MacBook Air vs Pro: Which Mac laptop is right for you?

Apple currently sells two laptop lines: the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro comes with a 14-inch or 16-inch display and the MacBook Air has either a 13.6-inch or a 15-inch display. And among those models are an even wider range of specs.

In this article, we are concerned with the Mac laptops best suited to average use: home, student, and office work. There are 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models powered by M4 Pro or M4 Max chips that are better suited to pro users and have much higher prices, and they aren’t included here. But if you are thinking your needs might extend a little further on the pro side, you may be interested to read Which MacBook Pro or our guide to all of Apple’s laptops.

We’ll be considering the following similarly specced Mac laptops:

13.6-inch MacBook Air, M4 (launched March 2025)

15-inch MacBook Air, M4 (launched March 2025)

14-inch MacBook Pro, M4 (launched October 2024)

For advice about the best MacBook, we also have a buying guide, see: Best MacBook: Which Mac laptop is best? We also offer advice about how much storage, RAM and cores in How much MacBook RAM, SSD, Cores do you need?

Off to university? Read our guide to the best MacBook for students.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro compared

Here are the four Mac laptops that have our attention. We will compare design, specs, displays, price and other features below.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Design

The design of the MacBook Air hasn’t changed since Apple revealed it in June 2022 (aside from a new blue color option added in March 2025). You could have been forgiven for thinking you were looking at a MacBook Pro. Gone is the tapered edge for which the Air was famous, replaced with a more uniform design. The MacBook Air is still thinner–albeit fractionally–but it is also very slightly larger than the old version of the Air, thanks to the bigger screen.

Both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have a notch at the top of the screen as see on some iPhone models. It’s not a bad thing, but some people don’t like notches. The notch conceals the FaceTime camera, which, with the introduction of the M4 MacBook Air, is now the same 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View and 1080p HD video recording on all models.

If a 13.6-inch screen isn’t big enough for you, Apple added a 15.3-inch MacBook Air to the lineup in June 2023. This larger model looks identical to the 13.6-inch MacBook Air, and shares (mostly) the same specs, it’s just bigger.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro is a bit chunkier and heavier than the 15-inch MacBook Air due to the fans needed for heat dissipation, while the Air is, unsurprisingly, wider and taller, thanks to the bigger display.

Both models have a Touch ID sensor built into the keyboard, and six-speaker arrays (the 13-inch Air only has a four-speaker sound system). The sound on the MacBook Pro is described by Apple as “High Fidelity,” by which we assume Apple is indicating it is superior to the Air. Connectivity for both models is via Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E.

One difference between these MacBooks is the color choices. There are four color choices for the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 15-inch MacBook Air: Midnight (dark blue), Starlight (gold), Sky Blue and Silver. Apple introduced the Sky Blue option with the M4 MacBook Air and discontinued the Space Gray option (to the dismay of some). The Starlight shade is paler gold, while Midnight is close to black with a dark blue hue. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 offers only Silver and Space Black options.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Dimensions

The 13-inch MacBook Air is lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro, as you’d expect, but the 15-inch MacBook Air is also lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

14-inch MacBook Pro, M4: 3.4 pounds (1.55 kg)

15-inch MacBook Air, M4: 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg)

13-inch MacBook Air, M4: 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)

The 15-inch MacBook Air is the largest of the laptops, but because it’s thinner, it weighs less than the Pro. The 13-inch MacBook Air dimensions aren’t much smaller than those of the 14-inch MacBook Air.

15-inch MacBook Air, M4: 13.40 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches (34.04 x 23.76 x 1.15cm)

14-inch MacBook Pro, M4: 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches (31.26cm x 22.12cm x 1.55cm)

13-inch MacBook Air, M4: 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches (30.41 x 21.5 x 1.13cm)

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Display

Here are the specs at a glance:

13-inch MacBook Air M4: 13.6 inches diagonal, 2,560 by 1,664 pixels

14-inch MacBook Pro M4: 14.2 inches diagonal, 3,024 by 1,964 pixels

15-inch MacBook Air M4: 15.3 inches diagonal, 2,880 by 1,864 pixels

The MacBook Air has either a 15.3-inch or a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display. The MacBook Pro comes with a superior 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR panel. The screen on the Air is a bit bigger, but the image quality is not as good as the screen on the MacBook Pro–it still looks great, though.

The 15-inch Air’s display runs at a resolution of 2,880 by 1,864, while the 13-inch offers 2,560 by 1,664. Both Airs have a maximum brightness of 500 nits, which is half of the Pro’s 1,000 nits in normal use, or a third if you’re running HDR content at a max of 1,600 nits. This is achieved by the Pro display incorporating mini-LEDs rather than the Air’s standard LCD screen.

Perhaps the biggest difference though is that the Pro features ProMotion, meaning that the refresh rate tops out at 120Hz, again double that of the Air’s 60Hz refresh rate. This helps keep scrolling and animations smooth and crisp. Any of these displays will be great for everyday use and long hours of work, but the Pro has the edge when it comes to features.

With the M4 MacBook Pro, Apple introduced a nano-texture glass option that has a matte-like finish for $150. This option is not available on the MacBook Air, and if you need to cut down the glare from the display, it’s a feature to consider.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Specs

All of Apple’s laptops are powered by Apple’s silicon. As of March 2025 the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro run on the same generations of chip: the M4. To learn more about all the Mac processors read our Mac processor comparison.

This is how the specs in the various MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro standard configurations compare:

MacBookPriceCPUGPUMemorySSD13.6-inch MacBook Air, M4 (2025) $999/£99910-core, M48-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)256GB SSD13.6-inch MacBook Air, M4 (2025) $1,199/£1,19910-core, M410-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)512GB SSD13.6-inch MacBook Air, M4 (2025) $1,399/£1,39910-core, M410-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)512GB SSD15-inch MacBook Air, M4 (2025)$1,199/£1,19910-core, M410-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)256GB SSD15-inch MacBook Air, M4(2025)$1,399/£1,39910-core, M410-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)512GB SSD15-inch MacBook Air, M4 (2025)$1,599/£1,59910-core, M410-core, M424GB (up to 32GB)512GB SSD14-inch MacBook Pro, M4 (2024)$1,599/£1,59910-core, M410-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)512GB SSD14-inch MacBook Pro, M4 (2024)$1,799/£1,79910-core, M410-core, M416GB (up to 32GB)1TB SSD14-inch MacBook Pro, M4 (2024)$1,999/£1,99910-core, M410-core, M424GB (up to 32GB)1TB SSDThe specs look similar, but there are factors in the design of the MacBook Pro that will enable the machine to withstand higher power requirements.

There are also M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro models that we discuss in our MacBook Pro comparison and our Best MacBook guide.

If you glance at the specs above, the closest comparison is between the $1,399/£1,399 15-inch MacBook Air and the $1,599/£1,599 14-inch MacBook Pro. The extra $200/£200 for the MacBook Pro includes a better display, one more Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI port, an SDXC Card slot, and built-in fans to cool the laptop so it can maintain performance on long tasks. You may or may not need those features.

With a smaller budget the entry-level 13.6-inch MacBook Air looks like a good deal at $999/£999. There’s a smaller SSD, and fewer graphics cores, but if you are only going to be writing documents, editing spreadsheets, browsing the web and social media then this will be more than sufficient.

There are other factors that can slow down the MacBook Air though. Because the Air is compact and fanless it is less able to manage heat, and therefore may run slower in order to keep cool if you really push it. If it’s power you need then the benchmarks give a clearer picture:

As you can see from the scores above, the M4 shoots ahead of the M3, M2 and M1, in fact it even scores above the M3 Pro. But, if you really need a powerful machine you might want to look at the M4 Pro MacBook Pro. See our round-up of the Best MacBook Pro deals.

RAM

Since October 2024 all MacBook Air and MacBook Pro ship with at least 16GB RAM as standard, most likely because of the requirements of Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI that was introduced with macOS Sequoia. There is an option to increase unified memory to 24GB or 32GB in the M4 MacBooks. If you need more memory you will need to look to the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro or M4 Max. With the M4 Pro you can get up to 48GB unified memory, while the M4 Max can support up to 128GB memory.

Our advice is to get as much RAM as you can afford as you can’t upgrade it later. See: Apple’s MacBook Pro memory problem.

Storage

Apple offers a 256GB storage option at the entry-level for both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air. The entry-level MacBook Pro starts at 512GB.

In previous generations, there were some concerns about this 256GB SSD, with reports that its SSD is up to 50 percent slower on read speeds and 30 percent on write speeds. We found that these observations were indeed true when we ran our own set of tests using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test on older MacBook models. In more recent times, this has seemed to be less of an issue. This will only matter if you are using apps that access the SSD often, so it may not make a difference in typical use.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Battery life and charging

When it comes to battery life, according to Apple, the MacBook Air offers 18 hours battery life when video streaming, while the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro offers an 24 hours video streaming (the Pro and Max MacBook Pro models offer less battery life). The 14-inch MacBook Pro has a larger battery 72.4 watt-hours compared to 66.5 watt-hours in the 15-inch MacBook Air and 53.8 watt-hours in the 13-inch Air.

In our own testing, the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air battery lasted 19 hours. We’ll be running tests on the M4 MacBook Air.

The battery in the M4 MacBook Pro lasted about 20 hours in our test.

It’s not just how long the battery lasts that matters, but also the charging speed. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air ships with a 30W adapter, the other 13-inch models and the 15-inch MacBook Air shop with a 35W power adapter. All these Mac laptops can also be fast charged with a 70W or higher USB-C power adapter. See our comparison test of Apple’s MacBook Air chargers as well as the best USB-C charger for your MacBook.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Ports and expansion

Over the years it’s felt like Apple has been on a mission to remove ports from Macs in order to make them slimmer and slimmer. This has been a disadvantage for many, although generally if you need more or different ports you can just plug in an adapter or a dock (read: Best USB-C hubs and adapters for Mac).

The MacBook Air offers a MagSafe charging port alongside two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports. The MacBook Pro offers an additional Thunderbolt 4/USB-C port, as well as HDMI and SDXC ports. The arrival of Thunderbolt 4 for this generation means that the M4 MacBooks can support more displays. See: How to connect two or more external displays to an M1, M2, M3 or M4 MacBook.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Audio and camera

The MacBook Air and 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro offer a 12MP Center Stage camera that automatically keeps the user in the center of the frame. The camera also supports Desk View, which can show the desk space in front of the laptop. This is an upgrade from the M3 MacBooks, which only offered a 1080p FaceTime camera.

The 15-inch MacBook Air has a benefit over the 13.6-inch MacBook Air model: if features a six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers, compared to a four-speaker sound system. Apple describes the speaker system in the 14-inch MacBook Pro as a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers, indicating that it is superior to that in the 15-inch Air. Apple also refers to a “studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming” in the 14-inch Pro, while both Air models offer only a “three-mic array with directional beamforming”.

All Mac laptops offer a 3.5mm headphone jack. 

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Price and buying advice

When Apple introduced the M4 version of the MacBook Air in March 2025 it dropped the price by $100/£100. As a result, the price gap is even larger between the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

With no ‘budget’ MacBook Pro available, the MacBook Air is the only option for those looking for a bargain. If you are looking for the cheapest option the $999/£999 MacBook Air would appear to be the clear winner. Consider spending $200/£200 more to get the 10-core CPU/10-core GPU 512GB MacBook Air, which is worth every extra penny.

The price of the MacBook Pro is higher, and on everyday tasks it performs the same as the MacBook Air, but it does offer better performance on long, CPU-intensive tasks, like image and video rendering and similar tasks. (Not to mention the better screen, HDMI port, and SDXC Card slot.) At $200/£200 more than the 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 and the same 512GB SSD, it actually represents good value for money, although the price jump is slightly more than it was with the last generation.

We recommend getting the best machine you can afford at the time of purchase because you won’t be able to upgrade down the line, this may require you to upgrade the RAM and storage before you make your purchase.

The other factor that may be important to you is the screen size, which is where the MacBook Air is the clear winner. However, it has a big disadvantage if it’s display quality that matters, as it lacks the XDR, ProMotion display of the MacBook Pro. Of course, if you are going to plug your Mac into an external display whenever you are at your desk this shouldn’t be a decision breaker. See our round-up of the best displays for Mac.

So which MacBook should you choose? If you are on a budget it has to be the MacBook Air and you won’t be disappointed. If you need a bit more power than the Air can offer, and a better quality display, the M4 MacBook Pro will see you good. But if you need even more power you’ll have to fork out for the M4 Pro or M4 Max MacBook Pro models.

Luckily, you don’t have to pay full price for a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, check out our best MacBook Air deals and best MacBook Pro deals articles for the best discounts available.

Finally, a word of warning: if you are tempted by a used Intel MacBook we strongly recommend that you don’t buy it as Apple is unlikely to support Intel Macs for much longer. Read: How long does Apple support Macs.

We also look at how the MacBook Air compares to the iMac and how the MacBook Air and Mac mini compare separately. We also help you choose the Best Mac in our buying guide.