The laptop apple macbook Air vs Pro buying decision is harder than ever — here"s what you should consider

Comments (2)

*

The táo apple MacBook Air vs Pro decision is harder than ever, because both are fantastic laptops that are better than ever thanks to táo bị cắn dở silicon. Comparing the laptops is tough but important because you need to know exactly what each is capable of when deciding which one is right for you.

Bạn đang xem: Macbook pro và macbook air


The choice is now more complicated thanks lớn the multiple models available in the lineup. There"s the laptop apple macbook Air M1 and the entry-level apple macbook phiên bản pro M1, which were released in 2020 but still deliver excellent performance thanks lớn the M1 chip. There"s also the newer $1,999 apple macbook phiên bản pro 14-inch, which offers M1 Pro/M1 Max chips that are more powerful than the M1 in the 13-inch laptop macbook Pro, a larger mini-LED display, more ports & a sharper 1080p webcam. The 16-inch macbook phiên bản pro offers all of the same upgrades plus a larger, sharper display & longer battery life.

Apple"s reaping the rewards of ditching Intel"s processors for its own táo apple silicon & the results are staggering, ensuring all of these laptops have a spot in our best máy vi tính list.As we"ve seen in our laptop apple macbook Air with M1 review and macbook pro with M1 review, upgrading these MacBooks with táo khuyết silicon has given them surprising speed and crazy battery life.


Here"s everything you need khổng lồ know to find the best laptop macbook for you when choosing between the laptop apple macbook Air vs Pro. For more, check out our guide to lớn MacBooks in 2022 khổng lồ see what could be coming from the new laptop macbook Air và entry-level laptop macbook Pro.


MacBook Air13-inch laptop apple macbook Pro14-inch apple macbook Pro16-inch macbook Pro
Starting price$999 $1299$1,999$2499
Screen13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)14.2 inches (3024 x 1964) min-LED 16.2 inches (3456 x 2234) min-LED
Battery life14:41 of website browsing (M1, tested) | Up to 18 hours of video playback (M1, claimed) | 9:31 (Intel, tested)16:32 of web browsing (M1, tested) | Up to trăng tròn hours (Apple M1, claimed) | 10:21 (Intel, tested)17 hours of video clip playback (rated)21 hours đoạn clip playback (rated)
ProcessorApple M1 (8-core)Apple M1 (8-core)Apple M1 Pro, M1 Max (10-core)Apple M1 Pro, M1 Max (10-core)
GraphicsIntegrated 7-core M1 GPU | Integrated 8-core GPUIntegrated 7-core M1 GPU | Integrated 8-core GPU 16-core or 32-core 16-core or 32-core
Storage256GB khổng lồ 2TB256GB khổng lồ 4TB512GB to lớn 8TB512GB khổng lồ 8TB
Memory8GB, 16GB8GB, 16GB, 32GB16GG, 32GB16GB, 32GB, 64GB
Ports2 Thunderbolt 2 Thuderbolt3 Thunderbolt, HDMI, SD Card, MagSafe3 Thunderbolt, HDMI, SD Card, MagSafe
Touch BarNoYesNoNo
SecurityTouch IDTouch IDTouch IDTouch ID
AudioStereo speakers, Dolby Atmos supportStereo speakers, Dolby Atmos support, 3-mic array6-speaker array, Dolby Atmos support6-speaker array, Dolby Atmos support
Dimensions12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches14.01 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches
Weight2.8 pounds3.0 pounds3.5 pounds 4.7 khổng lồ 4.8 pounds


(Image credit: Future)

The M1 macbook Air và Pro chia sẻ machined aluminum shells, come in silver và Space Gray, và all have the little lip at the front of the base, for easily opening the screen. The Air has a tapered-wedge design, as it always has.


The new laptop macbook Pros deliver slim bezels và ditch the cảm ứng Bar in favor of a dedicated function row (we say good riddance). There"s a notch at the đứng đầu for the 1080p webcam, but it"s not too distracting.The macbook Air 2022 could also have thinner bezels & a notch for the camera, based on the latest renders.



(Image credit: apple via YouTube)

While the laptop apple macbook Air"s tear-drop (it"s more lượt thích a wedge than a rectangle) kiến thiết is iconic, my favorite distinct feature about the Air is its gold màu sắc option, which just looks so much more attractive than the light và dark silver options.

When it comes lớn portability, the 2.8-pound laptop apple macbook Air is still the lightest followed by the 3-pound 13-inch apple macbook Pro. But the 14-inch macbook pro is still fairly portable at 3.5 pounds. The 16-inch goes to lớn 4.7 pounds.

Unfortunately, the new laptop macbook Pros are limited khổng lồ Silver và Space Gray.

Winner: MacBook Air for portability, new macbook Pros for slimmer bezels

MacBook Air vs macbook Pro: Ports



The new macbook Pros offer the most ports, including HDMI & SD thẻ slot. (Image credit: Apple event via YouTube)

If you want plenty of ports, the macbook Air is not the best choice. It offers only two Thunderbolt 3 ports. The M1-powered 13-inch táo macbook pro also has only two Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports.

The new 14-inch and 16-inch laptop macbook Pros deliver the most ports, including three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port & SD card slot. Plus, there"s MagSafe charging.

Winner: New macbook Pros

MacBook Air vs laptop macbook Pro: Display



(Image credit: Future)

The Retina displays in the laptop macbook Air và 13-inch apple macbook pro are both sharp and colorful, and while it"s close, there"s a reason lớn go Pro: brightness.

Based on our lab demo results, the macbook Air (M1) maxes out at 365.8 nits of brightness, while the M1 macbook phiên bản pro (13-inch: 434.8 nits) got even brighter.

On màu sắc output, though, they"re more similar. The Air (M1) netted a 114.3% sRGB rating from our colorimeter, which slightly beats the 110.6% rating we got from the M1 13-inch Pro.

The new laptop macbook Pros take display chất lượng to the next màn chơi with their Liquid Retina XDR displays. They"re rated for 1,000 nits of brightness and offer mini-LED giải pháp công nghệ for superior colors and contrast. Plus, you get a 120Hz ProMotion display for smoother performance.

Winner: New macbook Pros

MacBook Air vs macbook Pro: Keyboard & Touch Bar


(Image credit: Future)

All of the MacBooks you can buy offer Apple"s Magic Keyboard, which delivers strong tactile performance and comfort.

The macbook Air doesn"t feature a cảm biến Bar, while the 13-inch apple macbook pro does, và this OLED bar frankly doesn"t offer a lot of value. It"s perhaps telling that the 14-inch macbook Pro and 16-inch táo macbook pro ditch the touch Bar for a dedicated function row of physical keys.

Xem thêm: Game 5 Anh Em Sieu Nhan Than Kiem 2, Choi Game Power Rangers Hay Nhất 2019

Winners: It"s a draw

MacBook Air vs Pro: Performance


(Image credit: Future)

Apple"s claims of amazingly improved performance in the M1-based laptop macbook Air & Pro have been proven out in testing. On the Geekbench 5 benchmarks, the new laptop macbook Air (M1, 16GB RAM) scored a 5,962 và the new Pro (M1, 16GB RAM) netted a pretty similar 5,925.

They were both demolished by the new macbook Pros, however. On the same Geekbench 5 benchmark test, the 14-inch M1 Pro-powered táo macbook pro scored 12,477 while its 16-inch counterpart scored 12,683.

On the Handbrake video transcoding chạy thử converting a 4K đoạn phim to 1080p, the M1 apple macbook phiên bản pro had a time of 7:44, beating the Air"s 9:15 time. The laptop apple macbook Pros won over both, with the táo macbook pro 14-inch having a time of 4:51 & the 16-inch máy tính xách tay transcoding in 4:48.

The SSDs on the M1 Pro (13-inch) are impressive, with BlackMagic Disk Speed kiểm tra read rates of 2,824.9 MBps, beating the 2,692 MBps from the M1 Air & the 16-inch Pro"s 2,540 MBps speed. However (and it should be no surprise at this point), the new laptop apple macbook Pros trounced them all with 14-inch & 16-inch models scoring 5321 và 5314, respectively.


(Image credit: Apple)

While testing Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm test, the M1 apple macbook Air notched 36.9 fps, slightly behind the M1 Pro"s 38.2 fps. Rise of the Tomb Raider (at Very High settings at 1440 x 900 resolution) ran at 29 fps on both M1 laptops. The 14-inch apple macbook phiên bản pro with M1 Pro achieved 46 fps on Civilization VI while the 16-inch M1 Max-powered macbook phiên bản pro got as high as 47 fps. The new macbook Pros have an obvious edge here due lớn their beefier chips.

Winner: MacBook Air for value, new macbook Pros for sheer speed

MacBook Air vs Pro: Battery life

Battery life is the other place where Apple"s move khổng lồ its own M1 processors has delivered serious wins. The M1 macbook Air lasted for 14 hours & 41 minutes on our battery test (web surfing at 150 nits), while the M1 Pro (16:32) lasted even longer. Both times leave the 16-inch macbook phiên bản pro (10:55) in the dust.

However, the new laptop apple macbook Pros trounce all of the above times. During our testing, the macbook pro 14-inch lasted for 14:08 while the macbook pro 16-inch endured for 15:31.

Winner: The new apple macbook Pros.

MacBook Air vs Pro: Audio

While the apple macbook Air and the 13-inch apple macbook pro offer great stereo sound (the latter has more dynamic range) — the new macbook Pros are on another level.

That"s because the 14-inch & 16-inch macbook pro offer a six-speaker setup. And you now get more bass along with an octave lower sound for even more robust audio profile. Plus, the new laptop macbook Pros support Dolby Atmos in speaker as opposed to lớn just headphones.

Winner: New macbook Pros

MacBook Air vs Pro: Value và price


(Image credit: Future)

The apple macbook Air is still the value leader with its $999 starting price and it arguably gives you more bang for your buck in terms of performance than the 13-inch apple macbook Pro. Yes, the 13-inch Pro gives you longer battery life, but it may not be enough lớn justify the $1,299 price.

The apple macbook pro 14-inch represents a big jump in price over the 13-inch, but you get a lot for your $1,999. This includes a much faster M1 Pro chip, larger and superior 14-inch mini-LED display with 120Hz refresh rate, a shaper 1080p webcam & more ports. But you"ll likely need khổng lồ have a demanding workload khổng lồ appreciate all of these benefits.

The 16-inch apple macbook phiên bản pro is the ultimate Apple laptop for people who need the biggest display, và it"s priced accordingly at $2,499. And you"ll get a longer-lasting battery.

Winner: MacBook Air

MacBook Air vs Pro: What should you buy?

This is somewhat tricky since different users have different needs. At the risk of sounding cliche, there are MacBooks for everyone.

The macbook Air is the best laptop macbook for most people, delivering awesome M1 performance and longer battery life in a fairly portable design.

The 13-inch macbook pro is still good, but it"s outshined by the more premium 14-inch apple macbook Pro & all of its upgrades. But we"re guessing at least some shoppers will think twice about jumping from $1,299 to $1,999. The 16-inch macbook phiên bản pro is the ultimate splurge machine for power nguồn users for those who want the most screen real estate they can have at trang chủ and on the go.

If you want pure horsepower or simply want the latest models available, the new 14- and 16-inch laptop macbook Pros might be best for you. Of course, you"ll need khổng lồ decide (or justify) if their respective $1,999 & $2,499 starting prices are within your budget. But if money is not an object, these are the MacBooks to get.


Today"s best apple Macbook Air (M1 2020), táo bị cắn Macbook Pro 13" (M1 2020) and Apple apple macbook phiên bản pro 16-inch (2019) deals