For college, I'd recommend the 13.6” MBA. The MBAs do have some important advantages over the MBPs.
Smaller, lighter, more manageable, easier to schlep to class, the union, or the library, and easier to put on a classroom chair folding arm, study carrel with books, or dorm room desk.
If your eyes are sensitive, the MBA has another advantage over the MBP in not having PWM (pulse width modulation) which can give some people headaches, eye strain, vertigo, etc. Many are sensitive to what is called temporal dithering, which can affect both models.
Battery life reports are all over the map. My takeaway from MR commentary is that many find that the 13.6” MBA can run for more hours than the 14” MBP. Yet, others disagree — and Apple's latest comparison show a marked advantage to the MBP — for the same M chip.
As to Milly's initial comparison, however, Apple shows the 13.6” M3 MBA with the *exact* same numbers of hours as the 14” M2 MBP — up to 18.
See
https://www.apple.com/mac/compare/?modelList=MacBook-Air-M3,MacBook-Pro-14-M2
Of course, real world battery life can be quite different from that depending on your use pattern.
Sure, if one recharges every night, any differences, such as the 12 vs. 15 hours discussed before, are inconsequential. OTOH, it's a treat not having to charge as often — and be less likely to run out of juice when away from one's dorm or housing situation — or when travelling or vacationing. The longer life could mean longer life when running more intensive programs.
Yet, there is a big plus to the MBP, too, besides the better speakers (if you are someone who perceives audio differences or cares about that) and brighter screens (for certain content— yet if PWM is an issue, the screens are NOT better). Again, many of us don’t care about how much better the audio or screens are as the MBAs have quite good audio and screens in their own right. It simply doesn’t matter to us.
But the MBP gains an advantage over the MBA as to ports — if those matter to you. The SC card reader is wonderful for those who use digital cameras.
The MBP also has a port that could be of good use in college — the HDMI out so you can easily connect to projectors in classrooms and make presentations from your Mac without any adapter. (The MBAs can connect with an adapter, but those adapter-dongles can easily be forgotten exactly at the very time, day, or class needed — or get lost, misplaced, or stolen!)
Oh, two other big factors. Keep in mind that, as a student, you can buy through Apple's Education Store which will save you money over the regular prices — and even get close to the refurb prices!
Also, Apple's Back-to-School specials should soon be announced — so hold off and see what extra goodies you can get with your Mac!
Keep us posted as to what you decide — and whether any of our ramblings and advice proved helpful!
