Spec1: MacBook Air with 8x CPU, 10xGPU, M2, 512SSD, 16GB RAM Spec2: MacBook Pro with 16x CPU, 16x GPU, M2 Pro, 512 SSD, 16GB RAM Use case: - Usual email, web, personal reading - Occasional coding( hobby projects) - backend, app, web development, light weight data processing , ML modeling for fun projects What would you choose, and why? My assessment: - MacBookPro is definitely a better hardware by spec, but might be overspec for my usage. a) My usage might not milk the full cpu/gpu power of pro, b) extra monitor support can be overcome with adaptor if need be (not a requirement now) c) Pro-motion is not a deal breaker for most of my use case. Might barely notice I think? d) extra speakers only do good with atmos content, and I anyway end up using earbuds pro. - Air is lightweight, and upgrading to 16GB ram and 256 ssd with M2 will give me sufficient power for my use case with portability improvement (air is lighter); which might improve my liking and usage since I usually move around the house and work at different places; and not glued at my desk. - While the price different is 200-300$, I don’t think it’s much of a difference when amortized over the years I plan to use this, and with typical expenditures in a year. Are there other considerations I missed? TC:550k
100% Air, or have a refurbished M1 Pro
Poll says otherwise
Giving it more time to gather more data points.
Air has fewer ports. It will be a big deal if one port gets damaged. Also only pro has usb c charging iirc
Both have dedicated magnetic charging ports. Ack the fewer ports
Air doesn't support hooking up 2 monitors
Yup, you are right. But if need be it can be solved though adapter/dock
No, adapter will not help. This is graphics card limitation
macbook pro is heavy, and the extra weight doesn’t come with enough ports that you won’t need a dock or dongle. with the ram upgrade the air is a better platform.
Yeah. In my current setup (work laptop), even with a pro I have a 1:4USB hub
Had the same choice with similar tasks, went for the pro. Don't regret it in any way, since for me the extra $200 for superior display and built in HDMI port just makes life a bit easier. Still portable enough imo. If you've used a pro and didn't notice or cared that much about the display then go for the Air imo.
Glad I’m not the only one going through this challenge 😂 Are you able to experience the display difference? I visited the Apple Store to try out both and barely saw any difference. I tried playing a very high definition content on YouTube to see a side by side comparison. Other thing I tried was - changing the refresh rate on my work laptop from promotion to lower frequency. Saw minor difference when swiping screens, but again that was when I lowered the refresh rate to 48hz or something.
Won't notice the difference as much in a light room. But as soon as it gets a bit dark that pro display is much easier on the eyes and the colors pop more because of the contrast in a miniLED! The refresh rate difference is also subtle but since I've gamed a lot when I was in my teens and always had a >100Hz monitor, it just feels wrong not to have it. User experience is more snappy.
Got a pro for work, air for personal (upgraded to 24 RAM). I’ve done some web dev and some light design (Photoshop, InDesign) on my air and I love it! I’d get an air for work if it was an option. Only advantage for the pro is the HDMI connection, but I was using a USB C adapter anyway with my old work computer without any issues.
Don't know OP where you've made a mistake, but m2 pro has either 10 or 12 CPU cores. If GPU is 16 then it's 10. There are no other configuration. So it's just +2 performance cores from air. Single thread perf is identical, with multithreaded it's not noticable yet. Makes no sense. The energy efficiency of a basic m2 is better, due to smaller cache, which is irrelevant for performance for 99% loads. It's only GPU which is significantly faster, but I doubt it would make a difference for you really. It's still nothing. I'd choose air any day due to portability. Put money difference into ram and storage. 16 and 512 in 2023.. like wtf.
Technially same boat got M2 pro 14 inch ofr $1599 and M2 16gb ram and 512ssd will cost $1499 thinking which one is better deal
Pro would be overkill, it’s targeting film director level pros nowadays.
100%, after spending countless hours watching and reading, I agree. Just needed external validation to overcome FOMO when the price difference is not much!