Age old question MacBook Air or MacBook Pro?

[GSXRMovistar]

So my old reliable 2017 MacBook Pro (3.1 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, Touch Bar, 16Gb) is on its way out due to the screen ribbon starting to fail, i.e. flexgate.

For the last couple of years it’s no longer been powerful enough for video and heavy photo editing, with those tasks being done on my iMac, but my MacBook does get used daily for web browsing, occasional photo editing and various bits and bobs.

So now I need a replacement and I can’t decide on what to go for, originally I was thinking an 16Gb M3 MacBook Air but the more I look the dreaded scope creep kicks in and I’m already up-specing to an M3 Pro MacBook Pro.

Processing power wise I can get my head around it, but my main concern is screen quality, I know the latest MacBook Pro has a much better screen, but how does everyone find the MacBook Air screen, from what I can see I ‘think’ its the same spec as my current machine?

Any pointers/recommendations appreciated, cheers.

 

[ChrisD.]

The MBA screen is fine, but the screen on the Pro is like afternoon delight. It's definitely step above but with that said the MBA screen isn't bad at all.

 

[sHo0sH]

I definitely could have got away with the air but ended up with the m3 pro as once specking out with 16gb that creep hits in as you say.

Does your current one have a 120hz screen? If not you’re unlikely to miss it

 

[Feek]

The Air screen is superb, don’t let anyone tell you different. I’d recommend popping into an Apple Store (or one of their third party resellers) and comparing them.

Or buy an Air and if you decide you don’t like the display, return it within a fortnight for a full refund and buy the Pro.

Or buy them both, the day after your credit card statement date, try them both at home and return the one you don’t want for a full refund to your card (well before the due date).

 

[Terminal_Boy]

The Air screen is superb, don’t let anyone tell you different. I’d recommend popping into an Apple Store (or one of their third party resellers) and comparing them.

Or buy an Air and if you decide you don’t like the display, return it within a fortnight for a full refund and buy the Pro.

Or buy them both, the day after your credit card statement date, try them both at home and return the one you don’t want for a full refund to your card (well before the due date).

This is the way.

 

[Reuben klang]

Or buy them both, the day after your credit card statement date, try them both at home and return the one you don’t want for a full refund to your card (well before the due date).

This should be stickied on all threads regarding buying advice.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

The Air screen is superb, don’t let anyone tell you different. I’d recommend popping into an Apple Store (or one of their third party resellers) and comparing them.

Or buy an Air and if you decide you don’t like the display, return it within a fortnight for a full refund and buy the Pro.

Or buy them both, the day after your credit card statement date, try them both at home and return the one you don’t want for a full refund to your card (well before the due date).

Thats great advice! Both devices are great to be fair.

 

[Fire Wizard]

Also have a look at purchasing from Costco. They are quite a bit cheaper than the Apple store.

 

[Zeebedy]

yeah, the MBA has a great screen. for sure.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Also have a look at purchasing from Costco. They are quite a bit cheaper than the Apple store.

I've always found previously that Costco only stock based models so lower memory installed, but will take a look. I've ordered a couple of refurb machines from Apple before and those have all been great so also a good way to make a decent saving.

Although played about with my current MacBook using a plastic pry between the hinge and I seem to have temporarily fixed the fault so it's given me a little more breathing time to come to a decision. Think I'll take my MacBook into the local Apple store and compare side by side with the new models.

Appreciate all the responses though.

 

[pingwing]

Yeah get on the referb store for a few hundred quid off m3/m2 and the odd m1 MacBook/mbp!

Picked up an m2 mbp (the older 13" version) with 24gig of ram on there for what I felt was a very reasonable price as a way of beating the inevitable scope creep. Plus there's been a few 14" m3 mbp's on there with at least 18gig of ram that hit the same price to performance ratio

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Popped into the Apple Store today and whilst I didn't have my MacBook with me I did put a MacBook Air and Pro next to each other; to be honest between the 13.6" screen on the Air compared to the 14.2 of the Pro there really wasn't much between them, I couldn't tell the difference detail wise and only at highest brightness did the Pro win, although there certain isn't anything bad about the Air.

My decision is now going to be around compute power, M3 or M3 pro chip.

 

[silvagti]

TBH right now in term of spec/size the 15” MacBook Air is the sweet spot of Apple’s laptop range IMO. I have a 13” MacBook Pro m2 but it’s a bit small so I’d definitely opt for a 15” model if I ever replace it.

If Apple bring out a refreshed MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro chip and an OLED panel that might change my feelings but right now the mini-led display/performance advantage of the pro aren’t enough to justify the extra cost for most users.

I’ve never really been sold on mini-led displays though. Yes, the contrast/brightness is better but they seem to suffer from really bad light blooming/halo when you have light text/images on a dark background. OLED would solve this.

 

[Jaykay91]

Hi, I'm also contemplating between a pro and air.
Basically if its an AIR its the M3 chip 8‑core CPU, 10‑core GPU with 16gb of RAM, 512gb SSD. With student discount it is £1399
or
If its a PRO its the M3 chip 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU with 16gb of RAM, 512gb SSD which is £1789.
But then spec creep means I'm very close to the M3 Pro chip 11-core CPU, 14-core GPU, with 18gb of RAM and 512gb SSD which is £1939.

I'll be using it for fusion360, matlab, LTspice and numerous other electrical and CAD software's for my degree. Currently using a intel pentium gold laptop which is absolutely terrible, I have to turn down settings on programs just to get them to run. I just don't have a clue how much power I need is the problem.

Any advice would be great thanks!

 

[Richard - London]

Any advice would be great thanks!

Costco

 

[Jaykay91]

Costco

Good prices there!
£1349 AIR with M3 16gb Ram
£1749 PRO with M3 16gb Ram
£1869 PRO with M3 Pro 18gb Ram

Decisions, Decisions!

 

[Stu999]

If it's just going to be for web browsing, office documents, etc. then definitely get an Air. I believe the Air can handle light photo/video editing work but if that's your main use case then you will be better off with a Pro.

 

[Feek]

I believe the Air can handle light photo/video editing work but if that's your main use case then you will be better off with a Pro.

The Air can handle a lot more than ‘light’ photo and video editing!

 

[Stu999]

The Air can handle a lot more than ‘light’ photo and video editing!

I'm sure it can, I don't use those types of application so didn't want to say for sure. Was just thinking from the perspective of if you're doing it for 7/8 hours a day the Air doesn't have active cooling so performance would suffer versus the Pro.

 

[Throrik]

The Air can handle a lot more than ‘light’ photo and video editing!

This this this this this. Always see people saying things like light editing or coding or whatever, as if people are editing the latest version of a Pixar movie on them regularly. I fully blame YouTubers and their idiocy. They'll do 99.999% of tasks most people will ever do. Most people aren't chasing the seconds/milliseconds or maybe even minutes of productivity increases are they. Let's be honest if I'm compiling some code and it takes a while, I'm making a brew, or a sandwich or doom scrolling.

Slight bugbear of mine.