11 ms·
If you compare the M1 Air and Pro, the only difference seems to be the addition of the Touchbar, 10% better battery life, and a "studio" speaker/mic on the Pro.
by rewtraw 6y ago
If you compare the M1 Air and Pro, the only difference seems to be the addition of the Touchbar, 10% better battery life, and a "studio" speaker/mic on the Pro.
https://www.apple.com/mac/compare/ https://www.apple.com/mac/compare/
I assume the addition of a fan on the Pro gives it better performance under load, but there doesn't seem to be a hugely compelling reason to not just get the Air.
- PolCPP 6y agoMy guess is different clock speeds, also base air has one gpu core less...
- dotBen 6y agoAnd this might be the old production trick where one part of the core fails QA and so they shut it out and make it a cheaper part. The GPU parts might be the tightest silicon and highest rate of failure so this approach reduces waste.
- slavoingilizov 6y agoBy "trick" you mean the only approach every chip-maker has been following for decades? Literally every single one. It's called binning.
- compiler-guy 6y agoThe gp is using “trick” not with the nefarious connotation, but more along the lines of “hack” or “clever idea”.
- noncoml 6y agoI think they got it wrong. I would pay money to NOT have the touchbar.
- ValentineC 6y agoThe touchbar is probably why I'm probably getting the Air for my next upgrade, and not a Pro.
- Aperocky 6y agohahaha 2 times Air user, touchbar is a big NO.
- kmonsen 6y agoI got one of the MBP with the touchbar this year after holding out for many years (changed jobs so had to change laptop). Man it is so much hard to do the volume changes, and there has so far for me been zero benefit.
- technimad 6y agoDid you notice you can hold and slide to change volume? You don’t need to hit the volume slider where it appears. Same with brightness. Totally undiscoverable gesture.
- sib 6y agoYup - I love this feature but I'd guess based on people I've shown it to that no more than 20% of users are aware of it.
- Thetawaves 6y agoYou CAN configure it to show the old-style mute/down/up with the touch bar, so you are not relegated to the ultra-shitty slider. No replacement for a tactile switch, but at least you are not stuck with the default arrangement.
- eastendguy 6y agoExactly this. I tried so hard to like it (since I paid for it), but I have found 0 good uses cases for it. I would assume that macOS sends at least some basic usage data for the touch bar back to Apple HQ. I wonder how often it is actually used... and I would love the hear the responsible product manager defend it.
- slayerjain 6y agoI think MacBook Air is very compelling, and that's why got more screen time. Unless you want to run your system on >60% for extended periods of time - MacBook Air should be great.
- forgot-my-pw 6y agoI'm confused of their new pricing scheme / spec tiers for Macbook Pros. There's no more core i7 for Macbook 13. You have to go to Macbook 16. I'd rather get a Dell XPS or other Core i7/Ryzen 7 ultrabooks. So now, spec-wise, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro are too close.
- evacchi 6y agoit's there, you just have to configure it
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- derefr 6y agoI'm guessing the MBP13 is now a legacy model, being refreshed more to satisfy direct-product-line lease upgrades for corporate customers, than to satisfy consumer demand. Along with the MBP16 refresh (which will use the "M1X", the higher-end chip), we'll probably see the higher-end MBP13s refreshed with said chip as well, but rebranded somehow, e.g. as the "MacBook Pro 14-inch" or something (as the rumors go: same size, but less screen bezel, and so more screen.) And then, next year, you'll see MBP14 and MBP16 refreshes, while the MBP13 fades out.
- kemotep 6y agoThese are transitional products so it makes sense. I'm looking forward to see the replacement of the iMac Pro and Mac Pro. Will be interesting to see what those include.
- derefr 6y agoAddendum: just got an email from the Apple Store Business Team about the MBP13. Here's the copy they're using (emphasis mine): > "Need a powerful tool for your business that’s compatible with your existing systems? Let’s talk. We’ll help you compare models and find the right Mac for you and your team." That's a corporate-focused legacy-model refresh if I've ever seen one.
- 0x64 6y agoPro has one extra GPU core as well.
- rattray 6y agoI recently got an Air after using a MBP13. Aside from the loud fan and slow performance which should be fixed in this release, my biggest complaint is that they only have the usbc plugs on one side of the laptop. Really obnoxious when the outlet is in a difficult spot. Unclear whether the new MBP13 also has this problem... Edit: the new M1 MBP13 has both usbc ports on the same side. No option for 4 (yet). Ugh.
- bydo 6y agoThe two-port and four-port 13" MacBook Pros have been separate product lines since their introduction. This new A1 MBP only replaces the two-port version. Presumably the higher-end one will share an upgraded processor with the 16".
- hajile 6y agoMy Y-series Pixelbook with passive cooling performs as well as a U-series laptop from the same generation -- until I start a sustained load. At that point, the U series systems pull ahead. Actively cooled Y-series systems get pretty close in lots of applications only falling short due to half the cache. If you are doing lightweight stuff where the cores don't really need to spin up, then they'll probably be about the same. Otherwise, you'll be stuck at a much lower base clock.
- karpodiem 6y agoSurely they have different clock rates, but Apple isn't referencing clock rates in their marketing material for Macs with M1 chips.
- jacurtis 6y agoYeah I am surprised more people are ignoring this. If the two computer models have identical chips, then why does Apple even bother putting a fan in the pro? To me the fact that the Air is fanless and the pro has a fan would indicate to me that they have different clock rates on the high end. I am sure the Air is capped lower than the Pro in order to make sure it doesn't overheat. It is probably a firmware lock, and the hardware is identical. But once we do benchmarks I would expect that the pro outperforms the air by a good margin. They added a fan in the pro so that it can reach higher speeds. Surely the Air is capped so that users don't ruin their computers by running a process that overheats the computer. But of course Apple doesn't want to reveal clock speeds. The best they can give us is "5x faster than the best selling PC in its class". What does that mean? The $250 computer at Walmart that sells like hotcakes for elementary age kids that need a zoom computer or the Lenovo Thinkpad Pro that business buy by the pallet? Who the hell knows.
- tw04 6y agoThey said in the presentation for sustained workloads. I get the impression they're the same peak clock speed but the air throttles faster.
- officeplant 6y agoThe fan is only there for sustained loads. They all have identical chips (aside from the 7 core gpu option Air). They all hit the same pstates and then throttle accordingly due to temperature. The MBP and Mini are there for people who want maximum sustained performance.
- tomaskafka 6y agoI am curious - my 2017 12" MB is an absolutely awesome machine (fast enough for casual use and light development while absolutely quiet and lightweight), but 30+ degree summer day is enough for it to get so close to it's thermal envelope that it throttles down to cca 1 GHz during normal (browser) use soon. So, the sustained performance might make quite a difference for pro use.
- kossTKR 6y agoIt shouldn't really throttle to 1ghz - it's because Apple puts low quality paste in it, and sometimes because of dust. My Macbook from 2014, is still excellent but it started throttling to 1ghz with video encoding. After going to a repair shop and telling them about the problem they put high quality thermal paste in it for about 100 usd and the problem disappeared. Now i get 100% CPU no matter what i throw at it, pretty incredible with a computer from 2014! Just fyi..
- tomaskafka 6y agoThanks for your experience, but the passively cooled 12" Macbook is really a different thing. Basically, it isn't a 2.5 GHz CPU that throttles, but a 1.1 GHz CPU which can boost itself for a very short time, and the it runs into thermal limit and returns to a 1.1 GHz sustained performance. And on hot day, that boost might last 30 seconds and then that's it.
- scoopertrooper 6y agoThe Pro screen is 500 nits vs 400 nits on the air.
- zelly 6y agoBattery is not so important post-covid. Air is clearly the better value option, if you really want to get one of these.
- tedd4u 6y agoI think there’s one more notable difference: the M1 MBP also has a brighter screen at 500 vs 400 nits. Both have P3 gamut and are otherwise the same resolution.