MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: What’s the Best Basic Mac Laptop?

If you're looking to buy a new MacBook. A lot of overlap between the MacBook Air, MacBook, and the entry-level MacBook Pro. But we think that if you’re looking for just a solid, everyday Apple laptop that gives you good performance for the lowest price, it’s hard to do better than the MacBook Air.

No matter which Mac laptop you choose, you’re going to get a similar overall experience. They all run the same operating system (macOS) and applications. For most everyday work and school tasks, you won’t likely notice the differences in performance between models. And all of these models are light and slim enough to carry around all day. For most people, the differences come down to things like storage space and the variety of ports.

Only two of them come in 13in sizes though, so if you know you want a laptop with a 13in screen, you've got to pick between the MacBook Air and the smaller size of MacBook Pro. (leaving out the 12in MacBook).

Once you've made your mind up, you can head straight to Apple to buy the MacBook Air or 13in MacBook Pro.

Price:
Price is one area where there's a stark difference between the MacBook Air and the 13in MacBook Pro, as the former is undeniably cheaper.

MacBook Air is available in two default configurations, priced at £949/$999 and £1,099/$1,199, the only difference being whether you opt for 128GB or 256GB of storage.

Dimensions and weight
When it launched in 2008 the MacBook Air was the lightest laptop available. Over the years that followed, the weight of the MacBook Pro has also declined, so the difference is almost gone.
 

The 2017 13in MacBook Pro weighs 1.37kg, and is just 1.49cm thick, while the main body is 30.41 x 21.24cm.

You might expect the MacBook Air to be notably lighter and thinner, but you'd be surprised. It's 1.35kg - only fractionally lighter - and its thickest point is actually thicker than the Pro at 1.7cm - though thanks to its gradient, that decreases to 0.3cm at the end.

Processor and RAM
The biggest difference between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro is processing power, where the 1.8GHz of the MacBook Air has to stand up to MacBook Pros at 2.3GHz or 3.1GHz - and those are just the default configurations.

Battery life
Where processor speed is clearly in the MacBook Pro's favour, another potentially critical feature is battery life, and this time it's the MacBook Air that wins - though not by much.

We haven't yet been able to run thorough battery tests on the latest models of the Air or Pro, but Apple's own tech specs suggest that the Air will last a bit longer.

The company claims that the Air can handle 12 hours of wireless web browsing or video playback - essentially a full day. That's compared to 10 hours of each from the 13in Pro - less, but not by a huge amount.
New Macbook Battery:
Apple Macbook 12'' Retina A1534 Apple MacBook 12" A1534 A1540 Apple MacBook Pro 13" A1435 Apple MacBook Air MB283LL/A Apple MacBook Pro 15 MA609J/A Apple MacBook Pro 13" A1425 Apple Macbook Air 13" MC503 Apple MacBook Air A1495 Apple Macbook Pro 13" A1502 A1493 Apple Macbook Pro 15" MC975 MD831

Screen and resolution
One of the biggest differences between Apple's two 13in MacBook models is the display. The MacBook Air doesn't have a Retina display, so the pixel density is lower. The Air has a native 1440x900 screen resolution compared to the 2560x1600 resolution on the 13in MacBook Pro.


Graphics and gaming
Unlike the higher-spec 15in models, the 13in MacBook Pro follows the Air in exclusively using integrated Intel graphics - though they're not identical.

The Pro uses either Intel Iris Plus 640 or 650 (the latter with the Touch Bar), while the Air just has Intel HD Graphics 6000, which is a few generations behind.