MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air: Which Apple laptop should you get?

Apple’s MacBooks are some of the most coveted laptops in the world of technology, and with good reason. Timeless design and Apple’s brand value aside, the ARM-based M-series chips that power the new laptops have stolen a march on traditional CPU makers, offering unmatched power efficiency and responsiveness.

While there’s no doubt that MacBooks are great, Apple has no less than eight models with multiple variants and three different screen sizes on sale today, and this is not even counting discontinued models like the M1 MacBook Air which are still a great buy. For now, we’ll focus on the bigger picture – If you want a MacBook, should you buy a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro?

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Use-case

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are designed for different use-cases. While they’re both capable machines, the Air is designed with quiet-running and portability in mind. It’s meant to offer enough power for day-to-day computing – browsing the web, watching videos, writing – with headroom to spare for the occasional heavy load such as video editing or coding.

The Pro, on the other hand, is designed for heavier work. It is designed to withstand heavy, sustained workloads, feature more ports and connectivity options, and is generally heavier owing to a more substantial cooling system.

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If you don’t know which one you want, chances are your needs will probably be fulfilled with a MacBook Air.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Price

Pricing for Apple’s MacBook Air (M2) starts at Rs 99,900, while that of the MacBook Pro (M3) starts at Rs 1,69,900 and can go well beyond Rs 3,49,900 on the extreme end. If budget is a constraint, your only option may a MacBook Air. Although do note than you can also find older chipset models for some MacBook Air and Pro models.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Displays

The MacBook Air laptops are available with 13-inch and 15-inch displays, while the MacBook Pro laptops are available with 14-inch and 16-inch displays. More importantly, the Air comes with regular, 60 Hz IPS LCD displays with 500 nits of brightness. These are some of the best laptop displays you can get, but they do pale in comparison to the MacBook Pros display, which sports 1,600-nit, 120 Hz miniLED displays with incredible contrast ratios and superior colour accuracy.

If you care about the display on your laptop, it might be worth shelling out the extra money for a Pro. That said, we’d again like to reiterate that the displays on the Air are excellent.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Performance

The MacBook Air is powered by the M2 and M3 chips, while the MacBook Pro is powered by the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips. The M3 Pro and M3 Max are significantly more powerful than the regular M2 and M3, and support much more RAM and storage. If you edit a lot of videos, intend to game, or do 3D rendering or AI work, you’re going to want an M3 Pro or M3 Max.

Additionally, the MacBook Pro models all feature cooling fans while the Air models do not. For this reason, the M3 MacBook Air will run slower than an M3 MacBook Pro when subjecting the laptops to a heavy load. Oh, and the M2 Macbook Air doesn’t support AV1 encoding while the rest do. This can impact video production work if you’re a YouTuber. The MacBook Pro laptops also offer a lot more storage and RAM, provided you’re willing to pay a premium for the upgrade.

If you need sustained performance, get a MacBook Pro. Otherwise a MacBook Air should be enough for your needs.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Connectivity

The MacBook Air laptops offer a MagSafe connector for charging, two Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The M3 MacBook Pro adds an SD card reader and HDMI port, while the M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pro laptops offer an additional Thunderbolt port.

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The additional connectivity offered by the Pro models can be very useful in a professional setting, but the flexibility of Thunderbolt means that even the Airs are quite capable if you have a dock.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Audio

The MacBook Air laptops all feature a four-speaker audio system while the Pro series models come with a six-speaker system. The 16-inch Pro sounds incredible, thanks to this setup, with the 14-inch Pro coming in at a close second. The Airs don’t sound as good as the Pros, but they do sound better than nearly every other laptop in the same price bracket.

When it comes to mics, the Air comes with a very capable mic array, which is great for voice calls. The Pro, however, comes with a studio-quality mic array that can be used to record professional quality audio.

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops are some of the most impressive computers you can get in 2024. For most users, we’d recommend the 13-inch or 15-inch Air, depending on the screen size you want, though it’s worth stretching the budget to an M3 MacBook Pro if you care about screen quality and performance. For everyone else, who are most likely professionals, the M3 Pro and M3 Max powered MacBook Pros are the best options.