News The new MacBook Air is amazing — but I'm buying the MacBook Pro

[admin]

The new MacBook Pro looks like it's worth the splurge, at least for someone who wants to spend several years between new laptop purchases.

The new MacBook Air is amazing — but I'm buying the MacBook Pro : Read more

 

[docsplendid]

All excellent points, but there's one more reason to prefer the air than weight and economy: ergonomics. The tapered front makes a HUGE difference for me in terms of how long I can use the keyboard/trackpad without injury. With a pro and its beefy front edge, I always end up using an external keyboard and mouse/trackpad, making it more of a desktop than a laptop.

 

[dberry4510]

I find it interesting that you didn't mention the touch bar, the most visible difference between and Air and a Pro. I have a 2018 Macbook Pro now, and I think the #1 reason to not have a Pro is that damn touch bar. I usually max out configuration and spend max $$$ for my laptops because the software I write is a huge cash cow and I don't need to be held back by cheap parts. While the touch bar is far from a cheap part, it does hold me back, requiring me to remap keys to what's available on the keyboard, and sometimes even causing errors due to non-presses, double-presses, and unintentional presses. That alone means I'm not likely to buy another Macbook Pro until I can get one with physical function keys.

 

[BDComer]

I ordered the Air actually. The $300 less is significant for me, as is the less weight. If the Pro could have been configured with more RAM, I probably would have went with it, but for most of the stuff I will do with the air, the possible extra speed of the pro isn't enough for the cost.

And yes, the touch bar is a big negative for me. I had a 2017 Macbook Pro and hated the touch bar. (at least I had it until it blew up like a balloon. stupid battery failure and a machine that wasn't covered by their recall...)

I do wish the air had a 500 nit display though.

I'm supposed to get mine monday, I can't wait to see how the M1 does with my stuff.

 

[igotbigdreams]

bruh i literally have the same situation with you right now. my macbook pro mid 2012 had served me for 8 years from my high school days to becoming a developer and its still kicking but now i feel its calling for its rest. now i have long been anticipating the macbook pro silicon and it got way beyond my expectations.i hated iphones but being a mac user showed me the true value Apple delivers. anyways cheers to you

 

[jb-zr1]

I’m surprised no one mentioned the available memory differences. It looks like the Air maxes out at 8GB RAM but the Pro can be bought with 16GB (I was disappointed to see it couldn’t be ordered w/ 32GB, but if it could, it would probably be ridiculously expensive).
Along the lines of enabling longer term use, 16GB provides much more room for multitasking, virtual desktops, etc. For average tasks like office docs, email, browsing, I’m sure 8GB is fine though.

 

[DavidGurney]

does hold me back, requiring me to remap keys to what's available on the keyboard, and sometimes even causing errors due to non-presses, double-presses, and unintentional presses. That alone means I'm not likely to buy another Macbook Pro until I can get one with physical function keys.

You’re too kind. The Touch Bar is an embarrassing gimmick that degrades the functionality of the computer, and Apple’s brand. Along with its oft-cited defects (it goes to sleep; it’s not palpable; you’re not supposed to be looking at your keyboard all the time; etc.), but you can’t even make it useful by mapping arbitrary keys to it. For example, you can’t put a Delete key on it? And what’s with Apple’s bizarre refusal to put a real Delete key on its keyboards in the first place?

 

[cristianandersson]

I’m surprised no one mentioned the available memory differences. It looks like the Air maxes out at 8GB RAM but the Pro can be bought with 16GB (I was disappointed to see it couldn’t be ordered w/ 32GB, but if it could, it would probably be ridiculously expensive).
Along the lines of enabling longer term use, 16GB provides much more room for multitasking, virtual desktops, etc. For average tasks like office docs, email, browsing, I’m sure 8GB is fine though.

You can purchase an Air with 16MB of RAM. It is in the options.

 

[luxetlibertas]

This is the very first generation of Apple silicon laptops, and amazing as they are, coming generations will be even more appealing. Buying the entry-level MacBook Air now for $999 instead of a future-proofed MacBook Pro 16GB+512GB for $1699 would afford an upgrade much sooner on the same budget. Of course, if money is no object then the Pro is a little bit better.

 

[mwerneburg]

I find it interesting that you didn't mention the touch bar, the most visible difference between and Air and a Pro.

In my previous job I had to use a Macbook with a touch bar for coding. The lack of an escape key made it impossible to use 'vi'. Apple's taking the visual appeal of the product way too far. Let the phones be the fashion statements, laptops are for work.

That said, these low-power, high performance chips being available in a commercial/consumer product is literally what the world needs.

 

[varase]

In my previous job I had to use a Macbook with a touch bar for coding. The lack of an escape key made it impossible to use 'vi'. Apple's taking the visual appeal of the product way too far. Let the phones be the fashion statements, laptops are for work.

That said, these low-power, high performance chips being available in a commercial/consumer product is literally what the world needs.

At least on my 16" MacBook Pro, though it has a touchbar the Esc key and the power button are physical buttons now on each side of the Touch Bar.

Looking at an image on the Apple site, that appears to be the case with the MBP 13 as well.