MacBook Air vs Professional: Variations between MacBook Air and Professional

Apple at present sells two laptop computer traces. The MacBook Professional and MacBook Air. The MacBook Professional comes with a 14-inch or 16-inch show (there was a 13-inch MacBook Professional, however Apple discontinued that mannequin) and the MacBook Air with both a 13.3-inch show, 13.6-inch show, or a 15-inch show. That’s a whole lot of Mac laptops, and amongst these fashions are a good wider vary of specs.

On this article, we’re involved with the Mac laptops finest suited to common use: house, scholar and workplace work. There are 14- and 16-inch MacBook Professional fashions powered by M3 Professional or M3 Mac chips which might be higher suited to professional customers and have a lot increased costs, so we received’t be together with them right here. However in case you are considering your wants would possibly lengthen a bit additional on the professional facet, you might have an interest to learn Which MacBook Professional or our information to all of Apple’s laptops.

We’ll be contemplating the next equally speced Mac laptops:

• 13.3-inch MacBook Air, M1 (launched November 2020).
• 13.6-inch MacBook Air, M2 (launched July 2022).
• 14-inch MacBook Professional, M3 (launched October 2023).
• 15-inch MacBook Air, M2 (launched June 2023).

We’ve included the M1 MacBook Air, however solely actually in passing: it’s now greater than three years outdated, and, whereas its worth continues to be $999/$999 the worth of the a lot better M2 MacBook Air is simply $100/$100 extra, so our recommendation is straightforward: pay a bit further for a a lot better machine. We glance elsewhere on the MacBook Air M1 vs M2 in additional element.

For recommendation about one of the best MacBook, we even have a shopping for information, see: Greatest MacBook 2023: Which Mac laptop computer is finest? Curious concerning the M3 MacBook Air? Learn: M3 MacBook Air: Every part you might want to know.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional in contrast

Listed below are the three Mac laptops which have our consideration. We’ll evaluate design, specs, shows, worth and different options under.

1. Apple 13-inch MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

Value When Reviewed:

From $1,199

3. Apple 14-inch MacBook Professional (M3, 2023)

Value When Reviewed:

$1,599

MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Design

When Apple revealed its new design for the MacBook Air in June 2022 you would have been forgiven for considering you have been taking a look at a MacBook Professional. The tapered edge for which the Air was well-known had gone, changed with a extra uniform design. However positioned beside the 13-inch MacBook Professional the variations are evident: The MacBook Air continues to be thinner, albeit fractionally, however it’s also very barely bigger due to the larger display screen.

Trying on the display screen you’ll discover the opposite obvious distinction: the MacBook Air has a notch (additionally seen on the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Professional and iPhones) and the 13-inch MacBook Professional doesn’t. This permits the larger display screen and conceals a a lot better FaceTime digital camera, so it’s not a foul factor, though some folks don’t like notches.

If you happen to miss that tapered design that made the MacBook Air immediately identifiable it’s nonetheless accessible if you happen to purchase the M1 model of the MacBook Air (beware: we don’t anticipate that Apple will proceed to promote that mannequin for for much longer).

If a 13.6-inch display screen isn’t large enough for you, Apple added a 15.3-inch MacBook Air to the lineup in June 2023. This mannequin seems to be similar to the 13.6-inch MacBook Air, and shares (largely) the identical specs, it’s simply larger.

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Even with a smaller 14.2-inch display screen, the 14-inch MacBook Professional is a bit chunkier and heavier than the 15-inch MacBook Air as a result of followers wanted for warmth dissipation, whereas the Air is, unsurprisingly, wider and taller, due to the larger show.

Each fashions have a Contact ID sensor constructed into the keyboard, 1080p FaceTime HD cameras, and six-speaker arrays (the 13-inch Air solely has a four-speaker sound system). The sound on the MacBook Professional is described by Apple as “Excessive Constancy”, by which we assume Apple is indicating it’s superior to the Air. Connectivity is by way of Bluetooth 5.3 and whereas the Air helps Wi-Fi 6, the Professional ideas the stability with Wi-Fi 6E.

One other distinction between these MacBooks is the colour selections. There are 4 color selections for the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 15-inch MacBook Air: Midnight (darkish blue), Starlight (gold), House Grey and Silver. The Starlight shade is paler gold, whereas Midnight is near black with a darkish blue hue.

The 14-inch MacBook Professional with M3 gives solely Silver and House Grey choices. In case you have the funds for a 14-inch MacBook Professional with M3 Professional or M3 Max a House Black shade replaces House Grey.

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MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Dimensions

When it launched in 2008, the MacBook Air was the lightest laptop computer accessible, however through the years the burden of the MacBook Professional has declined, so the distinction is lots much less now:

The 13-inch MacBook Air is lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Professional, as you’d anticipate, however the 15-inch MacBook Air can also be lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Professional.

• 14-inch MacBook Professional, M3: 3.4 kilos (1.55 kg)
• 15-inch MacBook Air, M2: 3.3 kilos (1.51kg)
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2: 2.7 kilos (1.24kg)

Chances are you’ll be considering that with the lack of the tapered design the 13-inch MacBook Air, M2, would weigh greater than the M1 model, however at 2.8 kilos (1.29kg) the older MacBook Air weighed extra.

Apple

The 15-inch MacBook Air is the most important, as you’d anticipate, however as a result of it’s thinner, the burden is lower than the Professional. The 13-inch MacBook Air dimensions aren’t lots smaller than these of the 14-inch MacBook Air.

• 15-inch MacBook Air, M2: 13.40 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches (34.04 x 23.76 x 1.15cm)
• 14-inch MacBook Professional, M3: 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches (31.26cm x 22.12cm x 1.55cm)
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2: 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches (30.41 x 21.5 x 1.13cm)

MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Show

The MacBook Air has both a 15.3-inch or a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina show. The MacBook Professional comes with a superior 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel. The display screen on the Air is a bit larger, nevertheless it’s inferior to the display screen on the MacBook Professional.

The 15-inch Air’s show runs at a decision of two,880 x 1,864, whereas the 13-inch gives 2,560 by 1,664. Each Airs have a most brightness is 500 nits, which is half of the Professional’s 1,000 nits in regular use or a 3rd if you happen to’re operating HDR content material at a max of 1,600 nits. That is achieved by the Professional show incorporating mini-LEDs relatively than the Air’s normal LCD display screen.

Maybe the largest distinction although is that the Professional options ProMotion, that means that the refresh fee tops out at 120Hz, once more double that of the Air’s 60Hz refresh fee. This helps preserve scrolling and animations clean and crisp. Any of those shows shall be nice for on a regular basis use and lengthy hours of labor, however the Professional has the sting relating to options.

Listed below are these specs at a look:

• 15-inch MacBook Air, M2: 15.3 inches diagonal, 2,880 x 1,864 pixels
• 14-inch MacBook Professional, M2: 14.2 inches diagonal, 3,024 by 1,964 pixels
• 13-inch MacBook Air, M2: 13.6 inches diagonal, 2,560 x 1,664 pixels

The display screen on the MacBook Air may not match that of the Professional, however it’s superior to that of the M1 MacBook Air, which continues to be on sale. The now discontinued 13-inch MacBook Professional display screen was additionally inferior to the screens on each the Air and Professional.

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MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Specs

All of Apple’s laptops are powered by Apple’s silicon. Amidst the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional choices are three generations of chip: the unique M1 within the outdated 13.3-inch MacBook Air, an M2 within the 13.6-inch and 15-inch Air fashions, and an M3 within the 14-inch MacBook Professional that we’re contemplating right here (there are additionally M3 Professional and M3 Max MacBook Professional choices for individuals who want extra energy). To be taught extra about all of the Mac processors learn our Mac processor comparability and see how the M3 stacks up in opposition to all of Apple’s chips.

That is how the specs within the varied MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Professional evaluate:

There are additionally M3 Professional and M3 Max MacBook Professional fashions that we talk about in our MacBook Professional comparability.

If you happen to glace on the specs above, the closest comparability is between the $1,499/£1,599 15-inch MacBook Air and the $1,599/£1,699 14-inch MacBook Professional. The MacBook Professional prices $100 extra, however has a more recent M3 chip. Every part else seems to be the identical. That’s assuming you may have round one and a half thousand to spend on a brand new Mac.

With a smaller funds the 13.6-inch MacBook Air, M2 (2022) seems to be like deal at $1,099/£1,149. The principle drawback with this machine is the smaller SSD, not simply because it’s smaller, but in addition as a result of the 256GB SSDs are recognized to be slower. It nonetheless may be a good selection regardless of the SSD, as a result of that most likely received’t matter to you if the apps you employ aren’t continuously writing to the arduous drive.

There are different elements that may decelerate the MacBook Air although. As a result of the Air is compact and fanless it’s much less capable of handle warmth, and subsequently might run slower if you happen to actually push it.

If it’s energy you want then the benchmarks give a clearer image:

As you’ll be able to see from the scores above, the M3 shoots forward of the M2 and M1, in actual fact it even scores above one configuration of the M1 Professional. However, if you really want a robust machine you would possibly wish to have a look at the M3 Professional MacBook Professional or store round for a M2 Professional MacBook Professional which it’s seemingly will stay on sale for a while regardless that Apple has discontinued that mannequin.

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RAM

All of the MacBooks showcased above include 8GB of Unified Reminiscence at their base configuration. The M1 can solely help as much as 16GB reminiscence, whereas the M2 and M3 chip carry an choice to improve to 24GB RAM. If you happen to want extra reminiscence than that you might want to look to the M3 Professional and M3 Max, which may help 36GB within the case of the M3 Professional and as much as 128GB for the M3 Max.

We suggest that, whichever mannequin you purchase, you improve your MacBook to 16GB Unified Reminiscence if you happen to can afford to. Our recommendation is to get as a lot RAM as you’ll be able to afford as you’ll be able to’t improve it later.

Storage

We talked about the SSD briefly above. Apple gives a 256GB storage choice on the entry-level for each the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air. The entry-level MacBook Professional begins at 512GB.

There are some issues about this 256GB SSD, with reviews that its SSD is as much as 50 p.c slower on learn speeds and 30 p.c on write speeds. We discovered that these observations have been certainly true after we ran our personal set of assessments utilizing Blackmagic Disk Pace Check. This may increasingly matter in case you are utilizing apps that entry the SSD typically, however it might not make a distinction in typical use.

For that reason, if you happen to can afford a 512GB mannequin we suggest that.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Battery life and charging

On the subject of battery life these Macs are miles forward of the outdated Intel MacBook fashions. In keeping with Apple, the M1 and each M2 MacBook Air fashions supply 18 hours battery life, whereas the 14-inch MacBook Professional gives a tremendous 22 hours (the identical because the 16-inch MacBook Professional).

In our personal testing, the 13.6-inch MacBook Air battery lasted 17.5 hours, outstripping the M1 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Professional by virtually an hour and a half. The 15-inch MacBook Air battery lasted a good higher 19 hours in our assessments.

In common day by day use, battery life is simply as nice. It’s a bizarre feeling, opening up your laptop computer and doing work for 20 minutes and seeing that the battery share hasn’t modified even a single p.c, however that’s how it’s with Apple silicon. Clearly, battery life varies primarily based on what you’re doing, however for this laptop computer’s goal market–the on a regular basis house and productiveness consumer–it’s arduous to suppose that you simply’ll ever need to cost up earlier than the day is finished.

It’s not simply how lengthy the battery lasts that issues, but in addition the charging pace. Charging will be quick if you happen to use USB-C energy adapter. A normal 35W dual-port adapter can obtain a ten p.c cost in 10 minutes (30 p.c in half-hour). Apple’s 61W USB-C Energy Adapter will increase this to 72 p.c cost in half-hour. See our comparability check of Apple’s M2 MacBook Air chargers in addition to the finest USB-C charger to your MacBook.

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MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Ports and enlargement

Over time it’s felt like Apple has been on a mission to take away ports from Macs as a way to make them slimmer and slimmer. This has been a drawback for a lot of, though typically if you happen to want extra or totally different ports you’ll be able to simply plug in an adapter or a dock (learn: Greatest USB-C hubs and adapters for Mac).

The older M1 MacBook Air gives solely two USB 4 ports two USB/Thunderbolt ports, so a type of may also be used for charging (as was additionally the case with the 13-inch MacBook Professional). With the arrival of the 2022 MacBook Air, Apple added a MagSafe charging port thereby liberating up the 2 USB ports so one doesn’t need to be given over to charging (the additionally applies to the 15-inch mannequin).

The MacBook Professional options much more ports. On this model of the 14-inch MacBook Professional, you get the identical two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack as you do on the MacBook Air, however the Professional additionally gives HDMI and SDXC ports that the Air doesn’t have.

If you happen to want extra ports there’s an extra Thunderbolt 4/USB-C port on the M3 Professional and M3 Max variations of the MacBook Professional.

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MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Audio and digital camera

The M2 MacBook Air and the M3 MacBook Professional supply a 1080p FaceTime digital camera, which is superior to the 720p FaceTime digital camera on the M1 MacBook Air and discontinued 13-inch MacBook Professional.

The 15-inch MacBook Air has a profit over the 13.6-inch MacBook Air mannequin: if includes a six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers, in comparison with a four-speaker sound system. Apple describes the speaker system within the 14-inch MacBook Professional as a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers, indicating that’s is superior to that within the 15-inch Air. Apple additionally refers to a “studio-quality three-mic array with excessive signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming” within the 14-inch Professional, whereas each Air fashions supply solely a “three-mic array with directional beamforming”.

All Mac laptops supply a 3.5mm headphone jack. 

MacBook Air vs MacBook Professional: Value and shopping for recommendation

When Apple launched the M3 model of the 14-inch MacBook Professional in October 2023 it changed a less expensive 13-inch MacBook Professional with M2 chip. The 13.3-inch MacBook Professional began at $1,299/£1,349 for the 8-core GPU, 256GB SSD model and rose to $1,499/£1,549 for the 10-core GPU, 512GB SSD model.

Now it’s a must to pay $1,599/£1,699 for a 10-core GPU, 512GB SSD entry-level MacBook Professional. That’s fairly a leap from $1,299/£1,349.

With no ‘funds’ MacBook Professional accessible the MacBook Air is the one choice for these searching for a discount. If you’re searching for the most cost effective choice the $999/£999 M1 MacBook Air would look like the clear winner. However in June 2023 Apple diminished the worth of the M2 MacBook Air, that means that it solely prices $100/£100 extra to purchase that mannequin. Our recommendation is to spend the additional cash if you happen to can afford to or search for a deal that reduces the M2 MacBook Air to a worth you’ll be able to afford.

The worth of the MacBook Professional is increased, however the MacBook itself is a lot better than its predecessor and if you happen to want the facility and efficiency that the MacBook Air lacks then it’s choice. At simply $100/£100 greater than the 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 and the identical 512GB SSD, it truly represents good worth for cash.

We suggest getting one of the best machine you’ll be able to afford on the time of buy since you received’t have the ability to improve down the road, this will require you to improve the RAM and storage.

The opposite issue which may be necessary to you is the display screen dimension, which is the place the MacBook Air is the clear winner, but when you’ll plug your Mac into an exterior show at any time when you’re at your desk this shouldn’t be a choice breaker. See our spherical up of the finest shows for Mac, additionally keep in mind that it may be sophisticated utilizing a couple of exterior show with a M1, M2 or M3 Mac.

So which MacBook do you have to select? If you’re on a funds it must be the MacBook Air and also you received’t be dissatisfied. If you happen to want a bit extra energy than the Air can supply the M3 MacBook Professional will see you good. However if you happen to want much more energy you’ll need to fork out for the M3 Professional or M3 Max MacBook Professional fashions.

Fortunately, you don’t need to pay full worth for a MacBook Air or MacBook Professional, take a look at our finest MacBook Air offers and finest MacBook Professional offers articles for one of the best reductions accessible.

We additionally have a look at how the MacBook Air compares to the iMac and the way the MacBook Air and Mac mini evaluate individually. We additionally aid you select the Greatest Mac in our purchasing information.