I bought a 16" Pro thinking I would need it and realized I never do anything other than simple photo/video editing, occasional VM usage and browsing the internet. Returned it and used the $1000~ savings to book a vacation to the Caribbean instead.
I had fallen for the future proof fallacy when even than, the savings could have been used to buy another new MacBook Air in 3-4 years which would be newer than whatever ‘future proofing’ I can do now. I would rather buy a new and updated MacBook Air every 4 years with the savings than budget for a Pro model every 7-9 years.
I noticed no difference between using the Pro and Air at all, at least not worth $1000. This sub convinced me that the Air is what 99% of the population would need and is very powerful as is!
The only thing keeping your laptop running good for years is viable RAM.
And the air will be much easier for you to carry on your vacation (if you’re planning on bringing it)
Impossible not noticing 120hz to 60hz and vice versa
I think the main thing is that you don’t need the RAM and the screen. Those MacBooks are for people who run serious video editing setups (as you admitted to realizing) and who would see a benefit from color correction on the display with HDR content. I assume you do none of this, so good on you for saving the money and enjoying it in a way that makes you feel better.
Apart from the grounding issue, my 16" Pro has done things alone that most of my peers use a laptop AND a desktop to get done. But yeah, if you’re not processing a ton of realtime video, or saturating thunderbolt with network traffic or something, then the Air could do any 2-3 of the 8 things I’m doing at once admirably. And I’d probably be less pulled in all directions. lol.
If my question is not absurd, can I ask how you guys return a opened sealed pack and get full refund?
Depends where u buy it from. Most retailers give u a certain amount of days to return full refund back even after opened. Like Best Buy, Amazon, etc. Ebay is a different story.
i totally agree with you… for basic usage base model 15 macbook air is fine without paying much more.
Aaugh! Here I thought I was whackadoodle for agonizing over MP16 vs MA15 for two days. In the end, I made the same decision as you. Cheers!!
You could get the base MBP model and still save close to 1000usd, but with additional ports that will help your life easier dongle-free. 😄
What specs did you go with on the MacBook Air 15”? I was considering 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD (just for the faster speed itself over the 256GB).
Base M2 Air is more computer than most people need. I have an M1 Pro for work and an M2 Air asa couch/personal computer and they subjectively feel the same. I know benchmarks can tell them apart but literally nothing that I do in my normal day feels different.
This is what a realistic post by a regular average consumer looks like rather than redditors like us who can be out of touch with the general public. 99% of people with an M2 Air outside of Reddit love their laptop and leave glowing reviews about it and are satisfied with it.
Good for you, it’s funny the number of people thinking they need high-end machines for tasks a basic M1 would piss on from a great height. Smart move IMHO.
I have Pro M2, M3 16 and I mostly use Air 15, makes sense to me. It is the perfect laptop. Most powerful? No…but generally better than everything else under Mac Pro 16.
I just did the opposite. The air just didn’t quite do it for me. The main reason is the Air only supports one external monitor…. Carrying the Air was fantastic though!
Out of curiosity, since I have a final year Intel MBP, I’m thinking of switching to an Air soon, does the 1 monitor limit include using sidecar? One thing I like doing right now is using my iPad as a display as well as my desktop monitor.
The only thing I use it for now is for IDE stuff since I’ve moved over all my heavy lifting stuff to my home PC.