An entire thread to establish that some prefer cheaper and lighter despite MBPs being better in every regard except weight.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBA Form Factor is not overrated
- Thread starter dizmonk
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
A thread showing that different people value different aspects differently. Some value lighter and cheaper over those other aspects. Others really care about HDR or absolute performance. That is why Apple produces different models.
We agree of course. My point was that "different people value different aspects differently" should be self-evident. Heck even the same person will value different aspects differently for different situations. If I transported my laptops by bicycle or train rather than by car I would probably prefer the lighter MBA and tolerate its shortcomings.
Last edited:
He’s comparing the 14” MBP to the 15” MBA.
So the 15” is also better in that it has a larger screen.
Also, one point which is related to weight but doesn’t equal weight is the comfort of typing on the keyboard due to the thinness of the MBA.
I find the windows laptop market incredibly confusing at the moment. Browsing through a local retailer that carry a mix mostly from the ultra low end to upper mid range windows laptops and a few high end gaming machines, I found that there are very few models available with decent screens. Excluding the obviously cheap laptops that come with low-end CPUs and really poor 1024 x 768 displays, I noted out of approximately 50 different models on display, there were around 4 that had screens that were higher than 1080p or 1920 x 1200. In the full HD category, there was still a high proportion maybe around a third that still had the dull washed out characteristic look of a TN display and these models were priced similarly to others, sometimes within the same brand with much better screens even though other specs like CPU, RAM, SSD were similar. There were 4 higher end laptops with OLED displays and prices and other specs were all over the place. There was at least one still with an 11th gen Intel CPU which was cheaper but not significantly and the remaining (I didn't note specific models but they were a mix of Lenovo Yoga and HP Envy) were priced well above MBA but maybe 10% cheaper than entry M3 MBP.
back in 2018 when
was screwing up with the horrible MacBook Pro design and High Sierra was garbageI decided to purchase a PC laptop (also my company offered to chip in)
wow!
luckily Microcenter was a quick 20 minute walk and after 6 months of
HP garbage, Azus zen fingerprints, Lenovo junk, subpar surface Pro quality I finally purchased a Dell XPS13" 3780
which is now recycled in a computer plant.
yes buying a PC laptop is for housewives or those who only need a Surface go or kindle
as my new neighbors have.
That has ALWAYS been the case, PC laptops focus on having the highest specs possible on the motherboard, everything else like screen and speakers are completely ignored until they've maxed out the motherboard specs.
Where as Apple is doing like the exact opposite, almost maxing out everything else first, and then they give you a tablet SOC with 8GB RAM on the motherboard lol.
Things have turned around somewhat since a couple years ago, with Intel's push for "ultrabooks", laptops that are somewhat lower spec but not trash in other departments.
I'm typing on an ASUS ZenBook Pro with a 15.6 inch OLED display with touchscreen technology. Next to it is a 2020 MacBook Air. The prices were about the same with 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB storage on each. The MacBook Air has superior sound and the difference in the displays is noticeable, but not that significant in general use.
At some point, the price of OLED technology will make it possible that OLED will be the minimal display technology, and more interesting technologies will be the expensive replacements. That's just not today.
The MBA 15” is a good machine. The right size and weight with an excellent battery life, but it is possibly one of the most boring machines on the planet. To me it has an ugly purely functional shape limited by charging on one side only and no ports on the right hand side which make it , for me ( and I stress here that this a very personal opinion), a very ‘meh’ solution . It is fine if you want a purely utilitarian laptop, which most people usually want and/or need. For me I like a little extra pizazz, colors, design etc. Anyway the 15” MBA is a perfectly good standard reasonable performance laptop, but has nothing to make it stand out other than its good battery life and several limitations that make people drift to the Pro solutions if they can cope with the weight and cost.
I was looking at the MacBook Air 15" and the MacBook Pro 14" and in the end opted for the MBP.
The screen looks better outdoors and on train or plane trips you appreciate the extra brightness.
The extra ports, especially the SD port, is also nice to have for me because I don't have to mess around with adapters.
Then there is the extra processor, in my case in the end I opted for an M3 Pro.
Also its form factor is more comfortable for me to travel with, being somewhat smaller, despite the weight difference.
However, the MacBook Air in any of its combinations is a great computer, but for my personal use, I decided to go for the 14" MacBook Air.
The screen looks better outdoors and on train or plane trips you appreciate the extra brightness.
The extra ports, especially the SD port, is also nice to have for me because I don't have to mess around with adapters.
Then there is the extra processor, in my case in the end I opted for an M3 Pro.
Also its form factor is more comfortable for me to travel with, being somewhat smaller, despite the weight difference.
However, the MacBook Air in any of its combinations is a great computer, but for my personal use, I decided to go for the 14" MacBook Air.
I'll take meh...
My wife is a lawyer and she uses the surface go as her main device in and out of the courtroom and it works great for her. It's a full computer with a touchscreen/pen input (great for client signatures).
What's wrong with it?
I would love a touchscreen Mac, either 180 degree hinge or convertible (removable keyboard). Bonus points for being able to run both iPadOS and MacOS.
Interesting thread. "Downgraded" (in size) from a 16" M1 Pro to the 14" M3 Pro. Enjoy the machine in every way...EXCEPT screen real estate and haven't adapted to the ergonomics of palm rest/keyboard. Been eyeballing the 15" Macbook Air, especially with the crazy sales right now. HOWEVER, once I start spec'ing up the ram storage to what I want (16/1tb) I'm back in MBP territory. The Apple sales funnel makes it so easy to spend "just another $200". Alternatively, could run two machines -- one for power, one for general computing -- but I really prefer the simplicity of one machine for everything.
So this is the dilemma.
So this is the dilemma.
I have an M1 Max 64 GB MBP 16. MBA will never match my requirements from MBP. I use an iPad Pro 12.9 when I need portability. My family uses an M2 MBA base model, and they love it.
that Surface Go did not compare to the iPad back in 2019 with a flimsy casing,
a lower battery per hour and slower processor.
the accessories were complicated were e could not get a blue cover, and pencil
other than that that device is great for windows users.
It can be confusing if you are not up to speed on latest AMD and Intel CPU, and GPU graphics cards etc. It also really depends on the retailer. I don't know any Windows laptop still being sold with a TN panel?? Most are moving to OLED or have IPS. TN panels died a long time ago. Some Dell gaming laptops used them due to response times but IPS has improved and even OLED to the point TN is just no longer used. FULL HD is minimum on most Windows laptops even budget models.
I get really tired of people who have not used a platform for years go into a store and take a cursory look and confirm their bias.
Yes, buying any tech can be confusing but there are a ton of resources available to help give you an idea of what to look for in the category you are looking for.
For example you can buy an Asus ZenBook 14 OLED which has a13th or 14th gen Intel gaming processor, 16gb ddr5 ram, 512/1 tb ssd, 120hz 14.5" OLED touchscreen gorilla glass display, all aluminum build and large battery. One costs $799 on sale or $1000 MSRP and the newer model costs $1200 no sales yet. Either way close or cheaper than a base model M2 MBA. Not going to say one is better than the other just that you can find very nice Windows laptops at a decent price.
The big advantage the air has is fanless and lighter with better battery life. But the cheaper ZenBook performs almost as good as the air and in some ways better at half the price.
So it just depends what you prefer.
You would think so...but this is macrumours! Many folks think their preference, and their way is only way! Lord help you if you express a different opinion...
Nothing. If it works for your wife and she's happy, all good.
You've just encountered one of MR's rabid users...nothing new or really interesting to see here.
Last edited:
It especially confusing as AMD have changed their CPU numbering scheme in 7000 series chips and up and Intel have changed their CPU naming convention. There are still TN panels being sold, at least in the Australian market. For example, there was an i5 variant of Lenovo IdeaPad 3i on display which definitely had the dull look and poor viewing angles of a TN display. This model is not currently on Lenovo Australia website but some lower spec CPU models are and their displays are listed as:
"Display : 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080), TN, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 45%NTSC, 250 nits, 60Hz, Narrow Bezel"
There were also Lenovo IdeaPad 5 and various Thinkpad models on display that have IPS displays. Even in IPS, there is significant variation in colour accuracy and brightness. This is before we start to talk about non-screen related hardware. I have written about some purchases I made early last year:
Which laptop to keep?
Recently I purchased two Lenovo laptops that were both refurbished. I only intend to keep one, but after trying both out, I am very conflicted as to which one I should keep and which one I should sell. The intention for these laptops was to undetake some light gaming with my son, no AAA titles...
forums.macrumors.com
I ended up keeping the Yoga 7. This model has a 2.8K OLED screen and a premium design but it was plagued with issues, only some of which were resolved by Lenovo. They did release a firmware update for the Keyboard Lag issue but another issue that causes frequent BSOD was not resolved. I ended up changing the Wifi card to an Intel chipset and swapped out the nvme SSD which together with the firmware update for keyboard lag and a software work around recommended by Lenovo has significantly reduced the frequency of BSOD. However, the webcam despite being 1080p is not great - skin tones generally appear blotchy and have a red hue.
The overall package of my m1 MBA is better and I love how silent it is.
I never had much luck with windows laptops. I bought and returned several over the last couple years, there was always a big compromise somewhere that I couldn't live with. While the spec sheets always sounded so promising, it never lived up to expectations. I bit the bullet and went with an M2 air and have been very happy with every aspect of it. I decided to just get a proper windows desktop for gaming and my MacBook handles everything else I need of it extremely well.
I am intrigued by the number of people that have problems with Windows based laptops. For me personally, I have never had issues with the hardware (Dell, HP and Lenovo included) but simply had problems with Windows reliability (updates that break more than they repair) and usability.
I only started with Mac OS once Apple switched from OS 9 to OS X (which is UNIX/LINUX based) since OS 9 was a single tasking OS and was not at all friendly to doing work with 3rd party devices etc. That would be around 2001 or so. I did however start with Microsoft after Digital Research's CP/M for my personal machines (I was brought up on UNIX) and switched to MS DOS 1.0 and then Windows 1.0 (which was awful) with ATARI and AMIGA along the way, so I have seen and used virtually every iteration of Windows and watched in horror as nasty OS' like Millennium (Me) and Vista were rolled out. I needed reliability and OS X was better than Windows at the time. But since the advent of Windows 2000, Windows has been pretty reliable and usable with the exception, as mentioned above, of Vista and 8/8.1 which were resource hogs. Windows 10 and 11 are excellent OS' but are more complex to use and setup than MacOS. However the setup experience is very similar to Mac OS and these days I would have no hesitation recommending a Windows 11 based laptop.
However the feelings reflected in by some posters in this thread that Windows machines are confusing is simply a result of the much larger choice of machines running Windows. With MacOS you get what you get with all that implies which includes tight coupling between hardware and software and limited choicee.
I have a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 which is an excellent piece of hardware running Windows 11 and the only criticism I have of it is that the battery life is not that good (or not as good as the MBA). The screen is excellent (and touch sensitive) and it is more than fast enough (in its i7 iteration) and is equally as good as the MBA in all other respects. The black metal case does not become a mess of finger prints like the midnight MBA and there are other nice design touches which the MBA lacks. Plus, because it is made by MS it tends to get updates that work, just like Apple and their laptops.
All in all the decision for a new user to go MacOS or Windows is not one of reliability and functionality but a matter of preference and what eco system you survive in. The MBA (as I have already said in this thread) is a perfectly adequate MacOS laptop but there are more choices in the Windows world and that maybe what you want. Your choice and money.
I only started with Mac OS once Apple switched from OS 9 to OS X (which is UNIX/LINUX based) since OS 9 was a single tasking OS and was not at all friendly to doing work with 3rd party devices etc. That would be around 2001 or so. I did however start with Microsoft after Digital Research's CP/M for my personal machines (I was brought up on UNIX) and switched to MS DOS 1.0 and then Windows 1.0 (which was awful) with ATARI and AMIGA along the way, so I have seen and used virtually every iteration of Windows and watched in horror as nasty OS' like Millennium (Me) and Vista were rolled out. I needed reliability and OS X was better than Windows at the time. But since the advent of Windows 2000, Windows has been pretty reliable and usable with the exception, as mentioned above, of Vista and 8/8.1 which were resource hogs. Windows 10 and 11 are excellent OS' but are more complex to use and setup than MacOS. However the setup experience is very similar to Mac OS and these days I would have no hesitation recommending a Windows 11 based laptop.
However the feelings reflected in by some posters in this thread that Windows machines are confusing is simply a result of the much larger choice of machines running Windows. With MacOS you get what you get with all that implies which includes tight coupling between hardware and software and limited choicee.
I have a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 which is an excellent piece of hardware running Windows 11 and the only criticism I have of it is that the battery life is not that good (or not as good as the MBA). The screen is excellent (and touch sensitive) and it is more than fast enough (in its i7 iteration) and is equally as good as the MBA in all other respects. The black metal case does not become a mess of finger prints like the midnight MBA and there are other nice design touches which the MBA lacks. Plus, because it is made by MS it tends to get updates that work, just like Apple and their laptops.
All in all the decision for a new user to go MacOS or Windows is not one of reliability and functionality but a matter of preference and what eco system you survive in. The MBA (as I have already said in this thread) is a perfectly adequate MacOS laptop but there are more choices in the Windows world and that maybe what you want. Your choice and money.
M2 is more than powerful enough for most users. My M2 MacBook Air can handle anything I throw at it was ease, whether that is composing post-production video effects in Adobe After Effects, to editing/rendering in Final Cut; to touching up Instagram posts in Photoshop. M2 works flawlessly and supports amazing battery life, amazing power efficiency compared to my M1 Pro Mac anyway. The form factor is slim and lightweight, I can take it anywhere, the 13.6" M2 Air makes such a difference in portability compared to my M1 Pro MBP.