I thought I would add my personal perspective on the age old debate of why buy an air over a MacBook Pro specially since the M1 MacBook Pro 14" and 16" can be found at heavy discounts. Sometimes cost alone and specs are not the only reason to buy a laptop and sometimes what seems better on paper isn't better in real life.

I want to preface this post by saying I have owned a M1 14" MBP and 2 16" MBP the latter for almost a year before I sold it to get the M2 MBA. I have in depth personal experience with all three of these models and am not just giving a slanted opinion based on some agenda of owning a particular device. I am posting here not to convince anyone to buy anything but simply offering my experience with all of these devices and why I ended up with a MBA M2.

As soon as the 14" and 16" MBP's were announced I knew I wanted one. Having owned a few of the older Intel MBP I always had a problem with the performance and ports. Apple was going to solve every complaint I has with previous MBP in one leap. I had at the time a 13" M1 MBP and I loved that laptop but a few things bothered me. The bezels and lack of ports and I really don't like charging a device with USB C because I always felt like I was going to yank out the cord and break the laptop. But the 13" had amazing battery life that had spoiled me. It was not too heavy although it was not as light as the m1 air. It was a great laptop but the design was showing its age. So I sold it even before the new MBP's were released hoping to get as much money for my 13".

I waited a few months and then pre-ordered the 14" with 10 core cpu and 16 core gpu and base ram and ssd. It was the $2500 model. When I got it I was surprised how small it felt looking at the screen. The battery life was much shorter than my 13" and the single core score was identical to my 13". Yes it was faster in multi-core but in day to day use it felt exactly the same as my 13" and for all the extra money I was expecting a difference. It was also too heavy to be comfortable for me. I use my laptops, well, in my lap. However I loved the new design and MagSafe and the extra ports. However, I just wasn't satisfied. The speakers were the last straw for me as they just did not get very loud. They had a great rich and bass filled sound but I struggled to hear voice content in movies. Since I only have one tv and barely use it this was an issue for me. So I decided since I was in the last week or my return period I would return and exchange it for a base 16".

Once I got the 16" I was so happy. The screen was noticeably larger. I listened to the speakers and they were louder. But it was very heavy compared to my old 13" and even the 14". I thought so what, this is the price for the performance and I am okay with that. But the performance again wasn't that much different so I decided to get an M1 Max model in the least expensive config I could get with a discount. I ordered the BTO and kept the base 16" until it arrived then returned it. I tested out the M1 Max and again for my use I didn't notice any huge difference. I even put it in high performance mode and this model had 32gb ram. What I did notice is the M1 Max had much worse battery life than my base 16" and it ran hot doing menial tasks like streaming video. It wasn't Intel fans blasting hot but it was definitely toasty.

I decided to keep it anyway because it was the nicest Mac I had ever bought myself and surely this was the one. Over time though I started using it less and less because it was uncomfortable unless I was sitting at a desk. I would try to stream content at the end of the day and it was really uncomfortable and would slide around. Okay it was a sacrifice but I had the fastest Mac. Then after a while I was using a smaller PC I had because it was just more comfortable for me to use. I barely touched the extreme performance or GPU capability. I thought to myself why did I spend so much on something I am not even using to its capacity and I would justify my decision by repeating all the specs in my head. But those specs were basically meaningless to me because unlike previous Intel models in the m series chips I just didn't really need a Pro and there were no real benefits to me as single core speed would have been more useful to me then multi-core.

Then the M2 Air came out and I really liked the new design and new colors. I saw the M2 chip was faster and had better gpu and efficiency cores which meant it probably was fast yet had better battery life-something that was important to me. The better gpu in the M2 meant I could get away with a regular M series chip and not need a Pro. The new air had MagSafe, much better bezels, brighter display and better color accuracy. I still had my Anker dongle from my 13" but now I had two ports I could use while plugged in.

But this was an air meant for average users who just check their email and browse the web not power users. The ram bandwidth was half that of the M1 Pro, It didn't have Pro-Motion or mini-Led? No I could not live without the laptop I have now. Yet I didn't use it because of the reasons I stated.

Then the M1 MBP 14" went on sale. I thought to myself well I could buy an M2 air or get a M1 14" base model on sale? At least the 14" would be more manageable? Then Apple had the gift card sale and I could get the M2 air with a student discount. If I got a middle spec model this made the cost of the air much less than the base model 14" MBP on sale. So I decide I would order a M2 MBA BTO and then if it didn't fit my needs I could return it and get the 14". I decided to sell my M1 Max 16" and was able to sell it within a couple hundred of what I initially paid. I was able to order the M2 MBA and have several hundred left over. I felt good about this because everything is costing more and I could use some extra money and at the same time I have a device configured the way I want it.

BUT would I be disappointed with the inferior speakers and screen and the just overclocked m1? Would it thermally throttle into hell? Would I be able to live with this serious downgrade??? All of the YouTube videos and all of the posts on MR complaining about build quality, poor screens and so many other things had I made a terrible choice? But then I remember looking at the base model in Best Buy and the Apple Store and being impressed with the screen and sound? I liked the new color options. I heard battery life was really good.

Then it finally came in the mail. The M2 MBA with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd and no other extras but the fast charger.

It was such a small laptop. So thin and light but at the same time it felt super solid. No flex anywhere. The keyboard was a dream. The screen was bright and color accurate. Streaming content was impressive. The sound was clear and loud. Performance was better than my previous Pro models. No it was not Earth shaking like coming from Intel to M but there is a noticeable difference in speed and the M2 was faster. I was getting battery life like my old 13" Pro. It has the slim bezels and design I love about the Pro models and MagSafe.

But surely I was going to notice the lack of Pro-Motion? No not really. I was so surprised all of the things I was worried about just faded away because they were not issues at all. But then the fan-less processor made itself apparent as I could use the device anywhere and any way I wanted and didn't have to worry about blocking vents. The speed of the M2 was really impressive and it has not even gotten hot to the touch even when doing stress testing or benchmarks.

I had been so used to Intel based laptops that I had it in my head that I needed a Pro machine because anything less would just be a terrible experience waiting on a slow and unresponsive device as my experience with Intel based ultrabooks had always been frustrating to say the least. M chips have come to a point that what I thought was only possible in an expensive device had to be re-thought. Now I had a device that actually matched my use case and wasn't slow and underpowered.

I find myself using my M2 MBA all the time. Even in cases I wouldn't before because the laptop was too cumbersome or I was afraid I would damage it by blocking airflow. I do some things that tax the cpu and gpu at times but I have never felt like I didn't have enough power and in fact it has been the opposite experience. Battery life has been amazing using the laptop for several hours with screen brightness up and for two or three days before I need to charge it. Battery life is very similar to my old M1 13 MBP and that was a laptop that redefined laptop to me.

So in my experience not only has the choice to own a M2 MBA over a 14" or 16" MBP been a better decision it has actually increased my ability to use the laptop in scenarios I wouldn't before. It has increased my enjoyment of using a Mac on almost every level. The screen is big enough and the weight is perfect being light without feeling cheap or delicate.

So I am not here to convince you to buy a M2 MBA or that the M1 MBP 14" on sale s not a heck of a buy because it is a great deal and a great laptop. It has better specs and more ports. But in the end for me none of that mattered. I like having a laptop that is dead silent ALL the time, that goes days on battery, that I can use anywhere with ease, that has a really great and bright screen, that has in my opinion the best keyboard I have used on ANY Mac. I am not going to lie and say the screen is better than the 14" or 16". The one thing I do miss about the the mini Led was the black values and higher contrast but those come with a cost. Some people notice certain things about the mini led that bothers them and I was one of them. That being said for most people the benefits of min led outweigh any of the negatives but for me I honestly don't miss it.

So if you are on the fence between an M2 MBA or a M1 MBP 14/16" or maybe are waiting for the M2 MBP 14/16" you have a lot of choices right now. The past thinking that a regular chip from Intel would leave you with an underpowered device in a year or so is no longer the case. The integrated GPU and unified ram make a big difference in M series chips, not to say you need less ram or a Nvidia 3080 is not as good but rather to say with enough ram the device is very fast and the integrated GPU in the air is probably as fast as the Intel MBP with dGPU from AMD. With Pro res encoders built into the chip as well it can do a lot. So if you are a Professional who uses your laptop for certain use case then a MBP is the only way to go but if you are just a power user and don't push the gpu or cpu as much as specific use cases then you don't need a Pro laptop anymore. Maybe you want the mini led or larger screen? Maybe you want the sd card slot? But maybe you value speed and portability? Maybe you want the latest and fastest m series chip but don't want to spend over 2 k to get it? Then the M2 MBA is a really good choice. Don't underestimate it. Air means flying not amateur or slow at least not anymore!

So if I were on the fence I would honestly try to evaluate what I actually need in a laptop and how I use it vs my wants and then determine what I can afford and what works best for me. Any m series Mac, any of them are excellent choices. It is just a matter of priorities.