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MacBook Air vs Pro 14" and M1 vs M2 help

My MacBook Pro w/retina just died. I am looking at 8GB RAM & 512GB for the Air (2020) and the Pro 14" (2020 & 2021). The Air only comes with Big Sur. The 14" I can get with Big Sur or Monterey.

Prices at the moment are:

Air 2020 £1,117 - Big Sur

14" 2020 £1,319 - Big Sur

14" 2021 £1,769 - Monterey


I like the size and weight of the Air. The bezels, speakers, screen and extra ports of the 14" are very tempting though.


My questions are:

  • what would the advantage be for spending the extra £652 to get Monterey over Big Sur???
  • should I wait until Sept (some say late 2023) for the M2 Air and buy a basic new iPad for £320 whilst waiting? I do have my OH's old Windows 10 to help with some things that the iPad cannot do.


I have read that the M2 Air will be more square shaped like the Pro rather than wedged, be lighter, smaller, white keyboard with white bezels and thin bezels amongst other things which I love.


What are you thoughts please guru's?


MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Apr 9, 2022 5:38 AM

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Posted on Apr 15, 2022 9:11 AM

Thank you everyone for your help!


I finally decided to go for the MB Air 16GB M1, 1TB. The main reason is the size but it also got excellent reviews and usually won when compared to the 14" but mostly because of size since they are both excellent machines. Unfortunately, either the store doesn't carry the 16GB or it is out of stock, so I have to wait until the end of May!

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Apr 15, 2022 9:11 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you everyone for your help!


I finally decided to go for the MB Air 16GB M1, 1TB. The main reason is the size but it also got excellent reviews and usually won when compared to the 14" but mostly because of size since they are both excellent machines. Unfortunately, either the store doesn't carry the 16GB or it is out of stock, so I have to wait until the end of May!

Apr 9, 2022 8:05 AM in response to megabytes

    • should I wait until Sept (some say late 2023) for the M2 Air and buy a basic new iPad for £320 whilst waiting? I do have my OH's old Windows 10 to help with some things that the iPad cannot do.


I have read that the M2 Air will be more square shaped like the Pro rather than wedged, be lighter, smaller, white keyboard with white bezels and thin bezels amongst other things which I love.


I would not make decisions on what the pundits try to predict. Apple has always been remarkably closed-mouth about new product introduction so whatever a third-party journalist posts/publishes is speculation. And sometimes wrong.


Get the gear that fits your current needs, not something that may or may not happen "down the road."

Apr 9, 2022 10:32 AM in response to megabytes

Grant Bennet-Alder has answered your questions regarding versions of macOS and Allan Jones has addressed your question about futures.


As far as the three Macs that you listed are concerned, FWIW here are my thoughts:

  • If you have a current need for a working MacBook Pro, then waiting for an unknown future machine is a moot point.
  • 8 GB RAM is not enough especially if you want to keep your new Mac for many years. Yes, it will run ... but if you do anything more rigorous than web surfing, email or watching videos you will find performance unsatisfactory. I suspect this is the reason so many Macs with 8GB RAM are on the used computer market.
  • System requirements on future releases of macOS & applications always go up, not down. I suggest 16GB (or even 32GB if you can afford it).
  • 512GB storage is ok but more is better. I suggest 1TB. What was your disk usage on your old MBP?
  • If the 2020 models are brand new they would be fine; ditto if they are refurbished units directly from Apple. If they are used units from some other vendor, be sure to verify that they are fully functional with no problems and that they come with a warranty & return policy.


Apr 9, 2022 7:44 AM in response to megabytes

Do not use 'what MacOS was shipped when the unit was new' as an indicator of ANYTHING. It should not be a deciding factor.


When various older computer were no longer upgradeable, it was always arbitrary hardware things that kept them from running the latest MacOS, such as 'processor could not do fast encryption instructions', or 'graphics could not hack the new way of drawing'.


Some features may not be available in MacOS released after a model was introduced, such as the way Bluetooth and graphics evolution has left certain MacBook Pro models behind for iPad screen sharing.


In general, there is no way of predicting when a newer version of MacOS will drop support for an older Mac.

Apr 9, 2022 10:36 AM in response to megabytes

Just to clarify, there is no such thing as a 2020 14” M1 MacBook Pro. The 14” MBPs were first released in 2021.

The 2020 M1 MBP was 13” not 14”. It also only had the regular M1 CPU, while the 2021 14” MBP has the M1 Pro or M1 Max depending on how its configured at purchased.


The 400 pound difference, is mostly because of the better faster CPU.


The 2020 MBA and 2020 13” MBP are mostly the same, though the MBP gets the extra CPU core as standard.

MacBook Air vs Pro 14" and M1 vs M2 help

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