The Air is just a really good consumer ultrabook. There’s some crossover because the cheaper models of the Pro are comparable in price to the more expensive models of the Air but for me, I know I see no reason to pick up a Pro. I don’t need the performance, and I like the fact that the Air has no fan. Granted modern Macbook fans don’t get frustratingly loud but I love having a whisper quiet machine.
It’s insurance. If you never need it, it’s money wasted. If you do need it, you’ll be happy to have it. Personally I have never needed AppleCare and I have been using Apple computers since the 90s.
Ask yourself what would happen if the computer was lost, broken, etc. If you can easily replace it, you probably don’t need to buy AppleCare. If the loss of your computer would represent a substantial financial hardship, the insurance is probably a good idea.
My 15’’ Air is my daily carry to and from work. I definitely do not find it inconvenient to bring with me every day. If you do a lot of work that you need to spread out on your screen, the 15’’ is going to be able to do that for you.
That being said, I used a 13’’ Macbook for years (first a 13’’ Pro and later a 13’’ M1 Air) and got along just fine.
The technology is there at least. If Apple does stick to it and push gaming we could be looking pretty good down the road.
If you’re looking for a gaming laptop today though, the M3 MBP should not be on your list of candidates
I use Firefox. My gaming PC can’t run Safari and my company issued phone is an Android.
It was just easier to switch to a platform agnostic browser.
Safari does what I need it to do though
FWIW I get all day battery at the office on my 15’’ Air. Beyond that I don’t particularly care. Even if my machine has only smart charged to 80%, I can usually make it to the end of the night.
That number 3 is a pretty solid option. Apple is selling this configuration for $1500 on their own refurb store, so taking another $500 off the top is a great deal. It’s by far the largest savings out of what you’ve posted.
I’d say either go that or if you really are uncomfortable with a refurb device just go option 1 to save as much money as possible. Spending the extra money for the M2 won’t really help because you still only have 8 GB RAM.
Regardless, all three are capable of the tasks you’ve listed
Going off of the Intel era, Apple has typically provided seven years of software upgrades and two years of support for each OS upgrade - or in other words up to nine years total of software support. Hardware support exists on a comparable seven years based on the final sale date of a device.
Under a normal load, an M-series chip is around 15-30°C cooler than an Intel Mac with a fan. Unless you are redlining your CPU every single day (in which case an Air is probably not for you) this will not be an issue. M series chips will also be more resistant to thermal paste decay owing to their lower temperatures.
I run very comparable workloads to you on my Air and I rarely see my CPU tick above 40°C under load. My 2012 Mac mini idled at 65°C by comparison.