MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide: 30+ Differences Compared

[Warped9]

The target is always moving. A few years ago an Intel MacBook Air was an expensive general purpose laptop. Forget about doing anything serious with it. The M chips totally revitalized the Air making it one of the very best bang-for-the-buck computers you can buy. It’s not only general purpose, but you can delve into some heavy lifting with it.

Nonetheless it’s still dismissed as lightweight and crippleware by some.

 

[sflagel]

For what's its worth, I cannot remember a time where Apple's product line up was as coherent and logical as it is now; in terms of pricing, capabilities, and branding.

All that's left to do is drop "Air" and the "i" in iPhone and iMac.

Consumer - Pro
Phone - PhonePro
MacBook - MacBook Pro
MacMini / Mac - MacStudio / MacPro

Its sounds easy, but is SO hard to accomplish this in a $2Tn organisation like Apple.

 

[sflagel]

No reason to go for the 15". You Better buy the MCB Pro 14"

...which has a smaller screen but on the positive side it is heavier and thicker?

For reading email, running some financial spreadsheets, making Teams calls, and editing a few photos I think most will prefer the larger more portable one. But there is one right one for everyone now.

 

[sza]

For those who haven't used the 120HZ screen on MBP, go and use it for 30 minutes and then you will have a clear answer.

 

[sflagel]

Very generalized article that does not help those of us in the middle. It should be obvious to anyone that if you just use email and watch movies the Air is fine, or if you are editing a Hollywood movie, you need a Pro. But I'm a professional photographer who shoots on location so I'm always on the move and editing the photos where ever I am. I use Lightroom and Photoshop when the client demands it, but prefer to use Capture 1 and AffinityPhoto when the client does not care. Portability is important to me since I'm already carrying around 50-150 pounds of photo equipment, but having a slightly larger screen is helpful too. Storage space is important since I fill up about 1TB every couple of months. I also need to think about the future as photo editing programs evolve to include new ways to create masks and remove or clone objects nearly automatically. So I'm a creative yet I'd not consider my use case something that needs a lot of computer resources. For any of you in a similar situation, what is your expierence with the Air and the Pro? That information is what would help me. Thanks.

I don't have experience, since the 15 inch just came out, but it seems you would be best off with a maxed-out Air 15.

 

[darngooddesign]

For what's its worth, I cannot remember a time where Apple's product line up was as coherent and logical as it is now; in terms of pricing, capabilities, and branding.

All that's left to do is drop "Air" and the "i" in iPhone and iMac.

Consumer - Pro
Phone - PhonePro
MacBook - MacBook Pro
MacMini / Mac - MacStudio / MacPro

Its sounds easy, but is SO hard to accomplish this in a $2Tn organisation like Apple.

Yep.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus - MBA 13 and MBA 15
iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max - MBP 14 and MBP 16

 

[sza]

No reason to go for the 15". You Better buy the MCB Pro 14"

Pretty much. The 60Hz screen is like garbage.

 

[darngooddesign]

Pretty much. The 60Hz screen is like garbage.

Counterpoint: It’s fine.

 

[sza]

Counterpoint: It’s fine.

Your bar is very low. Nice.

 

[Darajavahus]

I hate that mba 15 screen resolution is lower than mbp 14 :/

 

[Black Diesel]

Omg this!
Without question, the biggest miss and the one feature I most wish the Air offered.

The need to simultaneously view multiple documents isn’t necessarily that of only high-end video editors and designers. There are some (eg: writers) that don’t need the added power, weight, size, cost of a Pro, but do need the ability for dual monitor support.

If the Air were capable of pushing two displays, it would be my favorite Mac to date. It’s an amazing machine in almost every way. An impressive culmination of years of hardware evolution.

My 13" M1 Air is pushing three 27" 4k monitors with one cable:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/using-macbook-air-m1-as-a-desktop.2387997/page-3

 

[cogzero]

I really hope that happens.

"Sooner and later you will see great changes made, dreadful horrors and vengeances. For as the Moon is thus led by its angel, the heavens draw near to the Balance. Oh, and a 15" MBA." - Nostradamus

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Please instead quote the only battery life that matters, wireless web.

Up to:

MBA 13.6” & 15.3” = 15 hours

MBP 14.2” = 12 hours
MBP 16.2” = 15 hours

 

[lazyrighteye]

My 13" M1 Air is pushing three 27" 4k monitors with one cable:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/using-macbook-air-m1-as-a-desktop.2387997/page-3

Yeah, there are aftermarket solutions. But most tend to come in around $200 U.S. mark. I'd pay Apple $200 more to have that functionality buit-in. IIRC, M1 offers dual monitor support, out-of-the-box - which has been lost/removed from M2.

 

[sdwaltz]

The 16" MBP makes quite a bit less sense now, that's for sure.

 

[magicMac]

Apple website says the new 15” air has BT5.3, but also noticed the spec of the 13.6” air is also BT5.3 with no other change. When it was launched a year ago the spec said BT5.0 (although launch studio says it’s actually 5.1). Which is it !

Can anyone confirm the 13.6” air now had a different model number to reflect the change in Bluetooth hardware?

 

[hans1972]

I'm a professional hot-air balloonist 🎈. Air or Pro?

 

[mburkhard]

For me this was a no-brainer. Ever since I bought my first MacBook some 20 years ago I had to buy a Pro because of the screen size, even though I never did any work on it; I simply hate small screens. But all I ever needed on the go was a general purpose device with a large screen.
So I ordered my 15" Air on release day - finally, what took them so long! 🤩

 

[Ener Ji]

The 16" MBP makes quite a bit less sense now, that's for sure.

I'm hoping this means we'll see some decent reseller discounts for the 16". I really can't believe it, but I'm strongly considering paying ~$600-700+ more for a base 16" MBP over the 15" Air with equivalent RAM/Storage. Primarily for WiFi 6E and dual-monitor support out of the box. Some of the other feature upgrades are nice bonuses, though they don't move the needle for me too much individually.

I just need to make sure I can accept that the M3 Air will inevitably be released late this year or early next with WiFi 6E and maybe even dual-monitor support, too. But I need a new laptop this year, so 🤷‍♂️. Decisions, decisions.

For me this was a no-brainer. Ever since I bought my first MacBook some 20 years ago I had to buy a Pro because of the screen size, even though I never did any work on it; I simply hate small screens. But all I ever needed on the go was a general purpose device with a large screen.
So I ordered my 15" Air on release day - finally, what took them so long! 🤩

Yeah, similar boat here. Still considering the 16" though for reasons I outline above. Upgrading to 16" is not a great value for me but still considering it.

 

[iCyprus]

...which has a smaller screen but on the positive side it is heavier and thicker?

For reading email, running some financial spreadsheets, making Teams calls, and editing a few photos I think most will prefer the larger more portable one. But there is one right one for everyone now.

No future with 8GB Ram

 

[ignatius345]

The 2020 Intel MacBook Air could drive two 6k external displays.

Score one (and only one) point to the Intel Air. Otherwise it was a wheezing, overheating mess doing almost any task. I had one immediately before my 2020 M1 Air and the difference was night and day. The minute I upgraded I got double or better battery life and everything ran a million times smoother.

 

[ignatius345]

It’s a great shame the Air can’t drive two monitors.

That's why the Pro exists.

 

[Tagbert]

If I had had any say in this I would have discontinued the MacBook Pro 13 and slotted the new MacBook Air 15 into its place price wise. Hell, I would have pushed dropping the price about 100-200 bucks across the entire Air line. The M chips are giving the Airs pro level performance you couldn’t have imagined 3-4 years ago.

The 13” MBP and the 15” MBA are both $1299 so they already occupy the same price point.

that 13” Pro seems to be mainly a corporate purchase plan model and not really a consumer model.

 

[richard13]

Very generalized article that does not help those of us in the middle. It should be obvious to anyone that if you just use email and watch movies the Air is fine, or if you are editing a Hollywood movie, you need a Pro. But I'm a professional photographer who shoots on location so I'm always on the move and editing the photos where ever I am. I use Lightroom and Photoshop when the client demands it, but prefer to use Capture 1 and AffinityPhoto when the client does not care. Portability is important to me since I'm already carrying around 50-150 pounds of photo equipment, but having a slightly larger screen is helpful too. Storage space is important since I fill up about 1TB every couple of months. I also need to think about the future as photo editing programs evolve to include new ways to create masks and remove or clone objects nearly automatically. So I'm a creative yet I'd not consider my use case something that needs a lot of computer resources. For any of you in a similar situation, what is your expierence with the Air and the Pro? That information is what would help me. Thanks.

Not in the same exact situation but in general, I feel the same. There seems like no "right" answer to MBA vs MBP. I have always gotten a MBP but last time I got the 13" MBP which was sort of a change. I prefer the smaller/lighter size. For this round I have gone back and forth between the 13" MBA and the 14" MBP. Neither seems completely right.

MBA is thin and light, multiple colors available, great battery, it's just screams cool! But I'm worried it won't really be able to handle "everything". Like I play games (no AAA stuff) and I don't have to play on my laptop but I would like that possibility and not at 20-ish FPS.

MBP is big and chunky. Only two colors, both are boring. It has ports and slots I don't need, ever. On the plus side, it does have a better screen (but really only noticeable in XDR), better speakers (which I don't really care about), but it does have the horsepower to throw anything at!

Why doesn't Apple make something that's a hybrid of both? A 13-14" 120hz screen that's thin and light with style, multiple colors, enough power to get decent FPS in games, not be too loud with the fans, jettison the legacy ports.

In the end, that isn't going to happen overnight so I'll have to choose between something I think is cool but maybe underpowered or something that is more utilitarian.

 

[Warped9]

There is rarely, if ever, an ideal complete solution. There are always trade-offs. It’s impossible to make something for everybody’s individual wants.