M2 air 15-inch 16gb+512 SSD or M3 pro base(14 inch 8gb ram+512 ssd) for cs student. Will the 8gb enough for 4 yrs of b.tech? these prices were almost so there’s no price point of view. I didn’t see much difference(by reviews) and this is also the first time buying mac. is macbook air being without the fan going to be an issue? Overall for cs student I want to last long(not battery I know both were great so, I meant it’s usability in upcoming future yrs). Is there big gap btw air and pro? Is there’s some issues for cs student or general usability case? Thanks in advance for spending time :)
Going into the next few years, I think locally run LLMs, especially as a new developer are going to be a big thing; in which case the RAM is going to be the driving factor. But if you are doing any sort of heavy computing, the lack of fan is going to hurt. Personally, I would say if there is any way to muster up another few hundred dollars, I would look at the 14in M3 Pro 18gb. It covers the weaknesses of both the other models, and should have no problem lasting you through school and a couple years into your first job
Sadly extra money is not my option becoz I’m just a ug student and don’t want to spend that much of my parent’s money.So, in this two what will be better and also thanks for ur opinion so far :)
In that case, if you are dead set on Apple (this is a case where looking at a windows laptop might make sense), I would go with the Pro 8. The Air seems to be for someone who is using it to scroll TikTok and browse the web. It’s not built for long working sessions and can overheat with the lack of fans with heavy use.
This is just my limited opinion though. I’m relatively new to the MacBook world, having spend 20 years with windows machines. Someone with more knowledge than I may be able to offer up a different view.