MacBook Pro and MacBook Air: Which Apple laptop should you buy?


Apple MacBooks are some of the best laptops in the tech world, and the reason is that apart from timelessness and Apple's brand value, the ARM-based M-series chips powering the new laptops have competed with traditional CPU makers, offering unmatched power efficiency and responsiveness.

There's no doubt that MacBooks are great, but today Apple has at least eight models with a variety of variants and three different screen sizes, and not to mention discontinued models like the M1 MacBook Air are still a good buy. Now, let's focus on the big picture - if you're looking to buy a MacBook, should you buy the MacBook Air or the MacBook Pro?

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Use-cases

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are designed for different use cases. While both are capable machines, the Air is designed with quiet running and portability in mind. Its purpose is to offer enough power for day-to-day computing – web browsing, video watching, writing – and provide additional space for the occasional heavy load like video editing or coding.

The Pro, on the other hand, is designed for heavier work. It is designed for heavy, sustained workloads, has more ports and connectivity options, and typically weighs more due to a more prominent substantial cooling system.

If you don't know which one you want, the MacBook Air may fit your requirements.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Price

Apple's MacBook Air (M2) starts at Rs 99,900, while the MacBook Pro (M3) starts at Rs 1,69,900 and at the extreme end can go up to Rs 3,49,900. If budget is a constraint, you can opt for the MacBook Air. However, it is worth noting that you can also find older chipset models for the MacBook Air and Pro models.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Display

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

If you care about your laptop's display, it might be best to spend the extra money for the Pro. Having said that, we'd 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 more powerful than the regular M2 and M3, and they support more RAM and storage. If you edit a lot of videos, intend on gaming, or do 3D rendering or AI tasks, you'll want the M3 Pro or M3 Max.

Also, the MacBook Pro models all have cooling fans while the Air models don't. For this reason, when the laptops are put under heavy load, the M3 MacBook Air will run slower than the M3 MacBook Pro. Oh, and the M2 MacBook Air doesn't support AV1 encoding while all the others 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'll have to pay a premium for the upgrade.

If you need sustained performance, go for the MacBook Pro. Otherwise, the MacBook Air will be enough for your needs.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Connectivity

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

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

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Audio

MacBook Air laptops 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, and the 14-inch Pro sounds almost as good. The Airs don't sound as good as the Pros, but they sound better than almost every other laptop in the same price range.

Talking about the mic, the Air has a very capable mic array that is excellent for voice calls. However, the Pro has 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 purchase in 2024. For most users, we would recommend the 13-inch or 15-inch Air, depending on the screen size you need, however if you want screen quality and performance, budget for the M3 MacBook Pro. For everyone else, probably professionals, the M3 Pro and M3 Max powered MacBook Pros are the best options.


THANKS YOU WATCHING 
      BY VISHAL NIGAM 

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