For me I tried both.
I only think, that the MBP Keyboard (and chassis) sounds kind of hollow... But no difference in keyboard at all.
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Whose going with the M1 Air vs Pro?
- Thread starter kp98077
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I only think, that the MBP Keyboard (and chassis) sounds kind of hollow... But no difference in keyboard at all.
It could be manufacturing differences from the suppliers. For example, Lenovo is known to source ThinkPad keyboards from 3 suppliers. They all feel different so it's basically a lottery.
M1 is better value for me, not paying for a TB. No mushy keys here lol, please.
i this is where its coming from
yes, youre right, i had to type on them side by side to really notice the difference.
I'm having a huge time consuming debate with myself on which one to go with. Main point being I could make it to late summer with my stationary windows setup when the rumored 14" pro could be published?
I used both at a store and instantly felt like the pro is for me (weird gut feeling) but rationally thinking the Air would be okay for my use case especially if I want to upgrade for a redesign in -21 or -22. I'm a victim of the hype and spent way too much time on reviews etc.
Looking at the notebookchecks review the base model Air was 10-15% slower to 8GPU model and if you add the throttling to that it is much slower in graphically demanding applications than the base pro. I wold rather have bigger battery than an sd. But since the usb speeds are not what they're supposed to be who knows what's a good move.
Some beginner 3d modelling, gaming well it is nice to have something but i much rather use a playstation or switch unless the m1 platform gets attention from game devs, and word processing is what I'll need the mac for.
I used both at a store and instantly felt like the pro is for me (weird gut feeling) but rationally thinking the Air would be okay for my use case especially if I want to upgrade for a redesign in -21 or -22. I'm a victim of the hype and spent way too much time on reviews etc.
Looking at the notebookchecks review the base model Air was 10-15% slower to 8GPU model and if you add the throttling to that it is much slower in graphically demanding applications than the base pro. I wold rather have bigger battery than an sd. But since the usb speeds are not what they're supposed to be who knows what's a good move.
Some beginner 3d modelling, gaming well it is nice to have something but i much rather use a playstation or switch unless the m1 platform gets attention from game devs, and word processing is what I'll need the mac for.
My advice:
Spend some time thinking about just what benefits you anticipate from a rumored 14" model which you wouldn't get from a current 13.3" model.
Then evaluate just how likely those benefits are to come to fruition - since Apple tends to do pay no attention to the rumors and they do whatever they decide to do.
I would also suggest look at past redesigns and how often they had "growing pains" that took a while to sort out.
The above should help you to make a decision of wait or buy. Or perhaps a middle-ground of waiting for refurb models to show up on the Apple Store - Refurbished Mac - Apple
I'd go for the 13 PRO, hardly a large price difference... i had the Air just didn't feel great, but that's me! Especially didnt like the Air keyboard for some strange reason..
Yeah this is actually a good point I didn't even think. And the fact that redesign will probably be much more expensive than these entry machines. Mainly what I wanted from the 14" is the bigger screen and smaller bezels, and maybe the whole laptop being more tailored for the new chip set? But this is all speculation. That being said I really don't mind the design, I think it's a classic look and still one of the best looking laptops there is.
Well the price difference here is 1160€ vs 1480€ so either way it is a large sum of money for trying out completely new OS and architecture. +Like 90% of the internet thinks that the Air is the way to go no questions. I wish there was a clear difference in the performance between the two.
But oh man these are so exciting machines and I haven't been excited about tech in a loooooong time! I wish the time spent researching these laptops was spent on making money hahhah would've probably paid half of the pro by now.
Keyboards are very much a personal preference, even the much maligned ‘butterfly’ keyboard has its own fans that love it. I hated the 1st gen butterfly keyboard on my 2016 MBP. In comparison i much prefer the keyboard on my M1 MBA. I have had the laptop for 4 weeks now, love it, best laptop I have ever bought. I have always bought a MBP in the past because of the clear performance difference, I don’t think the extra cost is worth it unless you want the Touch Bar, or you need the sustained performance of the Pro.
Do you have the base model or the 8 gpu core one?
Sustained performance is something I'm not actually 100% sure on. On the other hand if the game devs start giving the m1 attention (which I highly doubt) it would be nice to have a little more thermal headroom + the 8/8. And well the 3d hobbyist stuff is still pretty light for me but I'm aiming to be able to one day make some income from it.
On the other hand the usage I'm looking for is mainly mobile text editing from sofa to library etc. Yeah the passive cooling would solve worries about the machine sucking in dust from a sofa etc. The touchbar is kinda meh, but the bigger battery and charger is something I definitely value.
they are very exciting machines! FOR me , they are not the same machines, the screen is much better on the Pro and so is the keyboard.... I think too many people on here go just by the numbers, which is a bit lopsided.
I’m torn between the MBA and PRO and wondering if you describe the differences in screen quality?
is it a significant difference?
It's 100 Nits difference (which is not that much at all - but depends on your needs).
Otherwise it's, that the black level and contrast with MBP is better than MBA. (even Intel MBA from 2020 has better contrast than MBA M1.)
Depends on your needs. But doing photo or video (and also office) it's better to have more contrast and better black-levels.
I have the 8 GPU Core with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD. Thermal Throttling only kicks in after sustained heavy duty load after around 10 Mins, and this is driven by tasks that load the CPU or GPU to 100% such as gaming and video editing. Even then the performance is only reduced by 10-15%. Given that this new MBA is around 100% quicker than the 2016 15" MBP that I am replacing then I am still up 85% on sustained heavy work load. If all you are doing is office documents / web browsing / Zoom Meetings etc then performance is no different to the MBP.
I think this is an important point, dust typically is the no1 enemy of computers longevity, and to have a computer with no moving parts and does not suck dust in, as an advantage. Also fans can fail over time so that is one less thing to go wrong. Some may argue that MBP can run cooler than the MBA, and hence improve longevity, But my experience is with the A series chips in the iPads they last forever with no fan. Also compared to Intel Chips these M1 Airs still run cooler under load.
The MBP does have a larger battery but if the MBA lasts longer than I can stay awake for, which it does, then a larger battery does not really add much benefit.
I can only compare my MBA M1 screen to my 2016 MBP - I would say that the M1 Air has a better screen than my old MBP 15" 2016. The viewing angles are much better and text is pin sharp. All the reviews I have seen say that the only difference is the max brightness. I never set brightness to max indoors, and this is not an issue to me. If you live in country with a lot of sunshine (I live in the UK) and tend to work a lot outdoors then the MBP brighter screen may be useful.
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Holy **** that's a great deal! Would be a no brainer for me if we had similar sales haha. But here Apple products are never on sale. Hows your time been with the base model pro? Can you see it worth the price difference?Here in Denmark two electronic chains were competing last weekend and offered a 20% discount on the basic MBP M1, so with a USD 55 difference MBA/MBP I went for the MBP
Which model year MBP's did you find to be a problem?
I ask because while I noticed this with the 2015 & earlier models, it seemed to stop being a problem with later models.
Before selling my Intel MBA, I was able to compare against my M1 MBP and couldn't discern any difference in how the front edge felt. Similarly the one degree of slope made no difference whether I was at my desk or using it in my lap. I also had no issues with the edge with my 2018 MBP15.
I think this is varies with user to user. From the prospective of someone coming from a 15” late 2016 MBP to an M1 Air with a tapered edge, the Air is much more comfortable on the wrist. However the 15” MBP are thicker than the 13” MBP, so maybe the M1 MBP 13” are not so bad.
It's M1 MBP vs. MBA.
If you visit an apple store it's hard to say as you're standing in front of it. But sitting at a desk and using the MacBook is a big difference.
That sharp edge from the MBP is quite annoying. With MBA everything is finde. Actually I like the MBP more (because of the display and the touch bar) - but I don't like it's casing.
I own an M1 MBP. Also owned an Intel MBA and compared them side by side at home in my usual usage scenarios. So I haven't tried them in a store. No need to.
I've yet to find any sharp edge on the MBP, and I couldn't discern any comfort different from the 1-degree slope of the MBA.
Must be an individual thing related to seating, hand placement, etc.