MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which MacBook Should I Buy?

In the event you’re having bother deciding between the cheaper and lighter MacBook Air or spending extra for the extra highly effective MacBook Professional, you’ve got come to the proper place. The MacBook Air and Professional do not look all that completely different from each other, however there are key variations  — from price and parts to efficiency and battery life — that it is advisable know to select the proper one.

The 15-inch M4 MacBook Air is the best laptop for most individuals, however there are some good causes to spend extra for a M4 MacBook Pro or much less on the 13-inch Air. Let’s break down the MacBook Air in opposition to the MacBook Professional to see the place and the way these two laptop computer strains differ and which one is one of the best MacBook for you.

Watch this: M4 MacBook Air Overview: Nonetheless Improbable Even when Not A lot Has Modified

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MacBook Air vs. Professional: Refresh cycle

Nobody needs to purchase a laptop computer solely to see it get up to date per week or a month after you pull the set off on a purchase order. So, it is necessary to know which MacBook is newer. The MacBook Air was most just lately up to date, getting an M4 improve in March to bringing it updated with the MacBook Professional, which was first to supply the M4 chip on the finish of final 12 months. It is a good time to purchase both MacBook, however the Professional mannequin is an effective guess to be first with an M5 chip sooner or later close to the tip of 2025.

Learn extra: Best MacBook for 2025

Now that you understand the place every line stands in its refresh schedule, let’s check out the present pricing of the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Price and parts

The MacBook Air is out there with a 13.6- or 15.3-inch show. The 13-inch Air begins at $999, and the 15-inch Air begins at $1,199. Each entry-level fashions characteristic Apple’s newest M4 processor together with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive. There’s a slight distinction in GPU cores between these two beginning fashions — the 13-inch Air’s M4 chip has eight GPU cores, and the 15-inch Air’s M4 chip has 10 GPU cores.

The MacBook Professional is out there with a 14.2- or 16.2-inch show. The 14-inch Professional begins at $1,599, and the 16-inch Professional begins at $2,499. The 16-inch mannequin has such a better beginning worth as a result of it has a extra highly effective M4 Professional chip, whereas the bottom mannequin of the 14-inch Professional options an M4 (non-Professional) chip.

The M4 Professional chip within the 16-inch MacBook Professional is actually a pro-level processor, with 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores, whereas the M4 chip within the 14-inch mannequin has 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. 

You possibly can, nonetheless, get the M4 Professional chip within the 14-inch Professional. The step-up mannequin within the 14-inch MacBook Professional collection prices $1,999 and options an M4 Professional chip with 12 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores. The subsequent mannequin within the collection prices $2,399 and options the identical 14-CPU, 20-GPU M4 Professional discovered within the entry-level MacBook Professional 16.

For system reminiscence, the baseline 14-inch MacBook Professional provides the identical 16GB of RAM as you get with the MacBook Air, however the higher-end 14-inch fashions and each 16-inch mannequin has a minimal of 24GB of RAM. 

You additionally get extra storage with the Professional fashions. The entry-level fashions for each the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air provide solely a 256GB SSD. Even if you happen to’ve embraced cloud storage, that is an underwhelming quantity of native storage. With any MacBook Professional, you begin with at the very least a 512GB SSD. Doubling the meager storage to a 512GB SSD with a MacBook Air provides a hefty $200 to the invoice.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Weight and battery life

The Air wins on weight, however the Professional takes the battery life crown.

The 13.6-inch MacBook Air weighs 2.7 kilos, and the 15.3-inch Air weighs 3.3 kilos.

Regardless of giving up an inch in show dimension, the 14.2-inch MacBook Professional at 3.4 kilos weighs greater than the bigger Air. And it weighs appreciably greater than the smaller Air, whose show is just 0.6 inches smaller. 

I take advantage of a 14-inch Professional for work, and my daughter has a 13-inch Air for college. The distinction in weight between the 2 is placing. I am all the time jealous of the lighter carrying weight of the Air each time I pack up my Professional for journey or simply to take it right down to my native espresso store. The MacBook Air additionally takes up much less area in a backpack. It is simply 0.44 inches thick, and the MacBook Professional is a chunkier 0.61 inches thick.

The added weight and thickness, nonetheless, permit Apple to pack a much bigger battery contained in the MacBook Professional. On CNET’s YouTube streaming battery drain take a look at, the 14-inch MacBook Professional lasted one minute shy of twenty-two hours, which is among the many best battery-life laptops. 

The MacBook Air can be a long-running laptop computer, however its runtime is hours shorter than that of the MacBook Professional. In testing, the 13-inch Air lasted 15 hours, 50 minutes, and the 15-inch Air ran for 16 hours, 41 minutes.

Given the lengthy runtimes for each the MacBook Air and Professional (each provide all-day battery life) the distinction in weight between the 2 is the bigger issue if mobility is a chief concern. The MacBook Air is thinner and lighter — higher for college kids crisscrossing campus day by day and people who commute every day or journey commonly. Even the bigger 15-inch Air is a greater journey companion than the smaller 14-inch Professional.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Show and audio system

MacBook Professional fashions have a barely higher-resolution show and a better pixels-per-inch depend (224ppi on the Air to the Professional’s 254ppi), however the greater variations between the shows are their brightness, HDR assist and refresh price.

The Macbook Professional’s Liquid Retina XDR show is a mini-LED panel rated for 1,000 nits in SDR and 1,600 nits in HDR. The MacBook Air’s Liquid Retina show is rated for 500 nits, which is shiny sufficient for many lighting environments however lacks the vary and distinction to make HDR content material pop. 

You may additionally get smoother motion in movies and video games on the MacBook Professional’s 120Hz ProMotion panel. The MacBook Air provides a regular 60Hz refresh price.

The MacBook Air and Professional every provide good audio output for a laptop computer, however the Professional’s sound is healthier. The MacBook Professional includes a six-speaker array, and the Air has 4 audio system.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Ports and followers

The MacBook Professional options extra exterior connections. It has an HDMI port and SD card slot — neither of which you may discover on the Air — together with an additional Thunderbolt port. The M4 Professional-based fashions additionally assist Thunderbolt 5 for quicker knowledge and assist for extra exterior displays than you get with Thunderbolt 4 on an Air.

The MacBook Air has the benefit in acoustics. It lacks a cooling fan and operates in full silence.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Efficiency

So, what do these further CPU and GPU cores get you with the M4 MacBook Professional? We have examined each sizes of the M4 MacBook Air launched final March and a pair of M4 MacBook Professional fashions from final November — the 14-inch Professional with the M4 chip and a loaded 16-inch Professional with an M4 Professional chip and a whopping 48GB of RAM.

On our Geekbench 6 take a look at that measures total CPU efficiency throughout a blended workload, the 16-inch MacBook Professional put extra distance between it and the 14-inch MacBook Professional than the smaller Professional may between it and the 2 MacBook Airs. And that is sensible when you think about the M4 Professional processor has 4 extra cores than the M4 chip, and the identical M4 chip is featured within the 14-inch Professional we examined and each Airs.

We noticed comparable outcomes on the multicore CPU take a look at for Cinebench 2024, and the even higher variety of GPU cores of the M4 Professional allowed the 16-inch MacBook Professional to get pleasure from an excellent higher lead on the Cinebench 2024 GPU take a look at over the 14-inch MacBook Professional.

Our benchmark outcomes present that the baseline 14-inch MacBook Professional is considerably within the awkward center floor between a MacBook Professional with an M4 Professional chip and the M4 MacBook Air.

Ought to I purchase a MacBook Air or MacBook Professional?

Artistic professionals and hobbyists who have to run demanding graphics functions can be higher served by investing in a MacBook Professional with an M4 Professional processor. The superior CPU and GPU efficiency will permit such energy customers to finish artistic workloads extra rapidly. The most affordable MacBook Professional with an M4 Professional processor prices $1,999, nonetheless, which is significantly dearer than a MacBook Air. 

The added reminiscence you get with the MacBook Professional fashions that price $1,999 and up helps justify the upper price. You may not want the 48GB of RAM of the M4 Professional-based MacBook Professional we examined, however the 24GB of RAM you get with any M4 Professional-based MacBook Professional will definitely serve you properly in contrast with the 16GB of RAM provided on the MacBook Air or baseline 14-inch M4 MacBook Professional.

The one compelling cause for the $1,599 M4-based MacBook Professional I can see is the HDR ProMotion show — I actually want one for the Air — if you happen to watch or work with a whole lot of HDR content material. Or you’re delicate to video stutter on a 60Hz show. If neither of those traits describes you, then you’re higher off spending extra for the higher efficiency of an M4 Professional-based MacBook Professional or saving some cash and getting the extra reasonably priced and moveable MacBook Air.

Learn extra: Best MacBook Deals

For basic residence use, the place you primarily use Chrome, Gmail, Google Docs and Sheets with maybe the occasional undertaking in iMovie or Storage Band, the M4 MacBook Air provides ample efficiency and is the higher deal. The 15-inch MacBook Air supplies a ton of worth at $1,199. For most individuals, it’s the best laptop. It provides you an enormous show while not having to spend a premium on a MacBook Professional. And regardless of its bigger display, the 15-inch Air continues to be thinner and lighter than the 14-inch Professional, whereas costing a whole bunch much less. 

In the meantime, the cheaper and extra moveable 13-inch MacBook Air at $999 — $899 with Apple’s schooling low cost — stays the best laptop for students.