M5 Air 24GB vs M5 Pro 16GB — RAM vs active cooling for creative work?
M5 Air 24GB vs M5 Pro 16GB -> RAM vs active cooling for creative work?
Deciding between these two and my main dilemma comes down to: more RAM or a fan?
Daily use is Photoshop, After Effects, and Figma — usually open simultaneously, with fairly heavy files. I always work connected to a 4K external monitor, so the Pro's better display isn't really a factor for me. I also game occasionally (WoW) but that's secondary.
The way I see it: 24GB on the Air gives me real headroom for memory-hungry apps without swapping. But I keep wondering if the fanless design will become an issue during long work sessions with all those apps running.
Has anyone with a similar creative workload gone with the Air and regretted it thermally? Or is the 16GB ceiling on the Pro the bigger real-world bottleneck?