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15" M2 MBA vs 14" or 16" MBP - 16GB/1TB
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15" M2 MBA vs 14" or 16" MBP - 16GB/1TB
May 6, 2008
West Coast
My 2014 MacBook Pro 15" has battery swelling again. It of course happened the first time a few months after my AppleCare ended, and this time they said they no longer have the parts, despite the '14 and '15 being basically identical and the '15 having a special warranty for battery issues. The issue has killed my trackpad so I am now in need of a new Mac. I might attempt to replace the battery myself, but not as long as this is my primary computer. I knew I would need to upgrade this year or next year, my MBP is 9 years old, although I'm still pretty happy with it.
I have looked extensively at the 16" MBP 16GB/1TB, which is $2700, but about $2500 on sale. AppleCare is $400 up front or $150/year. I'm hesitant to go smaller than 15", so I'm also looking at the 15" M2 MBA 16GB/1TB which is $1900. Apple Care is $240 or $80/year. I spent over $3k on my last MBP but if I'm being honest I'm not doing as much pro stuff anymore, just the occasional photo editing and videos. Although I am power FCP user when I do edit. The 14" is intriguing coming in at $2300 on sale for the 16GB/1TB, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the screen real estate.
Coming from a 2014 MBP it looks like the 15" M2 Air has a similar IPS screen, similar pixel density 220 vs 228 ppi but more brightness ~480 nits vs ~320 nits. Are their any glaring issues I'm going to notice going from a Pro to an Air, even an older Pro? I'm hestitant to give up the SD and HDMI, but I can live with using a dongle for the amount I actually use both of those. Are their any known issues with the 15" MBA? I've seen a few posts about the screen which seem to just be the color profile, and the mouse tracking speed which seems related to screen scaling.
Any advice or opinions? Any glaring issues going from the Pro to the Air? Am I making a mistake spec'ing out a MBA? Thanks!
I have looked extensively at the 16" MBP 16GB/1TB, which is $2700, but about $2500 on sale. AppleCare is $400 up front or $150/year. I'm hesitant to go smaller than 15", so I'm also looking at the 15" M2 MBA 16GB/1TB which is $1900. Apple Care is $240 or $80/year. I spent over $3k on my last MBP but if I'm being honest I'm not doing as much pro stuff anymore, just the occasional photo editing and videos. Although I am power FCP user when I do edit. The 14" is intriguing coming in at $2300 on sale for the 16GB/1TB, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the screen real estate.
Coming from a 2014 MBP it looks like the 15" M2 Air has a similar IPS screen, similar pixel density 220 vs 228 ppi but more brightness ~480 nits vs ~320 nits. Are their any glaring issues I'm going to notice going from a Pro to an Air, even an older Pro? I'm hestitant to give up the SD and HDMI, but I can live with using a dongle for the amount I actually use both of those. Are their any known issues with the 15" MBA? I've seen a few posts about the screen which seem to just be the color profile, and the mouse tracking speed which seems related to screen scaling.
Any advice or opinions? Any glaring issues going from the Pro to the Air? Am I making a mistake spec'ing out a MBA? Thanks!
Reactions:
tommyparadise and mr_jomo
Chairman.Jobbie
macrumors 6502
Sep 9, 2011
Get it and try it for 2 weeks properly in your home then you’ll know for yourself. No guess work then. If not return it no questions asked.
Reactions:
mr_jomo
I settled for the !4" 16gb, 1 tb ssd MBP M2. In my case a 15" screen was to big for me. Too much real estate. 14" was my sweet spot. I like the sd card slot, the screen, and the speed of the machine as well as the fact that it has fans if need be. I have not heard the fans, however, since getting the machine. I agree that you can always try the 15" MBA and see if you like it.My 2014 MacBook Pro 15" has battery swelling again. It of course happened the first time a few months after my AppleCare ended, and this time they said they no longer have the parts, despite the '14 and '15 being basically identical and the '15 having a special warranty for battery issues. The issue has killed my trackpad so I am now in need of a new Mac. I might attempt to replace the battery myself, but not as long as this is my primary computer. I knew I would need to upgrade this year or next year, my MBP is 9 years old, although I'm still pretty happy with it.
I have looked extensively at the 16" MBP 16GB/1TB, which is $2700, but about $2500 on sale. AppleCare is $400 up front or $150/year. I'm hesitant to go smaller than 15", so I'm also looking at the 15" M2 MBA 16GB/1TB which is $1900. Apple Care is $240 or $80/year. I spent over $3k on my last MBP but if I'm being honest I'm not doing as much pro stuff anymore, just the occasional photo editing and videos. Although I am power FCP user when I do edit. The 14" is intriguing coming in at $2300 on sale for the 16GB/1TB, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the screen real estate.
Coming from a 2014 MBP it looks like the 15" M2 Air has a similar IPS screen, similar pixel density 220 vs 228 ppi but more brightness ~480 nits vs ~320 nits. Are their any glaring issues I'm going to notice going from a Pro to an Air, even an older Pro? I'm hestitant to give up the SD and HDMI, but I can live with using a dongle for the amount I actually use both of those. Are their any known issues with the 15" MBA? I've seen a few posts about the screen which seem to just be the color profile, and the mouse tracking speed which seems related to screen scaling.
Any advice or opinions? Any glaring issues going from the Pro to the Air? Am I making a mistake spec'ing out a MBA? Thanks!
If you're perfectly happy with the performance with a 9 year old Pro....you will be more than amazed with the new M2 15 Air. The M2 15 Air will have around triple the performance.
15 screen TOO large? Just use it for a few days, you'll never go back. And I don't know about people complaining about yellowing and what not, just calibrate it.
And you're right about dongles, you can get a good one for a mere $30.
15 screen TOO large? Just use it for a few days, you'll never go back. And I don't know about people complaining about yellowing and what not, just calibrate it.
And you're right about dongles, you can get a good one for a mere $30.
Last edited: Yesterday at 10:44 PM
Reactions:
mr_jomo, tommyparadise and HappyInCalgary
ctjack
macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2020
I went with 14 Pro and picked up for a difference a 27 4K external display with DCI-P3($169 - LG 27UP800).
If I were you, i would go with Air and just pocket the difference or spend on monitor. Air is perfectly capable and does everything on the same level as MBP 16, unless pushed into the non-codec zone of edits. But as you said, you will not be tapping into that red zone.
If I were you, i would go with Air and just pocket the difference or spend on monitor. Air is perfectly capable and does everything on the same level as MBP 16, unless pushed into the non-codec zone of edits. But as you said, you will not be tapping into that red zone.
If you use it on the go you might be happy to finally get the weight down noticeably, the Air or 14" would be better for that. The 16" is great if you are mostly at home with it or don't want to use an external monitor.
Keep in mind one of the main differences between the Pros and the Airs is the miniLED display that enables HDR, with third party apps you can unlock 1000 nits in all applications which is nice for a bright summer day outside, and it generally has better contrast and darker blacks.
The current Air displays will be better than what you have on your MBP, but the 14" and 16" are drastically better still.
The 14" has one advantage and that's base model (500GB SSD) pricing. The older M1 version can be had for as low as $1599 though I don't think it is sold anymore at this point since Apple stopped manufacturing it in favor of the M2 version. In any case, you can find it for under $2000, just the upgrade to the 1TB version already costs a good amount extra. But that is of course how Apple operates, the base model has a tiny SSD on purpose so you are almost forced to spend a lot more.
If you don't mind the extra weight and the price difference isn't big, then the 16" will always be much better than the Air. On the Air you have to pay the upgrade prices for the additional memory too, whereas all 16" come with 16GiB already. The Air upgrades bring it too close to the Pros in price in my opinion so personally I went with a MBP instead.
Keep in mind one of the main differences between the Pros and the Airs is the miniLED display that enables HDR, with third party apps you can unlock 1000 nits in all applications which is nice for a bright summer day outside, and it generally has better contrast and darker blacks.
The current Air displays will be better than what you have on your MBP, but the 14" and 16" are drastically better still.
The 14" has one advantage and that's base model (500GB SSD) pricing. The older M1 version can be had for as low as $1599 though I don't think it is sold anymore at this point since Apple stopped manufacturing it in favor of the M2 version. In any case, you can find it for under $2000, just the upgrade to the 1TB version already costs a good amount extra. But that is of course how Apple operates, the base model has a tiny SSD on purpose so you are almost forced to spend a lot more.
If you don't mind the extra weight and the price difference isn't big, then the 16" will always be much better than the Air. On the Air you have to pay the upgrade prices for the additional memory too, whereas all 16" come with 16GiB already. The Air upgrades bring it too close to the Pros in price in my opinion so personally I went with a MBP instead.
Few people actually have a hardware calibration tool at home, so if your suggestion is to "just calibrate it" at least mention the lower triple digit price tag for that.And I don't know about people complaining about yellowing and what not, just calibrate it.
With that usage pattern: I'd get the 15" MBA in 16/512 config and bag the 300/800 USD difference up to the 14 and 16" Pros respectively.
If I was worried, that I repeatedly and frequently would need 10+ minutes sustained performance, which is not the 15"'s forté, the mac Mini M2 Pro would be my next stop.
Finally, if mobility was key, the 14" screen was to small for me, and I had a need for performance also, then the refurb. story has some 10-15% savings already on 16" m2 Pros.
If I was worried, that I repeatedly and frequently would need 10+ minutes sustained performance, which is not the 15"'s forté, the mac Mini M2 Pro would be my next stop.
Finally, if mobility was key, the 14" screen was to small for me, and I had a need for performance also, then the refurb. story has some 10-15% savings already on 16" m2 Pros.
But make sure to double-check with Best Buy, Microcenter and a couple others. For me refurb Macs have never made sense as I always got a brand-new device from a retailer at a similar cost instead, or even a lower one.Finally, if mobility was key, the 14" screen was to small for me, and I had a need for performance also, then the refurb. story has some 10-15% savings already on 16" m2 Pros.
Reactions:
mr_jomo
Good advise!But make sure to double-check with Best Buy, Microcenter and a couple others. For me refurb Macs have never made sense as I always got a brand-new device from a retailer at a similar cost instead, or even a lower one.
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