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Whose going with the M1 Air vs Pro?
- Thread starter kp98077
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In normal usage the screen in my rMBP was never set above 75% brightness. The MBA seems to be fine most of the time at 50-60%.
Yes of course. Seem's a 'lot' better with the MBP!
MBP: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...o-gets-the-M1-performance-boost.510883.0.html
MBA: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...le-M1-CPU-humbles-Intel-and-AMD.508057.0.html
- MBA:
- Contrast: 1069:1 (Black: 0.39 cd/m²)
- Maximum: 417 cd/m² Average: 394.7 cd/m²
- Brightness Distribution: 91 %
- MBP:
- Contrast: 1759:1 (Black: 0.29 cd/m²)
- Maximum: 510 cd/m² Average: 490.6 cd/m²
- Brightness Distribution: 94 %
Yes, brightness, contrast and black levels are better on the Pro, but on the same tests that you linked color accuracy and response time is better on the Air. So not clear cut in my opinion. The color accuracy is one reason the M1 Air is recommended for photographers In the reviews you linked.
I would wager a good amount of money the only way most people will notice the contrast and black levels between the displays would be to use them side by side. Even then, the differences are slight – I had the MBA and MBP together and it wasn’t a dramatic enough difference to matter.
My attitude about a lot of this stuff is the numbers don’t matter as much as the experience of using a device. Yes, if you’re doing exacting design or image work then the specs may matter more, but for the vast majority of users the differences here are a wash.
It’s a similar comparison to audiophiles vs. the rest of us: there are people who can actually notice the difference between two similarly specced sound systems, but for almost everyone else the experience will be close enough that the numbers make it a moot point.
If money is no object then by all means go for the higher specced display. If you’re interested in only paying for noticeable day-to-day advantages, however, the Air should be more than sufficient.
My attitude about a lot of this stuff is the numbers don’t matter as much as the experience of using a device. Yes, if you’re doing exacting design or image work then the specs may matter more, but for the vast majority of users the differences here are a wash.
It’s a similar comparison to audiophiles vs. the rest of us: there are people who can actually notice the difference between two similarly specced sound systems, but for almost everyone else the experience will be close enough that the numbers make it a moot point.
If money is no object then by all means go for the higher specced display. If you’re interested in only paying for noticeable day-to-day advantages, however, the Air should be more than sufficient.
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You are probably a sensible fellow.
Absolutely. After years of my 2014's fans roaring while using Bricklink Studio, I'm going to test it on an Air. I will take a slightly worse screen, and possibly slower rendering, if it gives me the experience of quiet. I'm a hobbiest photographer and the Air's screen is still better than what's on my old MBP.
I bought the MPB 8/256 during black friday at 1155 € without informing me about the real differences with the MBA.
Before purchasing the Pro M1 I sold the old MBP Mid 2014 8/256 for 700 € and my use is office, web browsing, zoom, teams, mail, video conference recordings with Obs studio but still for a while, parallels every now and then when I needed a Windows-only program.
I changed the old MacBook only for whim not for necessity, otherwise for my use it was fine except the battery that started to last short and recording with obs the cpu and the fan went to maximum and slowed down a little.
For my use:
Does it make sense to sell the MBP for € 1350 and buy the MBA 8/256 for € 1035 from the Apple online store?
If you recommend the PRO, I could also temporarily take the AIR and buy the new 14 "MBP with M1X / M2 later
Before purchasing the Pro M1 I sold the old MBP Mid 2014 8/256 for 700 € and my use is office, web browsing, zoom, teams, mail, video conference recordings with Obs studio but still for a while, parallels every now and then when I needed a Windows-only program.
I changed the old MacBook only for whim not for necessity, otherwise for my use it was fine except the battery that started to last short and recording with obs the cpu and the fan went to maximum and slowed down a little.
For my use:
Does it make sense to sell the MBP for € 1350 and buy the MBA 8/256 for € 1035 from the Apple online store?
If you recommend the PRO, I could also temporarily take the AIR and buy the new 14 "MBP with M1X / M2 later
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I find the pro screen not only brighter but with better contrast. If this is the only screen a person is looking at for 6-8 hours a day I believe it makes a considerable difference between the two models. If you use an external screen then it makes no differnce. But on the road a lot or outside, IMO it does.
If a 2014 MBP was powerful enough for your needs then any M1 will be a great upgrade. Just get the body shape you like the most/can afford.
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So you paid 1155€ for MBP M1 and you can sell it for 1350€ making about 200€ profit??
I think in that case it is no brainer to sell it and get MBA M1 unless you absolutely need longer battery life and brighter and higher contrast screen. Otherwise MBA is as good and actually a bit more higher quality feeling due to solid case with no hollow sounds from keyboard and trackapd.
Yeah, but you would need a timemachine because I understood that was just a black friday sale price...
Darn it. Yet another one of my schemes foiled.Yeah, but you would need a timemachine because I understood that was just a black friday sale price...
yes, I can sell it at that price, it's new and never activated.
I would do this if the MBP is wasted for my use, and I would buy the MBA for € 1035.
does it make sense to do it?
I've been on the fence going between buying the MBA or MBP for the last 2 weeks. I'm currently using a 2012 MBA for home use and I have a work-issued 15" 2018 MBP. My old 2012 MBA still works fine, but the battery lasts maybe 1-2 hours now on a full charge. Since I plan to keep this next laptop for a long time, I was planning to order a 16 GB model. So now I've narrowed it down to the following two:
- MBA, 16 GB, 512 GB - $1449 (8 core GPU)
- MBP, 16 GB, 256 GB - $1499
I tried both and went with the Air because I could still get the fans to spin up and roar when rendering from a lego 3d program and I choose silence over shorter render times since I don't render too frequently. Regarding the M1 MBP, because it runs so cool the fans are just off during most use and when they do come on they are quieter than my old MBP. I already compared temps and the majority of my use keeps the CPU under 95C, which is the point where the Air starts throttling so there is no performance difference to me.
Regarding the two screens, I loaded the game Element on both and I could not see a noticeable difference between the two when there was a lot of colorful stuff displayed. If I loaded a black wallpaper on both I could see the the MBP was darker but I never use my computers like that. Additionally, someone pointed out on another thread that the Air displays better whites and the Pro displays better blacks.
I am very happy with my 16GB/8-Core/1TB Air.
PS. While its true that the Pro has an hour or two better battery life, I found that a moderately sized USB powerbank is a lot cheaper than the MBP upgrade. But really the Air has such good battery life that I'm fine to just charge it in the evening after using it all day.
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I've gone for the 16GB/512GB MBP, purely because it was going to get here 1-2 weeks sooner than the MBA, else I'd have got that. I'm not sure I have the need for either the fan or larger battery but they'll be nice to have.
I went back-and-forth with both configurations and with the pro and AppleCare plus, it was only $68 more than the air with The veterans discount. Of course one was with 512 GB of SSD and the pro had 256 GB. I chose the pro because of the screen and the extra battery life along with a slightly better speaker. The Touch Bar I can care less about.
If you hate to hear a fan then your decision is surely made? One thing, using more than 50% of existing drive space suggests to me you could use a boost with your next computer; loose shoes can be lived with, tight shoes are a nightmare.
Be sure that whichever way you jump there will be moments of regret, we must think ourselves very lucky to have such problems.
As a fresh Mac user - I was terrified with Touchbar comments and went with Air first.
Cheaper, thinner.... but I had an itch for 8-core GPU MBA - so I got MBA with 512GB SSD.
3 weeks later - base MBP (256Gb) discounted so it costed the same as my MBA (512Gb).
I got them both and compared them 10 days...
First - no laptop beats base MBA for its value.
If you need new laptop today and are on the budget - base MBA is the way to go.
This model also gets most frequent sales - so the price goes even lower.
But if you decide to upgrade your MBA specs (with either RAM or SSD) - consider MBP too.
Its not a one killer difference that is better with MBP - its a pack of 5-6 things which are improved (visibly better screen with no red hue on the right, keyboard, larger trackpad, 17% larger battery - yes Apple says studio mics and better speakers but I am not paying extra for this.)...
Finally - Touchpad...
Yes, if you leave it default - it can be a horror.
Fact that any app can change whats on it is frightnening... Right key is never there...
BUT...
This is just a bad way how Apple left Touchbar default setting.. like a "demo" or retail store mode... and by showing what it can do - it confuses most of new users...
By simply going to settings - you can tweak Touchbar to default to Fn keys...
Or have shorcuts placed with spacings between them etc...- however you want...
Its just nice...
Cheaper, thinner.... but I had an itch for 8-core GPU MBA - so I got MBA with 512GB SSD.
3 weeks later - base MBP (256Gb) discounted so it costed the same as my MBA (512Gb).
I got them both and compared them 10 days...
First - no laptop beats base MBA for its value.
If you need new laptop today and are on the budget - base MBA is the way to go.
This model also gets most frequent sales - so the price goes even lower.
But if you decide to upgrade your MBA specs (with either RAM or SSD) - consider MBP too.
Its not a one killer difference that is better with MBP - its a pack of 5-6 things which are improved (visibly better screen with no red hue on the right, keyboard, larger trackpad, 17% larger battery - yes Apple says studio mics and better speakers but I am not paying extra for this.)...
Finally - Touchpad...
Yes, if you leave it default - it can be a horror.
Fact that any app can change whats on it is frightnening... Right key is never there...
BUT...
This is just a bad way how Apple left Touchbar default setting.. like a "demo" or retail store mode... and by showing what it can do - it confuses most of new users...
By simply going to settings - you can tweak Touchbar to default to Fn keys...
Or have shorcuts placed with spacings between them etc...- however you want...
Its just nice...