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Apple have created a mess by providing multiple options between Airs and Pros. If you upgrade the RAM to 16GB on Air it surpasses the base model of Pro and simi

Apple have created a mess by providing multiple options between Airs and Pros. If you upgrade the RAM to 16GB on Air it surpasses the base model of Pro and similarly other storage options. At that point you should rather buy a Pro over Air because the only major difference is size. Lot of this is totally confusing for non-technical folks and they might just end-up making a wrong purchase.

gok 8y ago
Note that the Pros have meaningfully faster CPUs/GPUs than the Airs at every configuration.
- akshayB 8y ago
  plus ports and peripherals too
  - stetrain 8y ago
    The base 13" Macbook Pro has the same 2x USB-C/TB3 ports as the new Air. That one also didn't get a processor update this year, leaving it on the 2017 dual core CPU.
mbell 8y ago
You're largely ignoring the primary differentiator in these machines, the power class of the CPU/GPU. If you use the base model in each category, set all the machines at 256GB disk and 16GB of ram and use geekbench cpu numbers as a performance metric, you get the table below. Also geekebench is a pretty short test, I would guess that the core-m / y-series models will fall further behind under sustained loads. I don't think this is a particularly bad spread of options. 2017 Macbook - 1.2Ghz dual, 3.0Ghz T - $1499 GBS:3740 GBM:6835 2018 Macbook Air* - 1.6Ghz dual, 3.6Ghz T - $1599 GBS:4189 GBM:7896 2017 Macbook Pro 13 (non-TB) - 2.3Ghz dual, 3.6Ghz T - $1699 GBS:4333 GBM:9440 2018 Macbook Pro 13 (TB-quad) - 2.3Ghz quad, 3.6Ghz T - $1999 GBS:4643 GBM:16540 [*] For the 2018 Macbook Air I'm using geekbench numbers for the higher end 7th gen Y-series CPU as I can't find any benchmarks for the i5-8210Y so this should be considered an estimate.
arnvald 8y ago
I completely agree. I've been using MacBook Air mid 2013 for the last 5 years and it's a great laptop. Now I'm considering buying a new one, and Airs just don't make sense for me anymore. In Singapore the difference in price between cheapest Air and cheapest Pro is less than SG$100 (US$70). The only advantage of Air is longer battery life, but that's it. I think at this point the Air series should be merged with MacBooks. Make it small (12"), give it one more USB-C port, upgrade processor, add TouchID and it's good to go.
- toyg 8y ago
  > The only advantage of Air is longer battery life And less weight. (I was going to say "and less volume", but one end of the Air is actually thicker than the MBP, so overall volume might not be that different in the end - even though it does look smaller.)
  - arnvald 8y ago
    I wanted to add this, but the difference is so small now (Air is 120gram / 0.27 pound lighter) that I don't think it is really any advantage
colinramsay 8y ago
I have no idea why they don't abandon either the non-Pro Macbook or the Air and consolidate. Have an Air and a Pro only, because the overlap between the Air and the non-Pro Macbook seems to serve only to confuse. This seems to be the same issue that the (seemingly) ever-increasing lineup of iPhones and iPads have.

gok 8y ago

Note that the Pros have meaningfully faster CPUs/GPUs than the Airs at every configuration.

akshayB 8y ago
plus ports and peripherals too
- stetrain 8y ago
  The base 13" Macbook Pro has the same 2x USB-C/TB3 ports as the new Air. That one also didn't get a processor update this year, leaving it on the 2017 dual core CPU.

mbell 8y ago

You're largely ignoring the primary differentiator in these machines, the power class of the CPU/GPU. If you use the base model in each category, set all the machines at 256GB disk and 16GB of ram and use geekbench cpu numbers as a performance metric, you get the table below. Also geekebench is a pretty short test, I would guess that the core-m / y-series models will fall further behind under sustained loads. I don't think this is a particularly bad spread of options. 2017 Macbook - 1.2Ghz dual, 3.0Ghz T - $1499 GBS:3740 GBM:6835 2018 Macbook Air* - 1.6Ghz dual, 3.6Ghz T - $1599 GBS:4189 GBM:7896 2017 Macbook Pro 13 (non-TB) - 2.3Ghz dual, 3.6Ghz T - $1699 GBS:4333 GBM:9440 2018 Macbook Pro 13 (TB-quad) - 2.3Ghz quad, 3.6Ghz T - $1999 GBS:4643 GBM:16540 [*] For the 2018 Macbook Air I'm using geekbench numbers for the higher end 7th gen Y-series CPU as I can't find any benchmarks for the i5-8210Y so this should be considered an estimate.

arnvald 8y ago

I completely agree. I've been using MacBook Air mid 2013 for the last 5 years and it's a great laptop. Now I'm considering buying a new one, and Airs just don't make sense for me anymore. In Singapore the difference in price between cheapest Air and cheapest Pro is less than SG$100 (US$70). The only advantage of Air is longer battery life, but that's it. I think at this point the Air series should be merged with MacBooks. Make it small (12"), give it one more USB-C port, upgrade processor, add TouchID and it's good to go.

toyg 8y ago
> The only advantage of Air is longer battery life And less weight. (I was going to say "and less volume", but one end of the Air is actually thicker than the MBP, so overall volume might not be that different in the end - even though it does look smaller.)
- arnvald 8y ago
  I wanted to add this, but the difference is so small now (Air is 120gram / 0.27 pound lighter) that I don't think it is really any advantage

colinramsay 8y ago

I have no idea why they don't abandon either the non-Pro Macbook or the Air and consolidate. Have an Air and a Pro only, because the overlap between the Air and the non-Pro Macbook seems to serve only to confuse. This seems to be the same issue that the (seemingly) ever-increasing lineup of iPhones and iPads have.