Imac to Macbook Air?

ChrisD. · 21 Oct 2022 at 11:31

This is my work MacBook Pro M1:

I do a LOT on it, but it's mainly scripts and web pages. All my docs live in OneDrive (work) or iCloud Drive (personal).

beachBOYken · 21 Oct 2022 at 11:49

Heres a choice

After adding the 16gb and 512gb storage price for the m2 air is £1649

I look at the MacBook Pro 14" which has M1 pro and 16gb/512gb SSD as standard for £1899

Now that larger display is quite tempting, and as portability is not my highest priority, Im wondering if I should just go for that, would do you think, m2 vs m1 pro?? would the M2 air be better future proofed for updates?

HACO · 21 Oct 2022 at 12:27

beachBOYken said:
Heres a choice

After adding the 16gb and 512gb storage price for the m2 air is £1649

I look at the MacBook Pro 14" which has M1 pro and 16gb/512gb SSD as standard for £1899

Now that larger display is quite tempting, and as portability is not my highest priority, Im wondering if I should just go for that, would do you think, m2 vs m1 pro?? would the M2 air be better future proofed for updates?

Yes absolutely. With the base M1 Pro (6P, 2E) you get 6 performance cores (versus 4 on M2). And you get a bigger GPU. You also get a bigger battery and a much brighter, sharper MiniLED display with proper HDR that's miles better than the Air's.

beachBOYken · 21 Oct 2022 at 12:31

HACO said:
Yes absolutely. With the base M1 Pro (6P, 2E) you get 6 performance cores (versus 4 on M2). And you get a bigger GPU. You also get a bigger battery and a much brighter, sharper MiniLED display with proper HDR that's miles better than the Air's.

I thought the battery life is not quite as long vs the air?

I presume there will be a refresh soon on the pros though, perhaps to an M2 chip, but that may bring a price hike.

HACO · 21 Oct 2022 at 12:42

beachBOYken said:
I thought the battery life is not quite as long vs the air?

I presume there will be a refresh soon on the pros though, perhaps to an M2 chip, but that may bring a price hike.

You may be able to get the current one for cheaper when the new Pros come out.

beachBOYken · 21 Oct 2022 at 13:12

I can get the Pro 14 for £1725 from rainforest?

Seems like a no brainer.

EDIT.

work discount, I managed to get 14" pro for £1614.

ChrisD. · 21 Oct 2022 at 13:28

Yes get the Pro. Don't forget HDMI & SD-Card slot as well as what's been mentioned.

beachBOYken · 21 Oct 2022 at 13:47

ChrisD. said:
Yes get the Pro. Don't forget HDMI & SD-Card slot as well as what's been mentioned.

I doubt I will use most of the extra ports and performance of the pro, but with the saving it made sense, the slightly larger screen and better screen swayed me the most.

beachBOYken · 23 Oct 2022 at 09:19

Can anyone spec me a good quality surface mat for my Logitech mx3 mouse, needs to be big enough for my MacBook to sit on it as well.

ChrisD. · 23 Oct 2022 at 09:20

beachBOYken said:
Can anyone spec me a good quality surface mat for my Logitech mx3 mouse, needs to be big enough for my MacBook to sit on it as well.

I use the OcUK ones, they last well although probably quite expensive compared to others.

beachBOYken · 23 Oct 2022 at 09:23

ChrisD. said:
I use the OcUK ones, they last well although probably quite expensive compared to others.

I have an ocuk branded one but want a smaller one, as the one I have is quite big, was fine for my iMac and other accessories. It’s wearing a lot at the edges now.
Will see if they do a smaller mat.

ChrisD. · 23 Oct 2022 at 09:51

beachBOYken said:
I have an ocuk branded one but want a smaller one, as the one I have is quite big, was fine for my iMac and other accessories. It’s wearing a lot at the edges now.
Will see if they do a smaller mat.

Yeah they do different sizes.

beachBOYken · 23 Oct 2022 at 12:03

Actually now I have everything set up on the desk, the mat I have is perfect size still, just its a bit tatty looking on the edges now.

Im loving my MacBook. Its so much neater looking.

Hopefully get my mx3s mouse later today.

beachBOYken · 23 Oct 2022 at 20:34

Does the hot corner put display to sleep eventually put the system into sleep as well?

Or do I need to click Apple> Sleep or close the display.

Sometimes I may go away for an hour and not worry about closing the display and just use a hot corner, but if it doesn't actually sleep system after a a few minutes as well I will use the other methods.

Feek · 23 Oct 2022 at 20:36

beachBOYken said:
Does the hot corner put display to sleep eventually put the system into sleep as well?

Yes. Make sure you don’t have the box ticked in energy saver setting to prevent sleep when the screen is blanked.

beachBOYken · 24 Oct 2022 at 10:04

Feek said:
Yes. Make sure you don’t have the box ticked in energy saver setting to prevent sleep when the screen is blanked.

I can only find this setting under battery > power adapter > prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off. Its unticked by default.

Feek · 24 Oct 2022 at 10:21

You should be good then.

ic1male · 25 Oct 2022 at 09:49

Good thread this as I am almost thinking the same thing but I can't really stretch past the base Macbook Air model (256GB/8GB).

I read in reviews that 8GB is fine for nearly everything on macOS because of the new M processors but it would be nice to hear from real world users. I think the most strenuous thing I will be wanting to do is maybe some editing of 4K video from my iPhone (non Pro-res) and I would also like to try my hand at learning Swift.

ChrisD. · 25 Oct 2022 at 09:59

I never noticed any memory related issues with my M1 Air, however I did notice improvements with responsiveness when I moved to a 14" Pro, which could either be the CPU or the fact I now have more memory.

ic1male · 25 Oct 2022 at 10:02

ChrisD. said:
I never noticed any memory related issues with my M1 Air, however I did notice improvements with responsiveness when I moved to a 14" Pro, which could either be the CPU or the fact I now have more memory.

Yeah, as this will be my first Mac in a very long time, I would be blissfully ignorant about how slow or fast it's supposed to be. The only thing I would be able to compare it with is my Windows 11 desktop PC.