Apple’s MacBook line has been completely updated between the new MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chips coming this summer and the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro landed last fall. And Apple also keeps the MacBook Air M1 on the line. Let’s take an in-depth look at the difference between MacBook Air and Pro to see what differentiates these MacBooks.
24/6 Update: Orders are open for the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 and Apple has also started its promotion back to school. But we are still waiting for the launch of the MacBook Air M2 which is scheduled for July.
Continue reading why the new MacBook Air M2 is a better choice than the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2, unless the 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro fits better.
The 2021 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops feature a new design, mini-LED backlight, I / O return that includes HDMI, SD and MagSafe card slot, and the removal of the touch bar.
And they have more power than ever with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips (if you’re on the fence between the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, check out our detailed guide).
Now Apple has introduced the new MacBook Air 2022 and the 13-inch MacBook Pro that run on the updated M2 chip. The MacBook Air has received most changes with a completely new design, larger 13.6-inch screen, flat-edge chassis, new midnight color, updated webcam and more.
Difference between MacBook Air and Pro
CPU, GPU, RAM, more
Apple announced its second-generation Apple Silicon-based processor with M2. While it’s a notable upgrade over the M1, the M2 is less powerful than the M1 Pro, Max and Ultra chips.
M2 allows up to 24GB of RAM, up to 10 GPU cores and includes an 8-core CPU faster than the M1. Here is a more detailed view of the M1 vs M2 chips.
Meanwhile, with the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you get the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip with the option for even more CPU and GPU cores and RAM up to 64GB.
Hardware 2022 MacBook Air 2020 MacBook Air 13 ″ MacBook Pro (2022) 14 ″ MacBook Pro (2021) CPU M2 – 8 cores M1 – 8 cores M2 – 8 cores M1 Pro or Max – 8 or 10 cores Storage Up to 2 TB Up to 2 TB Up to 2 TB Up to 8 TB of RAM 8, 16 or 24 GB 8 or 16 GB 8, 16 or 24 GB 16 to 64 GB Graphics Up to 10 cores 7 cores 10 cores Up to 32 cores Neural motor 16- 16-core core 16-core FaceTime camera 1080p 720p 720p 1080p Speakers 4-speaker system with wide sound Stereo speakers with wide sound Stereo speakers with high dynamic range High-fidelity 6-speaker microphones Array of 3 microphones Array of 3 microphones Array of 3 studio quality microphones Array of 3 studio quality microphones Thermal management No fan No fan Active cooling with fans Active cooling with fans
Apple says the M2 is up to 18% faster for CPU performance and up to 35% faster for GPU performance than the M1. It has more than 20 billion transistors and can handle up to 15.8 trillion operations per second.
The M2 chip also includes a multimedia engine that offers hardware-accelerated support for H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW. It also has a video encoding and decoding engine and ProRes.
Another good addition to the MacBook Air 2022 is a 1080p webcam like the one the 14-inch MacBook Pro received. Apple says it has the same “advanced computer video signal processor.” Meanwhile, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 sticks with the old 720p webcam.
Displays
If screen brightness is important to you, the MacBook Air 2022 achieves a good brightness improvement of 400 to 500 nights.
Another change with the redesign is that the new MacBook Air has a larger 13.6-inch screen with thinner bezels.
While the 14-inch (maximum 1,600) sustained brightness of up to 1,000 nights is only for HDR content, you still get refresh rates of up to 120 Hz with ProMotion, mini-LED backlighting, and thin bezels .
2022 MacBook Air 2020 MacBook Air 13 ″ MacBook Pro (2022) 14 ″ MacBook Pro (2021) Actual screen size 13.6 inches 13.3 inches 13.3 inches 14.2 inches Resolution 2560 x 16064 x 160 2 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 4 16:10 + notch 16:10 16:10 16:10 + notch PPI 224 227 227 254 Nights (brightness) 500 400 500 500 for SDR, 1000 sustained, up to 1600 peaks – – ✅ Liquid Retina Display ✅ HDR Retina Display ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ + XDR ProMotion (up to 120 Hz) ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ backlit mini-LED ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ True Tone ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ P3 wide color ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
The new MacBook Air and 14-inch MacBook Pro include a notch in the top center of the screen for the 1080p FaceTime camera. But unlike the iPhone, the notch does not include Face ID hardware / support.
I / O: difference between MacBook Air and Pro
The 2022 MacBook Air gains the MagSafe charge as do the 2021 MacBook Pro laptops. However, Apple has retained additions like HDMI, SDXC slot, and support for up to 4 external displays exclusive to the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The new MacBook Air 2022 and 13-inch Pro only have support for 1 external display of up to 6K at 60 Hz, even with the new M2 chip. This may be a chord break for some.
Along with the two USB4 / Thunderbolt 3 ports, the new MacBook Air maintains the 3.5mm headphone jack.
2022 MacBook Air 2020 MacBook Air 13 ″ MacBook Pro (2022) 14 ″ MacBook Pro (2021) Magic Keyboard ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Touch ID ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Touch Bar ❌ ❌ ✅ ❌ Ports USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 2 222 auriculars jack ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ HDMI ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ SDXC Card Reader Mag ❌ ❌ ✅ Charging MagSafe ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ Bluetooth 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.11.ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.1.6a ) -Fi 6 (802.11.ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.ax) External display support 1 external display with resolution up to 6K at 60Hz 1 external display with resolution up to 6K at 60Hz 1 external display with resolution up to 6K at 60Hz Up to 2 external screens at 6K nothing at 60Hz (M1 Pro) or up to 3 external screens at 6K nothing and 1 external screen up to 4K nothing at 60Hz (M1 Max)
Size, weight and finish
As expected, the MacBook Air is still the lightest machine with the 13-inch MacBook Pro weighing a bit more and the 14-inch being the heaviest. The new MacBook Air is even 0.1 pounds lighter than its 2020 predecessor.
The new MacBook Air is also very thin with 11.3 mm (0.44 inches). And if the golden colors or new midnight colors are appealing, they’re only available with the MacBook Air.
2022 MacBook Air 2020 MacBook Air 13 ″ MacBook Pro (2020) 14 ″ MacBook Pro (2021) Weight 2.7 lbs (1.24 kg) 2.8 lbs. (1.29 kg) 3 lbs (1.4 kg) 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg) Thickness 0.44 inches (1.13 cm) 0.16-0.63 inches (0.41-1, 61 cm) 0.61 inches (1.56 cm) 0.61 inches (1.56 cm) 975 cm (975 cm). (30.41 cm) 11.97 inches (30.41 cm) 11.97 inches (30.31 cm) 12.31 inches (31.26 cm) Depth 8.46 inches (21.5 cm) 8.36 inches (21.24 cm) 8.36 inches (21.24 inches) 22.12 cm) Screen size 13.6 inches 13.3 inches 13.3 inches 14.2 inches Finishes Silver, Space Gray, Starlight, Midnight Silver, space gray and gold Silver or space gray Silver or space gray
In particular, the new MacBook Air has changed from the wedge design it had for years and now has a flat-edged chassis like the MacBook Pro. But Apple has made it very thin with only 11.3 mm (1.13 cm) thick.
Battery life
The real-world battery life of Apple Silicon MacBooks compared to older Intel models has been impressive and usually matches Apple’s claims. But that may depend on what you do with your MacBook, the brightness of the screen and more.
In any case, the energy efficiency and battery life are great with the new MacBook Air M2.
2022 MacBook Air 2020 MacBook Air 13 ″ MacBook Pro (2022) 14 ″ MacBook Pro (2021) Wireless web battery 15 hours 15 hours 17 hours 11 hours Video playback 18 hours 18 hours 20 hours 17 hours Power adapter included 30W, or 37W USB-C + MagSafe 30W USB-C 67W USB-C 67W or 96W USB-C + MagSafe Battery Capacity 52.6Wh 49.9Wh 58.2Wh 70Wh Quick Charge ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅
Apple says that when using the 67W power adapter, the new MacBook Air can be charged quickly to give up to 50% of the battery in just 30 minutes.
Prices
Priced at $ 1,199, the new MacBook Air is priced at $ 800 less than the 14-inch MacBook Pro that starts at $ 1,999.
The standard models of the new Air are configurations of 256 GB SSD / 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD / 8 GB of RAM. Models with 16 or 24 GB of RAM for the Air 2022 and the updated M2 chip are custom orders.
The base model of 14-inch MacBook Pro at $ 1,999 with an M1 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD.
Model / Price 2022 MacBook Air 2020 MacBook Air 13 ″ MacBook Pro (2020) 14 ″ MacBook Pro (2021) 256 / 8GB $ 1,199 $ 999 $ 1,299 $ – 512 / 8GB $ 1,399 $ 1,199 $ 1,499 $ 1,699 – 256 / 16GB 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,199 $ 1,499 $ 1,499 – 512 / 16GB $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,199 $ 1,499 $ 1.59 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $ 1,199 $ 1,199 $ 1,399 $ 1,399 $. From $ 1,999 1 TB / 16 GB $ 1,799 $ 1,599 $ 1,899 From $ 2,199 1 TB / 24 GB $ 1,999 – – 1 TB / 32 GB – – – From $ 2,599 Custom Settings Up to $ 2,499 Up to $ 1,999 Up to $ 1,999 Up to $ 2,259 Up to $ 2,599
Difference Between MacBook Air and Pro Conclusion
Hopefully, now it’s clear which MacBook is right for you. If you have light to medium performance needs, and even some limited intensive needs, and prefer the lighter machine with a longer battery life, the MacBook Air is the best fit from a reasonable price of $ 1,199 or $ 1,099 for students and teachers.
So far, Apple has not shared exactly when the new MacBook Air will be released other than “July.”
For those who want to save money and have simple workflows (web, documents, media), the $ 999 MacBook Air M1 is still on the list.
But if you value maximum power, active cooling for prolonged heavy workloads, a brighter screen, more ports, and more external display support, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is the way to go.
Although the 13-inch MacBook Pro has been upgraded with the M2 chip, there probably won’t be many people who will have to buy it.
The main difference between the MacBook Air and the Pro 2022 are the fans included for the Pro and the Touch Bar. But if you’re worried about performance and overheating, you should probably look at the 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro. And the new MacBook Air offers many …