MacBook Air vs Pro compared: Which Mac laptop is right for you?
Description
Verdict:
The MacBook Air is the more affordable option, suitable for everyday tasks, while the MacBook Pro offers superior performance and features, making it ideal for more demanding users.
Apple’s most popular Mac laptop is the MacBook Air, which offers a great combination of features for the typical user, but there is another MacBook to consider is you are looking for the best MacBook – the more powerful MacBook Pro.
In this article, we aim to help those who want to buy an Apple laptop, but aren’t sure what the difference between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro is and whether the cheaper Air can be as good as the Pro.
We’ll explain the advantages and disadvantages of buying a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, we’ll discuss what makes the MacBook Air so popular, and we’ll talk about which uses each Mac laptop is best suited to.
We’ll also look in depth at the various specs and features of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, so you can see how the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro compare in terms of price, display, design, processor, graphics, storage, RAM, ports, battery life and more. We discuss these elements and the other differences between the MacBook Air and Pro, later in the article.
MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro Compared: Which MacBook is best?
The question of which MacBook is best depends on what you need. The ultimate and most powerful MacBook is the M4 Max powered MacBook Pro, but that will be overpowered and prohibitively expensive to most people. The best value MacBook is the MacBook Air, and it’s not surprising that it is the most popular Mac, but there are reasons to consider the entry-level MacBook Pro, which has a slightly higher price, but is better suited to demanding users than the Air.
Right now, while we wait for Apple to update the MacBook Air with an M5 chip, we are recommending the M5 MacBook Pro as the best MacBook for most because it offers such a tremendous combination of price, performance, and features. However, if you need something with a bit more oomph then the M4 Pro or M4 Max MacBook Pro will be a better option.
Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro, M5 – Best MacBook for most people
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Pros
- All MacBook Pro models have superior display
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- Price appears very high compared to Air
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Who is the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 for?
The MacBook Pro covers some wide ground in terms of what’s offered and hence will meet the needs of many very different users. At the entry-level is the M5 MacBook Pro, which is more comparable to the MacBook Air than the powerful M4 Pro or M4 Max MacBook Pro that slot in further up the range.
The M5 MacBook Pro is the Mac to choose if you need a little more oomph than the MacBook Air can give, but don’t have the money for a MacBook Pro with M4 Pro chip. The other major reasons to choose the M5 MacBook Pro over the Air are it’s significantly better screen, better battery life, and additional ports.
If you need more power and have the budget, the M4 Pro or M4 Max models are the ones to choose, and we’ll discuss them in more detail later.
What you need to know about the MacBook Pro with M5
The M5 MacBook Pro was introduced in October 2025 and offers the newest Apple processor with an updated GPU that is better equipped for AI than the M4 in its predecessor (and the MacBook Air).
Prior to the M5 update, this MacBook Pro shared the same M4 processor as the MacBook Air that arrived in March 2025 and the machines had similar specs. However, while those specs looked similar on paper the two laptops were not identical, and now that the M5 has arrived the differences are even more pronounced.
The most obvious indication that the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are different beasts is the price: The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,599/£1,599. That’s $400/£400 more than the entry-level MacBook Air. But it would be incorrect to compare the $1,599 MacBook Pro with the $999 MacBook Air, which has half the storage and fewer processor cores.
A better comparison is between the MacBook Pro M5 with 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB memory, and a 512GB SSD, and the 13-inch MacBook Air with 512GB SSD for $1,199/£1
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