MacBook Air vs. MacBook Professional: Which MacBook Ought to I Purchase?

For those who’re having bother deciding between the cheaper and lighter MacBook Air or spending extra for the extra highly effective MacBook Professional, you have come to the suitable place. The MacBook Air and Professional do not look all that totally different from each other, however there are key variations  — from price and elements to efficiency and battery life — that you could know to select the suitable one.

The 15-inch M4 MacBook Air is the greatest laptop computer for most individuals, however there are some good causes to spend extra for a M4 MacBook Professional or much less on the 13-inch Air. Let’s break down the MacBook Air in opposition to the MacBook Professional to see the place and the way these two laptop computer traces differ and which one is the very best MacBook for you.

Watch this: M4 MacBook Air Assessment: Nonetheless Implausible Even when Not A lot Has Modified

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MacBook Air vs. Professional: Refresh cycle

Nobody desires to purchase a laptop computer solely to see it get up to date per week or a month after you pull the set off on a purchase order. So, it is necessary to know which MacBook is newer. The MacBook Air was most not too long ago up to date, getting an M4 improve in March to bringing it updated with the MacBook Professional, which was first to supply the M4 chip on the finish of final yr. It is a good time to purchase both MacBook, however the Professional mannequin is an effective guess to be first with an M5 chip in some unspecified time in the future close to the tip of 2025.

Learn extra: Finest MacBook for 2025

Now that you recognize the place every line stands in its refresh schedule, let’s check out the present pricing of the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Value and elements

The MacBook Air is obtainable with a 13.6- or 15.3-inch show. The 13-inch Air begins at $999, and the 15-inch Air begins at $1,199. Each entry-level fashions function Apple’s newest M4 processor together with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive. There’s a slight distinction in GPU cores between these two beginning fashions — the 13-inch Air’s M4 chip has eight GPU cores, and the 15-inch Air’s M4 chip has 10 GPU cores.

The MacBook Professional is obtainable with a 14.2- or 16.2-inch show. The 14-inch Professional begins at $1,599, and the 16-inch Professional begins at $2,499. The 16-inch mannequin has such a better beginning value as a result of it has a extra highly effective M4 Professional chip, whereas the bottom mannequin of the 14-inch Professional options an M4 (non-Professional) chip.

The M4 Professional chip within the 16-inch MacBook Professional is actually a pro-level processor, with 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores, whereas the M4 chip within the 14-inch mannequin has 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores. 

You possibly can, nevertheless, get the M4 Professional chip within the 14-inch Professional. The step-up mannequin within the 14-inch MacBook Professional sequence prices $1,999 and options an M4 Professional chip with 12 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores. The subsequent mannequin within the sequence prices $2,399 and options the identical 14-CPU, 20-GPU M4 Professional discovered within the entry-level MacBook Professional 16.

For system reminiscence, the baseline 14-inch MacBook Professional provides the identical 16GB of RAM as you get with the MacBook Air, however the higher-end 14-inch fashions and each 16-inch mannequin has a minimal of 24GB of RAM. 

You additionally get extra storage with the Professional fashions. The entry-level fashions for each the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air provide solely a 256GB SSD. Even when you’ve embraced cloud storage, that is an underwhelming quantity of native storage. With any MacBook Professional, you begin with no less than a 512GB SSD. Doubling the meager storage to a 512GB SSD with a MacBook Air provides a hefty $200 to the invoice.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Weight and battery life

The Air wins on weight, however the Professional takes the battery life crown.

The 13.6-inch MacBook Air weighs 2.7 kilos, and the 15.3-inch Air weighs 3.3 kilos.

Regardless of giving up an inch in show dimension, the 14.2-inch MacBook Professional at 3.4 kilos weighs greater than the bigger Air. And it weighs appreciably greater than the smaller Air, whose show is barely 0.6 inches smaller. 

I take advantage of a 14-inch Professional for work, and my daughter has a 13-inch Air for varsity. The distinction in weight between the 2 is putting. I am at all times jealous of the lighter carrying weight of the Air every time I pack up my Professional for journey or simply to take it all the way down to my native espresso store. The MacBook Air additionally takes up much less area in a backpack. It is simply 0.44 inches thick, and the MacBook Professional is a chunkier 0.61 inches thick.

The added weight and thickness, nevertheless, enable Apple to pack a much bigger battery contained in the MacBook Professional. On CNET’s YouTube streaming battery drain check, the 14-inch MacBook Professional lasted one minute shy of twenty-two hours, which is among the many greatest battery-life laptops. 

The MacBook Air can be a long-running laptop computer, however its runtime is hours shorter than that of the MacBook Professional. In testing, the 13-inch Air lasted 15 hours, 50 minutes, and the 15-inch Air ran for 16 hours, 41 minutes.

Given the lengthy runtimes for each the MacBook Air and Professional (each provide all-day battery life) the distinction in weight between the 2 is the bigger issue if mobility is a chief concern. The MacBook Air is thinner and lighter — higher for college kids crisscrossing campus day-after-day and people who commute day by day or journey often. Even the bigger 15-inch Air is a greater journey companion than the smaller 14-inch Professional.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Show and audio system

MacBook Professional fashions have a barely higher-resolution show and a better pixels-per-inch rely (224ppi on the Air to the Professional’s 254ppi), however the greater variations between the shows are their brightness, HDR help and refresh fee.

The Macbook Professional’s Liquid Retina XDR show is a mini-LED panel rated for 1,000 nits in SDR and 1,600 nits in HDR. The MacBook Air’s Liquid Retina show is rated for 500 nits, which is vibrant sufficient for many lighting environments however lacks the vary and distinction to make HDR content material pop. 

You may additionally get smoother motion in movies and video games on the MacBook Professional’s 120Hz ProMotion panel. The MacBook Air provides a typical 60Hz refresh fee.

The MacBook Air and Professional every provide good audio output for a laptop computer, however the Professional’s sound is best. The MacBook Professional encompasses a six-speaker array, and the Air has 4 audio system.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Ports and followers

The MacBook Professional options extra exterior connections. It has an HDMI port and SD card slot — neither of which you will discover on the Air — together with an additional Thunderbolt port. The M4 Professional-based fashions additionally help Thunderbolt 5 for quicker information and help for extra exterior screens than you get with Thunderbolt 4 on an Air.

The MacBook Air has the benefit in acoustics. It lacks a cooling fan and operates in full silence.

MacBook Air vs. Professional: Efficiency

So, what do these further CPU and GPU cores get you with the M4 MacBook Professional? We have examined each sizes of the M4 MacBook Air launched final March and a pair of M4 MacBook Professional fashions from final November — the 14-inch Professional with the M4 chip and a loaded 16-inch Professional with an M4 Professional chip and a whopping 48GB of RAM.

On our Geekbench 6 check that measures total CPU efficiency throughout a blended workload, the 16-inch MacBook Professional put extra distance between it and the 14-inch MacBook Professional than the smaller Professional might between it and the 2 MacBook Airs. And that is smart when you think about the M4 Professional processor has 4 extra cores than the M4 chip, and the identical M4 chip is featured within the 14-inch Professional we examined and each Airs.

We noticed related outcomes on the multicore CPU check for Cinebench 2024, and the even higher variety of GPU cores of the M4 Professional allowed the 16-inch MacBook Professional to get pleasure from a good higher lead on the Cinebench 2024 GPU check over the 14-inch MacBook Professional.

Our benchmark outcomes present that the baseline 14-inch MacBook Professional is considerably within the awkward center floor between a MacBook Professional with an M4 Professional chip and the M4 MacBook Air.

Ought to I purchase a MacBook Air or MacBook Professional?

Inventive execs and hobbyists who have to run demanding graphics functions can be higher served by investing in a MacBook Professional with an M4 Professional processor. The superior CPU and GPU efficiency will enable such energy customers to finish inventive workloads extra rapidly. The most affordable MacBook Professional with an M4 Professional processor prices $1,999, nevertheless, which is significantly dearer than a MacBook Air. 

The added reminiscence you get with the MacBook Professional fashions that price $1,999 and up helps justify the upper price. You won’t want the 48GB of RAM of the M4 Professional-based MacBook Professional we examined, however the 24GB of RAM you get with any M4 Professional-based MacBook Professional will definitely serve you properly in contrast with the 16GB of RAM provided on the MacBook Air or baseline 14-inch M4 MacBook Professional.

The one compelling cause for the $1,599 M4-based MacBook Professional I can see is the HDR ProMotion show — I actually need one for the Air — when you watch or work with a variety of HDR content material. Or you might be delicate to video stutter on a 60Hz show. If neither of those traits describes you, then you might be higher off spending extra for the higher efficiency of an M4 Professional-based MacBook Professional or saving some cash and getting the extra inexpensive and transportable MacBook Air.

Learn extra: Finest MacBook Offers

For normal residence use, the place you primarily use Chrome, Gmail, Google Docs and Sheets with maybe the occasional mission in iMovie or Storage Band, the M4 MacBook Air provides ample efficiency and is the higher deal. The 15-inch MacBook Air offers a ton of worth at $1,199. For most individuals, it is the very best laptop computer. It provides you a giant show while not having to spend a premium on a MacBook Professional. And regardless of its bigger display, the 15-inch Air continues to be thinner and lighter than the 14-inch Professional, whereas costing a whole lot much less. 

In the meantime, the cheaper and extra transportable 13-inch MacBook Air at $999 — $899 with Apple’s training low cost — stays the greatest laptop computer for college kids.