Macbook Pro Vs Macbook Air: Which Should You Buy?

MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? We explain what each of the Apple laptops offer so you can decide which is the best for your computing needs.

With the powerful Apple MacBook Pro, available in multiple screen sizes, and the slim, efficient MacBook Air, there are 2 broad Mac laptop families to chose between nowadays. They’re both exceptional ones. With similar specifications and exterior styling throughout both the Air and the Pro, deciding which one is best for you largely comes down to which size screen you need and how much processing power your common computing tasks need.

Choosing between the two families is the simple part. Coming down to the nitty gritty within each family is more difficult, though. The 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are now available with Apple’s brand-new M1 processor, which assures quick performance however may not be the right choice for everyone. We’ll stroll you through the processor choices along with all the various CPU, memory, storage, and other element choices that Apple provides on its latest MacBook laptops.

The MacBook Air: The More Portable Pick

Apple’s tiniest laptop is the MacBook Air. It’s a slim, sleek machine that determines 0.63 inch at its thickest point and weighs simply 2.8 pounds. The MacBook Air is also Apple’s cheapest laptop, starting at $900 for trainees and teachers or $1,000 for the general public. The most affordable and most portable entry point into the macOS community clearly has enormous appeal.

A low price does not mean the MacBook Air’s screen is poor quality, though. Despite the fact that it’s not the highest-resolution 13-inch display screen you can purchase, the LED-backlit panel impresses with its brightness and clearness. The native resolution is 2,560 by 1,600 pixels. The screen utilizes in-plane changing (IPS) technology, which indicates that the amazing image you see while sitting in front of it doesn’t deteriorate much if you turn it to show an associate what you’re working on. Its True Tone feature instantly adjusts the color temperature to match ambient lighting conditions, and assistance for the P3 color gamut suggests dazzling colors and the capability to perform basic color fixing for pictures and videos.

The existing version of the MacBook Air sports 2024 the exact same Magic Keyboard you’ll discover on the MacBook Pro. It provides an even more comfy typing experience than previous MacBook Air and MacBook Pro keyboard styles, which suffered from extremely shallow key presses.

To fit whatever into the small enclosure, Apple made a couple of sacrifices in terms of the MacBook Air’s connectivity and power. The most restricting aspect is the pair of USB Type-C ports, which handle basically every connection apart from audio output, from charging the battery to connecting an external display screen or disk drive. You might well need to purchase a third-party expansion dock with extra ports if you pick the MacBook Air.

Inside the laptop, there’s a single processor choice: the Apple M1 chip. It has an eyebrow-raising optimum of 16 processor cores. Four of the cores are compute cores dedicated to intricate computations that need great deals of processing power. 4 more are committed to lighter jobs that don’t need as much power, to ensure that the chip doesn’t take in more energy than it needs to. Jobs get shunted to the proper core set on the fly.

Lastly, as numerous as 8 extra cores of the M1 chip are dedicated to graphics processing, similar to how Intel’s Iris integrated graphics work. The entry-level $1,000 MacBook Air has seven graphics cores, while the $1,250+ model includes 8 graphics cores. Either suffices for casual games, and both graphics options can powering an external display at 60Hz and as much as a 6K resolution. Overall, M1 performance is outstanding, but it differs depending on which app you’re running.

The base model MacBook Air comes with 8GB or 16GB of memory and 256/512GB of solid-state storage, while the $1,250+ one doubles both of those quantities. While the memory limit is 32GB, you can pay extra to increase the storage area of either design as much as a 2TB SSD.

The MacBook Air is a perfect travel companion, and provided its sleek styling and Apple’s cachet, a little a status sign to boot. It’s the Mac laptop we suggest for many people. But since you’ll spend at least $1,000 on it, you’ll wish to make sure to take a look at the other, larger Apple portables that offer more connectivity and — in some cases — more computing power.

The MacBook Air vs. the MacBook Pro

The closest Apple alternative to the MacBook Air is the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, which tips the scales at 3 pounds. In return for a slightly greater beginning price ($1,300) and a bit of additional weight, the entry-level MacBook Pro uses an option of either the Apple M1 or Intel Core processors. The majority of MacBook Pro buyers will probably be better off with the M1, but some may be interested in the Intel Core i5 or Core i7 alternatives. Not all Mac software application runs natively on the M1 chip yet, so the Intel MacBook Pro could a better choice if you require to run apps like Adobe Creative Suite or Microsoft Office that have not been updated up until now.

The base model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 processor has just 2 USB Type-C ports, while the updated $1,899 Intel variation has four. The extra ports could come in helpful if you need to link to multiple peripherals and external display screens. You’ll still require adapters or special cables, since all of the ports use the very same oval-shaped USB-C port, however with 4 of them you may not need to purchase a costly docking station.

Both the Intel and the M1 variations of the 13-inch MacBook Pro come with an active cooling fan, which is something the MacBook Air lacks. The MacBook Air instead uses passive cooling, which works simply great for fundamental jobs like searching the web, however might obstruct performance of more intensive tasks like video encoding. The memory and storage alternatives of the 13-inch MacBook Pro are the same as those of the MacBook Air.

MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Specs compared

	Best for Most	Most Speed for $	For Power Users
	MacBook Air	MacBook Pro 13 (Entry Level)	MacBook Pro 16-inch
Price	$999	$1,299	$2,399
CPU	M1	M1	2.6-GHz 9th gen Core i7
RAM	Up to 16GB	up to 16GB	up to 64GB
Display	13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)	13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)	16 inches (3072 x 1920)
Ports	2 Thunderbolt 3, headphone	2 Thunderbolt 3, headphone	4 Thunderbolt 3, headphone
Touch Bar	No	Yes	Yes
Graphics	M1	M1	AMD Radeon Pro 5300M (4GB)
Storage	up to 2TB	up to 2TB	up to 10TB
Battery Life (hrs)	14:41 (tested)	16:32 (tested)	10:55
Size	12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches	12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches	14.1 x 9.7 x 0.6 inches
Weight	2.8 pounds	3.1 pounds	4.3 pounds

Which MacBook Is Best?

It’s an unusual time to be purchasing a MacBook. Apple has just partially transitioned its laptops to the new ARM-based M1 chip while some models continue to rely on Intel processors.

Based upon our screening, we recommend buying a MacBook with the M1 chip. Your alternatives up until now? The new MacBook Air with M1 and the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 and two Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Apple is expected to launch a 16-inch MacBook Pro with a much more powerful M1X chip in the coming months, so think about waiting before purchasing the bigger and most superior option. The exact same goes for the 13-inch MacBook with four Thunderbolt 3 ports. That note pad uses Intel chips in the meantime however could be upgraded (with a 14-inch screen?) in 2021 with custom-made Apple Silicon.

So why do we recommend MacBooks with M1 chip? In short, since there is nothing else like them on the marketplace. The M1 chip brings unparalleled efficiency and battery life to the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, making them the laptops to beat in their respective categories. Not to mention, the laptops support iOS and iPadOS apps now that they operate on the same architecture as the iPhone and iPad.

That’s not to say the 16-inch MacBook Pro and top-tier 13-inch MacBook Pro aren’t good gadgets. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is particularly engaging due to its unbelievable speakers, contemporary design and long battery life. You just need to decide if you must buy them now, or if you can wait for Apple to revitalize these note pads with custom-made chips.