In recent years, Apple has made widespread improvements to its line of MacBooks, including design overhauls, improved performance, and longer battery life. In terms of design and features, the two best devices in the MacBook lineup are arguably the 15-inch MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Since it can be difficult to choose between the two options, let's compare them below to see which one is right for you:
design:
Both devices have a modern design and while they are similar, there are differences in thickness and weight. And thanks to its larger screen, the 15-inch MacBook Air is slightly lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro at around 1.5kg, compared to the 1kg Pro at 600g.
The MacBook Air also scores in terms of thickness and is noticeably thinner than the Pro models. Both devices still have a great, sleek design, but if you prefer a thin, lightweight laptop with a large screen, the 15-inch MacBook Air is the one for you.
screen:
All MacBook screens have thin bezels and a bump on top to house the camera. However, there are distinct differences between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro series when it comes to display specifications.
The MacBook Air has a 15.3-inch (Liquid Retina) display and the MacBook Pro has a 14.2-inch (Liquid Retina XD) display.
The MacBook Pro screen can peak at 1,600 nits when displaying HDR content and 1,000 nits in full screen mode, while the 15-inch MacBook Air peaks at 500 nits.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro also features ProMotion technology, which means the screen supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, allowing it to adapt to the content on display. On the other hand, the MacBook Air only has a constant 60Hz refresh rate.
While the MacBook Air has a larger screen, the MacBook Pro has features that make the screen brighter and smoother.
Perfomance:
One of the main differences between the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air is performance. Although both devices feature Apple's second-generation silicon chips, they use different versions. The MacBook Air is equipped with the standard M2 chip, which includes an 8-core processor, a 10-core graphics processor and up to 24 GB of unified memory.
While the M2 chip is great, the MacBook Pro has a more powerful chip and you can choose between the M2 Pro and M2 Max if needed. The 14-inch MacBook Pro can be ordered with up to 96GB of RAM if you choose the model with the M2 Max chip.
The M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets come with up to 12 CPUs, but the M2 Max can be configured with up to 38 GPUs. While the MacBook Air is by no means slow when it comes to performance, the MacBook Pro models excel here in performance.
battery life:
Whichever laptop you choose, you'll enjoy long battery life because Apple's silicon chips are so efficient. However, there are some differences to note. Apple claims that the 15-inch MacBook Air can provide 15 hours of web browsing over Wi-Fi and 18 hours of Apple TV movie playback.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro lasted 18 hours when streaming a movie, but only lasted 12 hours when browsing the Internet over Wi-Fi. So Apple says the MacBook Air is the best choice for a laptop if you need longer battery life.
price:
The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299 with an M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, with a 512GB option available for $1,499.
However, it should be noted that 256GB of storage may not be enough for some people. So if you're looking to buy a 15-inch MacBook Air, you might be better off with 512GB.
The M2 Pro model for the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 with a 10-core CPU, 16-GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
finally:
MacBook Air is a thin and light laptop that's perfect for both day-to-day and occasional intensive tasks. The MacBook Pro is designed for heavy-duty, professional users who want the best hardware Apple has to offer.
The choice largely depends on how much you want to spend, what features you're looking for, and what you want to do with your computer.