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Would you ever go back to the Air?

C

CSAppleFan

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Original poster
Feb 26, 2025
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For those current Pro users; M1 and up; would you ever consider going back to the MacBook Air?

I miss the thin/light design of the Air but I don't know if I could go back due to the display

Anyone else?
 
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I think M2 or newer Air would meet my needs completely fine, but I’m spoiled by the 120hz display and having things like an SD slot is just so convenient for photography. Also can’t even count how many times the 3rd USB-C slot has come in handy.

The Air is thin and light for sure, but the 14” Pro is barely that much heavier or thicker—and especially for how much more computer you’re getting, to me it’s worth the very slight hit to portability.
 
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Makisupa Policeman said:
I think M2 or newer Air would meet my needs completely fine, but I’m spoiled by the 120hz display and having things like an SD slot is just so convenient for photography. Also can’t even count how many times the 3rd USB-C slot has come in handy.

The Air is thin and light for sure, but the 14” Pro is barely that much heavier or thicker—and especially for how much more computer you’re getting, to me it’s worth the very slight hit to portability.
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agree 100% with you. When I was looking its a .7lb difference in weight
 
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I have a 14-inch Pro that I bought a few months ago. I use it mainly at home despite having a Mac Studio upstairs for really heavyweight work. But I am seriously considering a base 13-inch Air for processing photos and other lightweight activities on the road. I still don’t like editing photos on an iPad but a 60hz screen doesn’t bother me. I have that on my Studio Display, iPhone 16 Plus and M2 iPad Airs.
 
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I could easily replace my 16” M1 Max with a 15” M4. Yes, the screen resolution is a bit lower but a 1.4lb weight loss would be appreciated!

Not gonna do it, unless something breaks of course. But yeah, I could manage it.
 
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CSAppleFan said:
,,,,, For those current Pro users; M1 and up;, would you ever consider going back to the MacBook Air?

I miss the thin/light design of the Air but I don't know if I could go back due to the display

Anyone else
Click to expand...
CSAppleFan said:
For those current Pro users; M1 and up; would you ever consider going back to the MacBook Air?

I miss the thin/light design of the Air but I don't know if I could go back due to the display

Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Yes,I just did! My 2013 MBA,just retired itself, I bought an 2025 M-4 MBA, 32 GB of Memory, and 2 TB SSD. AWESOME MACHINE!!! Hedre’s to another 12 years of use! Cheers Mr. Cook!
 
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CSAppleFan said:
For those current Pro users; M1 and up; would you ever consider going back to the MacBook Air?

I miss the thin/light design of the Air but I don't know if I could go back due to the display

Anyone else?
Click to expand...
I do too and the air is great laptop for everday use. I have a 14" M4 pro nano screen and a work 15"/16GB RAM M2 air. The main difference is the pro has a better screen, better speakers, microphones, and a fan but It's also thicker and heavier for a 14” laptop.
 
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Biro said:
I have a 14-inch Pro that I bought a few months ago. I use it mainly at home despite having a Mac Studio upstairs for really heavyweight work. But I am seriously considering a base 13-inch Air for processing photos and other lightweight activities on the road. I still don’t like editing photos on an iPad but a 60hz screen doesn’t bother me. I have that on my Studio Display, iPhone 16 Plus and M2 iPad Airs.
Click to expand...
Why not just take your 14” Pro on the road? It’s plenty portable for that! Or are you saying you’d rather switch to the 13” Air for even more portability?
 
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Makisupa Policeman said:
Why not just take your 14” Pro on the road? It’s plenty portable for that! Or are you saying you’d rather switch to the 13” Air for even more portability?
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Yes, I could take the 14-inch Pro on the road but I have a lot of information on that machine that I don’t feel comfortable taking outside the home. A 13-inch base Air (16/256) would be in addition to the Pro. That’s why I’m waiting for a really good sale - I can afford to bide my time. And the Air would have the added benefit of being still a bit lighter and smaller than the Pro for travel. If I follow through on this plan I can see myself going down to a single 11-inch iPad as the machines I have age out.
 
CSAppleFan said:
For those current Pro users; M1 and up; would you ever consider going back to the MacBook Air?
Click to expand...
No. The MBP is better in every single parameter except weight and price. Display, speakers, memory bandwidth, available RAM, ports, driving external displays, etc. all make the MBA a non-starter for me. All those things do matter.

Also note that it is not about "going back to the MacBook Air." The MBPs existed first and the MBAs never stood up well against the MBPs. If I was to go back to something to get lighter and cheaper it would probably be to an iPad for consumption only.
 
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Cheffy Dave said:
Yes,I just did! My 2013 MBA,just retired itself, I bought an 2025 M-4 MBA, 32 GB of Memory, and 2 TB SSD. AWESOME MACHINE!!! Hedre’s to another 12 years of use! Cheers Mr. Cook!
Click to expand...
The OP question was about going down to an MBA from an M-series MBP. Of course folks used to an old MBA will be thrilled with a newer M-series MBA. We fully agree that the M-series MBAs are great devices.
 
I had never used nothing other than Air. Back in the days when Apple used crappy Intel processors, Pros were best machines and I dreamed of buying one someday but those were too expensive. But now Air and Pro seem to be very similar in terms of performance for daily tasks. I happily use my Air M1 and bought it because I wanted fanless design, as well as Pro is overkill for my needs. Nowadays when there is 15 inch Air, I don’t know if there is any reason to go for Pro, Air now handles every task it could not back in the Intel days – video and photo editing, texts, music production, it can do everything
 
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I did for several months, from an M3Max to an M1 Air. I used it primarily for VS Code.Python/Django work and the Air was quite good for that; other than a smaller screen I could get by with an Air and suspect newer Air with a larger screen than my Pro would meet 90% of my needs. The 10% is playing around with integrating an LLM with my app and running it locally. The M3Max was pretty good at that. Didn’t try the Air.
 
I keep toying with going back to a MBP for 2 reasons: The screen brightness (important for living in the Middle East when sitting outdoors), and also the cool Space Black colour!

I dont think the battery life between them is anything massively different?
 
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Oh definitely. I don't need my MBP... I could EASILY get by with a MBA. Now that finances are tighter than they were back when I got my MBP, I would definitely opt for a MBA today.

I use a MBA for my work provided laptop and it does almost everything my MBP can.
 
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