MacBook Air vs. Pro 13: Which One is Right for You?

MacBook Air vs Pro 13 are popular Apple products in the market. However, most of the time people get confused between these two products. Let us compare these two products’ features, specifications, and design factors in this blog.

The MacBook Pro comes with 13 inches and 16-inch screen sizes and the MacBook Air always comes in 13-inch screen size. 16 inch larger MacBook Pro was updated in Nov-2019. On the other side, 13-inch versions of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air were launched in 2020 with Apple M1 chip. This blog will help you to identify the exact differences between these two products.

Macbook Air Vs Pro 13 : Compare the Design and Build

MacBook Air was launched in 2008 with the lightest design. The MacBook Air is 304.1 x 212.4 mm and 16.1mm thickness with 4.1 mm tapering. While MacBook 13 inches weighs 1.29 Kg and 16 inches weighs 2 Kg. 

• MacBook Air specification (13 inches): Size – 304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1-4.1mm;

weight – 1.29kg

• MacBook Pro specification (13 inches) :  Size 304.1 x 212.4 x 15.6mm;

weight – 1.4kg

• MacBook Pro specification (16 inches) : Size 357.9 x 245.9 x 16.2mm Weight – 2 Kg
• MacBook pro – silver and space gray options
• MacBook Air – space gray, silver, gold

All Apple MacBooks come with a Magic Keyboard and scissor-switch design.

Processor Difference between Macbook Air and Pro 13

MacBook Air operates with Apple’s M1 chip processors and MacBook pro – 13 inches also comes with an M1 chip. There are still a few 13 inches MacBook Pro models with Intel processors. MacBook Pro 16 inches model is currently available only with Intel processors.

Very soon Apple is planning to switch all its product line to own processors from Intel.  The expected transition period is at max two years.

MacBook Air is currently available in M1 Chip with 8 Core CPU and 7 Core GPU processors and M1 Chip with 8 Core CPU and 8 Core GPU processors.

While MacBook (13 inches) comes with two versions –

• M1 Chip with 8 Core CPU and 8 Core GPU and
• 2.0GHz Quad-Core 10th gen Intel i5 processor, Intel Iris plus Graphics processors.
  • 16 inches MacBook pro comes with 2.6GHz 6-Core 9th gen Intel i7 processor, AMD Radeon Pro 5300M and 2.3GHz 8-Core 9th gen Intel i9 processor, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M versions
• The entry-level MacBook Air comes with 8 core GPU intel has 4-, 6- and 8- cores. Apple M1 chips have not yet quoted any clock speed but intel offers GHZ speed parameters.
• 16 inches MacBook pro comes with 9th gen Intel processors and 6 and 8 cores.

Compare: RAM & Performance

MacBook Pro and MacBook Air come with an 8GB base configuration. Also, you will get a 16 GB upgrade option. Apple M1 chip offers Unified Memory architecture where RAM is accessible to CPU and GPU both. 13 inches MacBook pro and Air can be configured with at max 32GB RAM and larger 16 inches MacBook comes with 64GB RAM.

Graphics comparison

MacBook Air M1 comes with 7 core GPU and 8 core GPU and this extra GPU is for additional storage. A MacBook Pro is a good option as it comes with a cooling fan. MacBook operations are also better but lack of fan may cause overheating and slow down the performance.

M1 MacBook pro – 13 inches model gives better graphic operations as Apple comes with special graphics solutions. Apple claims to offer words superior and the fastest graphics. For better graphics operations, it needs discrete graphics.

Storage

• MacBook Air – 256GB storage for the entry-level model
• MacBook Air – 512 GB storage for the second model
• M1 MacBook Air and Pro model – 2T storage
• Intel 13 inches MacBook Pro – 4 TB SSD
• 16 inches MacBook Pro – 8 TB SSD

Battery

• M1 MacBook Pro offers 20 hours backup
• M1 MacBook Air offers 18 hours backup
• MacBook Pro 16 inches offers 11 hours backup

Screen Size

All 13 inches displays come with 13.3 inches measures diagonally. MacBook Pro comes with 500 nits brightness and MacBook Air offers 400 nits brightness.

• MacBook Pro – 3,072×1,920 pixels
• MacBook Air 13 inches and MacBook Pro 13 inches – 2,560×1,600 pixels
• All MacBook display offers LED-backlit and IPS technology

Ports

M1 laptops come with two USB 4 ports that support Thunderbolt 3 and other MacBooks come with 4 USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support. All Mac laptops come with a headphone jack.

Price

• M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU 256GB SSD –
• M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU 256GB SSD –
• M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU 256GB Storage –
• M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU 512GB Storage –
• 2.0GHz Intel Core i5 Quad-Core Processor, Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 512GB Storage
• 2.0GHz Intel Core i5 Quad-Core Processor, Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 1TB Storage
• 2.6GHz 6-Core Processor, 512GB Storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5300M:
• 2.3GHz 8-Core Processor, 1TB Storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M:

Comparison : MacBook Air M1 vs Apple MacBook Pro M1

Still confused about the choice? Get in touch with our experts to get the best advice and grab the best deals around you.

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