MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: Which 13-inch Apple laptop Is Best for You?
Apple’s two latest 13-inch laptops have a lot in common at first look, but plenty of core-feature and internal-component differences set them apart. We’ve tested both, and here’s what you need to know.
In 2019, Apple discontinued both the 15-inch MacBook Pro (in favor of a larger 16-inch MacBook Pro model), and the standard, small-screen MacBook. With the middleman removed, only the 13-inch MacBook Air (just refreshed, in March 2020) and the 16-inch MacBook Pro were fully up to date.
Now, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has been given a revamp on several fronts, causing a conundrum for Apple-loyal laptop shoppers looking for a 13-inch Apple laptop. The MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages, so you may be torn on which to buy. They’re both excellent in our view, and of course they share a similar style, but one is no doubt a better fit for your needs.
That depends, though, on what you do every day on your laptop. For some folks, the Air is the right machine; for others, the Pro. We’ll help you sort through the various features, as well as the processor, memory, and storage options to find the best fit.
Setting the Stage: One 13-Incher Versus Another
When we compared the sizes of the 2020 MacBook Air to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, there was an obvious winner for portability. This new 13-inch Air-against-Pro face-off is a much closer call, though the edge still goes to the machine you would expect.
The MacBook Air, the prototypical ultraportable in its early days, isn’t as light or unique as it used to be (many Windows laptops are as light or lighter), but it is still the lightest current Apple-laptop option, at 2.8 pounds. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is a little heftier, at 3.1 pounds, but that’s not enough of a difference to base your decision on, in the end.
Instead, it’s the more lightweight price that will be the leading factor. The MacBook Air starts at just $999, while the least-expensive 13-inch MacBook Pro model is $1,299. There are, of course, multiple configurations available for each, though. The MacBook Air unit we reviewed was priced at $1,299, while our 13-inch MacBook Pro sample was a $1,799 config.
We’ll get into the components offered in the starting configurations and our review units below, but the long story short with the starting models is this: If you’re not someone who needs a fancier or more powerful laptop for work, and who wants portability and value, the Air is the way to go. As the entry point into current-generation Apple laptop hardware (and thus, the Apple software ecosystem, as well), it’s an attractive price point.
Professionals, especially content creators, will want to more strongly consider the MacBook Pro. There isn’t a huge performance gap, but it’s enough to differentiate the two, and save you money if you don’t need the added power.
Designs and Features: Similar, but Different
Of course, the MacBook Air’s lower price has to come from somewhere, but it’s not from a drop in quality or from cutting the fundamentals. You get the same all-metal design as the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which is a hallmark of the entire MacBook brand. This is essentially a non-negotiable aspect, as you don’t want any owner to feel they got an obviously subpar version. The display panels are also very similar. Each is a 13.3-inch IPS screen, with the same native resolution (2,560 by 1,600 pixels).
Both also support Apple’s newer Magic Keyboard, finally phasing out the much-maligned butterfly keyboard in both models. That was an advantage the MacBook Air held over the older MacBook models, but with this update, they’re even. The butterfly keyboard had an infamously flat feeling when typing, with little feedback. It was also prone to malfunction when dust or debris got under the keycaps, disabling certain keys. The Magic Keyboard offers a much more traditional, satisfying typing experience on both models. A scissor mechanism with rubber-dome springback delivers more feedback, and feels more stable when typing. (We will have to see long-term whether the new keys indeed prove more reliable.)
Both laptops also offer USB Type-C as the only physical ports apart from a headphone jack. This is a common side effect of super-slim laptops for both Windows and Mac, as there simply isn’t room for larger, standard USB Type-A ports. USB-C connections are great, offering versatility and faster data transfer speeds, but they can be limiting for peripherals that you already own using Type-A; a dongle or new cable is necessary. Both laptops’ USB-C ports support Thunderbolt 3 connectivity and transfer speeds.
As you can see, many of the core features are the same across both models. But within those there are some key differences, and many of them have to do with putting the “pro” in MacBook Pro to make the price gap worthwhile.
Starting with the display, the MacBook Pro’s screen, while the same size and resolution, is rated to cover the P3 color gamut, while the MacBook Air’s isn’t. This wide color spectrum is useful for photo and video editors, as well as anyone who does color correction or color matching. If that’s you, the MacBook Air’s less advanced display may not cut it.
One more visually obvious difference is the Touch Bar. The keyboards may be the same, but this touch-enabled OLED strip above the keyboard is only present on the MacBook Pro. It’s included on every MacBook Pro model, not just offered as an option on some, while there is no MacBook Air with a Touch Bar, period. We’ve said before that we don’t think this is exactly an essential feature (and that’s perfectly fine for the MacBook Air audience) but its shortcuts and hotkeys can definitely be useful for content creators using a MacBook Pro. Applications like Adobe’s Photoshop and Premiere can benefit from its contextually relevant tools.
One last difference is that the MacBook Air tops out at two USB-C ports, while there are 13-inch MacBook Pro models with two ports and models with four ports. The starting-model MacBook Pro and the midrange $1,499 preset model have two USB-C ports, while our higher-end test model came with four.
Components Considerations: Who Is Each Laptop For?
Plenty of shoppers are more concerned with the physical traits of each laptop, which makes those factors a natural starting point for comparison, but a subset of users are all about the specs. The MacBook Air, made for less demanding users focused on portability and a lower price point, tops out with less powerful component options. With the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple smartly offers a wide range of price and power.
The components tell a story about who and what each of these laptop families are made for, and you can glean this from both the starting configurations and the top component options available. The $999 MacBook Air starts with a Core i3 10th Generation processor, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD. The starting $1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with an 8th Generation Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD. The physical differences explained above and the CPU discrepancy make up the starting price gap.
As you may have noticed, Apple opts for older 8th Generation Intel processors in the less expensive 13-inch MacBook Pro models. This is somewhat curious, as I don’t know if anyone will be thrilled to spend over $1,000 on a laptop whose chips are already previous-generation, but it does help keep the costs of the less expensive models down. Our $1,799 review unit included a 10th Generation Core i5 (“Ice Lake”) CPU, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD.
As I said, the differences in these laptops extend to where the component options top out, too. The MacBook Air’s memory maxes out at 16GB, and its storage at 2TB. The 13-inch MacBook Pro’s memory tops out at 32GB and its storage at 4TB. None of the configurations on either laptop offers a discrete graphics option-you’ll have to go up to the 16-inch MacBook Pro for that.
Configuring these options upward, of course, gets much more expensive, but the throughline is that, from CPU to storage, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has a higher capability ceiling. With more memory and storage, it’s better suited to replace a desktop, or to serve as your only “real” work machine.
Processor Specifics
The MacBook Air, while far from a powerhouse, still brings Intel’s 10th Generation processors to bear, allowing you to choose among Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs. Apple is cagey about sharing exactly which processors it’s using, but our $1,299 MacBook Air review unit included the Core i5–1030NG7 “Ice Lake” chip with a low 1.1GHz base clock speed. This is a low-power-consumption chip good for everyday use (think web browsing, editing documents), but it is not meant for CPU-intensive work. Since the CPU in the starting $999 model is only a Core i3 chip, it’s an even more modest performer.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro ups the ante by comparison. Our review unit includes a 2GHz Intel Core i5–1038NG7 chip, a better Core i5 choice for media work (though still without hitting the next tier of performance seen in laptops 15 inches and up). Core i5 is also as low down the hierarchy as the MacBook Pro’s chip options go-there is no Core i3 on the menu, which tells you about the expectations and intention of each laptop.
Head over to our full review of the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro to see exactly how it performed on our benchmark tests. Like the MacBook Air, the Pro can also go up to a Core i7 option, but unfortunately we can’t tell you firsthand how that specific unit performs. We got our hands only on the Core i5.
As a quick comparative performance conclusion, the 13-inch MacBook Pro definitely offers more speed than the MacBook Air, but once you scale each laptop up a bit, it’s not a whole world of difference between these CPUs. If you’re strictly looking at the starting models (and indeed, the much lower price point of the Core i3 MacBook Air is part of the appeal), it is a bigger gap.
If you need more full-bodied power for your work, you may need to move up to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and definitely forget the MacBook Air. Our 16-inch review unit packed the far more potent Core i9–9980HK, in a different class of performance entirely. These H-series CPUs are designed for power-user laptops, while the ones in the MacBook Pro 13-Inch and the MacBook Air are designed with portability and trim designs in mind.
A Portable MacBook Option for Everyone
With its two 13-inch laptops, Apple has made machines that are perhaps more similar than you’d expect, but still distinct. The MacBook Air is the obvious choice for value seekers and those with light workloads, with the $999 model an especially good deal for casual, everyday use. If you want a bit more oomph or storage, but don’t need the fancier features of the MacBook Pro, you can up-configure your MacBook Air by a couple of notches.
If you need to do some real work on your laptop, but still prioritize portability compared to the 16-inch MacBook Pro and don’t need a true powerhouse, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the choice for you. And if you’re considering a Windows laptop, or want to see how far your dollar would go outside of the Apple ecosystem for comparison, check out our guides to today’s best ultraportable laptops, as well as our picks for the overall best laptops.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
