour, the portability, the fact that I'll never hear a fan kick in. However, the pro has a better display and I like the black keyboard area.

I work mainly in code editor, Photoshop and Sketch. I'm sure both will be more than adequate in terms of performance.

Either one will be driving a Studio Display.

Curious as to what others thoughts would be?
 
shorn said:
Wondering if anyone can help settle an inner debate I'm having.

Currently running a 2014 iMac 16Gb, 1TB SSD. Been waiting on a new machine and now is the time. Working from home but occasionally away and don't want to run two machines, so will be going for a laptop+screen solution.

Really liked the look of the M2 MBA air pulled the trigger on a 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 24GB, 1TB M2 in Midnight.

Was happy and I'm still waiting for it (Due first week of August), but now I'm debating if I should go for the 14" Pro.

The MBA was £2049.

I can get the M1 14 Pro, 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU, 16GB, 1TB SSD for £2099.

In the air, I like the colour, the portability, the fact that I'll never hear a fan kick in. However, the pro has a better display and I like the black keyboard area.

I work mainly in code editor, Photoshop and Sketch. I'm sure both will be more than adequate in terms of performance.

Either one will be driving a Studio Display.

Curious as to what others thoughts would be?
Click to expand...
Assuming you're buying both from Apple why not give them both a try and return the one you like less?

Honest opinion though, between those two machines at those price points, the 14" MBP wins out easy, no contest. It's not just the display you're getting: faster CPU, faster GPU, 2x memory bandwidth, More ports (3x TB3/USB-C, SD Card Reader, HDMI), more IO bandwidth, way better cooling (no thermal throttling,) and so much more.

The only scenario I could honestly recommend a specced out MBA for is one where portability matters more than all else by a mile, and even then I think the MBA isn't really THAT much more portable...
 
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If maximum portability isn't a primary thing.... the MBP 14" ... all day long and don't even hesitate

It's a much better machine overall when looking beyond the pure aesthetic concerns.
 
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Where performance is concerned both are more than capable for your needs, especially given you're not going to be using sustained workloads. So I wouldn't overthink the SoC in these things. Therefore:

MBP 14 advantages are the mini-LED screen, slightly larger screen, SD card slot, HDMI, one additional Thunderbolt port and active cooling.
MBA advantages are greater portability and marginally better battery life.

The choice is yours. But strictly in my own opinion, I would go for the MBP 14 purely because it will have better resale value.
 
doboy said:
also multiple monitor support w/ 14"
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OMG how could I forget LOL. One monitor for the MBA, two monitors for the 14" MBP (with M1 Pro, four with M1 Max.)
I literally run two external monitors everyday (and sometimes use three) along with the MBP screen.
 
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shorn said:
Wondering if anyone can help settle an inner debate I'm having.

Currently running a 2014 iMac 16Gb, 1TB SSD. Been waiting on a new machine and now is the time. Working from home but occasionally away and don't want to run two machines, so will be going for a laptop+screen solution.

Really liked the look of the M2 MBA air pulled the trigger on a 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 24GB, 1TB M2 in Midnight.

Was happy and I'm still waiting for it (Due first week of August), but now I'm debating if I should go for the 14" Pro.

The MBA was £2049.

I can get the M1 14 Pro, 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU, 16GB, 1TB SSD for £2099.

In the air, I like the colour, the portability, the fact that I'll never hear a fan kick in. However, the pro has a better display and I like the black keyboard area.

I work mainly in code editor, Photoshop and Sketch. I'm sure both will be more than adequate in terms of performance.

Either one will be driving a Studio Display.

Curious as to what others thoughts would be?
Click to expand...
People are making this harder than it is, get the Air if size and weight are your primary concern; get the 14" Pro if they are not your primary concern.

You ordered 24GB RAM for a reason, are you willing to drop down to 16GB just to keep the price the same?

You will seldom hear the fans on the 14". At low fan speeds you will be hard pressed to hear it over ambient room noise; in the rare cases that it will be at medium speeds, the Air would be throttling hard and slowing down your work.
 
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Thanks for the replies. The overwhelming lean towards the MBP, is exactly the reason I started doubting my original choice.

Portability isn’t a major factor, it’ll be docked most of the time.

Only reason I added the 24gb to the air was in that I know it’s always recommended to get as much as you can afford. This pushed it to approx £2k which is about what I wanted to spend.

Ideally I bump the mbp to 32gb, but the additional £400 is quite hard to swallow!

I might just order both and see which I prefer.
 
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shorn said:
Thanks for the replies. The overwhelming lean towards the MBP, is exactly the reason I started doubting my original choice.

Portability isn’t a major factor, it’ll be docked most of the time.
Click to expand...
That's all you need to know.
shorn said:
Only reason I added the 24gb to the air was in that I know it’s always recommended to get as much as you can afford. This pushed it to approx £2k which is about what I wanted to spend.

Ideally I bump the mbp to 32gb, but the additional £400 is quite hard to swallow!

I might just order both and see which I prefer.
Click to expand...
Apple's RAM prices are crazy. You mentioned Sketch; I use XD and and 16GB has been fine for me. If you are doing light PS work 16GB is fine because swap memory is so fast, but if you are doing more extensive PS work like big layered files or hdr/panpormic stitching get 32GB. How much is that upgrade spread over the length of time you plan on keeping the computer. The other perfectly valid choice is to save the 400 and just accept that under heavy use it wont feel quite as smooth.
 
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I seen them in person today, if you want portability, the air is definitely the way to go. The pro is pretty chunky and heavy compared to the air. But if yours just going to use it docked anyways, might as well go the higher spec and speeds. But I’m glad I seen them in person before ordering, solidified my choice for the m2 air
 
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1BadManVan said:
I seen them in person today, if you want portability, the air is definitely the way to go. The pro is pretty chunky and heavy compared to the air. But if yours just going to use it docked anyways, might as well go the higher spec and speeds. But I’m glad I seen them in person before ordering, solidified my choice for the m2 air
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No doubt the M2 MBA is paper thin, but the 14” MBP is hardly chunky.
 
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I had a similar problem, except my buying logic was as follows:

- I really want the MBA for its portability
- The screen on the MBA is adequate for my needs
- I buy a well-spec'd MBA

Had the screen not been adequate my logic would have been:

- I really want the MBA for its portability
- The screen on the MBA is inadequate for my needs so I must get a 14" MBP
- If I am not getting my portability then I want maximum power instead
- I buy a well-spec'd 14" MBP

The reality is that the M2 is well beyond my requirements, throttled or not, and the screen is the major decider for me while I want as much portability as possible. If I am forced to carry more mass, then I want that device to compensate by being well beyond what I need, it might come in handy later or provide better resale value.

Am I buying more than I need? Yes
Is my decision making truly logical and rational? Maybe not

But that is how it went for me.

EDIT: On a 0% interest two-year finance deal it is worth bearing in mind that a fully-loaded MBA runs at £115.33/month and a fully-loaded 14" MBP apart from being at 2TB (tops out at 8TB) runs at £177.00/month

EDIT: The M1 MBP 14" is probably going to become an M2 MBP 14" soon, which was also a factor in my "decision making".
 
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Just thought I’d update.

Received the 14” MBP a day or two ago. Performance wise, it’s great. Haven’t really tested it hard yet, as decided to set this one up from scratch. It’s almost there.

I have had Photos pulling all my iCloud library, apps installing, etc etc. haven’t heard the fan once and it’s stayed pretty cool to the touch.

Form factor, I really like. I recently had a 2019 16” intel mbp, and whilst the screen size was nice, it was quite a slab. This feels substantial, but still portable. Feels like the 14” is the sweet spot.

As it happens, I was passing an Apple store last night, so decided to pop in and see the M2 MBA. Took one look at the midnight and new I made the right choice. Those fingerprints would drive me insane! It’s a cool colour, but I know the way it picks up prints would frustrate me.

Overall, really happy with the decision. Also connected up to the Studio Display, which, although build wise looks great, is slightly underwhelming having forked out all that money and essentially be looking at the same panel as my 8 year old iMac. If it’s not broke don’t fix it I guess, but would have been nice to see an improvement here or there.

Thanks for the input everyone.
 
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darngooddesign said:
The Air is as thick as the 14" Pro without its screen/lid. I think the thickness difference is less noticeable than the almost 1 pound weight savings.
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It's just 370 gram. Or 18.5%. The height difference is 27%. 1.55 cm versus 1.15 cm. Screwed up numbers and math, how embarrassing 😅
 
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Pressure said:
It's just 370 gram. Or 18.5%. The height difference is 27%. 1.55 cm versus 1.15 cm.
Click to expand...
Huh? The M2 MBA is 1.24 kg. The 14” M1 MBP is 1.6 kg. That’s 29% heavier. Or in the opposite direction, the MBA is 22.5% lighter. Not sure where your number came from.

Edit: And the M2 MBA is 1.13 cm not 1.15 cm. So 1.13 vs 1.55 is 37% thicker. Or again reversing it, the MBA is 27% thinner.
 
jdb8167 said:
Huh? The M2 MBA is 1.24 kg. The 14” M1 MBP is 1.6 kg. That’s 29% heavier. Or in the opposite direction, the MBA is 22.5% lighter. Not sure where your number came from.

Edit: And the M2 MBA is 1.13 cm not 1.15 cm. So 1.13 vs 1.55 is 37% thicker. Or again reversing it, the MBA is 27% thinner.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I screwed up the math and numbers o_O
 
I'm glad the OP is happy with their decision but I'm a little frustrated that there's often an "it's a no-brainer response" to go with the MBP. In my case, the battery life of the m2 MBA is a significant factor. I have not seen a direct comparison of real-world battery performance between the two. I have seen very conflicting reports of real-world m1 Pro 14 MBP results.

I don't need/care about docking to more than one monitor. I do think the improved speakers and screen of the MBP are a big deal but I also think the lighter weight of the MBA is essential. Personally... I'm still torn... battery and weight of the M2 vs the screen/speakers/power of the 14 MBP. That's the dilemma for me.
 
dizmonk said:
I don't need/care about docking to more than one monitor. I do think the improved speakers and screen of the MBP are a big deal but I also think the lighter weight of the MBA is essential. Personally... I'm still torn... battery and weight of the M2 vs the screen/speakers/power of the 14 MBP. That's the dilemma for me.
Click to expand...
The good news about such a tough decision is that they're both excellent machines, and that you'll be satisfied either way.
 
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